Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he is taking to ensure that data held across HM Treasury, HMRC and the Department for Work and Pensions is used effectively to reduce fuel poverty and improve the targeting of energy affordability support.

The Government recognises the pressure that rising energy prices place on households. We already use data from multiple sources including HMRC and DWP to identify households eligible for the Warm Home Discount, enabling most rebates to be paid automatically. However, many fuel poor households cannot currently be identified through existing data-matching arrangements.

The Government earlier this year launched a National Data Library 'kickstarter' project to explore whether securely connecting public sector data can make it easier to identify households in need, to ensure support reaches the people it’s designed for faster.