Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of reports that retail companies have increased the price of domestic heating oil separate to and above increases in wholesale prices; and whether he will refer the market to the Competition and Markets Authority.

Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Government is aware that off-grid households have seen a sharp increase in heating oil prices due to volatility in international markets. Suppliers often have limited storage, buying daily on the spot market. These changes are then reflected immediately in the price consumers pay.

Following discussions with the Competition and Markets Authority, we welcome the CMA's launch of a comprehensive examination into the heating oil industry.

We will work closely with the CMA to understand their findings and develop options to increase consumer protections, including how regulation can increase stability.

While this work is ongoing, the Chancellor has announced £53m for low-income households that heat their homes with oil. In England, funding will be distributed by local authorities via the Crisis and Resilience Fund (CRF), which comes into effect from 1 April. The additional funding has targeted areas with higher proportions of oil heating.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what estimate his Department has made of the increase in the average price of domestic heating oil since the start of the conflict with Iran; and what assessment he has made of the impact of those increases on households that rely on heating oil.

Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Government is aware that off-grid households have seen a sharp increase in heating oil prices due to volatility in international markets. Suppliers often have limited storage, buying daily on the spot market. These changes are then reflected immediately in the price consumers pay.

Following discussions with the Competition and Markets Authority, we welcome the CMA's launch of a comprehensive examination into the heating oil industry.

We will work closely with the CMA to understand their findings and develop options to increase consumer protections, including how regulation can increase stability.

While this work is ongoing, the Chancellor has announced £53m for low-income households that heat their homes with oil. In England, funding will be distributed by local authorities via the Crisis and Resilience Fund (CRF), which comes into effect from 1 April. The additional funding has targeted areas with higher proportions of oil heating.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to support households that rely on heating oil for domestic heating following recent increases in heating oil prices linked to the conflict with Iran.

Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Government is aware that off-grid households have seen a sharp increase in heating oil prices due to volatility in international markets. Suppliers often have limited storage, buying daily on the spot market. These changes are then reflected immediately in the price consumers pay.

Following discussions with the Competition and Markets Authority, we welcome the CMA's launch of a comprehensive examination into the heating oil industry.

We will work closely with the CMA to understand their findings and develop options to increase consumer protections, including how regulation can increase stability.

While this work is ongoing, the Chancellor has announced £53m for low-income households that heat their homes with oil. In England, funding will be distributed by local authorities via the Crisis and Resilience Fund (CRF), which comes into effect from 1 April. The additional funding has targeted areas with higher proportions of oil heating.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of compensating firms for unpaid labour resulting from the Legal Aid Agency data breach.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

We appreciate the constructive way in which legal aid providers have worked with us following the serious criminal attack on the Legal Aid Agency’s (LAA) digital systems. They have continued to do vital work in challenging circumstances.

Since systems were restored in December 2025, the LAA has processed civil casework, both applications and bills, for the work undertaken by providers during the system outage. Where individual providers believe they have incurred additional billable costs, these can be claimed through the normal billing processes set out in the Costs Assessment Guidance.

We appreciate that some providers have raised concerns regarding additional administrative burdens related to contingency operations. We have worked with stakeholders to simplify processes wherever possible. This has included testing new service functionality with providers before launch and refining services based on the feedback received. For example, we extended the Average Payment Scheme for civil certificated work and temporarily suspended activities such as audits to ease administrative pressures. We have also continued to update guidance and FAQs in direct response to stakeholder input to provide clearer, more streamlined support for providers. Our priority now is working through the backlog of cases which is currently progressing well. All providers will be paid for the legal services provided under their legal aid contracts. We have no plans to set up a compensation scheme.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether revenue raised under his Department's proposed Interest on Lawyer's Client Accounts scheme will be earmarked to support access to justice.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The Government is committed to the biggest expansion of legal aid in a generation as part of the Hillsborough Law and are investing millions on reforming the courts system through unlimited sitting days and better maintaining courts to deliver a world-class justice system.

Funding from an Interest on Lawyers’ Client Accounts (ILCA) scheme will play a crucial role in achieving these priorities from 2028/9 onwards.

The Government has published a consultation on ILCA that closed on 9 March 2026, including how income from such a scheme might be invested. We will carefully consider all responses and provide an official response.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the legal aid means test thresholds; and whether he plans to update them.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The Government is committed to the provision of legal aid, recognising the vital role that it plays in underpinning genuine access to justice.

We are considering our approach to eligibility across legal aid, including carefully assessing the impact of the recommendations made by the Independent Review of the Criminal Courts

This Government inherited a legal system in crisis, and we are taking steps to invest in legal aid.

We are providing additional funding of up to £34 million a year for criminal legal aid advocates alongside our commitment to match fund a number of criminal barrister pupillages. This is in addition to the investment of £92 million in the solicitor fee schemes.

Alongside this, we have also announced an uplift to immigration and housing legal aid fees. This amounts to a significant investment of £20 million a year once fully implemented – the first major increase since 1996.

Furthermore, we are delivering the largest expansion of civil legal aid in a decade, enabling bereaved families to access non-means tested legal aid at all inquests where a public authority is an interested person.

Beyond legal aid, this Government is also providing over £6 million of grant funding in 2025-2026 to support access to legal support services for people with social welfare problems. We have also announced nearly £20 million of multi-year funding to extend existing grant programmes to September 2026 and providing a new grant from October 2026 to March 2029.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what evidence his Department has gathered from schemes overseas comparable with the proposed Interest on Lawyers’ Client Accounts scheme.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

Interest on Lawyer’s Client Account schemes have been successfully employed in several international jurisdictions for decades. As part of developing this proposal, the Ministry of Justice has undertaken extensive research and engagement with experts, officials and administrators from several international comparators. This includes schemes in Australia, Canada, France and the USA.