Asked by: Alex Norris (Labour (Co-op) - Nottingham North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to support households who no longer receive the Warm Home Discount because they are not above the new high-energy-cost-threshold.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government has expanded the Warm Home Discount scheme this year, providing £150 rebates to over 3 million households, an increase of 800,000.
Energy suppliers can provide additional support to households through the Industry Initiatives element of the scheme, including financial assistance. This support can be provided irrespective of whether a household is eligible for a rebate.
The Government is providing additional financial assistance this and next winter, including through the Energy Price Guarantee, Energy Bill Support Scheme and the Cost of Living Payments. The Government is developing a new approach to consumer protection in relation to energy, which will apply from April 2024 onwards.
Asked by: Alex Norris (Labour (Co-op) - Nottingham North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of changes in the eligibility criteria for the Warm Home Discount Scheme on households that are no longer eligible in the 2022-23 scheme year.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government has expanded the Warm Home Discount scheme this year, providing £150 rebates to over 3 million households. The Government published impact assessments when consulting and publishing the Government’s response, which compared the option for reforming the scheme to continuing the previous scheme.
Households previously applied through their suppliers. Suppliers set their own application process and eligibility criteria and selected successful applicants each year. Therefore the Government has not been able to assess how many previous eligible households are no longer eligible for the Scheme.
Asked by: Alex Norris (Labour (Co-op) - Nottingham North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his department has made an assessment of the potential merits of amending the Energy Bills Support Scheme to allow prepayment meter customers to receive the discount on their gas account instead of their electricity account.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Transferring Energy Bills Support Scheme payments from electricity meters to gas meters is allowed under the scheme if the customer is with the same provider. This is administered by energy suppliers and the Government encourages suppliers to offer their customers as much flexibility as possible.
Asked by: Alex Norris (Labour (Co-op) - Nottingham North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the cost of living crisis on the hospitality sector after April 2023.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
This Department is working with the Hospitality Sector Council to deliver on our 2021 Hospitality Strategy to improve the resilience of hospitality businesses.
The Government recognise that hospitality businesses are facing cost pressures driven by global factors, including high energy and cost of living pressures.
The Energy Bill Relief Scheme ensures that all businesses and other non-domestic customers are protected from excessively high energy bills over the winter period.
My Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer recently announced in his Autumn Statement that there will be an extended and increased relief for retail and hospitality businesses worth almost £2.1 billion. This is the most generous in year business rates relief in over 30 years, outside of Covid-19 support.
Asked by: Alex Norris (Labour (Co-op) - Nottingham North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he plans to bring forward legislative proposals on fracking that include a requirement for operators to underwrite universal assurance schemes to compensate for any property damage incurred due to their operations.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
UK onshore gas producers are required to confirm that they have an insurance policy, or comparable provision, in place that will cover required remedial work.
Asked by: Alex Norris (Labour (Co-op) - Nottingham North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make an assessment of the potential inclusion of a traffic light monitoring system for seismic activity at wells to be included in any forthcoming legislation of fracking.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is reviewing this aspect of shale gas policy as part of a wider reflection on the most appropriate regulatory regime for the industry.
Asked by: Alex Norris (Labour (Co-op) - Nottingham North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has made an assessment of the reasons behind the levels of energy pricing in other European countries compared to those in the UK.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Differences in prices across countries are influenced by many factors, including differences in fuel mixes, market structures, regulation, and taxation strategies within each country.
For example, some countries have historically passed proportionally more energy system costs onto households than businesses compared to the UK. Other countries benefit from very cheap hydropower.
This means that while all countries have been affected by the rise in global energy prices, the impact on households and businesses will vary between countries.
In light of the unprecedented increase in global energy prices, on September 8th the Government announced a package of measures to support people and businesses with their energy bills.
Asked by: Alex Norris (Labour (Co-op) - Nottingham North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that employment protections are retained for immunocompromised people who are less protected by covid-19 vaccines.
Answered by Paul Scully
There are a range of existing legal protections which can be engaged where an individual has an underlying health condition.
An immunocompromised person may be considered to have a disability and benefit from protections under the Equality Act, which include the duty on an employer to make reasonable adjustments. A disability under the Equality Act is defined as a physical or mental impairment that has a ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ negative effect on your ability to do normal daily activities.
Immunocompromised employees may also be protected against unfair dismissal. An employment tribunal will consider all the relevant facts around a dismissal in judging whether it was fair or not. This could include public health guidance regarding coronavirus for those who are immunocompromised, alongside other issues including individual behaviour.
Asked by: Alex Norris (Labour (Co-op) - Nottingham North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the timeframe is for the phasing out of high carbon fossil fuel heating from all homes, as outlined in the Energy White Paper.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Achieving net zero means buildings need to be almost completely decarbonised by 2050. As set out in my Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister’s 10 Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution, over the next 15 years we will gradually transition away from fossil fuel boilers and incentivise people to switch to low-carbon alternatives as appliances are replaced in a way that is fair, affordable and practical following the grain of the market.
The Government is planning to publish a Heat and Buildings Strategy in due course, which will set out our approach in more detail.
Asked by: Alex Norris (Labour (Co-op) - Nottingham North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the lifetime bill savings for homes who have had energy efficiency measures installed under the Energy Company Obligation since its inception in 2013.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Between January 2013 and March 2021, approximately 1.6 million measures have been delivered through the Affordable Warmth element of the Energy Company Obligation (ECO), targeted at reducing home heating costs for low income, fuel poor and vulnerable people, corresponding to an estimated £16.2bn in lifetime bill savings.
Details are published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/household-energy-efficiency-statistics-headline-release-june-2021 (Table 2.1).