Graham Leadbitter

Great British Energy is committed to working with the Devolved Governments to help enhance community energy across the UK, whilst respecting the devolution settlements. £9.3 million is being provided to the devolved governments to support clean energy projects and may be combined with existing or new funding from the three governments to support specific clean energy projects in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. This funding is part of the £100m announced in October 2024 to kick-start GBE’s work investing in clean energy project development.

Great British Energy (GBE) has announced £300 million to invest in offshore wind supply chains, and £700 million to help build manufacturing facilities in the UK. That totals £1 billion in funding, available across all four nations.

GBE is also providing £4.85 million for Scotland, £2.88 million for Wales, and £1.62 million for Northern Ireland to support clean energy projects. This may be combined with existing or new funding from the three governments, which host their own community energy schemes.

In England, GBE is providing £90 million for solar panels on schools and hospitals. A further £10 million is committed for the Mayor Renewables Fund.

The Government is working closely with the RTS Taskforce, industry and Ofgem to ensure the phase out process of RTS is planned effectively and consumers are appropriately protected.

The Government has made clear to industry that energy suppliers must fulfil their obligations to customers and must increase the rate of Radio Teleswitch (RTS) meter replacements. We expect suppliers to be taking measures, such as deploying roaming teams of installers, to ensure consumers receive replacement meters in a timely manner.

I am meeting with Energy UK and Ofgem on a fortnightly basis to discuss progress.

The electricity networks in Great Britain are owned and operated by private companies and regulated independently by Ofgem, who ensure the network companies are investing to operate, maintain and upgrade their infrastructure. To enable the Government’s Clean Energy Superpower and Growth missions, significant investment in new capacity ahead of need is required. This will be based on, among other considerations, strategic planning and projections of future demand across the network and will support the connection of new on-site renewable generation and demand projects, including electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

As of 1 May 2025, the Government and industry have supported the installation of 79,326 publicly available charging devices (including 15,856 rapid charging devices). This reflects a year-on-year percentage increase of 30%. Policy on charging infrastructure is devolved in Scotland.

My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State and I have regular meetings with Ofgem on a range of issues.

Quotes on energy pricing and how those quotes are broken down for customers are a matter for energy suppliers. However, the Government takes the issue of accurate billing very seriously. All suppliers must take all reasonable steps to reflect accurate meter readings in bills or statements sent to customers where these have been provided by a customer or obtained by the supplier. This is laid out in the Supplier Licence Conditions (SLCs) for both electricity and gas.

Under 31E.10 of both sets of SLCs where the licensee provides a Domestic Customer with any information about the Charges for the Supply of Electricity, gas or any other type of charge or fee (the “Applicable Charges”), the licensee must inform the Domestic Customer of whether the Applicable Charges include or exclude value added tax.

The government wants all areas of the UK to benefit from reliable, high quality mobile coverage. We continue to work with Ofcom to ensure that their coverage reporting is as accurate as possible to allow us to reliably and accurately identify underserved areas.

4G geographic coverage from at least one mobile operator has now reached over 95% of the UK landmass, and we continue to work with the industry to deliver 4G mobile connectivity to places where there is either limited or no coverage.

Our ambition is to go further, and for all populated areas, including rural communities, to have access to higher-quality standalone 5G by 2030. We continue to work closely with the mobile network operators and are committed to ensuring we have the right policy and regulatory framework in place to support investment and competition in the market.

Project Gigabit is the government’s programme to roll out fast, reliable broadband to UK premises that are not included in suppliers' commercial plans. Over 35 contracts, with a combined value of over £2.3 billion, have already been signed to deliver gigabit-capable broadband to over 1 million premises, predominantly in rural areas.

Last week we announced a £157 million contract with Openreach to deliver gigabit-capable broadband to up to 65,000 rural and hard-to-reach premises across Central, Northern and Western Scotland, including in the Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey constituency.

The UK offers one of the strongest science bases in the world, with world-leading universities and research institutions, with opportunities in growing areas like quantum and AI. The UK’s immigration offer enables talented scientists, researchers and innovators to come here through various fast-track visa routes, such as the Global Talent, High Potential Individual and Skilled Worker visas. Our Global Talent Network aims to grow our science and technology power by attracting top international science talent to pursue opportunities in the UK. The UK's association to Horizon Europe enables international researchers to come to UK research establishments and collaborate across Europe.

The Government is determined to ensure that any and all risks of the industry-led migration from the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) to Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) are mitigated, for all customers across the UK.

The Department has acknowledged that customers who may be considered vulnerable in the context of the digital switchover may require additional support. A definition of a vulnerable customers was published in November 2024. It includes those who are telecare users and those dependent on their landline. Any customer, including the elderly, can also self-identify as requiring additional support.

Communication providers and network operators signed voluntary charters in December 2023 and March 2024, committing to protect vulnerable consumers during the PSTN migration. On 18 November 2024, the major communication providers agreed to adhere to further safeguards set out in the non-voluntary migrations checklist before restarting non-voluntary migration of customers.

DSIT is made aware when there has been an online-related death by suicide through Coroner’s ‘Reports to Prevent Future Deaths’ and has responded to nine reports in the past 12 months. The department is very concerned about the number of reports of deaths.

Under the Online Safety Act, which is coming into effect in the coming months, all in-scope services must proactively prevent all users from encountering illegal suicide content, and children from encountering legal content which encourages, promotes or provides instructions for suicide.

Travel requirements can differ for British golfers and other professional sportspeople across Europe. For instance, as UK nationals, British golfers are able to travel visa-free to the Schengen Area for short-term visits (up to 90 days in any rolling 180-day period) to compete in events.

Professional golfers undertaking paid work in any country they are visiting should check the entry requirements and rules for that country, in case they need to apply for a visa, work permit, or provide other documentation.

The Hon Member was issued with a response on 26th March.

The UK Government supports the video games sector across the UK, including in Scotland, through the video games tax relief and the Dundee-based UK Games Fund.

DCMS estimates the UK video games sector generated £3.7bn in GVA in 2021, £2.1bn in 2022, and £2bn in 2023, expressed in 2022 prices accounting for inflation. While these figures have declined since 2021, this is largely due to unprecedented demand during the Covid-19 pandemic, and represents over 300% growth in GVA since 2014. We recognise that due to existing Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code structures, this figure may not fully reflect the sector’s value.

A breakdown of these figures for Scotland is not available. Culture, including video games, is a devolved matter.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is the independent body responsible for regulating advertising in the UK across traditional forms of media (print, radio, TV) and online. The Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) and Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice (BCAP), sister organisations of the ASA, are responsible for codifying the standards for advertising to the marketing industry as part of their CAP and BCAP Codes. The government is not involved in these codes, nor in the investigations and enforcement delivered by the ASA.

However, as part of the Gambling Commission’s licence conditions, gambling operators who advertise in the UK must comply with the advertising Codes. The ASA has the power to take action where there is evidence of advertising in breach of the Codes, wherever it appears, and the ASA can and does refer operators’ advertising to the Gambling Commission for possible regulatory action.

For all pesticides, there are legal requirements to store the product securely and dispose safely of any surplus. It is illegal to use or store any plant protection product (pesticide) that is no longer authorised. Professional users in possession of unauthorised plant protection products should contact an authorised business to dispose of them. While there are currently no specific government schemes for the disposal of banned pesticides, guidance for businesses needing to dispose of hazardous waste such as pesticides can be found on gov.uk. Amateur users should contact their local Civic Amenity site and ask them for guidance on disposal.

The Irish Whiskey Association, representing 95% of Irish Whiskey producers across the island of Ireland, report that Irish Whiskey exports exceeded €1billion in 2024 and reached 114 markets around the world.

Irish Whiskey produced in Northern Ireland is an important part of that economic impact. The oldest Irish Whiskey distillery in NI, Bushmills, reported a 9.7% rise in volume sales in 2022, reaching 1 million nine-litre cases for the first time. In 2024 the newest Irish Whiskey distillery in NI, McConnell’s, opened its £12m distillery in Belfast which is expected to produce half a million litres of alcohol and attract 100,000 visitors annually.

No formal assessment has been made by the department, but the English Whisky Guild forecast the volume of spirit produced by English distilleries to grow by 189% from 2019-2024. They forecast that there would be 50,000 maturing casks by 2024 with a value of £1 billion.

English Whisky distilleries welcomed over 250,000 visitors in 2023, and English Whisky is exported to more than 30 countries worldwide.

SOURCES:

https://www.englishwhiskyguild.com/post/english-whisky-guild-appoints-ceo-as-industry-forecast-to-possess-over-1bn-in-maturing-stock

https://www.englishwhiskyguild.com/post/the-english-whisky-guild-nearing-final-stages-in-gi-application

https://www.englishwhiskyguild.com/annual-review

No formal assessment has been made by the department, but upon registration of Single Malt Welsh Whisky as a geographical indication in 2023, it was forecast to generate a revenue of £23 million in the 2023-24 financial year and is exported to more than 45 countries.

SOURCE: https://businesswales.gov.wales/foodanddrink/news-and-events/news/single-malt-welsh-whisky-protected

No formal assessment has been made by the department, but a report by the Scotch Whisky Association, using figures from industry and the Government from production to employment, concluded that Scotch Whisky’s contribution to the UK economy reached £7.1 billion in 2022.

Exports of Scotch Whisky were valued at £5.4 billion in 2024, of which £1.7 billion was Single Malt Whisky.

The entire country is proud of Scotch Whiskey as one of the world’s most loved products.

SOURCE:

https://www.scotch-whisky.org.uk/newsroom/2024-export-figures/

https://www.scotch-whisky.org.uk/newsroom/scotch-whisky-boosts-uk-economy-by-71bn/

The Office for Zero Emission Vehicles engages regularly with devolved governments, local authorities and regional transport partnerships on a range of issues related to improving electric vehicle charging. This includes work through the Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) Fund which is supporting local authorities to scale up local EV charging provision across England. Support includes £381m of funding, one-to-one guidance, regional workshops and an online knowledge repository to share practice. This is in addition to a dedicated electric vehicle training course, completed by over 150 local authority officers to date.

The Department for Transport continues to review all policy options that may support the continued rollout of public electric vehicle chargepoints. This includes reviewing the potential for inclusion of electricity in the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation.

The Department for Transport engages regularly with Distribution Network Operators, and with National Grid, on work related to accelerating the delivery of electric vehicle (EV) charging. This includes discussions on power capacity, grid infrastructure, and standardisation required to meet growing demand for EV charging.

In December 2024, the Government published the outcome of a review on improving the grid connection process for electric vehicle charging infrastructure. In March, I met with Distribution Network Operators and other industry groups to understand industry’s perspective on improving EV charging on the Strategic Road Network (England’s motorways and major A roads).

The ZEV Mandate remains the Government’s largest single carbon saving measure. The carbon impacts of the ZEV mandate were summarised within the cost benefit analysis published alongside the original legislation.

On 7 April 2025, the Government announced policy changes to the ZEV Mandate to further support the UK’s automotive industry. The policy changes are expected to have a minor carbon impact when compared to the savings delivered by the ZEV Mandate as a whole. We estimate a 1% decrease (-4.2 Mt CO₂) in CO₂ savings from the original ZEV mandate (420 Mt CO₂) across 2024 to 2050. A breakdown of this carbon analysis has been published alongside the government response.

The Secretary of State for Transport did not raise this with the Secretary of State for Business and Trade. However, cross-Whitehall engagement did occur prior to the announcement.

This is not a change to the policy on weights for VCMs but a decision to continue with the existing policy that a temporary exemption will come to an end in 2028.