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 disciplinary cases were concluded against civil servants in (a) the Department and (b) its agencies in the past twelve months, broken down by (i) outcome and (ii) whether the primary allegation related to (A) performance and (B) conduct.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
There were 24 concluded disciplinary cases recorded in the past twelve months in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. Data is not held centrally for Departmental Agencies and ALBs.
Broken down by outcome (i):*
Primary allegation (ii)
*Volumes which are five or fewer have been redacted to avoid potential identification of individuals.
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 total cost was of (a) settlement agreements and (b) special severance payments made to departing staff in the last year.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
For the last financial year, the total cost to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) of payments associated with settlement agreements and special severance payments was £60,000.
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 average number of working days lost to sickness absence per full-time equivalent member of staff was in (a) the Department and (b) its executive agencies in the last year; and how many formal performance warnings were issued to staff whose absence exceeded departmental triggers.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The current AWDL for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero is 3.8.
The department does not have any Arms length’s bodies that are requested to submit AWDL figures.
The requested data is not held centrally in a reportable format.
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 and what proportion of staff in each grade were rated in the top performance category in the last year.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The table below summarises numbers and proportion of DESNZ staff in the top performance category for the most recent performance year as reported at end March 2025:
Grade | Number | Percentage |
AO | 5 | 14% |
EO | 25 | 10% |
HEO | 99 | 13% |
SEO | 192 | 13% |
G7 | 285 | 16% |
G6 | 119 | 21% |
SCS1 | 25 | 15% |
SCS2 | 6 | 14% |
Any sample sizes below five are not reported.
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 and what proportion of staff were promoted (a) in-grade and (b) to a higher grade in the last year broken down by (i) performance marking in the previous year and (ii) grade.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department or Energy Security and Net Zero does not promote in-grade.
Performance markings are not held centrally.
Table 1 Grade (No. and %) between April 2024 and March 2025
Grade | No. Promoted | % of those still in dept who were promoted |
AO |
| 0.0% |
EO | 31 | 17% |
HEO | 134 | 24% |
FASTSTREAM | <=30 | <=30 |
SEO | 105 | 9% |
G7 | 53 | 3 % |
G6 | <=30 | <=30 |
SCS 1 | <=30 | <=30 |
Total | 347 | 8% |
Numbers of 30 or fewer employees have been redacted.
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