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Written Question
Department for Energy Security and Net Zero: Policy
Thursday 5th December 2024

Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how their Department defines strategy.

Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The definition is detailed in the Functional Standards Common Glossary, which is published on the gov.uk website.


Written Question
Department for Energy Security and Net Zero: Data Processing
Wednesday 13th November 2024

Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps they are taking to use (a) artificial intelligence and (b) data to help increase their Department's productivity.

Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

DESNZ is committed to improving its productivity, including through the use of artificial intelligence and effective use of data.

All DESNZ staff have access to Copilot for the web, a work-safe generative AI tool that helps summarise and draft text. In addition, as part of a large-scale, cross-government experiment led by the CDDO, around a third of all DESNZ staff have been given a Microsoft 365 Copilot licence, which allows them to utilise generative AI within tools such as Word, Excel and Outlook, and can base responses on their own data (documents, emails, and messages). The experiment began on 30 September and runs through to 29 December and will conclude with a report from the CDDO to set out the case for adopting a tool like M365 Copilot in the longer-term.

We are also building our inhouse capability to develop AI tools at DESNZ. For example, our Advanced Analytics team are currently exploring multiple use cases that allow DESNZ staff to retrieve key information needed for their work more efficiently, including information from past impact assessments, lessons learnt logs and statistics from our Digest of UK Energy Statistics (DUKES) publications.

DESNZ has an internal adoption of AI working group which leads on supporting the development of departmental use-cases for Artificial Intelligence, as well as the guardrails, rules and playbooks that govern the safe, secure and ethical use of this technology, ensuring alignment to the Central Digital and Data Office’ Generative AI Framework for Government.

DESNZ's Data Strategy and Governance team are currently developing a data strategy for DESNZ that sets out our strategic ambition for how we collect, manage and use data as a Department. This includes time-saving measures around making it easier for DESNZ staff to locate and access data, making it easier for data to be shared across organisational boundaries, reducing the time taken to ingest, process and cleanse it, and introducing standards that make it easier to aggregate and compare across policies and programmes.

We will continue to regularly review our usage of AI and data to maximise productivity benefits.


Written Question
Business: Berkshire
Wednesday 13th November 2024

Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to support local businesses in (a) Slough constituency and (b) Berkshire to access (i) funding and (ii) incentives for local net-zero projects.

Answered by Kerry McCarthy - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

Businesses have a vital role to play in the transition to net zero, from decarbonising their own operations, to working across their sectors and supply chains.

Small and medium-sized businesses can visit the UK Business Climate Hub, which is run in partnership with government, for advice and sources of finance or support on reducing emissions.

Climate Change Agreements provide tax discounts for businesses reducing their emissions, and the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund supports industrial sites with high energy use to transition.


Written Question
Solar Power: Urban Areas
Friday 24th May 2024

Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether her Department (a) is taking and (b) plans to take steps to encourage the use of balcony solar in urban environments.

Answered by Andrew Bowie - Shadow Minister (Energy Security and Net Zero)

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.


Written Question
Electric Vehicles: National Grid
Friday 24th May 2024

Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)

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 the potential effectiveness of vehicle-to-grid technology.

Answered by Justin Tomlinson

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.


Written Question
Batteries: Storage
Friday 24th May 2024

Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what progress her Department has made on the installation of large-scale battery storage facilities across the UK.

Answered by Justin Tomlinson

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.


Written Question
Carbon Budgets
Monday 13th May 2024

Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to the High Court ruling of 3 May 2024 on the Government's carbon budget delivery plan, if her Department will take steps to tackle issues identified by the High Court in that ruling.

Answered by Justin Tomlinson

The Government is proud of its record on climate change. The Carbon Budget Delivery Plan remains Government policy and sets out over 300 policies and proposals the Government has in place to reach its carbon budget targets.

The judgment contains no criticism of these detailed plans nor the policies themselves, which will keep the UK on track to meet our international commitments, including the 2030 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement, and Net Zero by 2050.

Officials are considering the best approach to comply with the court order and Government will publish a new report within 12 months.


Written Question
Carbon Budgets
Monday 13th May 2024

Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)

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 impact of the High Court ruling of 3 May 2024 on the Government's carbon budget delivery plan on the UK's ability to meet its climate commitments under the Paris Agreement.

Answered by Justin Tomlinson

The Government is proud of its record on climate change. The Carbon Budget Delivery Plan remains Government policy and sets out over 300 policies and proposals the Government has in place to reach its carbon budget targets.

The judgment contains no criticism of these detailed plans nor the policies themselves, which will keep the UK on track to meet our international commitments, including the 2030 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement, and Net Zero by 2050.

Officials are considering the best approach to comply with the court order and Government will publish a new report within 12 months.


Written Question
Energy: Meters
Wednesday 1st May 2024

Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what estimate she has made of the number of households that have received compensation for having had a pre-payment meter fitted against their will.

Answered by Amanda Solloway

Suppliers have so far carried out 150,000 assessments to make sure those impacted get the compensation they deserve. Of these cases, around 2,500 customers were identified as needing compensation - and around 60% of those have received it, with payments planned for another 1,000 customers. We expect suppliers to work and day and night to issue these remaining payments - there is no excuse for delay. While this is a matter for Ofgem, I have spoken to Ofgem about their responsibilities and the need for suppliers to speed up payments. I will continue to monitor this very closely.


Written Question
Energy Supply
Tuesday 23rd April 2024

Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps she has taken to ensure the UK's energy security, in the context of ongoing regional conflicts in the Middle East.

Answered by Andrew Bowie - Shadow Minister (Energy Security and Net Zero)

Global energy markets continue to function normally and we have not seen any significant impact to the energy market in light of Iran’s attack on Israel. We continue to monitor the situation closely.

Retail prices of petrol and diesel are primarily driven by the underlying prices in global oil markets and exchange rates. These are currently well within normal ranges of volatility and the market is functioning normally.

We continue to work with Ofgem, system operators and industry to monitor our energy security and ensure these organisations can deploy all tools at their disposal if needed to secure our supply.