Asked by: Fay Jones (Conservative - Brecon and Radnorshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how park home residents will receive their Energy Bills Support Scheme-Alternative Fund allowance.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave the my hon. Friend the Member for Christchurch on 8th November 2022 to Question 78634.
Asked by: Fay Jones (Conservative - Brecon and Radnorshire)
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 is taking steps to help tackle noise pollution generated by heat pumps.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK has strict standards governing noise emissions from heat pumps. Any heat pump must be installed in compliance with the Microgeneration Certification Scheme Planning Standard MCS-020 which considers noise emissions.
Asked by: Fay Jones (Conservative - Brecon and Radnorshire)
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 prevent fraudulent registration of addresses with Companies House.
Answered by Paul Scully
At present the Registrar has the power to remove certain information from the register, but she must follow a statutory process before doing so. Upon receipt of supporting evidence, showing rights to an address the Registrar can assist by replacing an erroneous registered office address with a Companies House default address on the public register.
On 28 February 2022 Government published a detailed White Paper (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/corporate-transparency-and-register-reform) setting out far-reaching reforms to Companies House. It is intended that, following enactment, the Registrar will have new powers to challenge information that appears dubious, and will be empowered to inform security agencies of potential wrongdoing.
Asked by: Fay Jones (Conservative - Brecon and Radnorshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what progress has been made in distribution of the £1.6 billion of funding as part of the Home Upgrade Scheme and Social Housing Decarbonisation Scheme.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is investing £6.6 billion in this Parliament to decarbonise buildings, of which over £2 billion is aimed specifically at lower-income households, helping people save money on their energy bills.
The total committed funding to the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund, to date, is just over £1 billion, representing a significant investment in driving the decarbonisation agenda. £240 million has been awarded to Registered Providers of social housing through the Demonstrator and Wave 1, delivering energy efficiency upgrades to Social Homes currently below EPC C from 2022 to 2023. As confirmed in the 2021 spending review settlement, £800 million has been committed for Wave 2 of the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (FY22/23 –24/25). The competition window is currently planned to open in late summer 2022.
The Government has allocated £1.1 billion to the Home Upgrade Grant since 2020. £219 million has been awarded to local authorities to deliver energy efficiency upgrades to low-income, off-gas grid, households by March 2023. BEIS is working across government and with key stakeholders to decide the final policy scope and delivery approach for future Home Upgrade Grant funding iterations until 2025.
Asked by: Fay Jones (Conservative - Brecon and Radnorshire)
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 is taking to support businesses that have faced disruptions as a result of the covid-19 outbreak to apply for the Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive before the deadline.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government has introduced a number of measures to support businesses that have been affected by the covid-19 pandemic. The Department also published guidance for tradesmen, so that they could continue to operate safely while carrying out installations in people’s homes.
In March 2020, as part of the budget statement, the Government extended the lifetime of the Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (DRHI) scheme by an additional 12 months, so it is now scheduled to close at the end of March 2022. The extension will provide support for businesses and the installer supply chain for an additional year.
The Department is also making a further amendment to the regulations to relax the requirement for installations to be accredited to the RHI within 12 months of the installation taking place. This will help both consumers and businesses who have been unable to complete building work due to the. The amendment should come into force on 1st April 2021.
Asked by: Fay Jones (Conservative - Brecon and Radnorshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what financial support is available for the wedding venue industry during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Paul Scully
Wedding venues are able to access a wide package of support to help them through the current crisis. This includes the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, government-backed loans, and the Local Restrictions Support Grants.
Asked by: Fay Jones (Conservative - Brecon and Radnorshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether owners of self-catering holiday accommodation will be eligible for support from the Local Restrictions Support Grant scheme.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Local Restrictions Support Grant (Closed) of up to £3,000 per four-week period is available to all businesses in England that have been required to close due to local and national restrictions.
In order to qualify for this grant, businesses must be part of the business rate system. Therefore, businesses that manage accommodation remotely must be the eligible business rate payer for that hereditament in order to receive a grant through the Local Restrictions Support Grant (Closed) scheme.
The Local Restrictions Support Grant (Open) is a discretionary fund and local authorities are free to determine which businesses to support.
The Devolved Administrations are responsible for the administration of support schemes in Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.
Asked by: Fay Jones (Conservative - Brecon and Radnorshire)
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 encourage landlords of privately rented homes to increase the energy efficiency of their properties.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
Since April 2020, all privately rented homes in England and Wales are required to meet a minimum energy efficiency standard of EPC band E. The Department is currently consulting on raising the minimum energy efficiency standards for privately rented homes in England and Wales to EPC band C. Under the Government’s recommended option, landlords would be required to reach EPC Band C for new tenancies from 1 April 2025 and all tenancies by 1 April 2028.
Landlords in England are encouraged to make use of the £2 billion Green Homes Grant funding scheme to improve their property stock to EPC Band C. Under this scheme, homeowners and landlords can receive at least two thirds of the cost of upgrading the energy performance of their homes up to a contribution of £5,000.
The consultation on improving the energy performance of privately rented homes can be accessed on GOV.UK?at https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/improving-the-energy-performance-of-privately-rented-homes and will remain open until 30 December 2020.