Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
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 impact of his policy on onshore wind on (a) bats and (b) birds.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The planning system provides important checks and balances when new onshore wind farms are built, including environmental surveying and statutory environmental and habitat impact assessments.
The biggest risk to native bird and bat populations is the climate and nature crisis. That is why the government is committed to 2030 clean power, including rapidly expanding onshore wind power generation in the UK.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many and what proportion of (a) cars and (b) other vehicles used by her Department were made in Britain.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The Government Car service (GCS) provides vehicles to a number of Government departments. Due to logistical and operational reasons the type of vehicles deployed at each department can vary on a daily or weekly basis. The GCS fleet currently has 122 vehicles, 58 (48%) of which are vehicles made in Britain.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what her Department's policy is on the procurement of (a) food and (b) drinks produced in Britain for use in its canteens and restaurants.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The Department is onboarded to the Government Property Agency (GPA). GPA is the landlord or building manager at the Department’s office occupations, where the space is often shared with several other tenant organisations. The Department buys catering services, or a share of, direct from GPA alongside all other building services.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how much Ofgem has spent on external consultancies in the last five years.
Answered by Amanda Solloway
Ofgem is an independent regulator and accountable directly to Parliament. While DESNZ has close links to Ofgem we do not regulate or fund them. However, information on payments to suppliers, including consultancies, can be found at: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/about-us/corporate-publications/expenses-and-contracts-data?sort=publication_date and Ofgem’s annual report and accounts is at: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/ofgem-annual-report-and-accounts-2022-2023
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many households have taken part in the Boiler Upgrade Scheme in South Holland and the Deepings constituency since January 2022.
Answered by Amanda Solloway
The Boiler Upgrade Scheme opened to applications in May 2022. Up to the end of February 2024, there were 65 grants paid for installations in properties in the constituency of South Holland and the Deepings.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many energy-saving home improvement projects have been completed through the Green Deal in South Holland and the Deepings constituency as of 3 April 2024.
Answered by Amanda Solloway
The Department estimates that in South Holland and the Deepings constituency, eight projects are live (all measures installed but not yet paid off) and 12 projects have been completed (all measures installed and paid off).
Data covers the period from May 2013 to March 2024.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether she has had recent discussions with National Grid on the installation of large electricity pylons in the countryside.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government does not plan or develop energy infrastructure and the regulatory framework for the UK's independent energy industry is set by Ofgem. Ministers and officials engage with National Grid Electricity Transmission regularly as part of the usual policy making process. This includes but is not limited to discussing network infrastructure. My Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State last met senior representatives from National Grid on Tuesday 12th March at a stakeholder reception.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will make an estimate of the number and proportion of homes that have solar panels installed in South Holland and the Deepings constituency.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Shadow Minister (Energy Security and Net Zero)
Solar photovoltaics deployment statistics are available on the gov.uk website including data on domestic installations by constituency.
As of December 2023, South Holland and The Deepings had 3,573 domestic installations totalling 14.5MW.
Over 1.2 million homes now have solar PV installed across the UK with a total of 191,524 installations coming online in 2023, the second highest number in any year and only outstripped by 2011.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent estimate she has made of the number and proportion of households that are in fuel poverty in South Holland and the Deepings constituency.
Answered by Amanda Solloway
The latest statistics for the number of households in fuel poverty in parliamentary constituencies in England, can be found in the published sub-regional fuel poverty Official Statistics, in Table 4: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/fuel-poverty-statistics.
Sub-regional estimates for 2022 will be published on 25th April.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what the total cost to the public purse was of UK Government attendance at COP28.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The information requested would be disproportionately costly to collate given the number of Government Departments involved – each Department will hold its own information. Final DESNZ costs are not yet available, with invoices and claims still being processed. The cost of hosting a UK Pavilion at COP28 was covered by sponsorship income of £1.2 million.