Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of allocating a proportion of gross revenues from offshore renewable energy projects to local authority infrastructure funds.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Communities close to clean energy infrastructure should benefit from it. Offshore wind developers have established community benefit packages, and via the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, the Government has published guidance on community funds and direct benefits in the form of bill discounts.
The Government has recently asked for views on the proposed introduction of a mandatory community benefit scheme in Great Britain and will respond in due course.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of (a) Denmark’s Promotion of Renewable Energy Act 2008 and (b) other international models for statutory community benefit contributions from renewable energy developments.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
In developing the government’s policy on community benefits, we have undertaken a review of international best practices to ensure our approach is effective and well-informed. This has included consideration of the Offshore Renewable Energy Support Scheme/Renewable Electricity Support Scheme in Ireland and other international examples.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will take steps to ensure that community benefit payments from renewable energy developments are spent on (a) housing, (b) reducing levels of fuel poverty and (c) social care.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The government believes community fund packages will have the most impact if they can be tailored to the community’s preferences and priorities. The process should be community led and decisions on how community benefit funds are spent should rest with the community. This may include, for example, new school clubs, new bus routes, investment in biodiversity or local insulation.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of applying a statutory 2% gross revenue contribution requirement to existing renewable energy projects over 1MW in capacity.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
On 21 May, the government published a working paper on community benefits and shared ownership of low carbon energy infrastructure. The paper seeks views on the proposed introduction of a mandatory community benefit scheme in Great Britain, which would require developers to contribute a set amount to a community fund. The working paper intends to gather insight into what level of benefit is appropriate and how best this is calculated. The government will need to consider the impact on operational costs for developers of infrastructure, impacts on bills, and meaningful level of benefit for communities.
The government maintains regular engagement with key industry and community stakeholders across the country, which continues to inform policy development.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
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 community benefit packages from new renewable energy infrastructure projects on Inverness, Skye, and West Ross-shire constituency.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
At present, the provision of community benefits in Great Britain is voluntary . In Scotland, developers are strongly encouraged to provide community benefits in line with the Scottish Government’s Good Practice Principles.
The government is, currently exploring mandating community benefits as we believe that where communities host this low carbon infrastructure they should benefit and the proposals were set out in the working paper the government published on 21 May.
Under voluntary or mandatory schemes, the process should be community led and the fund tailored to local priorities so that the impact can be maximized.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
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 merits of introducing a statutory minimum revenue contribution from newly consented renewable energy developments to community benefit funds.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
On 21 May, the government published a working paper on community benefits and shared ownership of low carbon energy infrastructure. The paper seeks views on the proposed introduction of a mandatory community benefit scheme in Great Britain, which would require developers to contribute a set amount to a community fund. The working paper intends to gather insight into what level of benefit is appropriate and how best this is calculated. The government will need to consider the impact on operational costs for developers of infrastructure, impacts on bills, and meaningful level of benefit for communities.
The government maintains regular engagement with key industry and community stakeholders across the country, which continues to inform policy development.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent discussions he has had with renewable energy developers on establishing a statutory framework for community benefit payments based on a proportion of gross revenue.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
On 21 May, the government published a working paper on community benefits and shared ownership of low carbon energy infrastructure. The paper seeks views on the proposed introduction of a mandatory community benefit scheme in Great Britain, which would require developers to contribute a set amount to a community fund. The working paper intends to gather insight into what level of benefit is appropriate and how best this is calculated. The government will need to consider the impact on operational costs for developers of infrastructure, impacts on bills, and meaningful level of benefit for communities.
The government maintains regular engagement with key industry and community stakeholders across the country, which continues to inform policy development.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
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 encourage consistent revenue-based contributions to community benefit schemes by onshore renewable developments.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
On 21 May, the government published a working paper on community benefits and shared ownership of low carbon energy infrastructure. The paper seeks views on the proposed introduction of a mandatory community benefit scheme in Great Britain, which would require developers to contribute a set amount to a community fund. The working paper intends to gather insight into what level of benefit is appropriate and how best this is calculated. The government will need to consider the impact on operational costs for developers of infrastructure, impacts on bills, and meaningful level of benefit for communities.
The government maintains regular engagement with key industry and community stakeholders across the country, which continues to inform policy development.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what estimate he has made of the total value of community benefit payments made by (a) onshore and (b) offshore renewable energy projects in each of the last five years.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department does not hold data on the value of community benefits payments made by onshore and offshore renewables across Great Britain. Community benefit schemes are administered by the projects themselves and provided voluntarily. We have however, recently publishing a Working Paper on mandatory community benefits and responses to this will help inform our evidence base.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent discussions his Department has had with SSEN Transmission on community benefits.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Details of Ministers' and Permanent Secretaries' meetings with external individuals and organisations are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK