Asked by: Euan Stainbank (Labour - Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how much funding has been allocated to the Grangemouth workers Training Guarantee scheme; how much funding has been (a) distributed and (b) committed; and whether any (i) unallocated and (ii) unused funds remain within the scheme.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The UK and Scottish Governments are investing up to £2 million to help workers directly impacted by the cessation of refining at Grangemouth transition into new jobs. The Grangemouth Training Guarantee has already supported over 290 workers through training.
The Training Guarantee is still in active delivery, led by Forth Valley College as the training provider and scheme administrator. Eligible workers continue to be able to access targeted training to support their return to employment in line with the established eligibility criteria. These criteria help ensure consistency and fairness, to ensure that all eligible workers can benefit from the Guarantee.
Asked by: Euan Stainbank (Labour - Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how much funding has been distributed from the Grangemouth workers training guarantee.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The UK and Scottish Governments are investing up to £2 million to help workers directly impacted by the cessation of refining at Grangemouth transition into new jobs. The Grangemouth Training Guarantee has already supported over 290 workers through training.
The Training Guarantee is still in active delivery, led by Forth Valley College as the training provider and scheme administrator. Eligible workers continue to be able to access targeted training to support their return to employment in line with the established eligibility criteria. These criteria help ensure consistency and fairness, to ensure that all eligible workers can benefit from the Guarantee.
Asked by: Euan Stainbank (Labour - Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether any unused funds remain in the Grangemouth workers Training Guarantee scheme.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The UK and Scottish Governments are investing up to £2 million to help workers directly impacted by the cessation of refining at Grangemouth transition into new jobs. The Grangemouth Training Guarantee has already supported over 290 workers through training.
The Training Guarantee is still in active delivery, led by Forth Valley College as the training provider and scheme administrator. Eligible workers continue to be able to access targeted training to support their return to employment in line with the established eligibility criteria. These criteria help ensure consistency and fairness, to ensure that all eligible workers can benefit from the Guarantee.
Asked by: Euan Stainbank (Labour - Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what his planned timetable is for implementing reforms to decouple electricity prices from gas prices.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government plans to consult later this year on introducing a voluntary Wholesale Contract for Difference (CfD), which would offer existing eligible generators that aren’t already contracted under a CfD the option to seek to agree a fixed price for the electricity they generate, with an intention to run an allocation process in 2027. In addition, the Government has announced a 10% increase to the rate of the Electricity Generator Levy which will take effect from 1st July 2026, to respond to the high prices that generators are benefitting from at present due to the crisis in the Middle East.
Asked by: Euan Stainbank (Labour - Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what discussions his Department has had with fuel suppliers and retailers on supply to petrol forecourts in Scotland.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero engages regularly with fuel suppliers and retailers across the United Kingdom, including in Scotland, to monitor fuel supply resilience and ensure continued availability at petrol forecourts. Officials maintain close contact with industry stakeholders to assess supply chain conditions, including refinery operations, distribution networks, and retail capacity. These discussions form part of routine market monitoring and contingency planning to identify and mitigate potential disruptions. The Government works closely with industry through established resilience frameworks. We are confident in the UK’s security of fuel supply.
Asked by: Euan Stainbank (Labour - Falkirk)
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 the closure of the Grangemouth refinery on fuel supply.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Grangemouth refinery was converted into an import terminal in April 2025 and supply in Scotland and the UK have continued as normal. The UK remains well supplied through a combination of domestic production and imports. The UK continues to have sufficient operational refining capacity, including at Fawley, Humber, Pembroke and Stanlow. There has been no disruption to fuel supply, and the Government continues to monitor supply resilience closely.
Asked by: Euan Stainbank (Labour - Falkirk)
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 impact of the escalation of conflict in the Middle East on UK oil and liquefied natural gas prices.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department is closely monitoring the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and the impacts for global oil and gas markets. We assess that between February 27th and March 10th, global oil prices (Brent crude) have risen over 20% and gas wholesale prices in Great Britain have risen over 50%.
Asked by: Euan Stainbank (Labour - Falkirk)
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 impact of the escalation of conflict in the Middle East on Industrial Gas prices.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
As was the case when Russia invaded Ukraine, the UK will be exposed to price competition in international oil and gas markets, which is pushing up wholesale prices as other countries seek to replace lost supplies from the region. That reflects our position, regardless of our domestic production, as a price taker not a price maker in these markets, leaving us exposed to their volatility, no matter where the fossil fuels come from.
On business and industry, we are taking action to expand the British industry supercharger from April to reduce costs for the most energy-intensive businesses, and a significant proportion of businesses are on fixed-term contracts that shield them from market volatility for the contract duration. However, we recognise that at the point of contracting, businesses are exposed to international fossil fuel markets, and clearly, for both businesses and consumers, much will depend on the length of this crisis.
Just as we are looking across Government at the situation that households face, the Government are absolutely focused on the impact of the crisis on business and industry, and we will not hesitate to act.
Asked by: Euan Stainbank (Labour - Falkirk)
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 protect households and businesses from potential increases in energy costs arising from disruption to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government recognises that households and businesses across the country will see the recent global events and once again be concerned about the impact on their energy bills. We continue to monitor the situation closely and we are looking at what further support may be needed.
At the Autumn Budget we committed to taking money off energy bills and we have. The energy price cap will provide protection for households until the start of July, regardless of developments in the Middle East. Ofgem has confirmed that the price cap will fall by 7% or £117 annually for the period covering April to June. The price cap for that period is fixed and will not change.
In addition to this, around 6 million families are benefitting from the expansion of the £150 Warm Home Discount, and through the Warm Homes Plan the Government is delivering the biggest investment in home upgrades in British history.
We’ll shortly publish details of how we will reduce electricity bills by up to 25% for over 7,000 businesses, while our Supercharger package of support will also cut businesses’ electricity costs by up to £420 million per year.
Asked by: Euan Stainbank (Labour - Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what conversations he has had with OFGEM about the withdrawal of time-of-use tariffs by some energy providers.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The pricing and availability of tariffs is a matter for suppliers and Ofgem as the independent regulator.
At times of extreme volatility in global energy markets suppliers may alter their approach to pricing and tariffs as part of their commercial risk management. Default tariffs remain available and are covered by the Price Cap, which has been confirmed and is now fixed for the period between April and end June 2026.