Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Independent - Runcorn and Helsby)
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 it his policy to remove the requirement to pay back the £200 payment for energy costs through the Energy Bill Support Scheme.
Answered by Greg Hands
On the 26 May my Rt hon Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that the Energy Bills Support Scheme will increase to £400 from October 2022, which will now be a non-repayable grant.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Independent - Runcorn and Helsby)
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 amend the changes to the eligibility criteria for the Warm Home Discount to retain support for disabled people’s higher energy usage needs.
Answered by Greg Hands
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave to the Hon. Member for Lewisham, Deptford on 28 April 2022 to Question 155833.
My Rt hon Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer has also announced a one-off £150 payment for people on disability benefits this year, alongside other cost of living support measures.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Independent - Runcorn and Helsby)
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 his Department has made of the effectiveness of the process on retrofitting homes; and if he will take steps to speed up that process.
Answered by Greg Hands
The Government has committed to spend £6.6billion across this Parliament to decarbonise buildings. This funding supports energy efficiency improvements through the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund, the Local Authority Delivery Scheme and the Home Upgrade Grant.
Through the Energy Company Obligation, the Government has also set a target for larger energy suppliers to deliver energy efficiency savings by 2026. For those not eligible for Government support, the green finance offer will be improved.
The Government is also investing in training. In 2021, the £6 million BEIS Skills Training Competition resulted in 7,000 opportunities to learn retrofit skills and will be developing plans for a 2022/23 competition.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Independent - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the Warm Home Discount, if he will reverse the proposed change to the criteria of eligibility for financial support towards energy bills that would mean those in receipt of disability living allowance, personal independence payment and attendance allowance will no longer be able to claim from the discount scheme.
Answered by Greg Hands
Introducing non-means-tested benefits, such as Personal Independence Payment (PIP), Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and Attendance Allowance (AA), into the eligibility criteria would mean that many households on lower incomes and in deeper fuel poverty would be disadvantaged.
Around 62% of PIP and DLA recipients also receive one of the qualifying means-tested benefits and so would be considered low-income under the Core Group 2 criteria. Those households with high energy costs would be eligible for a rebate. Recipients of AA, a pension-age benefit, who claim Pension Credit Guarantee Credit will, in most cases, qualify for a rebate through Core Group 1.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Independent - Runcorn and Helsby)
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 impact on Royal Mail customers of (a) the price increase on Royal Mail stamps and (b) current stamps which will no longer be valid from January 2023.
Answered by Paul Scully
As a private business, Royal Mail’s management sets the prices for its services. The Government does not have a role in Royal Mail’s day-to-day commercial or operational decisions. In setting its prices however, Royal Mail must work within the regulatory framework set by Ofcom, the independent regulator. This framework currently imposes price caps on certain second-class products.
In January 2021, Royal Mail raised the price of second-class standard letter stamps to the level of the cap, and it can now only raise prices for that product in line with CPI rates for the remainder of Ofcom’s current review period, ending in March 2024. Ofcom plans to begin work towards the end of this year on a review of the appropriate scope and level of the safeguard caps that should apply from April 2024.
The development of stamp products is also an operational matter for Royal Mail. Royal Mail has announced a ‘Swap Out’ scheme to exchange existing stamps for new barcoded versions which is set to open on 31 March 2022. Royal Mail will set out further details on the scheme in due course.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Independent - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if his Department will hold discussions with representatives of British Gas on the effect of the increase in energy tariffs on customers with pre-payment meters (a) with and (b) without pre-paid credit on their pre-payment meter.
Answered by Greg Hands
The Government is in regular contact with industry to discuss the impact of unprecedented global gas prices and will continue to monitor the situation closely to ensure consumers are protected.
Ofgem has robust rules in place to protect Prepayment meter customers. In December 2020, Ofgem introduced Licence Conditions that require energy suppliers to provide extra support for customers using prepayment meters. These include an obligation on suppliers to make emergency and friendly-hours credit available to all pre-payment meter customers.
Where a supplier identifies that a prepayment customer is in a vulnerable situation, including where a customer is self-disconnecting or self-rationing their supply, they must offer additional support credit. When assessing how a customer will repay any credit offered, suppliers must also consider their ability to pay.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Independent - Runcorn and Helsby)
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 effect of the rise in energy bills on customers in Weaver Vale constituency.
Answered by Greg Hands
The Government recognises many households will need support to deal with the impact of high wholesale energy costs, which are being affected by global factors.
In response, the Chancellor of the Exchequer has announced a package of support to help households with rising energy bills, worth £9.1 billion in 2022-23. This includes a £200 rebate for households delivered via their energy bill this autumn, a £150 non-repayable reduction in Council Tax bills for all households in Bands A-D in England and £144 million of discretionary funding for Local Authorities to support households who need support but are not eligible for the Council Tax reduction.
This is in addition to the support Government will continue to provide through the Warm Home Discount Scheme, which this winter is providing over 2 million households a £140 rebate off their energy bill each winter. The Government have announced that it would be increasing to £150 and help an extra 780,000 households next winter. Further, Winter Fuel Payments and Cold Weather Payments help ensure the most vulnerable are better able to heat their homes over the colder months.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Independent - Runcorn and Helsby)
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 adequacy of Royal Mail deliveries in Runcorn and Helsby.
Answered by Paul Scully
Royal Mail has publicly stated that it is aware of the reduction in service levels in some areas and is taking action to reduce delays to deliveries. Its contingency plans to mitigate disruption to postal services are overseen by Ofcom.
Ofcom continues to monitor Royal Mail’s performance to ensure it is providing the best service it can to customers and has powers to investigate and take enforcement action if Royal Mail fails to achieve its performance targets.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Independent - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the financial difficulties of CNIM, if he will make it his policy to halt the construction of a waste incinerator in Weaver Vale constituency.
Answered by Greg Hands
The Lostock Sustainable Energy Plant was granted consent under the Electricity Act 1989 in October 2012 by Ministers in what was then the Department of Energy and Climate Change. The consent was subsequently varied in July 2019. A further application to vary this consent was submitted in October 2021 to my department. When deciding whether to refuse or consent this application, the Secretary of State will consider all matters relevant to planning. The Government does not comment on specific matters relating to live applications.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Independent - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to tackle C02 shortages resulting from gas supply issues and its effects on the availability of meat and frozen products.
Answered by Lee Rowley
We are monitoring the situation and are not aware of any material supply issues with CO2 for the meat and frozen food industries at the current time.