Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
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 merits of expanding the use of tidal power to help meet the UK's energy needs.
Answered by Greg Hands
The Government announced in November 2021 that the fourth Contracts for Difference allocation round will feature a £20m annual ringfenced budget for tidal power. This builds on a long and continuing history of government support for the tidal power sector and opens up possibilities for Britain’s marine energy sector to play a key role in strengthening energy security and reducing dependency on fossil fuels. Moreover, the Government remains open to considering well-developed proposals for harnessing the tidal range energy in our bays and estuaries, provided that such proposals can demonstrate clear and beneficial impacts on the energy system and good value for money.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
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 require all utility companies to provide the Warm Homes Discount to both the (a) core group and (b) broader group.
Answered by Greg Hands
Currently, energy suppliers with over 150,000 domestic customer accounts are obligated to deliver the Warm Home Discount Core Group, and those with over 250,000 are obligated to deliver both the Core and Broader Groups. These thresholds are in place following a consultation in 2020, and are set out in Regulations. Energy suppliers below these thresholds are able to voluntarily participate in the delivery of rebates.
The Government consulted last summer on the future of the scheme, which included proposals to reduce the energy supplier participation thresholds to 50,000 domestic customer accounts in 2022/23, and 1,000 domestic customer accounts from 2023/24 onwards. These balances are increasing access to the scheme, while ensuring costs are not prohibitive for new market entrants. The Government has also proposed to reform the scheme and replace the Broader Group in order to better target households in fuel poverty. The Government will be publishing its response to the consultation in Spring 2022.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
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 commission a public information campaign to raise awareness of the Warm Homes Discount Scheme.
Answered by Greg Hands
In the 2021/22 scheme year, all low-income pensioners who are potentially eligible for a rebate under the Warm Home Discount Core Group will have received a letter from the Government by mid-December 2021. Most will receive the rebate automatically; in 2020/21, around 95% of Core Group recipients received their rebates automatically. In addition, the Warm Home Discount website is widely signposted and used by consumer groups, charities, and energy comparison websites to maximise uptake.
Energy suppliers are responsible for administering their Broader Group rebates, including setting their eligibility criteria and providing the rebates to eligible households. Suppliers make their customers aware of the scheme and are usually over-subscribed with applications.
Last summer, the Government consulted on extending, expanding, and reforming the scheme such that from winter 2022/23 the vast majority of all Warm Home Discount rebates would be provided automatically.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
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 standardise the eligibility criteria for the Warm Homes Discount.
Answered by Greg Hands
The Government consulted last summer on the future of the Warm Home Discount scheme. While the Core Group of low-income pensioners would be maintained, the Government has proposed to replace the Broader Group and instead identify households on low incomes with the highest energy costs through data matching. Eligibility would be the same across all participating energy suppliers and this would enable most rebates to be provided automatically without customers having to apply, including working-age households for the first time.
The Government will be publishing its response to the consultation in Spring 2022, with the reforms coming into force from the 2022/23 scheme year.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
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 remove the limits on the number of Warm Home Discounts a supplier can issue.
Answered by Greg Hands
The Government sets the overall spending target for each Warm Home Discount scheme year. For 2021/22, the spending target is £354 million, and around 2.2 million households will receive a rebate worth £140. However, the Warm Home Discount is not funded by the Government – it is paid for by energy suppliers, who generally recoup the costs from customers’ energy bills. This is currently estimated to be around £14 per customer bill.
Having a spending target is therefore necessary to balance providing significant numbers of rebates to as many households as possible, while minimising the impact on consumers’ bills. Energy suppliers can also support their customers through other means, such as through Industry Initiatives under the Warm Home Discount, or measures outside of the scheme.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the compliance of his Department's staff working from home with the Working Time Regulations 1998.
Answered by George Freeman
Line managers and individuals have joint responsibility for ensuring that staff work their agreed hours and take breaks in accordance with the Working Time Regulations 1998, and to manage any issues if they arise. This applies to both where the employee is attending the workplace and where they are working from home.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
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 representations to Northern Powergrid on creating a fast-track streamlined compensation system for residents left without power as a result of Storm Arwen.
Answered by Greg Hands
Ofgem, the independent regulator for the UK’s energy networks, sets service levels which Distribution Network Operators must meet, with rules on how quickly compensation payments are issued to consumers if the standards are not met. This is set out in the Quality of Service Guaranteed Standards.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, once power has been restored, if he will commission an independent public inquiry into the national and local response to Storm Arwen.
Answered by Greg Hands
My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has commissioned a post-incident review into Storm Arwen to identify lessons and best practice for communications, resourcing and system resilience.
As the independent regulator for energy, Ofgem has also announced a review into the impact of Storm Arwen. This will focus on the role of the network companies in maintaining resilience of the system and their emergency response.