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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent estimate his Department has made of the potential difference between the average energy bill of (a) a heat network customer and (b) the national average energy bill in the next 12 months.

The Government believes that consumers living in a typical building on a heat network benefiting from the Energy Bill Relief Scheme will still be paying more per year for their heating than comparable domestic metered gas consumers benefiting from the Energy Price Guarantee.

For an average property the Government estimated a £60 differential, but it is important to note that there is a large variation in bills due to the wide range of technologies and efficiencies of heat networks. The Government will provide a £100 payment this winter to compensate heat network domestic users for these higher costs of heating, ensuring they receive equivalent support to other domestic consumers.