Department for Energy Security & Net Zero

The UK and Scottish Governments are investing up to £2 million to help workers directly impacted by the cessation of refining at Grangemouth transition into new jobs. The Grangemouth Training Guarantee has already supported over 290 workers through training.

The Training Guarantee is still in active delivery, led by Forth Valley College as the training provider and scheme administrator. Eligible workers continue to be able to access targeted training to support their return to employment in line with the established eligibility criteria. These criteria help ensure consistency and fairness, to ensure that all eligible workers can benefit from the Guarantee.

The UK and Scottish Governments are investing up to £2 million to help workers directly impacted by the cessation of refining at Grangemouth transition into new jobs. The Grangemouth Training Guarantee has already supported over 290 workers through training.

The Training Guarantee is still in active delivery, led by Forth Valley College as the training provider and scheme administrator. Eligible workers continue to be able to access targeted training to support their return to employment in line with the established eligibility criteria. These criteria help ensure consistency and fairness, to ensure that all eligible workers can benefit from the Guarantee.

The Government is working closely with industry, the National Energy System Operator, and the regulator to develop the Energy Resilience Strategy to ensure it is comprehensive, robust and reflects the full range of risks and opportunities facing the energy system. We expect to publish the strategy in Autumn 2026.

My Rt hon Friend the Secretary of State has regular discussions with Ministerial Colleagues on a number of issues.

The DESNZ/GBE Local Power Plan is designed to engage a wide range of stakeholders and participants including community energy organisations, local authorities as well as investors and lenders. The initial entry route for those seeking support is typically through a Great British Energy Expression of Interest (EOI). This is open to communities and local authorities to submit project ideas for support. This EOI is GBE’s first step toward coordinated engagement on local and community power, to build a shared understanding of what projects are emerging across the country. Great British Energy is developing further schemes, with more information available this year.

The Department recognises the potential for community batteries to help households access cheaper, clean electricity, including those without the up-front capital required for a home battery, those living in flats, and households that lack the space needed for installation.

Evidence from existing schemes suggests that community batteries can reduce energy bills by reducing peak electricity use and enabling export to the grid.

However, the Department has not made a final assessment of the scale of these savings. It has therefore launched a Call for Evidence to gather further information on this and other issues.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero recognises the potential for community batteries to help households access cheaper, clean electricity, including low‑income households without the up‑front capital for a home battery, those living in flats, and homes without suitable space for installation.

The Department has launched a Call for Evidence to gather views from a wide range of stakeholders, including local authorities, on the benefits, barriers to delivery and safety of these schemes. The department has not yet discussed these issues with local authorities in Lancashire, however officials would be happy to do so as part of this process.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero recognises the potential for community batteries to help households access cheaper, clean electricity, including low-income households without the up-front capital required for a home battery, those living in flats, and households that lack the space needed for installation.

The Department has launched a Call for Evidence to explore how community battery schemes could be scaled up, exploring their benefits, existing barriers to delivery, and how safety can be ensured. This will ensure communities, including those in Fylde, can share in the benefits of the energy transition.

The Government is committed to harnessing the benefits of artificial intelligence to improve the productivity of the Civil Service and the quality of public services.

Departments provide officials, Ministers and special advisers with access to secure, enterprise-grade generative AI tools that have been assured to the appropriate security standards and approved for official use. Ministers, special advisers and officials may only use generative AI tools that their department has approved for official use. The use of publicly available or consumer versions of generative AI tools, including those named in the Question, for official business is not permitted unless a department has specifically assured and approved that tool.

Approved enterprise tools are configured so that departmental data is held securely and is not used to train publicly available AI models. The use of generative AI across government is governed by the AI Playbook for the UK Government, which sets out the principles for the safe, responsible and effective use of these tools.

In DESNZ, Microsoft 365 Copilot is available to officials within the secure Microsoft 365 environment. Copilot integrates with departmental data under existing access controls, and includes Claude models in some Copilot experiences and agents.

Ministers and Special Advisers are granted access to M365 Copilot for departmental duties when using a DESNZ account and a DESNZ device.

The Government has launched its Clean Power 2030 Action Plan, which set out a detailed plan for achieving the target of clean power by 2030.

The Government has secured a record 8.4GW of offshore wind in AR7, Europe’s biggest ever offshore wind auction - enough clean electricity to power the equivalent of over 12 million homes. The Government is also reforming its renewables auctions, tackling planning barriers, and taking bold action to accelerate network build.

Since removing the de facto ban on onshore wind in England in July 2024, the Government has published the Onshore Wind Strategy with actions to tackle barriers across planning, grid, aviation, skills and routes to market. AR7 secured 1.3GW of onshore wind, including England’s largest project for over a decade.

The Government recognises there is significant potential to deploy rooftop solar on public and commercial properties.

As well as promoting rooftop solar for businesses, the Government is intensifying efforts to build renewables on the public estate. It is establishing a new Taskforce chaired by the Cabinet Office to assess where renewables can be built and support departments to bring forward viable projects.

Along with Great British Energy, the Government has invested £255 million in solar energy installations on public buildings, supporting around 250 schools, over 270 NHS sites and around 15 military sites across the country.

SMEs can access funding for low carbon technologies through schemes like the Boiler Upgrade Scheme.

We also encourage SMEs to visit the UK Business Climate Hub which provides advice to support SMEs to reduce costs and build resilience. It is run by the Broadway Initiative, in partnership with government and a coalition of business organisations.

Energy Resilience is a top priority for Government. Government works continuously with industry to improve and maintain the resilience of energy infrastructure to a range of risks including extreme weather events.

The Energy Resilience Group (ERG), which brings together Government, regulators and industry, including network operators, works to identify lessons after all large energy incidents to ensure continuous improvement to the network.

The cost of living is the single biggest issue families are facing, and tackling affordability is this government’s number one priority. That is why the Chancellor has taken urgent action on the cost of living.

On 30 January, we also announced the continuation of the Warm Home Discount scheme until 2030/31, providing around 6 million eligible households with the £150 rebate on their energy bills each winter.

However, we recognise that there is much further to go if we are to end the era of high energy bills for good and permanently bring down the cost of living. That’s why we are sprinting for clean power by 2030, so we can end our reliance on international fossil fuel markets we do not control and deliver long-term energy security. We are also investing £15 billion through the Warm Homes Plan – the biggest home upgrade plan in British history – to help lift up to a million families out of fuel poverty by 2030.

The latest annual fuel poverty statistics, published in March 2026, project that an estimated 8.4% of households (2.13 million) in England are in fuel poverty in 2026, under the Low Income Low Energy Efficiency (LILEE) metric.

These values are based on projections of energy prices from early 2026 and predate any impacts of the conflict in the Middle East.

While the outlook for prices is uncertain, the Government will do everything it can to help protect households facing these current fuel price spikes, and the Chancellor says she stands ready to act as we look towards the autumn and winter.

Insulation plays an important role in making homes cheaper to heat and healthier to live in, and many homes, particularly those at risk of fuel poverty, stand to benefit from cost-effective fabric upgrades through the £15 billion Warm Homes Plan, the biggest investment in home upgrades in British history.

Through the Warm Homes: Local Grant and the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund, we are supporting improvements such as insulation, double glazing, draught proofing, and new windows and doors. The Government has allocated £5 billion of support to low-income homes, initially delivered through these schemes.

Additionally, new Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards in the rental sectors will mandate a Fabric metric, ensuring renters benefit from appropriate insulation measures.

In their 2025 Progress in Reducing Emissions Report, the independent Climate Change Committee stated that the UK's reduction in territorial emissions from 1990-2022 significantly outweighs the increase in emissions from imports over that period, reflecting the fact that emission reductions in the UK and progress on our targets have largely occurred without offshoring emissions. We are committed to continuing to reduce both UK emissions and global emissions. For more information, Defra publishes estimates of imported emissions in their Carbon Footprint statistics here.

This Government has consulted on our manifesto commitment to introduce transition plan requirements for UK regulated financial institutions and large companies, and the department will publish our response to this consultation shortly.

The Government recognises that restoring nature and tackling climate change are intrinsically linked. We remain committed to achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 while also reversing nature loss, supported by existing legislation and policy frameworks.

Through the Carbon Budget and Growth Delivery Plan, we are delivering clean energy deployment alongside wider environmental objectives, including improved air quality and access to nature.

Moving forward, the Government intends to deliver the second annual statement on the state of climate and nature to Parliament this summer. Like last year's statement, it will provide an honest appraisal of the state of climate and nature in the UK alongside highlighting the action being taken to benefit people now, as well as future generations.

The department estimates that RAB levies for Sizewell C will add on average approximately £1 a month to a typical household bill. Eligible Energy Intensive Industries are exempt from RAB levies.

There will be £2 billion per year savings to the energy system once Sizewell C is operational.

The Government is working closely with Ofgem, energy suppliers and consumer groups to develop a range of interventions to reduce energy debt and ensure consumers have access to effective debt advice.

In the Home Energy Model (HEM): Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) consultation, we proposed how technologies including batteries could contribute to future EPC ratings.

The introduction of HEM will enable a half hour resolution that can more accurately estimate the impact of batteries on a home’s energy performance.

We are currently reviewing the consultation responses, including on the weighting of the different technologies in the EPC metrics. We will publish a Government Response by the end of the year.

The Government has built a high-quality digital-first system with an online emissions monitoring and reporting platform that has embedded guidance for the whole process. Free voluntary onboarding has been available since November 2025 for at least 96% of operators.

In addition to this, the UK ETS regulators will publish 'How to Comply' guidance on GOV.UK ahead of scheme commencement on 1 July 2026.

Alongside this, the Government and regulators have provided extensive support including YouTube tutorial videos, operator newsletters, webinars, and live virtual sessions. Operators can also contact their regulator for support directly too.

We are taking forward all of the recommendations of the Nuclear Regulatory Review and have published our implementation plan with all reforms expected to be completed by the end of 2027.

The Department is actively progressing work on the Nuclear Regulation Bill, which will be introduced when Parliamentary time allows.

A Bill team has been established by the Department.

We are taking forward all of the recommendations of the Nuclear Regulatory Review and have published our implementation plan with all reforms expected to be completed by the end of 2027.

The Department is actively progressing work on the Nuclear Regulation Bill, which will be introduced when Parliamentary time allows.

A Bill team has been established by the Department.

We are taking forward all of the recommendations of the Nuclear Regulatory Review and have published our implementation plan with all reforms expected to be completed by the end of 2027.

The Department is actively progressing work on the Nuclear Regulation Bill, which will be introduced when Parliamentary time allows.

A Bill team has been established by the Department.

We are taking forward all of the recommendations of the Nuclear Regulatory Review and have published our implementation plan with all reforms expected to be completed by the end of 2027.

The Department is actively progressing work on the Nuclear Regulation Bill, which will be introduced when Parliamentary time allows.

A Bill team has been established by the Department.

Domestic batteries are an eligible measure under the Warm Homes: Local Grant. Batteries can only be installed where they complement existing or new solar PV. This is to ensure that households realise the full benefits of installing a battery.

Measure eligibility policy for the Grant is kept under review.

All measures installed under Government schemes must adhere to the latest PAS 2035:2023 guidance and installers must be Trustmark registered and PAS 2030:2023 certified for energy performance measures and MCS certified for low carbon heating measures such as batteries.

The following organisations have had departmental Civil Servants seconded to them since July 2024:

• Electricity System Operator
• Great British Energy
• Great British Nuclear
• GCHQ
• Global Media
• Infected Blood Compensation Authority
• MOD
• National Energy System Operator
• Oxford University
• Royal Botanical Gardens Kew
• The Crown Estate
• The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority
• UK Atomic Energy Authority
• UK Government Investments
• University of Leeds, Production and Consumption Transformation (PACT) centre
• Wellcome Trust

The following organisations have seconded organisational staff to the department since July 2024:

• Alan Turing Institute
• AWE Nuclear Security Technologies
• Baringa
• Clean Air Fund
• CO2 Sense
• Cranfield University
• Energus
• Electricity Systems Operator
• Fuels Industry UK/Exxon Mobil
• Houses of Parliament Renewal & Restoration Project Delivery Authority
• Imperial College
• Lancaster University
• Loughborough University
• National Gas
• Nuclear Decommissioning Authority
• National Energy System Operator
• Net Zero and Energy Frameworks Ltd
• Nuclear Decommissioning Authority
• Octopus Energy
• Office for Nuclear Regulation
• ORE Catapult
• Oxford University
• RenewableUK
• Ricardo AEA Ltd
• Rolls Royce
• Royal Academy of Engineers
• Royal Holloway University London
• Royal Society
• RWE
• S Curve Economics
• Salix
• Scottish Power
• Sellafield
• SSE
• Systemiq
• Transport for London
• The Institute For Public Policy Research
• Trade Union Congress
• University College London
• UK Government Investments
• University of Edinburgh
• University of Loughborough
• University of Southampton
• Xodus Group
• York University

The Government recognises that businesses are under pressure from high energy costs. Recent instability in the Middle East has shown how global events can push up prices here at home. Through Clean Power by 2030, we are investing in clean, homegrown power to strengthen energy security and bring bills down for good. We are also supporting hospitality businesses directly through the Zero Carbon Services trial, which helped over 600 SMEs cut energy use, with projected savings of over £3 million a year.

This detail of information is not held centrally and can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

No assessment has been made. In any case, this would require the careful consideration of the Met Office.

The Government recognises the role of community energy in delivering net zero and is working with Ofgem to address regulatory barriers, including routes to market. Through delivering on commitments in the Local Power Plan, we are working with Great British Energy to explore measures to make it easier for community energy groups to participate in local energy markets.

The department, Ofgem and wider energy industry has also been working to make changes to industry rules to support the local trade of energy. This includes work on rule P441, standardising the classification of local energy sites to provide a regulatory footing that will clarify the rules of setting them up. Further updates and outcomes from this work will be provided in due course.

Maintaining a secure and resilient energy system is a top priority for Government. We work continually with industry to improve and maintain the resilience and security of energy infrastructure, considering a range of evolving risks and hazards – including changing climate.

The National Energy System Operator, an independent technical body, delivers resilience functions, including understanding and planning system resilience.

The UK ETS Authority first signalled intent to include maritime in the UK ETS in March 2022. This was followed by two consultations including bespoke engagement sessions for each. Operators of ships of 5,000 gross tonnage and above are already equipped to undertake monitoring, reporting and verification, with years of experience under existing regimes.

The Government has built a digital-first system for onboarding, with free-of-charge voluntary onboarding open since November 2025. More than 96% of expected participants can voluntarily onboard now to set up accounts and become familiar with requirements.

We encourage any operator to get in touch with their regulator now in preparation for the expansion on 1 July 2026.

The Government recognises that recent global events have increased volatility in international energy markets, which has placed upward pressure on the price of off-grid fuels. The Government announced £53 million of support for vulnerable off-grid customers, distributed by local authorities through the Crisis and Resilience Fund. The Government continues to keep the price and market conditions of off-grid fuels under review as part of its wider consideration of energy affordability and fuel poverty.

Energy efficiency measures installed under current Government energy efficiency schemes must be compliant with PAS 2035/2030 to ensure installations are done to the highest quality and the risk of unintended consequences. The Retrofit Coordinator role within PAS 2035 has that role of project manager, taking overall responsibility for overseeing from inception to completion.

Government is consulting on reforms to the consumer protection system and seek views on proposals for government to have stronger central oversight of the system for government funded home upgrade schemes. This will include how government can set clear expectations, monitor performance and ensure accountability across schemes to drive higher quality installations, which are carried out right first time.

The Government recognises that some households remain affected by defects arising from historical energy efficiency schemes, including those that predate the Energy Company Obligation. Households should first contact their installer, and where this is not possible, to seek support through available redress routes, including guarantee providers where applicable.

The Government recognises that aspects of the current system have not consistently delivered strong outcomes for all consumers. To simplify the system for consumers and installers, we will consult this year on options for bringing the oversight of home upgrades supported by government schemes under closer government control.

The Department does not currently have plans to provide general remedial funding for defects arising from legacy home energy efficiency schemes that predate the Energy Company Obligation. Responsibility for addressing defects sits primarily with installers, certification bodies and guarantee providers within the consumer protection arrangements at time of installation.

The Government recognises that aspects of the current system have not consistently delivered strong outcomes for all consumers. To simplify the system for consumers and installers, we will consult this year on options for bringing the oversight of energy efficiency and microgeneration installations for government schemes under closer government control.

The Government recognises concerns about the impact of standing charges on business consumers and is committed to ensuring that energy costs are recovered fairly.

We are working closely with Ofgem as it undertakes its Cost Allocation and Recovery Review, which is considering how fixed system costs, including those commonly recovered through standing charges, are allocated across domestic and non-domestic consumers and whether they could be recovered in fairer and more progressive ways, including in relation to regional differences.

Government is accelerating the deployment of low-cost renewable electricity technologies to reduce our reliance on international fossil fuel markets.

The existing Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme has been successful in bringing forth new renewable assets at fixed, competitive prices. These CfDs are already beginning to decouple electricity and gas markets, protecting consumers from higher electricity bills when gas prices increase.

In April, Government announced plans to offer legacy low-carbon generators – which provide around 30% of our power today – the option of a fixed price CfD. These contracts will build on the success of existing CfDs, further delinking electricity generation from volatile gas prices.

Levels of standing charges in the non-domestic market are a commercial decision for suppliers, who typically set their prices based on network charge differences, leading to regional variations in electricity standing charges.

Nonetheless, the Government understands that for too many consumers, too much of the burden of the bill is placed on standing charges and is committed to lowering the cost of standing charges. Ofgem have recently launched a Cost Allocation Recovery Review to review how ‘fixed’ costs should be recovered in the future energy system. This includes whether costs could be recovered from consumers, including businesses in more progressive and fairer ways.

Great British Energy (GBE) is recruiting permanent roles now; the majority will be based in Aberdeen, with a smaller number in Edinburgh, reflecting the strength of the talent pool in both locations.

GBE will create hundreds of jobs in Aberdeen in the next five years. Its far greater impact will come from their activities, which will support thousands of good jobs right across the UK, including in skills and locations historically dependent on oil and gas.

We understand that local advice services and the voluntary sector play an important role in supporting vulnerable households with their energy costs and the Government is working with local authorities, charities and frontline services to make every contact count through more holistic advice and integrated referrals.

The statutory organisations helping the vulnerable with energy bills consult annually on their work programme including the support provided by the Extra Help Unit for those facing disconnection. The Government annually approves a levy that recovers the costs of the statutory advice and advocacy organisations such as Citizens Advice and the EHU which play a vital role in supporting vulnerable energy consumers.

We have made no assessment of the effectiveness of Local Citizens Advice offices, but they have access to information provided to the national organisations. These offices are independently run charities funded through a mix of local authority commissioning, charitable income, and central government support, with councils playing a key role in funding local advice provision.