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, if he will publish the National Energy System Operator's analysis of future electricity demand from data centres.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The National Energy System Operator (NESO) is currently working towards releasing its latest 10 Year Forecast on 30th July. This will include NESO’s estimates of the annual electricity demand associated with data centres. It will be published on the NESO website.
Growth in data centre electricity demand is inherently uncertain, and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero will continue to test a range of data centre growth trajectories and monitor emerging demand.
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 proportion of electricity demand connection applications in the National Energy System Operator queue are attributable to data centres.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Data supplied by the National Energy System Operator shows around 60GW of capacity allocated to data centres in the transmission queue. This represents around three quarters of the total demand connections queue, at transmission level.
Government recently consulted on measures to manage oversubscription of data centre connections and will publish its response in due course.
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 many data centre projects in Scotland are currently seeking electricity grid connections; and what potential aggregate capacity in gigawatts those applications represent.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
National Energy System Operator shows around 72.8 GW of capacity allocated to data centres in the GB connection queue across transmission and distribution. It is not currently possible to provide a specific figure for data centre projects in Scotland.
Government recently consulted on measures to manage oversubscription of data centre connections and will publish its response in due course.
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 is the mean average individual award made under the Grangemouth 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, what is the maximum individual award under the Grangemouth 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, 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.