Asked by: Peter Lamb (Labour - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what measures may be being considered to reduce the time it takes for energy companies to refund customers any credit after a change of energy supplier.
Answered by Polly Billington - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government expects energy suppliers to refund customers promptly where money is owed. Ofgem already requires automatic compensation in specific cases, including where final bills or credit balance refunds are delayed following a switch.
The Government supports Ofgem’s ongoing review of Guaranteed Standards of Performance (GSOP) payments including proposals for inflation-linked compensation. A further consultation on this work is expected in the coming months as part of Ofgem’s Consumer Outcomes package.
More broadly, through its review of Ofgem and its consultation on faster and fairer redress for consumers, the Government has set out reforms to strengthen the regulator as a consumer champion, including stronger powers to enforce consumer law directly and help ensure customers receive what they are owed.
Asked by: Peter Lamb (Labour - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment her Department has made of recent scientific research into the condition and environmental impact of radioactive waste barrels dumped in the North-East Atlantic.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The disposal of radioactive waste in the sea was banned globally in 1993. The UK had already ceased disposal at sea voluntarily under the 1972 London Convention.
The first Nuclear Ocean Dump Site Survey and Monitoring (NODSSUM) international mission in 2025 mapped the locations of containers on the seafloor. The expedition found no significant environmental contamination.
The current NODSSUM project focuses on collecting samples of sediment and biota around some of the containers, to determine the levels of radionuclides that might have been released from the low-level radioactive waste to the surrounding marine environment.
The Department has not yet carried out an assessment of current NODSSUM expedition because the analysis of samples is still ongoing by researchers of the project.
Asked by: Peter Lamb (Labour - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps are being taken to ensure a continuous supply of aviation fuel, in the context of global disruption to the free movement of oil.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Since the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the Government has been working with airlines, airports, fuel suppliers and international partners to monitor supplies and keep flights operating. UK airlines are clear that they are not currently seeing a shortage of jet fuel. It is typically bought in advance, with airports and their suppliers keeping stocks of bunkered fuel to support their resilience. As part of our contingency planning, we have also been engaging with refineries to understand how they are increasing their supply of jet fuel.
Asked by: Peter Lamb (Labour - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Warm Homes Plan on levels of fuel poverty in Crawley constituency.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
For too long, British families have paid the price for our nation’s energy insecurity and energy bills remain too high. The Warm Homes Plan will tackle fuel poverty, helping lift up to one million households out of fuel poverty by 2030 through public investment and new minimum energy efficiency standards for private and social landlords. Benefiting households up and down the country, including in Crawley constituency.
Asked by: Peter Lamb (Labour - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of developing thorium-based molten salt reactors in the UK.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Nuclear is a key part of the government's national mission to be a clean energy superpower. The government believes that Advanced Nuclear Technologies (ANTs) could play an important role in helping the UK achieve energy security and clean power while securing thousands of good, skilled jobs.
DESNZ is aware of and monitors the progress of a wide range of advanced reactors in design development by companies around the world, including Thorium Molten Salt reactors.