Asked by: Damien Egan (Labour - Bristol North East)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to support victims of (a) fraud and (b) poor installations under the ECO4 scheme, particularly where relevant companies have gone into administration.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
ECO4 projects must comply with PAS2030 and PAS2035 standards and they are subject to an oversight system which includes energy suppliers, certification bodies, MCS, Trustmark and Ofgem. Certification bodies, MCS and TrustMark have audit and compliance regimes in place. Ofgem has dedicated counter-fraud and whistleblowing teams, working with authorities including Report Fraud and the Serious Fraud Office.
To protect against the scenario where an installer ceases to trade or in some cases fails to rectify issues, TrustMark requires a guarantee is issued, which for solid wall insulation will cover up to £20k.
Asked by: Damien Egan (Labour - Bristol North East)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure investment in the national grid, including batteries and other upgrades to capacity.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Government is working with delivery partners to speed up delivery of network infrastructure and increase grid capacity through reforms to planning, support for communities and strategic network design.
Ofgem is responsible for incentivising investment in electricity networks to achieve government strategic priorities, whilst ensuring it delivers value to consumers. Ofgem anticipates £71bn of investment in GB's electricity transmission networks between 2026-2031 as part of their RIIO-ET3 price control.
Government has set out plans for deploying battery storage in the Clean Power 2030 Action Plan and Clean Flexibility Roadmap. As of May 2026, GB has 7.3GW of grid-scale batteries, with ambition for 23–27GW by 2030. A further 17GW has Capacity Market agreements, and around 57GW has planning permission.
Asked by: Damien Egan (Labour - Bristol North East)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of the utilisation of motorway space for power generation.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
No formal assessment has been made.
There is no barrier to the use of motorway land for generation. Motorways sometimes have spare ground, which could theoretically be used to generate power, such as by solar panels or wind turbines. There is frequently local demand for electricity, such as for lights and signs.
However, there are likely to be some practical challenges in each case. For example, developers would need to ensure that: equipment does not interfere with the flow of traffic; there is sufficient room for associated infrastructure; and it is safe for those performing maintenance on the systems.
Asked by: Damien Egan (Labour - Bristol North East)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department plans to take to support the expansion of residential solar panel installations.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government continues to support the installation of rooftop solar PV in various ways, for example through the Smart Export Guarantee, which enables households with solar panels to receive payment for excess electricity that is sold back to the grid.
We are investing £13.2bn in the Warm Homes Plan to help households take up measures like solar panels, heat pumps, batteries and insulation.
Additionally, the Government will publish the Future Homes Standard in the coming months which will ensure solar panels are installed on the vast majority of new build homes.