Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether energy customers will have the ability to opt out of the energy bill discount scheme.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The intention of the energy bill rebate scheme is that it is universal, and consumers will not need to apply for the discount. Details of the scheme will be subject to a public consultation in the spring.
More information on what the government is doing to protect consumers can be found online here:
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many properties owners who received cavity wall insulation submitted complaints on the service they received in (a) Wales (b) England (c) Scotland (d) Northern Ireland in each year since 2018.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department does not collect data on complaints about the service households received when having cavity wall insulation installed.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many properties in (a) Wales (b) England (c) Scotland (d) Northern Ireland, have received cavity wall insulation in each year since 2018.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Between January 2018 and September 2021, 205,464 CWI measures were installed across Great Britain under ECO and the Green Homes Grant scheme (England only). Table 1 displays the annual CWI installation data for Great Britain and Table 2 displays the regional break down of total ECO measures delivered within the same time period. We are unable to provide measure-specific data by region and there is no available data for Northern Ireland.
Table 1:
2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021* | Total |
79,926 | 40,821 | 39,550 | 45,167 | 205,464 |
Table 2:
Total GB | Wales | England | Scotland |
1,072,350 | 50,631 | 900,149 | 121,570 |
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the number of properties in (a) Wales (b) England (c) Scotland (d) Northern Ireland which are eligible for cavity wall insulation.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The table below sets out the number of properties which had cavity walls and the proportion of those properties which had cavity wall insulation as at December 2020.
Nation | Approximate Properties with Cavity Walls | Estimate of Percentage of those Properties with Cavity Wall Insulation |
Great Britain | 20.4 million | 70% |
England | 17.5 million | 69% |
Wales | 0.9 million | 75% |
Scotland | 2.0 million | 80% |
This data can be found at Tables 8.7a-d in the following: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/household-energy-efficiency-statistics-detailed-report-2020.
We do not hold data for Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
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 protect homeowners when the companies who issue guarantees for cavity wall insulations going into administration.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The ECO scheme requires installers of cavity wall insulation to provide a warranty to householders when measures are fitted. The Government endorsed quality framework which was launched in October 2018 and overseen by Trustmark ensures an improved and comprehensive consumer protection process, including having sufficient guarantees in place to provide redress for households.
In cases where an installer is either no longer trading or has not addressed all relevant concerns, householders should contact the guarantee provider. A full list of the appropriate guarantee providers available can be found at: https://www.trustmark.org.uk/homeowners/benefits/financial-protection.
BEIS officials are exploring what mechanisms are currently in place across each of the guarantee providers to protect consumers in case of insolvency.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
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 bring forward (a) a review of the cavity wall insulation industry and (b) proposals for reforming the system to better protect homeowners.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government has no plans to commission a review of the Cavity Wall Insulation (CWI) industry or reforming the current system of consumer protection.
The Government has implemented the key recommendations of the independent Each Home Counts Review of consumer advice, protection, standards and enforcement for energy efficiency and renewable energy. This has included the launch of TrustMark as the government endorsed quality mark and the introduction of improved design and installation standards for domestic retrofit (PAS2035:2019 and PAS2030:2019).
All cavity wall insulation installed under the Energy Company Obligation, Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund, the Home Upgrade Grant and Local Authority Delivery has to be completed by TrustMark registered businesses, adhering to the latest standards.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, for what reasons contribution based employment and support allowance is not included in the eligibility criteria for the Warm Homes Discount.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
It is the responsibility of each participating energy supplier to administer their Warm Home Discount Broader Group rebates and pay the rebates to their eligible customers. Whilst there are minimum standard criteria set out in the Regulations that energy suppliers must include, suppliers can set their own criteria for Broader Group rebates. Each energy supplier’s additional Broader Group criteria must be targeted towards consumers in fuel poverty or at risk of fuel poverty and must be approved by Ofgem each scheme year.
Typically, the Broader Group eligibility criteria focus on receipt of means-tested benefits alongside indicators of vulnerability, such as a disability premium or parental responsibility for a child under the age of 5. Some energy suppliers do consider contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance as part of their eligibility criteria.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, for what reason his Department excludes contribution-based employment and support allowance as a qualifying benefit for the Warm Home Discount.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
It is the responsibility of each participating energy supplier to administer their Warm Home Discount Broader Group rebates and pay the rebates to their eligible customers. Whilst there are minimum standard criteria set out in the Regulations that energy suppliers must include, suppliers can set their own criteria for Broader Group rebates. Each energy supplier’s additional Broader Group criteria must be targeted towards consumers in fuel poverty or at risk of fuel poverty and must be approved by Ofgem each scheme year.
Typically, the Broader Group eligibility criteria focus on receipt of means-tested benefits alongside indicators of vulnerability, such as a disability premium or parental responsibility for a child under the age of 5. Some energy suppliers do consider contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance as part of their eligibility criteria.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of protections offered by the (a) Consumer Contract (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 and (b) Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Practices Regulations 2008 in supporting protecting consumers from subscription traps.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government is committed to tackling subscription traps and preventing consumers from being exploited.
The existing law requires that a trader informs consumers of the price and length of a subscription, before a contract is entered in to. Failure to provide this information is a breach of contract and can be challenged by consumers.
The Government is working with regulators and other key partners within the consumer protection framework to ensure that the current legal framework is robust in prohibiting harmful business practices to consumer contracts.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment has has made of the potential merits of entering into reciprocal arrangements with individual EU member states to (a) waive or (b) reduce the costs of short-stay visa and work permits for temporary seasonal tourism workers.
Answered by Paul Scully
The end of freedom of movement between the UK and the EU will inevitably have some consequences for cross-border business travel, and we are engaging regularly with businesses to help them understand the new requirements for travel to the EU. We respect the right of individual Member States to determine their own immigration policies. Here in the UK, we have adopted a global immigration system that treats EU and non-EU citizens equally.
Tourism personnel are included in the list of permitted activities for short-term business visitors in the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA), removing the requirement for a work permit for up to 90 in 180 days. In addition, travel agencies, tour operators’ services and tourist guides are included in the scope of TCA commitments for contractual service suppliers and independent (self-employed) professionals.
Commitments in the TCA provide certainty and clarity for those who travel to another country temporarily to do business. The TCA guarantees market access to key economic sectors, and ease some burdens on business travellers, such as: removing the need for work permits for some short-term trips and reducing the number of economic needs tests a country could impose to block access to exporters. They also ensure that the UK and EU Member States have a minimum standard for how business travellers and service providers should be treated when working abroad through non-discrimination clauses.
We have published guidance on GOV.UK to help those intending to travel to the EU, EEA and Switzerland for work or other business purposes. The Government will continue to enhance this guidance and to engage with our embassies to better understand the requirements in Member States, on behalf of UK businesses.