Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the eligibility criteria for the Warm Home Discount Scheme.

The Government has reformed the Warm Home Discount in England and Wales to provide more rebates automatically and better target households in fuel poverty, who have low incomes and live in homes that are costly to heat. The Department’s official statistics for winter 2022/23 show that 95% of eligible households received an automatic rebate.

A three-year evaluation of the scheme will consider how successful the targeting is and the experience of beneficiaries.

In Scotland, low-income working-age households apply to their energy supplier for a rebate, which may set their own eligibility criteria, subject to approval by the scheme administrator, Ofgem.