Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, with reference to page 44 of the document entitled New Decade, New Approach, published in January 2020, which states that the Renewable Heat Incentive scheme will be closed down, whether the required £60 to £600 million compensation is included in the associated finance package.

The New Decade, New Approach agreement included a commitment to close down the existing RHI scheme and replace it with a scheme that effectively cuts carbon emissions in Northern Ireland. This pledge was part of text about the programme for government for the new Executive and not a UK Government commitment.

To support the new Executive, UKG has guaranteed at least £1bn of Barnett-based funding to support investment, alongside £1bn of new resource and capital spending. This funding is not intended to absorb the costs to the Executive of the RHI voluntary buy-out scheme and/or addressing financial hardship experienced by scheme participants as a result of adjusted RHI tariffs.