Lord Ravensdale

The nuclear industry has a proud record of supporting tens of thousands of well-paid, highly skilled, unionised jobs, which are vital to communities across the country.

The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority permanently employs 17,500 people and invests £45m each year in apprentice and graduate development supporting the Nuclear Skills Agenda. The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority also supports approximately 5,000 companies as part of its supply chain. The economic impact of the NDA group was reported upon in 2022 [1] and has most recently undertaken an economic impact assessment which will be published this financial year [2]

[1] Microsoft Word - Magnox economic impact assessment - 2022, The economic contribution of the NDA to the West Cumbria economy, Dounreay_Socio-economic_report_2022.pdf

[2] at Nuclear Decommissioning Authority - GOV.UK

The government is committed to ensuring energy efficiency schemes deliver measurable benefits for households. As part of the Warm Homes Plan, officials are exploring how to better target support and improve outcomes.

While the government has not made a formal assessment of the Sustainable Energy Association’s specific proposal, we will continue to engage with stakeholders on innovative approaches to improve affordability and effectiveness of retrofit delivery.

Decarbonising heating is one of the biggest challenges facing the UK getting to Net Zero by 2050. A range of technologies are likely to be required including heat pumps, heat networks and biomethane. As part of the Government's ambitious Warm Homes Plan, we will upgrade up to 5 million homes across the country by accelerating the installation of efficient new technologies like heat pumps, solar, home batteries and insulation. We will publish more details soon.

The Government has already committed to removing any Russian fuel and uranium supply to the UK by 2030 and officials continue to explore ways to re-emphasise existing commitments to divestment.

The procurement of nuclear fuel, including uranium and enrichment services, is a commercial matter for reactor operators. The Government works closely with these operators to ensure there is a secure and resilient supply for the UK fleet. All reactor operators must comply with UK domestic and international legal obligations, including any sanctions or trade measures in place against Russian-origin uranium.

The Government will continue its work with international partners to build resilient in nuclear fuel supply chains and to remove global dependencies on Russia.

The capacity ranges set out in the Action Plan are not intended to cap supply of projects but, amongst other things, help prioritise the reform of the connections process. Today’s connections queue is significantly oversubscribed, with large volumes of some technologies and less of others.

It is vital that Contracts for Difference (CfD) continues to offer value for money to consumers and continue to deliver low prices, which is why auctions are designed to keep the process competitive.

Our reforms are aimed at improving the ability of the CfD mechanism to support a large volume of renewable capacity – particularly offshore wind – whilst maintaining competition, which provides value for money for consumers.

Following the Chancellor's commitment to progress Midlands Rail Hub in the 2025 Spending Review the procurement of the alliance that will design and deliver Midlands Rail Hub is currently ongoing.

We are working with Network Rail, Midlands Connect, and West Midlands Rail Executive, to maximise the benefits of Midlands Rail Hub throughout the region. Midlands Connect are leading the development of the rationale for the scheme, including the distribution of socio-economic benefits, and will be able to provide more detail.

The Department has not made a specific assessment of the Welsh Government’s project to build a reactor for medical radioisotope manufacture.

The Department regularly engages with suppliers, specialist clinicians, the British Nuclear Medicine Society, and the UK Radiopharmacy Group to support the continued supply of medical radioisotopes for National Health Services.

My department has been conducting research into the practical, technical and economic impacts of regulating embodied carbon in new buildings. This research is now nearing completion and will inform future policy decisions, including when and how to seek views on the measurement and reduction of embodied carbon.

The Future Homes and Buildings Standards consultation was published in December 2023 and closed in March 2024, and a government response has not yet been issued. The consultation proposed that the new standards would apply to all new domestic and non-domestic buildings.

We fully support the need for low carbon homes and buildings, fit for a net zero future. We are reviewing proposals and feedback from the Future Homes and Buildings Standards consultation and will publish the government response in due course.