Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many people were employed by the (a) Office of Gas and Electricity Market, (b) Office for Nuclear Regulation and (c) Nuclear Decommissioning Authority in each year since 2005.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem) and NDA are directly accountable to Parliament. The information requested is published in Ofgem’s and NDA's annual report and accounts, which are laid before the House and publicly available
Whilst ONR’s government sponsor is DWP, we can confirm that the information requested can be found in ONR’s annual report and accounts, which is laid in Parliament. The first date that their annual report and accounts is available from is 2014-15 as ONR was not made a public corporation until 2013 under the Energy Act of that year.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what the annual budget was for the (a) Office of Gas and Electricity Markets, (b) Office for Nuclear Regulation and (c) Nuclear Decommissioning Authority in each year since 2005.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem) and NDA are directly accountable to Parliament. The information requested is published in Ofgem’s and NDA's annual report and accounts, which are laid before the House and publicly available
Whilst ONR’s government sponsor is DWP, we can confirm that the information requested can be found in ONR’s annual report and accounts, which is laid in Parliament. The first date that their annual report and accounts is available from is 2014-15 as ONR was not made a public corporation until 2013 under the Energy Act of that year.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many employment tribunal claims have been lodged against his Department in each of the last five years for (a) unfair dismissal and (b) claims under the Equality Act 2010.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department for Energy Security & Net Zero (DESNZ) was created in February 2023.
In the period 23/24: 1 Employment Tribunal (ET) claim was lodged for unfair dismissal and disability discrimination.
In the period 24/25: 2 ET claims were lodged for unfair dismissal and disability discrimination and 1 ET claim for unfair dismissal alone.
In the period 25/26: 1 ET claim has been lodged for disability discrimination alone.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many staff in his Department (a) did not retain employment following the completion of their probationary period and (b) had their probationary period extended in each of the last five years.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
(a)There is no evidence in the data held in the DESNZ HR Oracle system of any employee being dismissed during their probationary period.
(b) Probation extensions are not centrally recorded in the Oracle HR System.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many staff left his Department in each of the last five years by grade.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Information on the number of civil servants leaving each government department and organisation by responsibility level for the years 2021 to 2025 is published annually through the ‘Civil Service data browser’ as part of Civil Service Statistics 2025, an accredited official statistics publication. Information can be accessed through the Civil Service data browser for 2021 through 2025 at the following web address:
Civil Service statistics - GOV.UK
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many performance reviews were undertaken for staff in (a) his Department and (b) its agencies in each of the last five years; in how many such cases performance was rated as unsatisfactory or below; how many staff left as a result of such a rating; and what proportion of full-time equivalent staff this represented.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) was established on 7th February 2023. The data provided is from 1st April 2023 to present, in alignment with our performance year.
We do not record any data relating to performance management for any of our agencies.
DESNZ does not record the number of individual performance reviews undertaken, but records the formal ratings assigned at the end of each performance year at the end of March. For the 2023/24 annual cycle, 15 employees were rated as unsatisfactory or below. For 2024/25 period, 38 employees fell into this category.
Data on the number of employees leaving as a direct result of an unsatisfactory performance rating is not recorded locally by DESNZ. There can be a combination of reasons for individuals leaving, so a direct correlation cannot be drawn.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many staff in his Department are recorded as having a (a) mental health condition and (b) physical disability by grade.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Information on the number of people declaring a disability by each government department are published annually as part of Civil Service Statistics 2025, an accredited official statistics publication. Latest published data are as at 31 March 2025 and can be found at Table 29 of the statistical tables at the following web address:
Civil Service statistics - GOV.UK
Information for 31 March 2026 is due for publication in July 2026.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many staff have job titles that include the words (a) equality, (b) diversity, (c) inclusion, (d) gender, (e) LGBT and (f) race in the (i) Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, (ii) Civil Nuclear Police Authority and (iii) UK Atomic Energy Authority.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority have 4 roles that include "diversity and inclusion" as their job title’
The CNC have 5 roles with the acronym EDI in the job title (Equality Diversity and Inclusion).
The UKAEA manages Equality, Diversity and Inclusion alongside Wellbeing, and there are 3 members of staff who have the words 'equality,' 'diversity' and 'inclusion' plus wellbeing in their job titles.
There are no roles with the words gender, LGBT or race in the job titles.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many staff in his Department have job titles that include the words (a) equality, (b) diversity, (c) inclusion, (d) gender, (e) LGBT and (f) race.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has fewer than five staff with job titles that include the words equality, diversity, inclusion gender, LGBT or race. These roles play an important part in the Department’s commitment to supporting equality, diversity and inclusion.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what data his Department holds on the number of bidirectional chargers for electric vehicles that have been installed.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Bidirectional chargers for electric vehicles to enable them to export as well as import energy from their batteries is an emerging technology area. It will enable electric vehicle drivers to sell electricity back to the grid, as well as power their homes or business. This can save money for electric vehicle drivers and will contribute to delivering this Government’s clean energy superpower mission.
Whilst Government does not currently hold data on the total number of bidirectional chargers installed, over 650 were installed in homes and workplaces across the UK as part of the UK vehicle to grid innovation programme which ran from 2017 to 2022. Ongoing UK government funded innovation is supporting the further development and deployment of this important technology.