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The Warm Home Discount (England and Wales) Regulations 2022 in Scotland

S.I. 2022/772 · Made 6 July 2022 · Extends to England, Wales and Scotland

Up to date with all changes known to legislation.gov.uk, revised to 18 September 2025.

Electricity, England And Wales

Gas, England And Wales

Made 6th July 2022

Coming into force 7th July 2022

The Secretary of State makes these Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 9, 10, 14 and 31(5) and (6) of the Energy Act 2010f1 (“the Act”) with the consent of the Treasury.

In accordance with section 14 of the Act, the Secretary of State has consulted the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority, licensed electricity suppliers, licensed gas suppliers and such other persons as the Secretary of State thinks appropriate.

In accordance with section 31(2) of the Act, a draft of this instrument has been laid before and approved by resolution of each House of Parliament.

Annotations to the whole text

Footnotes

f1

2010 c. 27. Section 9 was amended by section 58(2) of the Scotland Act 2016 (c. 11) and section 31(6) was amended by section 58(7) of that Act. See the definitions of “licensed electricity supplier” and “licensed gas supplier” in section 15(5).

Contents

  1. Part 1: Introductory
  2. 1Citation, commencement and extent
  3. Part 7: Amendment of the Disclosure of State Pension Credit Information (Warm Home Discount) Regulations 2011
  4. 31Amendment of the Disclosure of State Pension Credit Information (Warm Home Discount) Regulations 2011
  5. Signature
  6. Explanatory note

1Citation, commencement and extentI1

(1)

These Regulations may be cited as the Warm Home Discount (England and Wales) Regulations 2022.

(2)

These Regulations come into force on the day after the day on which they are made.

(3)

This regulation and regulation 31 extend to England and Wales and Scotland.

(4)

Otherwise, these Regulations extend to England and Wales only.

31Amendment of the Disclosure of State Pension Credit Information (Warm Home Discount) Regulations 2011I1

(1)

The Disclosure of State Pension Credit Information (Warm Home Discount) Regulations 2011f1 are amended as follows.

(2)

In regulation 1—

(a)

in the heading, for “and commencement” substitute “, commencement and application”;

(b)

after paragraph (2), insert—

“(3)

Regulation 2(3) to (6) applies only in relation to England and Wales.”.

(3)

In regulation 2 (interpretation)—

(a)

in paragraph (1)—

(i)

for the definition of “domestic customer” substitute—

  • ““domestic customer”—

    1. (a)

      in relation to England and Wales, means an owner or occupier of domestic premises in England or Wales who is supplied with electricity at those premises wholly or mainly for domestic purposes;

    2. (b)

      in relation to Scotland, means an owner or occupier of domestic premises in Great Britain who is supplied with electricity at those premises wholly or mainly for domestic purposes;”;

(ii)

in the definition of “information direction” after “WHD Regulations” insert “or regulation 12(1) of the WHD (E&W) Regulations”;

(iii)

for the definition of “scheme year” substitute—

  • ““scheme year”—

    1. (a)

      in relation to England and Wales, has the meaning given in regulation 3(1) of the WHD (E&W) Regulations;

    2. (b)

      in relation to Scotland, has the meaning given in regulation 2(1) of the WHD Regulations;”;

(iv)

omit the definition of “Warm Home Discount scheme”;

(v)

after the definition of “the WHD Regulations”, insert—

  • ““the WHD (E&W) Regulations” means the Warm Home Discount (England and Wales) Regulations 2022;”;

(b)

after paragraph (2) insert—

“(3)

Paragraph (4) applies where an individual (“I”) who would normally—

(a)

occupy domestic premises in England and Wales,

(b)

be a member of the same household as another person, or

(c)

live together with another person as if they were married or civil partners,

is staying in hospital or residing in a care home or hospice.

(4)

Where this paragraph applies, I is to be treated for the purposes of these Regulations as continuing to occupy the relevant premises, or be a member of the relevant household or (as the case may be) live together with the relevant person, if—

(a)

where I is staying in hospital, the duration of I’s stay has not exceeded 52 weeks from the date on which I was admitted;

(b)

where I is residing in a hospice or care home, I’s residence there is temporary.

(5)

For the purposes of paragraphs (3) and (4), “care home” and “hospice” have the meanings given by regulation 2(8) of the WHD (E&W) Regulations.

(6)

For the purposes of these Regulations, where—

(a)

an individual (“I”) is an occupier of domestic premises at which electricity is supplied for domestic purposes, and

(b)

because I lacks the necessary capacity to arrange that supply, the electricity is supplied at those premises to another person (“A”) who is not I’s partner (whether or not A is also an owner or occupier of those premises),

I is to be treated as the person who is supplied with electricity at those premises.”.

(4)

In regulation 3 (meaning of qualifying customer)—

(a)

in paragraph (1), for sub-paragraph (c) substitute—

“(c)

the relevant condition is met.”;

(b)

after paragraph (1), insert—

“(1A)

In this regulation “the relevant condition” means—

(a)

in relation to England and Wales, the condition in paragraph (1B);

(b)

in relation to Scotland, the condition in paragraph (2).

(1B)

The condition in this paragraph is met if the domestic customer or the customer’s partner—

(a)

is in receipt of a guarantee credit or a savings credit (or both) on the relevant date, or

(b)

is—

(i)

entitled to a guarantee credit or a savings credit (or both) on the relevant date, and

(ii)

in receipt of that guarantee credit or savings credit, or, if they are entitled to both, at least one of those credits, on the date on which relevant information in relation to them is supplied by the Secretary of State pursuant to regulation 5(1)(b).”.

(5)

In regulation 5 (disclosure of social security information by the Secretary of State)—

(a)

in paragraph (1)—

(i)

in sub-paragraph (a), after “those Regulations” insert “or, as the case may be, a rebate notice (within the meaning given in regulation 8(1) of the WHD (E&W) Regulations)”;

(ii)

in sub-paragraph (b), after “that rebate”, insert “in accordance with the WHD Regulations or, as the case may be, the prescribed rebate in accordance with the WHD (E&W) Regulations”;

(b)

in paragraph (2), after “WHD Regulations” insert “or, as the case may be, the WHD (E&W) Regulations”.

Signature

Callanan

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

29th June 2022

We consent

Alan Mark

Rebecca Harris

Two of the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury

6th July 2022

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations provide for the continuation in England and Wales of the scheme to reduce fuel poverty established by the Warm Home Discount Regulations 2011 (“the Scheme”). These Regulations re-enact with amendments the provisions made by those Regulations to continue the Scheme in England and Wales until 31st March 2026. The Scheme will continue to be administered and enforced by the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority (“the Authority”).

The Scheme continues to place obligations on electricity suppliers (“compulsory scheme electricity suppliers”) who have, or are part of a group of electricity or gas supply companies which together has, at least the specified number of domestic customers to incur spending in each scheme year on the provision of benefits to customers in or at risk of fuel poverty. For the scheme year which begins when these Regulations come into force, the specified number of domestic customers is 50,000, and for later scheme years it is 1,000. “Scheme year” is defined in regulation 3 of the Regulations.

Part 3 requires compulsory scheme electricity suppliers, and other electricity suppliers who opt into this Part, to provide rebates of £150 to customers specified by the Secretary of State (“core group customers”). A person can only be specified as a core group customer if the person appears to the Secretary of State—

(a)

to be the owner or occupier of domestic premises in England or Wales at which the person is supplied with electricity or gas wholly or mainly for domestic purposes,

(b)

to occupy those premises as their sole or main residence, and

(c)

either—

(i)

to be, or, where the person lives with their partner, to be the partner of a person, in receipt of state pension credit guarantee credit, or

(i)

to meet, or, where the person lives with their partner, to be the partner of a person who meets, the eligibility criteria published by the Secretary of State in accordance with regulation 9.

Specific provision is made to enable persons who would ordinarily occupy premises as their sole or main residence but are in hospital, a care home or a hospice temporarily to be treated as continuing to occupy the relevant premises (see regulation 2 of the Regulations).

Part 4 requires compulsory scheme electricity suppliers to incur other spending for the purposes of reducing fuel poverty. Chapter 1 provides for the calculation, and adjustment, of the amount of spending that suppliers must incur under this Part. Chapter 2 provides for the types of spending which may be incurred (industry initiatives (Chapter 3) and specified activities (Chapter 4)) and the amounts which may be incurred on the various types of spending.

Part 5 contains supplementary provisions about procedure for matters required to be approved by the Authority, determination by the Authority of the amounts spent by suppliers, the provision of information to the Authority by suppliers and the provision of information by the Authority to the Secretary of State.

Part 6 makes provision for reviews of the Scheme by the Secretary of State.

Part 7 contains consequential provisions.

A full impact assessment of the effect that this instrument will have on the costs of business and the public sector has been produced and is available at www.legislation.gov.uk. Hard copies of the impact assessment can be obtained from the Warm Home Discount Team, Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, 1 Victoria Street, London SW1H 0ET.