Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
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 changes in support for disabled people through the Energy Company Obligation scheme, whether an assessment has been made of the impact on the finances of disabled people affected by this change.
Answered by Greg Hands
ECO4 has been designed to focus support on households with the lowest incomes and alleviate fuel poverty. This will include households with disabled people on the lowest incomes. The scheme is designed to improve the energy efficiency of homes, through the installation of insulation or heating measures. Households benefitting from improvements could save an average of £300 per annum.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
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, the Government did not take forward proposals for £5 million of Industry Initiatives to support disabled people who are struggling with energy costs but may not be eligible for a rebate; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Greg Hands
Respondents to last year’s consultation raised concerns that the proposal, especially if contributions from energy suppliers were made mandatory, risks overlapping with the support that suppliers can already provide to people with disabilities and health conditions.
The Government will continue to work with interested industry partners and third-party organisations to explore options based on voluntary contributions from energy suppliers, similar to other measures currently delivered through Industry Initiatives.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what targets have been set for energy suppliers to meet in terms of identifying and supporting disabled customers.
Answered by Greg Hands
The Priority Services Register is a free support service to help people in vulnerable situations offered by energy suppliers. Each supplier keeps its own register and disabled, and other vulnerable, customers may contact their supplier and apply to be added.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
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 the level of support provided by energy suppliers to disabled customers through programmes such as benefit entitlement checks and debt write-off.
Answered by Greg Hands
Ofgem requires energy suppliers to support disabled customers, including protection from disconnection during the winter, and the provision of additional services through a Priority Services Register. Ofgem monitors compliance with their rules protecting vulnerable consumers and its most recent report is available at: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2021-10/Ofgem%20Consumer%20Protection%20Report%20Autumn%202021_Final.pdf.
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Under the Warm Home Discount scheme, Ofgem provides a breakdown in its annual report of the Industry Initiatives that support fuel poor and vulnerable households, including through benefit entitlement checks and debt write-off. The 2020-2021 report is available at: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/warm-home-discount-annual-report-scheme-year-10.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he will make an assessment of the potential merits of revising the planned reforms to the Warm Home Discount eligibility criteria so all those in receipt of Personal Independence Payment, Disability Living Allowance and Attendance Allowance are eligible for the support.
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: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, who will qualify for the Warm Home Discount under the new Core Group 2.
Answered by Greg Hands
The full eligibility criteria, including a list of the qualifying benefits, can be found in the recently published Government response on the scheme.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 1 April to Question 145949 on Fuels: Prices, whether his Department has carried out a full equality impact assessment of the rising fuel costs on disabled people.
Answered by Greg Hands
BEIS does not determine the price of gas or electricity as these are set by global market conditions.
However, Ofgem’s price cap ensures that the price of tariffs is fair and that customers do not experience a loyalty penalty. As referred to in the previous answer, the Government is aware of the impact that high global wholesale energy prices are having on consumers and has put in place additional support worth £9.1bn on top of existing measures to support vulnerable households.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
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 impact of rising fuel costs on disabled people.
Answered by Greg Hands
The Government is committed to protecting customers from price spikes, particularly vulnerable customers. This support includes:
This is in addition to the range of support for low-income, fuel poor and vulnerable households including:
As announced in the Spring Statement, the Government has also provided an extra £500 million for local authorities through the new Household Support Fund to provide help to millions of the most in need.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
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 of changes to the Warm Home Discount scheme on people claiming (a) disability living allowance, (b) personal independence payments and (c) attendance allowance, who will no longer be eligible to apply for that scheme.
Answered by Greg Hands
The Warm Home Discount is a key part of the Government’s strategy to tackle fuel poverty. The Government consulted on reforming the Warm Home Discount scheme to better target fuel poverty and to provide the rebates automatically to households, as announced in the Energy White Paper. The Government’s response to the consultation will be published in the coming weeks.
The reforms include focusing support on households on the lowest incomes who are struggling to heat their homes. Eligibility would therefore be linked to receipt of a qualifying means-tested benefit and having high energy costs. Households in receipt of a disability benefit, as well as one of the qualifying means-tested benefits and with high energy costs, would be eligible for a rebate.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when his Department plans to publish the outcome of its Making flexible working the default consultation.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government consultation on making flexible working the default closed on 1 December 2021, with over 1,600 responses received. We are currently analysing these responses and look forward to publishing the outcome in due course.