Written questions by Hodgson.

If he will set out the detailed allocation plan for the additional £1.5 billion funding for the Energy Company Obligation, including the timeline for disbursement and the criteria for prioritising households.

ECO4 has played a part in delivering clean heat technologies; however, issues identified by the NAO and PAC support a shift to a more direct, publicly-funded approach focused on technologies that cut bills and accelerate the transition to clean heat such as heat pumps, solar PV and batteries. The government is providing an additional £1.5 billion—taking planned capital investment to almost £15 billion—to upgrade low‑income homes and scale clean home‑energy technologies. Deployment will be further supported through wider policies and details of this will be set out soon in the Warm Homes Plan.

What the proposed timeline is for the implementation of the Warm Homes Plan, and what steps are being taken to ensure collaboration with local authorities, industry stakeholders, and consumer groups in its delivery.

The government remains committed to delivering the Warm Homes Plan which will be published soon. At the Autumn Budget 2024 the Chancellor announced an additional £1.5 billion of funding for the Warm Homes Plan, bringing total capital investment to almost £15 billion. This exceeds the manifesto commitment of £13.2 billion. As part of the development of the Plan, this department has engaged with a broad range of stakeholders through a variety of different fora to ensure a wide range of views are considered. This includes working with local authorities and social housing providers, who in March last year were allocated £1.8 billion to install energy saving measures across the country through the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund and Local Grant.

What measures are being introduced to protect and support small and medium-sized enterprises in the retrofit supply chain under the Energy Company Obligation and related schemes.

ECO4 has played a part in delivering clean heat technologies; however, issues identified by the NAO and PAC support a shift to a more direct, publicly-funded approach focused on technologies that cut bills and accelerate the transition to clean heat such as heat pumps, solar PV and batteries. The government is providing an additional £1.5 billion—taking planned capital investment to almost £15 billion—to upgrade low‑income homes and scale clean home‑energy technologies. Deployment will be further supported through wider policies and details of this will be set out soon in the Warm Homes Plan.

For what reason the investment reserves for the (a) Mineworkers Pension Scheme and (b) British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme were not transferred to members at the same time.

The transfer of the Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme investment reserve was a manifesto commitment which the Government has fulfilled. The BCSSS scheme has some differences to the MPS, but we are working with the BCSSS Trustees to consider their proposals.