Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to the Citizens Advice report entitled Demand: Net Zero, published in May 2023, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of introducing a national advice service to provide advice on home energy efficiency.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government is committed to improving customer advice regarding home energy efficiency. The current digital service was launched on GOV.UK in July 2022 and is titled ‘Find ways to save energy in your home’. The service provides tailored impartial advice and is supported by a national phoneline service which launched in March 2023.
In autumn, enhancements of Government digital services will enable consumers to check whether they’re eligible for retrofit schemes such as the Great British Insulation Scheme (GBIS) and Home Upgrade Grant: Phase 2 (HUG2).
Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to the Citizens Advice report entitled Demand: Net Zero, published in May 2023, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the upfront costs of home retrofitting for households.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government is investing £6.6 billion over this Parliament on clean heat and improving energy efficiency in buildings. In addition, £6 billion of new Government funding will be made available from 2025 to 2028.
The Government's ‘Help to Heat’ schemes ensure homes will be warmer and cheaper to heat. The schemes will deliver upgrades to over half a million homes in the coming years through the Government's Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund, Home Upgrade Grant Scheme and Energy Company Obligation.
The Government is also improving its consumer advice and guidance and mobilising the Green Finance Market.
Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to the Citizens Advice report entitled Demand: Net Zero, published in May 2023, what steps her Department plans to take to incentivise (a) homeowners and (b) other housing tenures to improve the energy efficiency of their homes.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government is investing £6.6 billion over this Parliament on clean heat and improving energy efficiency in buildings which will benefit homeowners and other housing tenures. In addition, £6 billion of new Government funding will be made available from 2025 to 2028.
Catalysing the market for Green Finance is a priority to help support homeowners with the upfront costs of improvement.
In 2022, the Government launched a home retrofit tool on gov.uk to provide tailored recommendations to households for home improvements.
Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate he has made of the number of people (a) under and (b) over the age of 18 who vape in (i) Wirral and (ii) England.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
Data is not available at local authority level, including in Wirral. However, data on vaping is available at England level for adults and children.
The NHS Smoking, Drinking and Drug use among Young People in England publication shows current vaping prevalence among those aged 11 to 15 was 9% in 2021.
Data from the Office for National Statistics Adult smoking habits in the UK publication shows that in 2022 there were an estimated 3.8 million vapers over the age of 16.
Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential long-term effects of vaping on the health of people (a) under and (b) over the age of 18 in (i) Wirral and (ii) England.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The Department has not made a specific assessment of this in the Wirral and England. However, in general the Department’s assessment of the safety of vaping is based upon a series of independent evidence reviews commissioned over the past several years. The most recent and final in the series, the 2022 Nicotine Vaping in England report, was published in September 2022.
The latest report focuses predominantly on the potential health risks of vaping, and concludes that in the short and medium term, vaping poses a small fraction of the risks of smoking, but that vaping is not risk-free, particularly for people who have never smoked.
The Government only recommends regulated vaping products to help adult smokers to quit smoking and vapes should not be used by people under 18 or people who have never smoked.
Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made a comparative assessment of the effectiveness of the (a) Support for Mortgage Interest scheme and (b) pre-April 2018 scheme.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We recently extended the support SMI provides by offering Universal Credit claimants a loan after three months, instead of nine, and extending to in-work UC claimants. These changes allow more UC claimants to access SMI, and therefore better protect against repossession, than when SMI was paid as a benefit.
No comparative assessment has been made. Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) transitioned from a benefit to a loan in April 2018. The support provided as a loan is calculated at the same level as it was when it was a benefit, therefore it provides the same level of protection for individuals against repossession. Loans are only repayable from any available equity when the property is sold or the claimant dies.
Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he is taking steps to estimate the long-term cost to the NHS of vaping.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
We have no current plans to make a long-term estimate. Evidence shows that whilst not risk-free, vaping is substantially less harmful than smoking. It is estimated that smoking costs the National Health Service £2.4 billion a year. Helping smokers quit smoking including using tools such as vaping is likely to save the NHS financial costs from the smoking burden.
Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Support for Mortgage Interest scheme at supporting homeowners with rising mortgage costs.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
SMI provides reasonable support by making a contribution towards mortgage interest to protect claimants against the threat of repossession. The rate of SMI is based on the average mortgage rate published by the Bank of England and recently increased from 2.09% to 2.65% in May 2023. Any further changes will occur when the average mortgage rate differs by 0.5 percentage points or more from the rate in payment.
To support mortgage borrowers with rising interest rates, on 3 April 2023, we extended SMI by offering Universal Credit claimants a loan after three months, instead of nine and extended to in-work UC claimants.
No assessment has been made of the adequacy of Support for Mortgage interest (SMI) since interest rates have risen, although the Department continues to monitor the impact of our policies on an on-going basis.
Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
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 merits of additional targeted energy support for (a) people with motor neurone disease, (b) people who are reliant on energy-intensive assistive equipment and (c) other disabled people, in the context of increases in the cost of (i) energy and (ii) living.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
As set out in the Autumn Statement, the Government is exploring the best approach to consumer protection from April 2024, as part of wider retail market reforms. Officials are engaging with stakeholders with a view to targeting support for the most vulnerable and alleviating fuel poverty.
In response to higher prices, the Government has put in place the Energy Price Guarantee and provided significant additional support to help those who need it most through winter 2022-23 and into 2023-24.
Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when he plans to respond to the correspondence of 5 June 2023 from the hon. Member for Wirral West and the Leader of Wirral Council on the Leverhulme Estates planning appeals.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
I apologise for the delay in responding to the Hon. Member's correspondence. The department attaches great importance to the effective and timely handling of correspondence from Honourable Members. A response was issued on 21st June 2023.