Asked by: Luke Murphy (Labour - Basingstoke)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many workers applied to the Oil and Gas Transition Training Fund during the pilot programme; and what estimate he has made of the number of workers who will be supported by the Oil and Gas Transition Training Fund in the next 12 months.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
As of 6th February, the Oil and Gas Transition Training Fund has received 980 applications and of these 402 have been approved so far. Following the success of the Oil and Gas Transition Training Fund pilot in Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire UK and Scottish Governments plan to significantly scale up this and will extend the reach of the Transition Training Fund, enabling thousands more highly skilled oil and gas workers to access tailored careers advice and training to transition to new sectors.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department provides (a) funding and (b) any other support for increasing (i) grid capacity and (ii) enabling electrification at the Port of Southampton.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Maritime Decarbonisation Strategy, published in March 2025, sets out domestic goals and commitments to decarbonise maritime transport, and a call for evidence on Net Zero Ports was launched to assess future energy demand at ports such as Southampton and Portsmouth International.
While the Government does not directly fund increases in electricity network capacity, we support Ofgem in their work to incentivise electricity network companies to invest strategically, ensuring plans reflect emerging demands from electrifying sectors. Through the UK Shipping Office for Reducing Emissions, Portsmouth International Port received nearly £20m of R&D funding to support a shore power trial.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he is taking to ensure a just transition and economic fairness for communities when reducing air pollution from the energy sector.
Answered by Katie White - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The government’s approach to the transition is built on the principle of fairness – for households by ensuring energy security and protecting billpayers, and for workers by ensuring decarbonisation is a route to reindustrialisation.
The transition will unlock a range of social and health benefits from lower energy bills and cleaner air for people across the country, including those in vulnerable circumstances.
Working towards net zero and adapting to climate change is essential to prevent widening inequalities, because we know that if we do not act, the impacts of climate change will more severely impact vulnerable groups.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus and Perthshire Glens)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of implementing measures similar to those adopted in other European countries to help reduce electricity prices for (a) consumers and (b) industry.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Tackling the affordability crisis is Government’s number one priority. At the last Budget, we took an average of £150 of costs off household energy bills from this coming April. The main driver of high energy bills is gas, and we are taking action to reduce electricity prices for consumers and industry by taking back control with homegrown clean power. In designing and implementing energy policy, we take account of approaches adopted successfully in other countries.
Asked by: Perran Moon (Labour - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what proportion of funding in the consolidated low income household energy efficiency scheme will be allocated to (a) private sector homes and (b) social housing properties.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government’s Warm Homes Plan includes £5 billion targeted investment for home upgrades for low-income and fuel poor households. This will initially be delivered via the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund (WH:SHF) and the Warm Homes: Local Grant (WH:LG), which support social housing tenants and low-income homeowners respectively. The WH:SHF has been allocated up to an extra £295 million for 2026/27, in addition to the £1.3billion previously committed. £500 million has been allocated for the WH:LG.
From 2027/28 onwards the Government intends to integrate these schemes into a single low-income capital scheme, shifting towards area-based delivery. The Government will say more about the evolution of our low-income schemes in Spring 2026.
Asked by: Connor Naismith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of introducing zonal electricity pricing on (a) consumer energy bills in regions with high renewable generation, such as those with significant offshore wind capacity, (b) the cost to the public purse of constraint payments to wind generators and (c) future private-sector investment in energy infrastructure in areas of high demand, including the South East.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
In July 2025, we announced that we would not be implementing zonal pricing as part of the Review of Electricity Market Arrangements (REMA) and had decided instead to retain a single Great Britain wide wholesale electricity market. We plan to set out the potential impact of zonal pricing − with respect to areas such as consumers, generators and investment, including South East England – in the REMA Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA), which will be published later this year.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how often gas-fired power stations were used to replace curtailed renewable generation in 2025.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department does not hold the requested information. It is owned by NESO and published on the Elexon data portal.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of whether curtailment payments create incentives to locate generation in areas with insufficient grid capacity.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The revenue that generators can make from curtailment payments is regulated by Ofgem through the Transmission Constraint Licence Condition. This regulation limits the revenue generators can make from being curtailed to the value of the revenue lost through not being able to generate plus reasonable costs. Ofgem can and does take enforcement action against generators that it believes are not complying with this regulation.
The Strategic Spatial Energy Plan (SSEP) will optimise the siting of new sources of electricity generation across Great Britain. The Government’s Reformed National Pricing programme will have the SSEP at its heart, and reforms will be designed to ensure incentives for generation projects encourage siting and investment in areas that align with the SSEP.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of recommendations 11 and 12 of the Nuclear Regulatory Review on the level playing field provisions in the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
We will present a full government response and implementation plan by end of February 2026, taking account of our national security considerations, and planning, environmental and court processes. The Review acknowledges that when reviewing the recommendations in detail and in considering implementation, we may conclude that some recommended outcomes could be better achieved by alternative means, or that delivery timescales must necessarily be adjusted.
Asked by: Perran Moon (Labour - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how much funding within the consolidated low income household energy efficiency scheme will be ringfenced for community level low carbon heat technologies, including (a) Shared Ground Loops and (b) heat networks.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government’s Warm Homes Plan includes £5 billion targeted investment for home upgrades for low-income and fuel poor households. As part of this offer, from 2027/28 the Government intends to integrate the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund and Warm Homes: Local Grant into a single low-income capital scheme, which will shift toward area-based delivery. The Government will say more about the evolution of our low-income schemes this Spring, including the scope of funded technologies.
In addition to any forthcoming funding from these schemes the Government is investing £1.1bn in low-carbon heat networks over this Parliament, and accelerating their rollout through Heat Network Zoning. We have also taken action to strengthen consumer protection through appointing Ofgem as the Heat Network regulator.