To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of the departmental budget for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero for the current financial year is allocated to supporting, promoting and delivering (1) energy demand reduction measures, and (2) zero and low carbon energy generation measures; and what changes in...

To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of the departmental budget for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero for the current financial year is allocated to supporting, promoting and delivering (1) energy demand reduction measures, and (2) zero and low carbon energy generation measures; and what changes in...

Lords motion to take note of the first report of the Economic Affairs Committee on Investing in energy: price, security, and the transition to net zero (HL 49). Agreed to on question.

Lords motion to take note of the first report of the Economic Affairs Committee on Investing in energy: price, security, and the transition to net zero (HL 49). Agreed to on question.

To ask His Majesty's Government which energy efficiency measures are included in the "fabric-first approach to decarbonising buildings" set out in the Heat and Buildings Strategy (CP 388).

To ask His Majesty's Government which energy efficiency measures are included in the "fabric-first approach to decarbonising buildings" set out in the Heat and Buildings Strategy (CP 388).

To ask His Majesty's Government what progress has been made on the review of Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards with respect to reconfiguring Energy Performance Certificate ratings for residential properties which are to be let.

To ask His Majesty's Government what progress has been made on the review of Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards with respect to reconfiguring Energy Performance Certificate ratings for residential properties which are to be let.

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to retrofit (1) homes, and (2) commercial buildings, to improve energy efficiency.

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to retrofit (1) homes, and (2) commercial buildings, to improve energy efficiency.

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure the accessibility of energy efficiency support schemes.

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure the accessibility of energy efficiency support schemes.

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that older buildings, which may be subject to stricter planning regulations, can become energy neutral.

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that older buildings, which may be subject to stricter planning regulations, can become energy neutral.

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that home energy efficiency targets are delivered in both the (1) private, and (2) social, rented sectors.

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that home energy efficiency targets are delivered in both the (1) private, and (2) social, rented sectors.

To ask His Majesty's Government how much has been claimed in energy efficiency grants for energy retrofit programmes by each local authority in each year since 2008.

To ask His Majesty's Government how much has been claimed in energy efficiency grants for energy retrofit programmes by each local authority in each year since 2008.

To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the report by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit Cost of Not Zero in 2022, published on 30 December 2022; and in particular, the finding that the delay in switching to renewables and improving energy efficiency resulted in some households paying around £1,750 extra on their bills last year.

To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the report by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit Cost of Not Zero in 2022, published on 30 December 2022; and in particular, the finding that the delay in switching to renewables and improving energy efficiency resulted in some households paying around £1,750 extra on their bills last year.

My Lords, the Government remain committed to deploying renewables and energy efficiency measures. Renewable electricity generation has more than quadrupled since 2010, and will be supported further by the annual contracts for difference scheme. For energy efficiency, the Autumn Statement committed a further £6 billion until 2028, in addition to the £6.6 billion committed over this Parliament. This is alongside the £4 billion expanded ECO4 scheme and the additional £1 billion ECO+ scheme, launching in the spring.

My Lords, the Government remain committed to deploying renewables and energy efficiency measures. Renewable electricity generation has more than quadrupled since 2010, and will be supported further by the annual contracts for difference scheme. For energy efficiency, the Autumn Statement committed a further £6 billion until 2028, in addition to the £6.6 billion committed over this Parliament. This is alongside the £4 billion expanded ECO4 scheme and the additional £1 billion ECO+ scheme, launching in the spring.

I actually do not fundamentally disagree with the noble Baroness, but we are rushing out renewables deployment. We already have one of the largest deployments of offshore renewables in the world. We even have one of the largest solar capacities in Europe: we have more solar generation than France. I agree that we need to try to go faster. We are doing that—we have increased targets for 2030—but it takes time to roll these out. I disagree with the noble Baroness about there being no requirement for oil and gas; there will be during the transition, and we should get as much of that as possible from domestic sources.

I actually do not fundamentally disagree with the noble Baroness, but we are rushing out renewables deployment. We already have one of the largest deployments of offshore renewables in the world. We even have one of the largest solar capacities in Europe: we have more solar generation than France. I agree that we need to try to go faster. We are doing that—we have increased targets for 2030—but it takes time to roll these out. I disagree with the noble Baroness about there being no requirement for oil and gas; there will be during the transition, and we should get as much of that as possible from domestic sources.

I thank the noble Lord for his congratulations and I look forward to working with him. My responsibilities will be pretty similar to what they were before, but I accept the point he makes. I refer him to the answer I gave to the noble Baroness, Lady Jones, on renewables deployment. I do not want to get into the issue of the coal mine, but, as he well knows, that is not to do with power generation: we are phasing out coal for power generation facilities.

I thank the noble Lord for his congratulations and I look forward to working with him. My responsibilities will be pretty similar to what they were before, but I accept the point he makes. I refer him to the answer I gave to the noble Baroness, Lady Jones, on renewables deployment. I do not want to get into the issue of the coal mine, but, as he well knows, that is not to do with power generation: we are phasing out coal for power generation facilities.

I know that my noble friend speaks with great authority on this matter, given his background, but of course there are many different aspects to the equation. Of course we need to expand supply in renewables, which we are doing, but we also need to reduce demand where we possibly can. That is where our various energy-efficiency campaigns come in. We had a big public relations campaign over the last few months, which has been extremely successful in rolling out energy-efficiency measures.

I know that my noble friend speaks with great authority on this matter, given his background, but of course there are many different aspects to the equation. Of course we need to expand supply in renewables, which we are doing, but we also need to reduce demand where we possibly can. That is where our various energy-efficiency campaigns come in. We had a big public relations campaign over the last few months, which has been extremely successful in rolling out energy-efficiency measures.

The noble Baroness is right that we need to do more on insulation, but she is wrong about the progress. I will give her the statistics: 47% of homes in England have now reached band C. That is up from 14% in 2010. So we are making very rapid progress in increasing the EPC rating. Of course, there is always more that we can do, and I outlined some of the vast sums of money that we are spending to the noble Baroness, Lady Jones.

The noble Baroness is right that we need to do more on insulation, but she is wrong about the progress. I will give her the statistics: 47% of homes in England have now reached band C. That is up from 14% in 2010. So we are making very rapid progress in increasing the EPC rating. Of course, there is always more that we can do, and I outlined some of the vast sums of money that we are spending to the noble Baroness, Lady Jones.

Well, I am not going to get into a debate with the noble Lord about his statements. Let me perhaps give him another perspective. Even somebody like him, a great British patriot, should surely accept that, even he does not believe in the net-zero target, that it makes sense to develop more renewable sources of electricity in this country, so that we are not dependent on unstable parts of the world for our oil and gas. Despite what I said earlier about needing to expand production as much as we can from the North Sea, it is a declining asset that we will not have in future. Therefore, even in his world, it surely makes sense to develop our energy supply locally in the UK.

Well, I am not going to get into a debate with the noble Lord about his statements. Let me perhaps give him another perspective. Even somebody like him, a great British patriot, should surely accept that, even he does not believe in the net-zero target, that it makes sense to develop more renewable sources of electricity in this country, so that we are not dependent on unstable parts of the world for our oil and gas. Despite what I said earlier about needing to expand production as much as we can from the North Sea, it is a declining asset that we will not have in future. Therefore, even in his world, it surely makes sense to develop our energy supply locally in the UK.

Of course, landlords can voluntarily take action if they wish to improve the performance of their buildings. We are looking at the consultation responses at the moment. However, nobody should pretend that these policy decisions are easy. It is simple and straightforward to just pass a regulation saying that we have to improve the performance, but if the net result of that is a net loss of privately rented accommodation, particularly in poorer parts of the country, there are many people who want that accommodation and we will not have gained anything. So these decisions are not easy, but we are looking at this.

Of course, landlords can voluntarily take action if they wish to improve the performance of their buildings. We are looking at the consultation responses at the moment. However, nobody should pretend that these policy decisions are easy. It is simple and straightforward to just pass a regulation saying that we have to improve the performance, but if the net result of that is a net loss of privately rented accommodation, particularly in poorer parts of the country, there are many people who want that accommodation and we will not have gained anything. So these decisions are not easy, but we are looking at this.

I thank the noble Baroness for her congratulations, but her question implies that we are not doing anything in this space at the moment.

Since 2010 the UK has seen a more than 500% increase in the amount of renewable electricity. The UK continues to break records in renewable electricity, which has more than quadrupled since 2010, while low-carbon electricity overall now gives us around 50% of our total generation. Of course we need to do more and do it faster—we are doing that—but let us not try to pretend that we have not made fantastic progress in this area.

I thank the noble Baroness for her congratulations, but her question implies that we are not doing anything in this space at the moment.

Since 2010 the UK has seen a more than 500% increase in the amount of renewable electricity. The UK continues to break records in renewable electricity, which has more than quadrupled since 2010, while low-carbon electricity overall now gives us around 50% of our total generation. Of course we need to do more and do it faster—we are doing that—but let us not try to pretend that we have not made fantastic progress in this area.

I do not agree with the noble Lord, actually. Only a relatively small—in fact, tiny—proportion of land is taken up with solar power generation, but of course we always have to make sure we get the balance right. We need agricultural land, but we also need more solar generation.

I do not agree with the noble Lord, actually. Only a relatively small—in fact, tiny—proportion of land is taken up with solar power generation, but of course we always have to make sure we get the balance right. We need agricultural land, but we also need more solar generation.

We already have considerable quantities of onshore wind, but I know the noble Baroness’s commitment to seeing that rolled out even further. As she will be aware, onshore wind will be eligible for contracts for difference in the next allocation round commencing in March, and we will consult shortly on developing local partnerships for a number of supportive communities that wish to host new onshore wind infrastructure in return for the benefits that can then flow to those communities.

We already have considerable quantities of onshore wind, but I know the noble Baroness’s commitment to seeing that rolled out even further. As she will be aware, onshore wind will be eligible for contracts for difference in the next allocation round commencing in March, and we will consult shortly on developing local partnerships for a number of supportive communities that wish to host new onshore wind infrastructure in return for the benefits that can then flow to those communities.