Carbon markets have huge potential to reduce the cost of meeting net zero, both in the UK and globally. This will help reduce the worst impacts of climate change, including for the most vulnerable communities.

However, the Government is clear that for carbon markets to deliver, they need to demonstrate integrity and offer appropriate social protections. The report raises serious concerns about the impact of this project on Indigenous People and Local Communities (IPLCs), in addition to its delivery of real and permanent carbon reductions.

The Government has acted both through our international climate finance and by supporting global integrity initiatives to improve transparency and safeguarding in the market. We will continue to ensure robust safeguards are in place through our international climate finance programming; and beyond this will continue to work through international fora, including the integrity initiatives and negotiations, to ensure IPLC voices are heard as the market evolves.

We are supporting rural homes and homes off the gas grid through targeted energy efficiency schemes including the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) and Home Upgrade Grant. The Home Upgrade Grant delivers energy efficiency upgrades to low-income households living in the least energy efficient homes off the gas grid.

The Warm Home Discount scheme provides low-income and vulnerable households across Great Britain, including rural areas, with a £150 rebate off their winter energy bill.

This year, low income or vulnerable rural households may also be in receipt of the £900 Cost of Living Payment which is being paid across three instalments.

The regulatory framework for investment in and connections to the electricity network is the responsibility of Ofgem. For connection applications from 1 April 2023, Ofgem has removed the requirement for demand connection customers to contribute to any distribution network reinforcement costs, this would include installing onsite generation on a farm below its maximum demand. For generation in excess of maximum demand for a site, Ofgem has reduced the network reinforcement contribution required.

Connection customers must fund upgrades to a three-phase connection cable, however an Independent Connection Provider can provide this which can reduce costs.

Years of world-leading green investment has meant network operators have experienced record demand for connections to the electricity network. We have increased the amount of renewable energy connected to the grid more than sixfold since 2010.

Government is working with Ofgem and network companies to release capacity and improve the connections process, to accelerate connections. Actions already underway by network companies are expected to see a reduction in transmission connection timescales of 2-10 years, for the majority of existing projects. Building on this work, the Government and Ofgem will publish a joint action plan on accelerating connections this summer.

The Energy Bill Relief Scheme (EBRS), worth £7.3billion, provides a discount on the wholesale element of gas and electricity bills to ensure that all eligible businesses are protected from high energy costs this winter period.

Following a review of the EBRS, a new Energy Bill Discount Scheme (EBDS) starts on 1 April 2023, and all eligible non-domestic customers, except for those experiencing low energy costs, will automatically receive a per unit discount on their bills of up to £19.61/MW for electricity, and £6.97/MW for gas.

The Government has set up a number of Energy Affordability schemes to support vulnerable people with the cost of their energy bills during the cold weather. The Energy Price Guarantee will save a typical household in Great Britain £900 this Winter. The Energy Bills Support Scheme provided households with £400 non-repayable Government discount paid in instalments to UK households from October 2022 to March 2023. Households using alternative fuels will be also entitled to a £200 Alternative Fuel Payment.

This is in addition to the cost-of-living support package announced in May 2022 of:

• £650 Cost of Living Payment for those on means tested benefits;
• £300 Pensioner Cost of Living Payment for pensioners, households across the UK to be paid alongside the Winter Fuel Payment;
• £150 Disability Cost of Living Payment.

My Rt. Hon. Friend the Minister of State met BP on 17th February and discussed its climate targets, including the company’s planned investments in CCUS, hydrogen, wind and electric vehicle charging projects.

The UK promotes sustainability in oil and gas companies. The North Sea Transition Deal is a global exemplar of how a government can work with the offshore oil and gas industry to achieve a managed energy transition.

The markets for alternative fuels – including heating oil, coal, LPG, and biomass – contain a large range of suppliers not subject to the same regulation as electricity and gas suppliers. This means there is no single regulated standard price to modify by the imposition of a price cap.

The Government has doubled support to £200 for alternatively fuelled households, in recognition of the pressures caused by these rising fuel costs. The Government will continue to monitor the prices of alternative fuels and will consider further intervention if required to protect UK households from extraordinary fuel prices.

Households reliant on oil or Liquefied Petroleum Gas to heat their homes will receive the Alternative Fuel Payment (AFP).

The AFP will ensure that households which do not benefit from the Energy Price Guarantee, receive support for the cost of the fuel they use.

Households eligible for these payments in Great Britain will receive £100 as a credit on their electricity bill this winter. Households who are eligible but do not have a relationship with an electricity supplier will receive the £100 via the AFP Alternative Fund.

The Government has no plans for a price cap on alternative fuels.

The Energy Bill Relief Scheme is available to all eligible non-domestic energy customers, including businesses, charities and the public sector and will provide a discount on the wholesale costs of gas and electricity. This includes farming businesses on eligible non-domestic energy supply contracts.

The £315 million Industrial Energy Transformation Fund (IETF) supports a wide range of projects, including waste heat recovery, at industrial sites with high energy use across the UK.

The IETF has supported a number of these projects thus far, one such example is the recovery project undertaken by GSK Ltd in County Durham, which includes the installation of a heat pump to recover waste heat from site compressors and displace heat demand on natural gas boilers. The Fund is currently open for applications and will have a further two application rounds this year.

The Government’s Heat and Buildings Strategy sets out our plans to transform heat and buildings over the next decade. This includes a continuation of local authority delivery through increased funding for the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) (investing a further £800 million over 2022/23 to 2024/25, which is planned to be open to all registered providers of social housing) and HUG (investing £950 million over 2022/23 to 2024/25). Both schemes aim to improve the energy performance of low-income households, support low carbon heat installations, help to reduce fuel poverty and build the green retrofitting sector to benefit all homeowners.

In addition, the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) is an obligation the Government has placed on the larger energy suppliers to make energy-efficiency upgrades to low-income homes throughout Britain. We have committed to extending ECO from 2022 to 2026, boosting its value to £1 billion a year. Meanwhile, the Government has removed VAT on energy-saving measures such as insulation to help householders with the cost of making their homes more energy efficient.

In addition to this, the Government has removed VAT on energy-saving measures such as insulation to help householders with the cost of making their homes more energy efficient.

The UK does not face questions around security of supply but of high prices. Unlike other countries in Europe, Great Britain is not dependent on Russian gas; in 2021 it made up less than 4% of UK supply. Great Britain benefits from highly diverse and flexible sources of gas supply and a diverse electricity mix, which ensures that households, businesses and industry get the energy they need. The Government continues to work closely with key international and industry partners to monitor gas supply and demand, and the Government remains confident that Great Britain’s energy security will be maintained.

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the world has seen volatile oil and gas prices, which were already at historic highs. Further energy price rises cannot be ruled out, given Russia’s aggressive actions. The energy price cap insulates millions of customers from volatile global gas prices during the winter months and will continue to do so. Great Britain’s exposure to volatile gas prices reinforces the importance of this government’s plans for a strong renewable energy sector to strengthen future energy security and resilience.

Monitoring of individuals, and any companies they may be associated with, for human rights abuses overseas is a matter for FCDO and HM Treasury, under the recently introduced Global Human Rights Sanctions Regulations 2020.

There are no immediate plans to review the bankruptcy application or Debt Relief Order (DRO) fees. Where the fee is an issue, assistance is already available to allow a debtor to pay in instalments prior to the making of the bankruptcy order or DRO. In addition, some charities offer help with paying the fee.

The Government has announced that it will be conducting a review of the personal insolvency framework in due course to ensure that it continues to be fit for purpose.

The UK Government has secured early access to 457 million vaccines doses through agreements with eight separate vaccine developers. This includes agreements with BioNTech/Pfizer, Oxford/AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi Pasteur, Novavax, Janssen, Valneva and Moderna.

The Government continues to monitor the landscape of COVID-19 vaccine development, both here in the UK and internationally, and will keep the situation under review.

My Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister has made clear that equitable access is an integral part of the UK’s approach to vaccine development and distribution. The UK is working with international partners to support vaccine development, manufacturing scale-up and future distribution to meet both domestic and international needs.