Asked by: Amy Callaghan (Scottish National Party - East Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department has taken steps to establish an online fuel comparison tool.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Competition and Markets Authority’s Road Fuel Review published on 8 July, recommended the Government considers an open data scheme to improve consumers’ access to fuel prices.
In response, the Government committed to further work and analysis to assess the feasibility of this recommendation. This includes implementation timescales, legislative vehicles, and its efficacy in delivering fuel price transparency.
The Government will gather evidence of existing schemes in other countries to understand how they work and their impact to date on consumer behaviour and fuel pricing. It will aim to conclude its assessment by Spring 2023.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Business regarding on Chinese investment in British nuclear projects.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign Secretary continues to work closely with the Secretary of State for Business and our officials are in regular discussions on these issues. We welcome overseas investment into the UK's nuclear sector, and value the important role international partners have in our current nuclear programmes and potential new projects. Nuclear power has a key role to play as we work to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and exposure to volatile global gas prices. All investment involving critical infrastructure (which includes nuclear) is subject to thorough scrutiny and must satisfy our robust legal, regulatory and national security requirements. The powers we have through the National Security and Investment Act will further enhance our ability to intervene if required.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department has taken to reduce the cost of energy since 1 January 2022.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government has announced unprecedented support within its Growth Plan to protect households and businesses from high energy prices. The Energy Price Guarantee will save a typical British household around £700 this winter. This is on top of existing government plans to give all households £400 off their energy bills through the Energy Bill Support Scheme. The Alternative Fuel Payment (AFP) will provide a one-off payment of £100 to households that use alternative fuels for heating instead of mains gas. Eligible households in Great Britain will receive £100 credit on their electricity bill this winter.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will have discussions with Cabinet colleagues on the potential merits of reducing red diesel costs to help support farmers through the cost of living crisis.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In response to high fuel prices, HM Government announced during Spring Statement 2022 a temporary 12-month cut to duty on petrol and diesel of 5p per litre, and a proportionate percentage cut for rebated fuels. This represents a tax cut for households and businesses worth around £2.4 billion in 2022-23. The entitlement to use red diesel was removed from most sectors in April 2022 under reforms to the 2020 Budget. However, the agriculture sector can continue to use red diesel. Those entitled to use red diesel currently pay a duty rate of only 10.18 pence per litre, which is significantly less than those using standard road fuel diesel, which has a duty rate of 52.95 pence per litre. As with all taxes, HM Government keeps the entitlement use to red diesel under review.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will hold discussions with cabinet colleagues on re-setting the red diesel costs to help enable farmers to reduce overheads and maintain employed staff.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In response to high fuel prices, HM Government announced during Spring Statement 2022 a temporary 12-month cut to duty on petrol and diesel of 5p per litre, and a proportionate percentage cut for rebated fuels. This represents a tax cut for households and businesses worth around £2.4 billion in 2022-23. The entitlement to use red diesel was removed from most sectors in April 2022 under reforms to the 2020 Budget. However, the agriculture sector can continue to use red diesel. Those entitled to use red diesel currently pay a duty rate of only 10.18 pence per litre, which is significantly less than those using standard road fuel diesel, which has a duty rate of 52.95 pence per litre. As with all taxes, HM Government keeps the entitlement use to red diesel under review.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to support households that receive heating from heat networks.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government has announced unprecedented support within its Growth Plan to protect households and businesses from high energy prices, which includes those on heat networks. The Government has provided £400 through the Energy Bills Support Scheme, as well the Energy Price Guarantee which will support millions of households and businesses with rising energy costs, and they will continue to do so from now until April next year. This is on top of a further £800 one-off support provided to eight million of the most vulnerable households to help with the cost of living.
The Government will continue to monitor the prices of fuels and will consider further intervention if required to protect UK households from extraordinary fuel prices.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to provide cost of living support to people who rely on oil for heating.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Government recognises the challenges facing households who rely on heating oil. We are committed to ensuring these households will be no worse off than an equivalent domestic gas household under the Energy Price Guarantee.
Where households are not able to receive support for their heating costs through the Energy Price Guarantee, the Government will provide an additional payment of £100 to compensate for the rising costs of heating oil. This is in addition to the £400 Energy Bills Support Scheme, which will be paid, in Great Britain, in 6 monthly instalments from October. Households in Northern Ireland will also receive a £400 discount on bills through the Energy Bills Support Scheme.
This support reflects the different underlying wholesale prices, with natural gas particularly affected by Russia’s actions. The Secretary of State for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy will keep the relative costs under close review, and we will continue to work with the sector closely.
Households who are connected to the electricity network but who use fuels other than gas, such as heating oil, will still receive support through the Energy Price Guarantee and Energy Bills Support Scheme for their electricity costs.
Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department is taking steps to ensure households who rely for heating and hot water on (a) district biomass, (b) domestic biomass and (c) solid fuel will receive the planned off-grid energy support during Winter 2022.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Alternative Fuel Payment will provide a one-off payment to UK households that use alternative fuels for heating. This will come in addition to the £400 provided by the Energy Bills Support Scheme, and a further £800 of one-off support provided to eight million of the most vulnerable households to help with the cost of living.
The Government will continue to monitor the prices of alternative fuels and will consider further intervention if required to protect UK households from extraordinary fuel prices.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to assess the potential need for additional financial support for off-grid households; and (a) how often and (b) what metrics are used by his Department plans to make these assessments.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Alternative Fuel Payment will provide £100 to support households who do not use mains gas for heating with the rising price of fuel this winter. The price of heating oil is estimated to have risen by around 147% in the year to October 2022. A payment of £100 will effectively limit the increase in heating costs to 130%, in line with the benefit offered by the Energy Price Guarantee for customers on mains gas. The Government will continue to monitor the prices of alternative fuels, such as heating oil, and will consider further intervention if required to protect UK households from extraordinary fuel prices.
Asked by: Andrew Bowie (Conservative - West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he is taking steps to provide support with heating costs for households that use wood pellets for heating in the context of rises in the cost of wood pellets.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Alternative Fuel Payment will provide a one-off payment to UK households that use alternative fuels for heating. This will come in addition to the £400 provided by the Energy Bills Support Scheme, and a further £800 of one-off support provided to eight million of the most vulnerable households to help with the cost of living.
The Government will continue to monitor the prices of alternative fuels and will consider further intervention if required to protect UK households from extraordinary fuel prices.