Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what his Department's planned timetable is for publishing the outcome of the consultation entitled Extending the UK Emissions Trading Scheme cap beyond 2030, which closed on 9 April 2025.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The UK ETS Authority, the joint governance body comprising of the UK Government, Welsh Government, Scottish Government and the Northern Ireland Executive, is grateful for the range of stakeholder responses to the Extending the UK ETS cap beyond 2030 consultation.
The Authority recognises the importance of providing certainty and clarity on the scheme that is a cornerstone of its economy-wide approach to decarbonising the whole of the UK. A response to the consultation, outlining the Authority’s decisions, will be published as soon as possible.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the ability of (a) ceramics manufacturers and (b) other energy intensive industries to meet the UK Emissions Trading Scheme.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
UK Emissions Trading Scheme (UK ETS) participants, including those in energy intensive industries such as the ceramics sector, are provided with free allocations to mitigate the risk of carbon leakage and incentivise emissions reduction.
The UK ETS Authority is reviewing Free Allocation policy to ensure it supports sectors most at risk of carbon leakage and has guaranteed current free allocation levels until 2027.
The Authority commissioned an independent 2-stage evaluation of the scheme to provide evidence of its effectiveness, early outcomes and long-term impacts. The first findings of the evaluation, which include a preliminary assessment of carbon leakage and emissions reduction across the UK ETS, were published in December 2023.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the data set used to analyse carbon leakage assessments in the recent consultation on free allocation review for the UK Emissions Trading System.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The provision of Free Allocation under the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (UK ETS) mitigates the risk of carbon leakage by reducing industrial sectors’ exposure to the carbon price.
The UK ETS Authority is reviewing Free Allocation policy to ensure it targets sectors most at risk of carbon leakage and consulted on its approach to carbon leakage assessment. DESNZ officials have engaged extensively with representatives from energy intensive industries and carefully considered the methodology used to determine carbon leakage risk, including the data sets used in calculations.
The outcomes of the Free Allocation Review, including the data used to assess carbon leakage, will be published in an upcoming Government Response accompanied by an Impact Assessment.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
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 help improve the energy efficiency of older housing stock in the West Midlands.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Warm Homes Plan will help people find ways to save money on energy bills and transform our ageing building stock into comfortable, low-carbon homes that are fit for the future, including those within the West Midlands. The Government will partner with combined authorities and local and devolved governments to roll out this plan.
As the first step towards the Warm Homes Plan, the Government has committed an initial £3.4 billion over the next 3 years towards heat decarbonisation and household energy efficiency, with £1 billion of this allocated to 2025/2026. Further details on the Warm Homes Plan will be set out in due course.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what additional support his Department plans to provide to vulnerable households facing high winter fuel costs in 2025-26.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government believes that our mission to deliver clean power by 2030 is the best way to break our dependence on global fossil fuel markets and protect billpayers permanently. The creation of Great British Energy will help us to harness clean energy and have less reliance on volatile international energy markets and help in our commitment to make Britain a clean energy superpower by 2030. This, combined with our Warm Homes Plan to upgrade millions of homes to make them warmer and cheaper to run is how we will drive down energy bills and make cold homes a thing of the past.
The Government recognises that we need to support households struggling with bills whilst we transition to clean power by 2030. This is why we delivered the Warm Home Discount to around 3 million eligible low-income households last winter. We have recently consulted on the expansion of the Warm Home Discount, giving more eligible households £150 off their energy bills. These proposals would bring around 2.7 million households on a qualifying means-tested benefit into the scheme – pushing the total number of households that would receive the discount next winter up to around 6 million. The consultation closed on 24 March and DESNZ is considering the responses received.
I have been clear with suppliers that they should do all that they can to support their customers – including vulnerable consumers – who may be struggling with their bills.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether he has considered sourcing energy from the Falkland Islands.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
I have made no such consideration. The UK sources the oil and gas we use from domestic onshore and offshore fields and on the international market. The UK also trades electricity with several nearby countries, as well as the Isle of Man. This is all done by the commercial sector, not by the Government.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what estimate she has made of the number of pensioners living in households in fuel poverty in Aldridge-Brownhills constituency.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) does not collect local-level data specifically on pensioners in fuel poverty. The latest estimate of the fuel poverty rate in the Aldridge-Brownhills constituency, based on the Low Income Low Energy Efficiency (LILEE) metric, was 13.2% of households in 2023 (Table 3 of the sub-regional fuel poverty statistics).
Statistics on fuel poverty in England in 2024 by age of the oldest person in the household can be found in Table 23 of the fuel poverty detailed tables.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of implementing a targeted scheme to support older people with their heating bills.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government knows that more needs to be done to support vulnerable households that are struggling with bills whilst we transition to clean power.
The Government’s Warm Home Discount (WHD) scheme provides targeted support to eligible low-income households across Great Britain with a £150 rebate off their winter energy bill. The scheme provides rebates to pensioners in receipt of Pension Credit Guarantee Credit, the vast majority of whom receive the rebate automatically. In February, we published a consultation on the expansion of the Warm Home Discount, giving more eligible households £150 off their energy bills. These proposals would bring around 2.7 million households into the scheme – pushing the total number of households that would receive the discount next winter up to around 6 million. This would see an increase in those in receipt of the Savings Credit element of Pension Credit receiving a discount next winter.
I have been clear with suppliers that they should do all that they can to support their customers – including vulnerable consumers – who may be struggling with their bills.
Building on the work I did with energy suppliers to agree the £500 million Winter Commitment to help customers last winter, I am now also leading a working group with Energy UK and other stakeholders to consider how we can take further sustained action on improving affordability and accessibility of energy.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
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 estimate of the number of pensioners in receipt of means-tested benefits who are experiencing fuel poverty.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The latest official Fuel Poverty Statistics for England were published in March 2025 on gov.uk here: Fuel poverty statistics - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, when he last visited a brick manufacturer in the context of the brick manufacturing sector's carbon emissions.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Ministers regularly meet with external stakeholders. Details of ministerial meetings with external organisations are published quarterly and can be found on GOV.UK at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-energy-security-and-net-zero.
Data covering the 1 January 2023 until 31 March 2023 is due to be published shortly. In line with Cabinet Office Guidance organisations are listed instead of individuals.
The Government is working with these sectors to support decarbonisation. To date, the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund has given over £3m to energy efficiency and decarbonisation projects in the brick, tiles and construction products sector. Subject to business case approval, Phase 3 will open in early 2024.