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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the effect of Government policy on trends in the average cost of domestic dual fuel energy bills over the last five years.

After an increase in 2013, average household dual fuel bills declined in real terms between 2013 and 2016. Actions taken to tackle emissions have helped to reduce average energy bills for households as efficiency savings have more than offset the increased cost of supporting low carbon technologies.

The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) estimate that the cost of policies delivering cleaner energy, support for vulnerable households, and investing in upgrading our buildings account for around 12 per cent (around £140) of an average household dual fuel bill in 2016. However, these costs are on average more than offset by savings from improvements to the energy efficiency of people’s homes. The CCC estimate that household energy efficiency improvements made since 2008 are delivering average bill savings of around £290 per year, driven in large part by government policy.