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89915

	registered interest
	date	01/09/2014
	answering body	Department for Energy and Climate Change
	answering dept id	63
	answering dept short name	Energy and Climate Change
	answering dept sort name	Energy and Climate Change
	hansard heading	Energy: Prices
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to encouraging energy companies to use income-differentiated tariffs as a means of addressing fuel poverty.
	tabling member printed	The Lord Bishop of St Albans
	uin	HL1757
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/09/2014 answer text <p>Energy suppliers provide direct bill support for low income households through the Government’s Warm Home Discount scheme. <del class="ministerial">As the original impact assessment for the scheme made clear, the scheme grew in part out of a concern about affordability of energy bills and accessibility of appropriate tariffs for those on low incomes. The scheme is now hugely successful.</del> <del class="ministerial">This year the</del> <ins class="ministerial">The </ins>Warm Home<ins class="ministerial">s</ins> Discount will<ins class="ministerial"> increase to</ins> give eligible low-income bill payers £140 money off their energy bills, helping over 2 million people including 1.4 million of Britain’s most vulnerable pensioners.</p><p>There has been consideration of the role of differentiated tariffs as part of the Hills Review of Fuel Poverty, and in the development of Fuel Poverty: Framework for future action and Cutting the cost of keeping warm, the consultation to prepare for a new fuel poverty strategy.</p><p>We continue to monitor the impacts of the Ofgem’s Retail Market Review and wider Government action to ensure consumers are treated fairly in the energy market and are better able to the choose a deal that suits them. We expect to keep the case for further action under review as part of this.</p> answering member printed Baroness Verma question first answered 08/09/2014 08:09:35 question first ministerially corrected 15/09/2014 12:14:23 answering member 3790 label Biography information for Baroness Verma previous answer version 18278 answering member printed Baroness Verma answering member 3790 label Biography information for Baroness Verma
	tabling member	4308 label Biography information for The Lord Bishop of St Albans

89914

	registered interest
	date	01/09/2014
	answering body	Department for Energy and Climate Change
	answering dept id	63
	answering dept short name	Energy and Climate Change
	answering dept sort name	Energy and Climate Change
	hansard heading	Energy: Meters
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to encouraging the six largest energy companies to develop and use their own vulnerability checklist as part of a comprehensive assessment process to help determine a household's circumstances before any new pre-payment meters are installed, in accordance with the voluntary code agreed with Consumer Focus in March 2011.
	tabling member printed	The Lord Bishop of St Albans
	uin	HL1756
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/09/2014 answer text <p>All the large suppliers have agreed to the 5 key principles set out by Consumer Focus in March 2011. This includes a check of whether a customer is vulnerable before installation of a prepayment meter and offering a different payment method if appropriate. In the 2012 report “Making Progress” Consumer Focus found that most large suppliers use a checklist to help staff identify the best approach. This report is available at this link: <a href="http://www.consumerfutures.org.uk/files/2013/07/Making-progress.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.consumerfutures.org.uk/files/2013/07/Making-progress.pdf</a></p><p>Government supports initiatives to ensure that vulnerable pre-payment customers are being treated fairly and receiving appropriate support and is considering areas where Government action could further improve the consumer experience of pre-payment customers.</p> answering member printed Baroness Verma question first answered 15/09/2014 11:48:30 answering member 3790 label Biography information for Baroness Verma
	tabling member	4308 label Biography information for The Lord Bishop of St Albans

89916

	registered interest
	date	01/09/2014
	answering body	Department for Energy and Climate Change
	answering dept id	63
	answering dept short name	Energy and Climate Change
	answering dept sort name	Energy and Climate Change
	hansard heading	Energy: Meters
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they will work with energy companies to ensure that those using pre-payment meters pay the equivalent tariffs to those paying by direct debit, irrespective of whether smart meters are installed.
	tabling member printed	The Lord Bishop of St Albans
	uin	HL1758
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/09/2014 answer text <p>Energy supplier licence conditions, set by Ofgem, allow suppliers to apply different charges to different payment methods providing the differentials reflect the costs to the supplier of the form of payment. This allowance is made in recognition of the fact that some payment methods are more expensive to administer than others. In May 2014, Ofgem published the results of analysis on this issue which showed that across the market the price on different payment methods reflects the varying costs suppliers face in providing them. This is available at the following link:</p><p><a href="https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications-and-updates/price-differences-between-payment-methods-&amp;ndash;-open-letter" target="_blank">https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications-and-updates/price-differences-between-payment-methods-–-open-letter</a>.</p> answering member printed Baroness Verma question first answered 15/09/2014 11:47:31 answering member 3790 label Biography information for Baroness Verma attachment 1 file name QWA HL1758 - Open letter from Ofgem 20.05.14.pdf title Ofgem open letter 20.05.14 - Price differences
	tabling member	4308 label Biography information for The Lord Bishop of St Albans

90061

	registered interest
	date	01/09/2014
	answering body	Department for Energy and Climate Change
	answering dept id	63
	answering dept short name	Energy and Climate Change
	answering dept sort name	Energy and Climate Change
	hansard heading	Wind Power
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what studies his Department has made of the effects on the life expectancy and reliability of wind generators of using combined cycle generating turbines to provide balancing capacity.
	tabling member constituency	Hitchin and Harpenden
	tabling member printed	Mr Peter Lilley
	uin	207568
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/09/2014 answer text <p>We do not expect the use of combined cycle generating turbines to have any impact on the life expectancy or reliability of wind turbines.</p><p>This Government believes that balancing capacity is best achieved by pursuing a balanced energy policy, comprising a mix of renewables, nuclear, and fossil fuels with carbon capture and storage, to ensure that we are not over-reliant upon any one technology.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency West Suffolk answering member printed Matthew Hancock question first answered 10/09/2014 13:25:09 answering member 4070 label Biography information for Matt Hancock
	tabling member	68 label Biography information for Lord Lilley

90058

	registered interest
	date	01/09/2014
	answering body	Department for Energy and Climate Change
	answering dept id	63
	answering dept short name	Energy and Climate Change
	answering dept sort name	Energy and Climate Change
	hansard heading	Nuclear Power
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what information he has received from the UK civil nuclear sector of the creation of the new N-Group forum; what additional resources have been committed to non-departmental public bodies responsible to his Department to support participation in N-Group; and what discussions he has had with the (a) Chairman and (b) Chief Executive of the Office for Nuclear Regulation on that body joining the N-Group.
	tabling member constituency	Newport West
	tabling member printed	Paul Flynn
	uin	207674
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/09/2014 answer text <p>The Nuclear Institute announced the formation of the N-Group, an informal group of representatives of organisations interested in the UK nuclear industry, in June. No additional resources have been provided to non-departmental public bodies responsible to the Department to support participation in N-Group and I have had no discussions with the Office for Nuclear Regulation about participation.</p> answering member constituency West Suffolk answering member printed Matthew Hancock question first answered 05/09/2014 13:03:08 answering member 4070 label Biography information for Matt Hancock
	tabling member	545 label Biography information for Paul Flynn

90059

	registered interest
	date	01/09/2014
	answering body	Department for Energy and Climate Change
	answering dept id	63
	answering dept short name	Energy and Climate Change
	answering dept sort name	Energy and Climate Change
	hansard heading	Housing: Energy
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate he has made of the number of homes reliant on off-grid energy in each (a) constituency and (b) local authority area.
	tabling member constituency	Ogmore
	tabling member printed	Huw Irranca-Davies
	uin	207641
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/09/2014 answer text <p>DECC publish estimates of the number of households without a gas connection by local authority. These are available on the Government website at:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sub-national-estimates-of-households-not-connected-to-the-gas-network" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sub-national-estimates-of-households-not-connected-to-the-gas-network</a>.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency West Suffolk answering member printed Matthew Hancock question first answered 05/09/2014 13:05:09 answering member 4070 label Biography information for Matt Hancock
	tabling member	1476 label Biography information for Huw Irranca-Davies

90060

	registered interest
	date	01/09/2014
	answering body	Department for Energy and Climate Change
	answering dept id	63
	answering dept short name	Energy and Climate Change
	answering dept sort name	Energy and Climate Change
	hansard heading	Energy: Billing
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of changes in energy bills on households and businesses in rural areas.
	tabling member constituency	Ogmore
	tabling member printed	Huw Irranca-Davies
	uin	207640
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/09/2014 answer text <p>The Government is concerned about the effect of changes in energy bills on all households and businesses, including those in rural areas and considers the needs of all types of households and businesses when developing policies.</p><p>We publish regular information on industrial energy prices and on domestic energy bills in DECC’s Quarterly Energy Prices. Industrial prices are only available at the UK level. Average domestic energy bills are produced for each of the 15 Public Electricity Supply (PES) regions in the UK:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/quarterly-energy-prices" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/quarterly-energy-prices</a></p><p>We also publish regular information on the impact of policies on prices and bills.</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/estimated-impacts-of-energy-and-climate-change-policies-on-energy-prices-and-bills" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/estimated-impacts-of-energy-and-climate-change-policies-on-energy-prices-and-bills</a></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Hastings and Rye answering member printed Amber Rudd question first answered 05/09/2014 14:24:10 answering member 3983 label Biography information for Amber Rudd
	tabling member	1476 label Biography information for Huw Irranca-Davies

90054

	registered interest
	date	01/09/2014
	answering body	Department for Energy and Climate Change
	answering dept id	63
	answering dept short name	Energy and Climate Change
	answering dept sort name	Energy and Climate Change
	hansard heading	Fuel Poverty
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, with reference to Table 12 of the Final impact assessment of the future of the Energy Company Obligation, published by his Department on 22 July 2014, what estimate he has made of the change in the (a) aggregate fuel poverty gap and (b) average individual fuel poverty gap under the Energy Company Obligation in (i) each year between 2013 and 2017 and (ii) in total between 2013 and 2017.
	tabling member constituency	Don Valley
	tabling member printed	Caroline Flint
	uin	207750
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/09/2014 answer text <p>The Energy Company Obligation (ECO) delivers vital measures that make a real and long term difference to fuel poor households. By the end of June 2014 ECO had delivered over 520,000 measures to over 435,000 low income and vulnerable households, reducing their energy costs and risk of being in fuel poverty both now and for years to come.</p><p>Estimates published in the final Impact Assessment for the future of the Energy Company Obligation show that against a baseline with no policy in place between April 2015 and March 2017, the policy would drive an estimated reduction in the number of fuel poor households in England of around 10,000 while resulting in a nominal increase in the aggregate fuel poverty gap of around 1 per cent. While uncertain, it is anticipated that there would be a similarly nominal increase in the average fuel poverty gap of around 1 per cent.</p><p>These estimates reflect that in the short-run the policy generates costs for energy consumers – including the fuel poor – in order to fund long-term improvements in energy efficiency. The short run costs across all households can mask the benefits of improved energy efficiency. For those expected to receive measures from April 2015 onwards, their aggregate fuel poverty gap is expected to be an estimated £22 million lower by 2017, but partially offset in the short-run by the costs of the policy.</p><p>All estimates of the fuel poverty impacts of ECO have been conducted following the methodology published in Section Four of the Analytical Annex to <em>Fuel Poverty: a Framework for Future Action</em> published in July 2013.1 This same approach is used for producing projections of fuel poverty in the annual National Statistics report.2 Projecting policy impacts on levels of fuel poverty is inherently uncertain and requires a range of assumptions to be made. As a result, a detailed assessment of the impact of the policy in each individual year of the scheme on fuel poverty has not been carried out. Such an assessment would be extremely difficult because of a number of uncertainties in the calculation, such as: which households take-up which measures; changes in the level and distribution of incomes across households; changes to the housing stock independent of ECO; and, also, changes to energy prices, including as a result of the policy. These uncertainties make estimates at the aggregate level more appropriate as opposed to trying to pin-point specific impacts in any one year.</p><p><em><strong>[1]</strong></em><em> Available at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/211137/fuel_poverty_strategic_framework_analytical_annex.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/211137/fuel_poverty_strategic_framework_analytical_annex.pdf</a> </em></p><p><em><strong>[2]</strong></em><em> For the latest report see: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/annual-fuel-poverty-statistics-report-2014" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/annual-fuel-poverty-statistics-report-2014</a> </em></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Hastings and Rye answering member printed Amber Rudd grouped question UIN 207748 207749 207758 question first answered 04/09/2014 13:40:04 answering member 3983 label Biography information for Amber Rudd
	tabling member	389 label Biography information for Caroline Flint

90055

	registered interest
	date	01/09/2014
	answering body	Department for Energy and Climate Change
	answering dept id	63
	answering dept short name	Energy and Climate Change
	answering dept sort name	Energy and Climate Change
	hansard heading	Fuel Poverty
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, with reference to Table 12 of the Final impact assessment on the future of the Energy Company Obligation, published by his Department on 22 July 2014, by which process he calculated the change in aggregate fuel poverty gap.
	tabling member constituency	Don Valley
	tabling member printed	Caroline Flint
	uin	207748
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/09/2014 answer text <p>The Energy Company Obligation (ECO) delivers vital measures that make a real and long term difference to fuel poor households. By the end of June 2014 ECO had delivered over 520,000 measures to over 435,000 low income and vulnerable households, reducing their energy costs and risk of being in fuel poverty both now and for years to come.</p><p>Estimates published in the final Impact Assessment for the future of the Energy Company Obligation show that against a baseline with no policy in place between April 2015 and March 2017, the policy would drive an estimated reduction in the number of fuel poor households in England of around 10,000 while resulting in a nominal increase in the aggregate fuel poverty gap of around 1 per cent. While uncertain, it is anticipated that there would be a similarly nominal increase in the average fuel poverty gap of around 1 per cent.</p><p>These estimates reflect that in the short-run the policy generates costs for energy consumers – including the fuel poor – in order to fund long-term improvements in energy efficiency. The short run costs across all households can mask the benefits of improved energy efficiency. For those expected to receive measures from April 2015 onwards, their aggregate fuel poverty gap is expected to be an estimated £22 million lower by 2017, but partially offset in the short-run by the costs of the policy.</p><p>All estimates of the fuel poverty impacts of ECO have been conducted following the methodology published in Section Four of the Analytical Annex to <em>Fuel Poverty: a Framework for Future Action</em> published in July 2013.1 This same approach is used for producing projections of fuel poverty in the annual National Statistics report.2 Projecting policy impacts on levels of fuel poverty is inherently uncertain and requires a range of assumptions to be made. As a result, a detailed assessment of the impact of the policy in each individual year of the scheme on fuel poverty has not been carried out. Such an assessment would be extremely difficult because of a number of uncertainties in the calculation, such as: which households take-up which measures; changes in the level and distribution of incomes across households; changes to the housing stock independent of ECO; and, also, changes to energy prices, including as a result of the policy. These uncertainties make estimates at the aggregate level more appropriate as opposed to trying to pin-point specific impacts in any one year.</p><p><em><strong>[1]</strong></em><em> Available at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/211137/fuel_poverty_strategic_framework_analytical_annex.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/211137/fuel_poverty_strategic_framework_analytical_annex.pdf</a> </em></p><p><em><strong>[2]</strong></em><em> For the latest report see: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/annual-fuel-poverty-statistics-report-2014" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/annual-fuel-poverty-statistics-report-2014</a> </em></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Hastings and Rye answering member printed Amber Rudd grouped question UIN 207749 207750 207758 question first answered 04/09/2014 13:40:04 answering member 3983 label Biography information for Amber Rudd
	tabling member	389 label Biography information for Caroline Flint

90056

	registered interest
	date	01/09/2014
	answering body	Department for Energy and Climate Change
	answering dept id	63
	answering dept short name	Energy and Climate Change
	answering dept sort name	Energy and Climate Change
	hansard heading	Fuel Poverty
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, with reference to Table 12 of the Final impact assessment of the future of the Energy Company Obligation, published by his Department on 22 July 2014, how many households are forecast to be lifted from fuel poverty under the Energy Company Obligation (a) in each year between 2013 and 2017 and (b) in total between 2013 and 2017.
	tabling member constituency	Don Valley
	tabling member printed	Caroline Flint
	uin	207749
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/09/2014 answer text <p>The Energy Company Obligation (ECO) delivers vital measures that make a real and long term difference to fuel poor households. By the end of June 2014 ECO had delivered over 520,000 measures to over 435,000 low income and vulnerable households, reducing their energy costs and risk of being in fuel poverty both now and for years to come.</p><p>Estimates published in the final Impact Assessment for the future of the Energy Company Obligation show that against a baseline with no policy in place between April 2015 and March 2017, the policy would drive an estimated reduction in the number of fuel poor households in England of around 10,000 while resulting in a nominal increase in the aggregate fuel poverty gap of around 1 per cent. While uncertain, it is anticipated that there would be a similarly nominal increase in the average fuel poverty gap of around 1 per cent.</p><p>These estimates reflect that in the short-run the policy generates costs for energy consumers – including the fuel poor – in order to fund long-term improvements in energy efficiency. The short run costs across all households can mask the benefits of improved energy efficiency. For those expected to receive measures from April 2015 onwards, their aggregate fuel poverty gap is expected to be an estimated £22 million lower by 2017, but partially offset in the short-run by the costs of the policy.</p><p>All estimates of the fuel poverty impacts of ECO have been conducted following the methodology published in Section Four of the Analytical Annex to <em>Fuel Poverty: a Framework for Future Action</em> published in July 2013.1 This same approach is used for producing projections of fuel poverty in the annual National Statistics report.2 Projecting policy impacts on levels of fuel poverty is inherently uncertain and requires a range of assumptions to be made. As a result, a detailed assessment of the impact of the policy in each individual year of the scheme on fuel poverty has not been carried out. Such an assessment would be extremely difficult because of a number of uncertainties in the calculation, such as: which households take-up which measures; changes in the level and distribution of incomes across households; changes to the housing stock independent of ECO; and, also, changes to energy prices, including as a result of the policy. These uncertainties make estimates at the aggregate level more appropriate as opposed to trying to pin-point specific impacts in any one year.</p><p><em><strong>[1]</strong></em><em> Available at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/211137/fuel_poverty_strategic_framework_analytical_annex.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/211137/fuel_poverty_strategic_framework_analytical_annex.pdf</a> </em></p><p><em><strong>[2]</strong></em><em> For the latest report see: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/annual-fuel-poverty-statistics-report-2014" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/annual-fuel-poverty-statistics-report-2014</a> </em></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Hastings and Rye answering member printed Amber Rudd grouped question UIN 207748 207750 207758 question first answered 04/09/2014 13:40:04 answering member 3983 label Biography information for Amber Rudd
	tabling member	389 label Biography information for Caroline Flint