Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Warm Home Discount Scheme; and what plans she has to extend that scheme to Belfast.

The Warm Home Discount Scheme helps over 2 million low income and vulnerable households each year and has provided a total of £1.1 billion of direct assistance since the scheme began. The Government announced in the Spending Review on 25 November 2015 that the Warm Home Discount scheme would be extended to 2020/21 at current levels of £320m per year, rising with inflation, to help households who are at risk of fuel poverty with their energy bills.

The issue of fuel poverty is devolved to the Northern Ireland Executive, which decides its own fuel poverty objectives and policies.