Claire Young

The UK and US Government regularly discuss a wide range of policy issues linked to nuclear energy in both the UK and US. In September we agreed the Atlantic Partnership for Advanced Nuclear Energy to unlock billions in private investment and accelerate the delivery of new nuclear projects in both countries.

The government has selected Wylfa as the site to host Britain’s first small modular reactors.

Meanwhile, to pursue the option of further large-scale nuclear, Great British Energy - Nuclear has been tasked with identifying suitable sites that could potentially host such a project

The Warm Homes Plan sets out in detail how the government's £15 billion investment into home upgrades will be allocated to individual schemes. While there is no specifically ring-fenced funding for off-gas grid homes, the package will support these homes to decarbonise in a variety of ways.

Additionally, the government has published a consultation on alternative heating solutions which explores the role these technologies could play in ensuring that every household has a suitable low-carbon option. The consultation closed on 10 February, and we will issue the Government response in due course.

As part of the Warm Homes Plan the government is investing £5 billion in direct support for low-income households. This will initially be delivered through the Warm Homes: Local Grant (WH:LG) and Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund (WH:SHF).

All eligible households in England and Wales can also benefit from the expanded Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS), funded with £2.7 billion to 2030. This will provide more options for homes where a hydronic heat pump may not be the most appropriate solution, including air-to-air heat pumps and heat batteries.

Additionally, the government has published a consultation on alternative heating solutions which explores the role these technologies could play in ensuring that every household has a suitable low-carbon option. The consultation closed on 10 February, and a government response will follow in due course.

My Rt Hon friend has regular discussions with cabinet colleagues on a number of issues.

The government has selected Wylfa as the site to host Britain’s first small modular reactors. Meanwhile, to pursue the option of further large-scale nuclear, Great British Energy - Nuclear has been tasked with identifying suitable sites that could potentially host such a project.

The US is one of our most important and longstanding international partners on civil nuclear and we are regularly in contact on civil nuclear matters.

The government has selected Wylfa as the site to host Britain’s first Small Modular Reactors. Meanwhile, to pursue the option of further large-scale nuclear, we have tasked Great British Energy - Nuclear with identifying suitable sites that could host a potential large-scale project.

GBE-N owns the site at Oldbury-on-Severn and as a site which has previously hosted a nuclear power station, it has great potential for new nuclear. GBE-N will continue early work to evaluate the site, to ensure it is ready for future deployment. .

The government wants to see thousands of jobs created across the UK nuclear sector and for UK supply chains to develop world-leading expertise across a range of civil nuclear activities to ensure competitiveness both domestically and internationally.

The government welcomes Nuclear Transport Solutions’ partnership with Westinghouse. Developing capability to make and transport advanced nuclear fuel is critical to shoring up the UK’s position as a nuclear world leader.

Great British Energy – Nuclear (GBE-N) owns the site at Oldbury-on-Severn in Gloucestershire. As a site which has previously hosted a nuclear power station, it has great potential for new nuclear, including advanced technologies. GBE-N is continuing early work to evaluate the site, to ensure it is ready for future deployment. This includes the potential to support any privately-led projects that might be developed by the nuclear industry.

In November 2025, following careful deliberation, the Government announced that Wylfa will host Great British Energy-Nuclear (GBE-N) first Small Modular Reactor (SMR) project. Wylfa has the potential to accommodate more SMR units than other potential sites.

To pursue the option of further potential large-scale nuclear, the government has tasked GBE-N with identifying other suitable sites that could potentially host such a project. GBE-N will report back by Autumn 2026 on potential sites to inform future decisions in the next Spending Review and beyond.

We are tackling promotion of fraudulent energy saving products in homes retrofit through several steps.

Selection and installation of measures is overseen through expert certification processes and bodies. This is being enhanced though development of a robust model for future scheme delivery which will reduce fraud. This includes a simplified approach to scheme design and scoring of measures reducing opportunities for fraud and for gaming. We have ongoing investment in technology to prevent and detect fraud.

Retrofit delivered through local authorities and housing associations have support from delivery partners appointed to bring expertise in assurance and fraud prevention.

The government is supporting the deployment of technologies that will reduce household bills through a variety of schemes including the Energy Company Obligation, the Great British Insulation Scheme, Warm Homes: Social Housing Decarbonisation, Warm Homes: Local Government and the continuation of the Boiler Upgrade Scheme.

The government invested up to £42 million in the Heat Pump Ready (HPR) innovation programme to overcome barriers to heat pump deployment and support innovation in product design.

To promote the benefits of heat pumps the government has also relaunched its ‘Warm and Fuzzy’ campaign.

The Warm Homes Plan will continue our support for low carbon technologies and other energy efficiency upgrades to help reduce bills.

The NSTA assesses each application on its own merits, and as a result, the time taken to reach a decision would be dependent on a project’s unique individual characteristics and complexity.

While the Department collects data on the number of smart meters not operating in smart mode, this does not differentiate between when meters are impacted.

The latest Government statistics on smart meter installations to end December 2024 were published on 20th March and are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/smart-meters-statistics. These include information about the number of smart meters operating in smart mode.

At the end of 2024 over 90% of smart meters were operating as intended and sending automatic readings to suppliers.

Statistics are available on the number of smart meters not operating in smart mode, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/smart-meters-statistics. A breakdown of this figure by energy supplier is published by Ofgem (https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/energy-policy-and-regulation/policy-and-regulatory-programmes/smart-meter-transition-and-data-communications-company-dcc/smart-meter-performance). The Department does not collect data on smart meters not operating in smart mode by local authority.

A smart meter not operating in smart mode will continue to record energy usage accurately, with an energy company meter reader or the customer needing to take manual meter readings.

The investment needed for smart metering including installation of smart meters is funded by energy suppliers.

Government expenditure on the Smart Metering Implementation Programme in DESNZ in 2022-23 was £9.7m, in 2023-4 it was £9.8m and forecast expenditure in 2024-25 is £10.5m.

The Government recognises the role community groups play in our efforts to tackle climate change. The Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) is a market-led mechanism that was designed to ensure that there is a guaranteed route to market for any small-scale low-carbon generator, such as a community energy project, that compensates for the value of their exported electricity.

The Department is also working alongside Ofgem and other key stakeholders to explore options for addressing the regulatory barriers to local energy supply, including route to market.

The Government recognises the role community groups play in our efforts to tackle climate change, and has tabled an amendment to the Great British Energy Bill, which clarifies that Great British Energy may support renewable energy projects involving or benefitting local communities.

The Government has also announced the Great British Energy Community Fund, to provide funding and support to community energy stakeholders, helping to increase the roll out of renewable energy projects.

Through Great British Energy we will turbocharge community energy. Our Local Power Plan will mean communities taking back control of their energy, bringing cheap clean power and energy security.

I look forward to further details being announced as the GBE Bill goes through its final stages.

In October 2024, the UK, Scottish and Welsh governments jointly commissioned the NESO to produce a Strategic Spatial Energy Plan (SSEP) for Great Britain. This more strategic approach to planning will help accelerate the government’s clean energy superpower mission, including through the development of offshore wind.

This first SSEP will cover infrastructure for power generation, including offshore generation in Great British waters, so that the government can create a more efficient electricity network and reduce waiting times for generation projects to connect to the grid. This will move to a whole energy system plan in future iterations.

The SSEP will sit alongside the existing Marine Spatial Prioritisation programme, as well as wider planning reform, whilst respecting devolved competencies.

Our recently announced Clean Industry Bonus will help to drive investment in our heartland and coastal communities, and in cleaner supply chains – creating economic opportunities in the supply chains of the future. We have also set up the Office for Clean Energy Jobs, which will work closely with businesses and unions to map skills needs and ensure we have the workforce needed to take advantage of the clean energy transition.

Great British Energy will be operationally independent and will deliver in line with a statement of strategic priorities. Its projects will be subject to all relevant environmental legislation, which the Secretary of State regularly engages cabinet colleagues on. This includes the Planning and Infrastructure Bill which aims to accelerate infrastructure delivery, while protecting nature, to achieve clean power by 2030.

Government wants improved outcomes for our environment. We are committed to protecting 30% of land and sea for nature by 2030, halting biodiversity decline by 2030, and expanding nature-rich habitats such as wetlands, peat bogs, and forests.

The Government is fully committed to protecting nature. That’s why as part of the SSEP we are requiring NESO to give due consideration to environmental impacts and statutory environmental duties throughout all stages of its production. The SSEP will also be subject to a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and plan-level Habitats Regulation Assessment (HRA).

Wider energy planning frameworks such as the Centralised Strategic Network Plan (CSNP) will take a whole energy system approach to strategic network planning and balance environmental impact as a key priority alongside economic cost, deliverability, and community impact.

The Government has set an ambitious target of clean power by 2030 as part of its mission to become a clean energy superpower. We have received advice from the NESO on how to achieve this target. We will review this advice and outline our approach to clean power by 2030 in our Action Plan, expected later this year. The role of different low carbon technologies in the future electricity system, including biomass, will be considered as part of that.

The department recognises that pupils with additional needs, such as special educational needs and disabilities, may face more complex barriers to school attendance, and our statutory guidance is clear that schools should take a sensitive, “support first” approach to supporting their attendance. The ’Working Together to Improve School Attendance’ guidance emphasises that schools and local authorities should be working with children and their families to remove any barriers to attendance and building strong and trusting relationships. It makes clear that legal intervention should only be considered when support has been exhausted, not engaged with, or in the cases such as term time holidays, not appropriate.

While some pupils may face additional challenges, we expect schools to have the same attendance ambitions for all pupils, and to put support in place where required.

The department does not hold data on the total number of parents that have been prosecuted for their child’s non-attendance as this is a matter for the courts. However, our statutory guidance is clear that schools should take a ‘support first’ approach to pupils’ attendance and prosecutions should only be used as a last resort, where all other routes have been exhausted or deemed inappropriate in the circumstances of the individual case.

A new national framework for penalty notices came into effect from August 2024 designed to embed our support-first approach and improve consistency and fairness across the country. Data collected by the department from the first year of the new framework (the 2024/25 academic year) shows 148 cases reported where a parent was prosecuted due to reaching the limit of two penalty notices within three years. Comprehensive data on prosecution offences is collected by the Ministry of Justice.

This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.

There is significant work underway to ensure there is an appropriate training offer in place to support teachers and school leaders to create an inclusive school environment. We have recently reviewed the Initial Teacher Training Core Content Framework and the Early Career Framework which includes significantly more content on adaptive teaching and supporting pupils with SEND.

A review of our National Professional Qualifications is also underway, which includes a key focus on including further best practice for teaching pupils with SEND.

This core offer is supplemented by further SEND-specific training that is easy to access at any point in your career through the Universal SEND Services contract. This programme aims to support the school and further education workforce, particularly in mainstream settings, to identify and meet the needs of children and young people with SEND, including those with autism, earlier and more effectively.

While school leaders have the autonomy and authority to make recruitment decisions, as they are best placed to understand their own context and pupils’ needs, the government is supporting them by increasing the core schools budget by £3.7 billion in 2025/26, meaning it will total £65.3 billion, compared to almost £61.6 billion in 2024/25.

This additional funding provides an above real-terms per pupil increase on the core schools budget, taking per-pupil funding to its highest ever level, enabling us to transform the SEND system.

The proposed limit of three branded items relates to the individual types of items. For example, a school can include a branded blazer, jumper and book bag within its policy.

Schools will only be able to require pupils to have up to three types of compulsory branded uniform items for use during the year. Secondary schools and middle schools will have the option of requiring an additional compulsory branded item if it is a branded tie.

The limit will apply to any compulsory branded items in the school’s uniform policy, including PE kit. This includes any bags, such as book bags or rucksacks, and any items only suitable for particular times of year, such as summer dresses. It will be for individual parents to decide how many of each type of branded item they may wish to buy, but the limit on branded items will allow parents to purchase more uniform items from various retailers, including high street stores, helping them manage uniform costs more effectively.

The department knows that school uniform providers play an important role for parents and communities by providing year-round guaranteed supply, a diversity of sizes and specialist advice to schools and parents.

We intend for the limit to come into effect in September 2026. This grace period will give suppliers enough time to renegotiate their existing contracts with schools in order to align with the new legislative requirements and wind down stock levels as appropriate.

Parents should have choice over where they shop, rather than having to buy expensive branded uniform items. Departmental research shows that the average cost of uniform is significantly lower when parents are allowed to buy items from a range of outlets.

The department knows that school uniform providers play an important role for parents and communities by providing year-round guaranteed supply, a diversity of sizes and specialist advice to schools and parents.

We intend for the limit to come into effect in September 2026. This grace period will give suppliers enough time to renegotiate their existing contracts with schools in order to align with the new legislative requirements and wind down stock levels as appropriate.

Parents should have choice over where they shop, rather than having to buy expensive branded uniform items. Departmental research shows that the average cost of uniform is significantly lower when parents are allowed to buy items from a range of outlets.

The department is currently setting up two pathfinders in Greater Manchester (launched April 2025) and the South East (launching June 2025) to test the delivery of Regional Care Co-operatives. An evaluation is in place to support the delivery of the pathfinders. This will focus on assessing the implementation and delivery of the pathfinders, and the impact on improving the commissioning of placements for children in care. We will publish regular findings from this evaluation. We would make any announcement on funding to set up further Regional Care Co-operatives in the usual way. Local authorities may voluntarily choose to set up and fund Regional Care Co-operatives independently of the department.

Once a school’s admission arrangements have been determined, anyone who believes they are unfair or unlawful may submit an objection to the Schools Adjudicator.

Where the Adjudicator determines that a school’s admission arrangements are unlawful, the admission authority has a statutory duty to revise its admission arrangements within two months of the decision, or by 28 February following the decision, whichever is sooner, unless an alternative timescale is specified by the Adjudicator.

An Adjudicator’s determination is binding and enforceable by my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education.

My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education is the principal regulator for academies. All academies are required to have a complaints process which adheres to Part 7 of the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014. This sets out that it is the academy’s responsibility to handle and resolve any complaints against them. If a complainant has concerns that an academy did not handle a complaint in line with the regulations, they can then escalate to the department, whose role it is to consider whether the academy followed the correct process.

Anyone can object to the Schools Adjudicator if they have concerns about a school’s admission arrangements. The Schools Adjudicator considers objections to the admission arrangements of all mainstream state-funded schools, including mainstream academy and free schools. The Adjudicator’s decision is binding.

The department also considers complaints about maladministration in independent appeal panels in relation to school admissions and complaints about maladministration in independent review panels in relation to permanent exclusions. Decisions taken by panels in both circumstances are legally binding and the department is unable to overturn decisions taken. However, parents can contact the department if they have concerns that the appeal or review panel was not held in compliance with relevant legislation or statutory guidance. If the department upholds a complaint, then a fresh appeal may be requested. If a complainant wishes to take their complaint further following the department’s consideration, they are advised to seek independent legal advice.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) can investigate complaints about maintained schools in certain circumstances. The department is considering the LGSCO’s Triennial Review, including their recommendations around school complaints, and will respond in due course.

My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education is the principal regulator for academies. All academies are required to have a complaints process which adheres to Part 7 of the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014. This sets out that it is the academy’s responsibility to handle and resolve any complaints against them. If a complainant has concerns that an academy did not handle a complaint in line with the regulations, they can then escalate to the department, whose role it is to consider whether the academy followed the correct process.

Anyone can object to the Schools Adjudicator if they have concerns about a school’s admission arrangements. The Schools Adjudicator considers objections to the admission arrangements of all mainstream state-funded schools, including mainstream academy and free schools. The Adjudicator’s decision is binding.

The department also considers complaints about maladministration in independent appeal panels in relation to school admissions and complaints about maladministration in independent review panels in relation to permanent exclusions. Decisions taken by panels in both circumstances are legally binding and the department is unable to overturn decisions taken. However, parents can contact the department if they have concerns that the appeal or review panel was not held in compliance with relevant legislation or statutory guidance. If the department upholds a complaint, then a fresh appeal may be requested. If a complainant wishes to take their complaint further following the department’s consideration, they are advised to seek independent legal advice.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) can investigate complaints about maintained schools in certain circumstances. The department is considering the LGSCO’s Triennial Review, including their recommendations around school complaints, and will respond in due course.