Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether households that depend solely on (a) air source or (b) ground source heat pumps for their heating will be eligible for support under the Alternative Fuel Payment scheme.

The Alternative Fuel Payment scheme is designed to help those households who do not use electricity or gas to heat their homes to meet energy costs this winter. Alternative fuels include heating oil, coal, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and biomass.

Heat pumps run on electricity. Therefore households with heat pumps will already receive support with their running costs through the Energy Price Guarantee, rather than the Alternative Fuel Payment.