Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the application process for net-zero grants are accessible to local authorities with limited (a) resources and (b) capacity.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The net zero funding available to local authorities does not only come from net zero grants, but depends on the decisions local authorities make themselves about how they use the funding available to them, which includes their core settlement, grant funding schemes, UK growth funding, and loans at preferential rates from the UK Infrastructure Bank.
Through the Local Net Zero Hubs, the Government is supporting local authorities to attract commercial investment.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to increase the (a) resources, (b) capacity and (c) skills development for local authorities to (i) enforce and (ii) report on Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard levels.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Between 2018 and 2023, the Government ran a series of compliance and enforcement pilots and competitions to support local authorities in enforcing the domestic private rented sector Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard (MEES) regulations. 104 local authorities took part with £8.4m provided to help them carry out effective compliance assurance and enforcement of the MEES regulations in their area.
The Government consulted in 2020 on proposals to improve the energy performance of privately rented homes. The consultation included proposals to encourage compliance with MEES Regulations and strengthen the enforcement regime. A summary of responses to this consultation will be published by the end of this year.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 12 July 2023 to Question 192432 on Solar Power: China, what the value of support given under the Contracts for Difference scheme to UK manufacturers of (a) solar grade polysilicon, (b) solar ingots, wafers and cells and (c) solar modules is since 2018.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Contracts for Difference scheme is not open to manufacturers.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 12 July 2023 to Question 192432 on Solar Power: China, how much funding was provided to UK manufacturers of (a) solar grade polysilicon, (b) solar ingots, wafers and cells and (c) solar modules through (i) the Energy Entrepreneurs Fund and (ii) initiatives funded by UK Research and Innovation since 2018.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Energy Entrepreneurs Fund gives grants to companies to develop low-carbon technologies. Since April 2018, it has not awarded any grants in (a) solar grade polysilicon or (b) solar ingots, wafers and cells. It has awarded £2.3M in grant funding for innovation in (c) solar modules to UK companies, including grants for improving performance or developing new products.
UKRI data is not held by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the findings of the report by the International Energy Agency entitled Special Report on Solar PV Global Supply Chains, published in August 2022 on China’s increasing share of the solar panel supply chain.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Department has noted the findings of the IEA report.
The Solar Taskforce will focus on identifying and taking forward the actions needed to develop resilient, sustainable and innovative supply chains, to support the significant increases in deployment of solar panels needed to meet the UK’s net zero and energy security goals.
The Government already encourages large-scale developers accessing its flagship Contracts for Difference scheme to grow the supply chain through the Supply Chain Plan process and supports supply chain innovation through a range of schemes, such as the Energy Entrepreneurs Fund, and initiatives funded by UK Research and Innovation.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, when his Department plans to launch the Great British Insulation Scheme.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Energy suppliers have been able to deliver insulation measures under the Great British Insulation Scheme from 30 March 2023, when the Government response to an earlier consultation on scheme design was published. The Scheme is expected to be fully established in law in summer 2023, following the laying in Parliament of the draft Statutory Instrument on 24 May 2023.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what progress his Department has made on implementing the Sustainable warmth: protecting vulnerable households in England strategy, published 11 February 2021.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Government is committed to reviewing the strategy regularly and delivering on its statutory fuel poverty target. Fuel poverty statistics are published annually to track progress against the target. The latest statistics were published on 28th February 2023: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/annual-fuel-poverty-statistics-report-2023.
Energy efficiency improvements are the best way to tackle fuel poverty long term. The Government is delivering improvements in low income, vulnerable and fuel poor homes through the Energy Company Obligation (ECO), Home Upgrade Grant, Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund and Local Authority Delivery schemes. The Government also announced an additional £1bn for further energy efficiency improvements through the Great British Insulation Scheme.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of the free allocation of permits to companies through the UK Emissions Trading Scheme.
Answered by Graham Stuart
As the UK transitions to net zero, the Government is committed to protecting UK industry from carbon leakage (the movement of production and associated emissions from one country to another due to different levels of decarbonisation effort through carbon pricing and climate regulation), which is why the Government gives a proportion of free allowances to businesses under the UK ETS.
The Government is in the process of reviewing its free allocation policy. It consulted last year on technical short term improvements. The Government is also looking at ways to target free allocation to those sectors most at risk of carbon leakage. The Government will publish its response in due course.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether he has had discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on subsidies for residential heat pump installation.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government has several schemes which provide support for residential heat pump installations.
The £450 million Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) offers grants of £5,000 towards the purchase and installation of Air Source Heat Pumps (ASHP) and £6,000 towards Ground Source Heat Pumps (GSHP).
The £3.8 billion Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) supports the deployment of low carbon heating installations such as heat pumps alongside other energy efficiency measures in social housing.
The Home Upgrade Grant (HUG) provides support for installation of low-carbon heating measures such as heat pumps in off gas grid properties in England.