Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many consumers eligible for the guarantee credit element of pension credit are customers of (a) energy suppliers with more than and (b) fewer than 250,000 customers.
Answered by Claire Perry
Of the roughly 1.4m Pension Credit Guaranteed Credit recipients, over 1.2m receive the Warm Home Discount (WHD) automatically on their energy bills as a result of being with a participating supplier and being named on the energy bill. Some of these pensioners are with suppliers with less than 250,000 customers but who have opted to participate in WHD voluntarily. We estimate that roughly 60,000 pension credit guarantee credit recipients who would be eligible under the scheme do not receive the rebate as a result of being with a non-participating supplier
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many consumers in social grade DE are customers of (a) energy suppliers with more than and (b) fewer than 250,000 customers.
Answered by Claire Perry
The Department does not hold this information.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth Sutton and Devonport)
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 whether there will be an increase in the number of people who will be ineligible to receive the discount on energy through the Warm Home Discount Scheme as more people are choosing to move from large to small energy suppliers.
Answered by Claire Perry
Energy suppliers that are obligated to participate in the Warm Home Discount scheme cover 94% of the market for domestic customers. Our evaluation suggests that intentions to switch energy suppliers are generally low among rebate recipients. We have recently completed a consultation on the next phase of Warm Home Discount, including the obligation thresholds, and are currently reviewing the responses.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what regulatory standards are in place for filters in washing machines; and whether he has plans to review those standards.
Answered by Andrew Griffiths
Washing machines placed on the market on or after the 8 December 2016 must comply with the Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 2016 and before that date with the Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 1994. As these regulations require manufacturers to ensure that washing machines they place on the market are safe, this means any filter used in the product must also be safe. There are no plans to review these requirements.
Manufacturers can create a presumption of compliance with the legislation by conforming to relevant Harmonised European safety standards.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is responsible for environmental protection policy.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many former Conservative Members of Parliament who were defeated at the 2017 general election and who now work in his Department were appointed after a publicly advertised and open recruitment process.
Answered by Andrew Griffiths
No former Conservative Members of Parliament have been appointed to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, or its Partner Organisations, since the 2017 General Election.