Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he is taking to support the growth of community owned energy projects.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Great British Energy will enhance existing support to community energy by partnering with and providing funding and support to Local Government, and community energy groups as well as working with Devolved Governments. This will help to roll out local and community renewable energy projects across the UK.
Great British Energy will also provide commercial, technical and project planning assistance, increasing capability and capacity to build a pipeline of successful projects in local areas.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he will take to ensure community groups are central to the delivery of local power plans.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Local Power Plan will be a joint plan between GBE and Department for Energy Security and Net Zero which will outline our shared vision for the local and community energy sector: to drive the growth of renewable energy projects and support efforts to unlock cleaner, cheaper and more resilient power at the community level.
We are continuing to develop the Local Power Plan with GBE and updates will be provided soon.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing specific (a) Sikh and (b) Jewish options for a person’s ethnic group in data collection conducted by his Department.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero follows established government standards and guidance when collecting data on ethnicity. At present, there are no plans to introduce specific Sikh or Jewish options for a person’s ethnic group in departmental data collection. For external surveys and research, we generally use the harmonised ethnicity standards developed by the Government Statistical Service (GSS), which currently do not include specific Sikh or Jewish categories. However, it is important to note that these standards are under ongoing review. In addition, while Sikh and Jewish are not included as ethnic categories, they are represented in the harmonised question on religion.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
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 assessment with the Chancellor of the Exchequer of the potential impact of trends in the level of inflation on the Government's net zero policies.
Answered by Graham Stuart
My Rt hon Friend the Secretary of State has regular discussions with my Rt hon Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer on a number of issues. The Government has robust monitoring in place across the net zero space and is supporting net zero businesses and investors. The Government monitors the impact of inflation to ensure that its legal commitments are met, while setting out a proportionate, pragmatic approach to delivering net zero that reduces the costs and burdens on British families.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps her Department is taking to support community energy schemes in Birmingham Edgbaston constituency.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government recognises the role community groups play in efforts to minimise climate change and already offers a range of support to community energy projects. This support is outlined in the Net Zero Strategy and Net Zero Growth plan and is in addition to the new £10m Community Energy Fund, which enables both rural and urban communities across England to access grant funding to develop local renewable energy projects for investment. The Government has also recently committed to publishing an annual report on community energy and to consult on the barriers the sector faces when developing projects.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps her Department is taking to helpthe surface engineering sector to transition to net zero.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Industrial Decarbonisation Strategy sets out a funding approach to support the deployment of low carbon technologies and the critical shared infrastructure required to deploy these at scale. This includes the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund (IETF), and Scottish IETF, for which the surface engineering sector is eligible. Subject to business case approval, IETF Phase 3 will open for applications in early 2024, increasing the total funding available to over £500 million.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of suspending the collection of non-commodity costs on energy bills for the surface engineering sector.
Answered by Amanda Solloway
The Government considers that all energy consumers should pay a share of the non-commodity costs of being supplied with energy, for example the costs of building and maintaining the pipes and wires that bring energy to businesses and households, and schemes that help deliver more home-grown renewable energy.