Asked by: Gideon Amos (Liberal Democrat - Taunton and Wellington)
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 ensure that policy changes arising from consultations relevant to the Warm Homes Plan are implemented in time to support delivery of that Plan's objectives.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The government is committed to delivering the Warm Homes Plan at pace. We will carefully consider responses to consultations relevant to the Plan and will implement policy changes in line with legislative and delivery timetables.
Asked by: Gideon Amos (Liberal Democrat - Taunton and Wellington)
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 make timely decisions on energy efficiency and retrofit schemes, the mobilisation of the Warm Homes Plan and associated policy changes to avoid the loss of workforce capacity, skills and investment between programmes.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is committed to delivering the Warm Homes Plan at pace while providing clarity and a stable pipeline for industry. We are working across energy efficiency and retrofit policy to support timely decisions on scheme design, mobilisation, and implementation. This includes considering workforce capacity, skills, and supply chain impacts as part of scheme development. We are also working with the TUC through the Warm Homes Plan Workforce Taskforce to support jobs and skills across the sector. We will continue to engage with delivery partners and industry to support investment and minimise disruption between programmes.
Asked by: Gideon Amos (Liberal Democrat - Taunton and Wellington)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the Energy Performance Certificate methodology for determining eligibility for Government-funded low-carbon heating and energy-efficiency schemes.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The government is reforming Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) to ensure they provide a more complete assessment of a home's energy performance. We will introduce four headline metrics for domestic EPCs: Fabric Performance, Heating System, Smart Readiness and Energy Cost.
Moving from a single headline metric to a suite of complementary metrics will allow government schemes to choose the metrics most relevant to their objectives when determining eligibility and targeting support. The government is considering the interaction between reformed EPCs and government-funded energy efficiency and low-carbon heating schemes as part of the development of both future schemes and EPC reforms.
Asked by: Gideon Amos (Liberal Democrat - Taunton and Wellington)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the Warm Homes Plan target of lifting one million households out of fuel poverty in meeting statutory fuel poverty objectives.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Tackling fuel poverty is a priority for this Government. Through the 2026 Fuel Poverty Strategy for England and the Warm Homes Plan, we are taking action to accelerate progress, with an ambition to lift up to 1 million households out of fuel poverty by 2030. This will be achieved through new regulations in the rental sector as well as £5 billion of support from the Warm Homes Plan for low-income households and the expanded Warm Home Discount.
The Fuel Poverty Strategy acknowledged that sustained action beyond 2030 will be required to tackle fuel poverty and committed to consulting on a new fuel poverty target to succeed the 2030 target.
Asked by: Gideon Amos (Liberal Democrat - Taunton and Wellington)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what financial support will be available to private landlords to meet the proposed EPC C standard by 1 October 2030.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Support is currently available to help landlords improve their properties, including through the Warm Homes: Local Grant and the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, and a zero-rate of VAT until March 2027 on energy saving measures. An eligibility tool is available at the government webpage ‘Find Ways to Save Energy in your Home’ (www.gov.uk/improve-energy-efficiency), which provides tailored recommendations for home improvements to increase energy efficiency and clean heat.
More widely, we are continuing to explore longer term options to stimulate greater availability of private finance options. As part of the Warm Homes Plan, government will establish a Strategic Partnership with the green home finance sector, to help build and diversify the range of green financing options available from the broader market.
Asked by: Gideon Amos (Liberal Democrat - Taunton and Wellington)
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 capacity of the retrofit and domestic energy assessor supply chain to complete upgrades to approximately 2.5 million private rented properties by 1 October 2030; and what steps his Department is taking to address any identified shortfall.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
We are committed to supporting the training and upskilling of retrofit workers. Our £15 billion Warm Homes Plan, the biggest public investment in home upgrades in British history, will support up to 180,000 additional jobs in energy efficiency and clean heating by 2030.
In April, we announced plans to train up to 18,000 skilled workers to install heat pumps, fit solar panels, install insulation, and work on heat networks, through extending the Heat Training Grant, launching the Warm Homes Skills Programme, and updating the apprenticeship framework.
We also recently established the Warm Homes Plan Workforce Taskforce, co-led by DESNZ and the Trades Union Congress, which will meet regularly with the specific aim of facilitating the transition, creation, and growth of a workforce which meets the evolving demand generated by the Warm Homes Plan.
Asked by: Gideon Amos (Liberal Democrat - Taunton and Wellington)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent estimate he has made of the number of private rented properties that will qualify for an exemption from the proposed EPC C standard by 1 October 2030 on the grounds of (a) high cost, (b) property value adjustment, (c) solid wall construction and (d) negative impacts.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The most recent impact assessment was published on 21 January 2026, alongside the government response to the consultation on raising the minimum energy efficiency standard to EPC C by 2030 for privately rented homes.
The assessment outlines which exemptions have predominantly been registered on the PRS MEES Exemptions Register currently, and which of the existing and new exemptions are accounted for in the latest modelling. More information on this is available on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Gideon Amos (Liberal Democrat - Taunton and Wellington)
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 publish the finalised Home Energy Model band boundaries that will define compliance with the new EPC C standard for private rented properties ahead of the 1 October 2030 deadline.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The government's Home Energy Model: Energy Performance Certificate consultation closed in March. The consultation included questions on the proposed C rating requirements across the Fabric Performance, Heating System and Smart Readiness metrics, which will underpin minimum energy efficiency standards in the private rented sector from 2030.
We are currently reviewing consultation responses and will publish the Government Response later this year.
Asked by: Gideon Amos (Liberal Democrat - Taunton and Wellington)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what criteria his Department is using to define smart readiness for the purposes of the secondary compliance metric under the proposed new EPC framework for private rented properties; and what estimate he has made of the typical cost to a landlord of meeting that criterion.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Landlords in the private rented sector are expected to comply with minimum energy efficiency standards by meeting EPC C against the Fabric Performance metric and then EPC C against either the Smart Readiness or Heating System metric.
The Home Energy Model: Energy Performance Certificate consultation sought views on how smart readiness should be defined, including the role of technologies such as solar photovoltaic systems, battery storage and smart meters.
The government is currently reviewing consultation responses and will publish its response later this year. An estimate of costs based on the policy proposals consulted on was set out in the PRS MEES impact assessment published on 16 January.
Asked by: Gideon Amos (Liberal Democrat - Taunton and Wellington)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact on households and small‑scale renewable‑energy investors of replacing Retail Prices Index indexation with Consumer Prices Index for Feed‑in Tariff payments; and whether consideration has been given to the potential merits of providing support for scheme participants who entered 20‑ or 25‑year contracts on the basis of RPI‑linked uprating.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
An analytical annex, including an assessment of the potential impacts of this policy, was published alongside the Government response.
The Government considers that the change to indexation strikes an appropriate balance between reducing costs for consumers and maintaining investor confidence in the UK’s renewable energy sector. The Government remains committed to supporting accredited Feed-in Tariff generators for the remainder of their support period.