Oral Answers to Questions

Sarah Jones Excerpts

Tuesday 4th February 2025 Commons Chamber

[Chris Webb (Blackpool South) (Lab)]

2. What steps he is taking to support workers’ rights in the renewable energy sector.

[The Minister of State, Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (Sarah Jones)]

The Government came into office six months ago and are determined to ensure that clean energy jobs are high quality, well paid and secure, with strong trade unions. I want to take this opportunity to commend EDF Renewables for its recent recognition agreements with three trade unions. Through the Office for Clean Energy Jobs, we are working with industry and trades unions to support fair pay and workers’ rights, and ensuring that workers across the country can benefit from the economic opportunities of the net zero transition.

[Chris Webb]

Data centres at Blackpool’s proposed high-performance data centre campus Silicon Sands will be powered by renewable energy and cooled by liquid immersion techniques, with the excess heat repurposed into neighbourhood buildings and homes. Silicon Sands could lead the way in an environmentally friendly approach to data centres, while creating thousands of well-paid jobs for my home town. Will the Minister meet me to discuss how the Department can support my vision to build a better Blackpool?

[Sarah Jones]

I would of course be delighted to meet my hon. Friend to talk about this great project, Silicon Sands, which will bring jobs and be really innovative for his area. The wider point is really important—for too long, our coastal and industrial communities have not had the job opportunities they deserve. We are determined to change that.

[Sir Desmond Swayne (New Forest West) (Con)]

Can the Minister assure the House that her ambitions for renewable energy can be achieved without Chinese slave labour?

[Sarah Jones]

Yes—of course, we ensure that the highest standards are kept in all these things. The Government’s position is to make sure that we are very careful about them. The right hon. Gentleman may be referring to solar, which is a particular issue that people have raised. We have a solar taskforce, which has been set up exactly to look at those points.

--- Later in debate ---

[Dr Marie Tidball (Penistone and Stocksbridge) (Lab)]

T3. Stocksbridge Speciality Steels in my constituency has world-leading specialist capability to produce high-grade steel parts currently used in aerospace. I am proud of this Government’s steel strategy, which will ensure we buy British for new infrastructure, and Great British Energy provides an ambitious opportunity to bring down bills and ensure energy security. Will the Secretary of State meet me to discuss the potential for using specialist steel capacity at Liberty Steel in Stocksbridge for new, net zero energy infrastructure?

[The Minister of State, Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (Sarah Jones)]

South Yorkshire has a proud history of steelmaking, as I saw for myself when I was at Sheffield Forgemasters last week. We saw a huge reduction in steel production in this country on the last Government’s watch, and we want to turn that around, which is why we are delivering a steel strategy. As ever, I would of course be delighted to meet my hon. Friend to talk about how we can make this work.

[Madam Deputy Speaker]

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.