Reducing Energy Bills 2025-10-14
2025-10-14
TAGS
Response quality
Questions & Answers
Q1
Partial Answer
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Context
Dr Chambers visited St Bartholomew’s church in Winchester, which has raised £2,400 to decarbonise the church and reduce energy bills. The community's efforts show leadership in this area.
I recently visited St Bartholomew’s church in Hyde, which has served the residents of Winchester for over 915 years, as part of its Give to Go Green day, which raised £2,400 to support its efforts to decarbonise the church and reduce energy bills. Will the Minister join me in congratulating the congregation and the community volunteers for the leadership they are showing in this area, and will he outline what steps the Government are taking to support faith and community groups in decarbonising historic buildings while preserving their heritage?
I join the hon. Gentleman in praising the whole congregation and community at St Bartholomew’s in Winchester for supporting those efforts. Such efforts by community and faith groups across the country show the support that exists for taking the right action, not just on clean power but on insulation. The warm homes plan and other plans that the Department will publish before the end of the year will address some of the issues he talks about in respect of historic buildings.
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Assessment & feedback
Did not provide specific details or measures for decarbonising historic buildings while preserving their heritage
Response accuracy
Q2
Partial Answer
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Carol from Harpenden, a constituent at 70 years old, is worried about energy costs and has to scrimp and save just to get by. She stressed that the warm home discount is a temporary lifeline.
Carol from Harpenden is one of many constituents who are worried about energy costs. At 70, she stressed that she never imagined that she would have to scrimp and save in the way that she does just to get by. The warm home discount is a temporary lifeline, so will the Government commit to long-lasting solutions to end fuel poverty, including an emergency home upgrade programme that will include incentives to install heat pumps that cover real costs?
We are currently consulting on extending the warm home discount beyond 2026. I would encourage the hon. Lady to look at that consultation and feed back her views. The warm homes plan is the route to some of the actions that she has outlined and we will be publishing it before the end of the year.
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Assessment & feedback
Did not commit to long-lasting solutions or emergency home upgrade programme with incentives for installing heat pumps covering real costs
Response accuracy
Q3
Partial Answer
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Approximately 10% of households in Anna's constituency use oil central heating, compared to the national average of 5%. With high volatility of oil prices approaching winter months, constituents are concerned about affordability.
In my constituency of Frome and East Somerset, approximately 10% of households use oil central heating, compared with 5% nationally. Given the high volatility of oil prices, that places my constituents in a particularly difficult position as we approach the winter months. Will the Minister confirm what measures will be taken to ensure that homes reliant on oil heating can be heated more affordably, so that my constituents do not have to suffer unnecessarily?
Since I became a Minister four weeks ago, I have received a lot of correspondence on this issue and I am looking at it closely. We have consulted on the issue and, hopefully, we will be publishing the results of that consultation before the end of the month.
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Assessment & feedback
Did not confirm specific measures to ensure homes reliant on oil heating can be heated more affordably
Response accuracy
Q4
Partial Answer
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Context
The National Audit Office report found that in 98% of homes that had insulation installed under the last Government, the work was faulty, risking damp and mould. Work to insulate homes is important for reaching net zero.
Half the battle to reach net zero is using less energy, which is why work to insulate homes is so important. Calder Valley is famous for “Happy Valley” and now “Riot Women”, and has occasionally been called wet and windy. With 75,000 of our homes falling below energy performance certificate band C, that means many families live in homes that leak heat. Today’s National Audit Office report found that in 98% of homes that had insulation installed under the last Government, the work was faulty, risking damp and mould. What action will this Government take to ensure that future insulation efforts help families, rather than hinder them?
I share my hon. Friend’s concern about the findings in today’s National Audit Office report. Obviously, we inherited this situation from the previous Government and we are cleaning up their mess. It is important that we have robust protections in place for consumers so that they have confidence when installing these measures. The warm homes plan will address that, including through the consumer protections that we will outline as part of it.
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Assessment & feedback
Did not provide specific action to ensure future insulation efforts help families rather than hinder them
Response accuracy
Q5
Partial Answer
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Context
The CBI says investing in clean power jobs is one of the best routes to bringing down bills and delivering growth, including 8,800 such jobs in Tees Valley scaling up every year.
I welcome the new Ministers to their place—I look forward to working with them—and I congratulate the Secretary of State and the Minister for Energy on holding on to their posts, which we are glad to see. One of the best ways to bring down household bills is to help homeowners and small businesses make their properties cheaper to warm and to power. The Liberal Democrats have put forward a plan to do that by introducing a windfall tax on the big banks, which have seen billions of pounds in unexpected profits as a result of the quantitative easing programme by the Bank of England more than a decade ago. Does the Secretary of State agree with the Liberal Democrats that we should instead use those excess profits to fund green affordable loans of up to £20,000 for households and up to £50,000 for businesses and community groups, and cut people’s power bills for good?
Having been in this job for only four and half weeks, I am always in the market for good ideas, whichever part of the House they come from. The £13.2 billion warm homes plan will do exactly what the hon. Lady wants us to do—safely insulating homes and getting people to take the action we need them to take to achieve clean power 2030. Importantly, the plan will create homes, businesses and properties that are warm and affordable, powered by sustainable clean energy.
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Assessment & feedback
Did not agree or disagree with using unexpected bank profits for green loans but focused on existing plans
Response accuracy