Energy prices are now at their lowest level for two years, with a typical bill set to drop by £238 by April. Our cost of living package totals over £104 billion, or £3,700 per household on average, over 2022 to 2025. We are supporting those most in need, with millions of vulnerable households receiving up to £900 in cost of living payments.
Some of us believe in preventative spending. A House of Commons Library briefing last year estimated that the annual cost to the national health service of treating illnesses associated with living in cold or damp housing is £1.4 billion. When wider societal costs are considered, that figure rises to £15.4 billion. Will the Secretary of State confirm whether the introduction of a social energy tariff would cost less than £15.4 billion?
A social tariff means lots of things to different people, but we are supporting vulnerable people with the cost of their energy bills. We supported them last winter, paying on average a half of everybody’s energy bills, and we have made additional payments of £900 to support people. Since 2010, we have increased the proportion of homes that are energy-efficient and insulated to 50%, up from 14%.
On energy tariffs, what assessment has the Secretary of State made of the merits of providing residents who are local to energy and nuclear plants with discounts on their energy bills?
I thank my hon. Friend for her doughty campaigning for nuclear—she is our very own atomic kitten. We are very positive about nuclear and have set out plans for the largest expansion of nuclear for 70 years. Overall that will be a good thing for people’s energy bills and the energy security of this country.
Fuel Poverty
Kate Hollern (Blackburn) (Lab)
2. What estimate she has made of the number of households in fuel poverty in winter 2023-24.
13. What estimate she has made of the number of households in fuel poverty in winter 2023-24.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Amanda Solloway)
Fuel poverty is a devolved matter. The latest figures, published on 15 February 2024, showed that 3.17 million households were in fuel poverty in 2023. The Government continue to deliver financial support to low-income homes and vulnerable households through the warm home discount scheme and cost of living payments.
Kate Hollern
As I am sure you are aware, Mr Speaker, the cost of living crisis is far from over for constituents in our area. The Government’s latest energy efficiency policy, the Great British insulation scheme, was supposed to insulate 100,000 homes a year, but so far just 3,000 families have been helped in eight months, including only 35 homes in Lancashire and just six in Blackburn. Will the Minister explain why currently it will take 60 years to meet their three-year target?
Amanda Solloway
Energy efficiency is incredibly important to this Government and we have many schemes available. The Great British insulation scheme alone has committed £592 million.
I hear what the Minister says about the Great British insulation scheme. It comes after the green deal and the green homes grant, but frankly it looks like another failure. There are 1.4 million people living in South Yorkshire, but just 137 of their homes have been upgraded under the GBIS. My constituents want their bills cut, emissions reduced and their homes insulated, but Government incompetence is standing in the way. When will the Minister get a grip?
Amanda Solloway
We are spending £6 billion in this Parliament and a further £6 billion up to 2028 to make buildings, including private rented properties, cleaner and warmer. That is in addition to the estimated £5 billion that will be delivered for ECO4—the energy company obligation—and the Great British insulation scheme up to March 2026.