Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
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 accelerate grid upgrades to support energy security and industrial investment.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The electricity network companies are responsible for building, owning and operating the grid, and Government is working with them, Ofgem and the National Energy System Operator to accelerate the delivery of critical network infrastructure and reform the grid connections process to support energy security and industrial investment.
Grid expansion will be a critical enabler for both the government’s Clean Energy Superpower and Growth missions.
The recent interim publication of the Electricity Networks Sector Growth Plan by industry and Government demonstrates the positive impact network expansion will have specifically in the electricity networks supply chain.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of domestic energy production, including North Sea activity, on levels of imported energy.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The North Sea is a highly mature basin, and its natural decline would not be reversed by further licensing. New licences awarded in the last decade have made only a marginal difference to overall oil and gas production.
Further exploration and production licences would not meaningfully increase UK production levels, nor would they change the UK’s status as a net importer of oil and gas.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will publish a full impact assessment for ending the Energy Company Obligation scheme.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
To bring energy bills down for all, the decision has been made not to continue the Energy Company Obligation when the current scheme ends.
The government does not intend to publish a new impact assessment for ending the scheme. An assessment of their impacts was produced when both the ECO4 and Great British Insulation Scheme were laid.
The government has committed £1.5 billion in additional grant funding to support low-income households and those in fuel poverty. Details of this will be set out in the Warm Homes Plan, which will be published soon.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, to what extent (a) uranium fuel used at Sizewell B and (b) Britain’s nuclear energy supply chain relies on imports from (i) Rosatom and (ii) its subsidiaries; and what steps he is taking to ensure that sanctions placed on Rosatom are enforced in relation to UK nuclear power stations.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The procurement of nuclear fuel, including uranium and enrichment services, is a commercial matter for reactor operators. The Government works closely with these operators to ensure a secure and resilient supply for the UK fleet but does not routinely collect information relating to any fuel contracts held by UK operators. This information is commercially sensitive, and disclosure would be at the discretion of the operator.
The Government is committed to removing Russian nuclear fuel from UK supply chains by the end of 2028. All current and future reactor operators must comply with UK legal obligations, including any sanctions or trade measures in place against Russia.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
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 Great British Energy on reducing household energy bills.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government’s mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower will bring energy security, protect billpayers, create good jobs, and help to protect future generations from the cost of climate breakdown. Delivering clean power by 2030 will protect billpayers from volatile international fossil fuel markets and bring down energy bills for good
Great British Energy is a key part of this plan. It will ensure taxpayers and billpayers reap the benefits of homegrown energy by investing in and developing clean energy projects across the United Kingdom.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
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 proportion of overall household spending by lower income households on energy costs.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
DESNZ’s fuel poverty statistics include an affordability measure of the number of households in England required to spend over 10% of income on energy costs. In 2024, this was estimated at 8.99 million households (36.3%).
The review of the fuel poverty strategy consultation document includes a version of this measure limited to households on a low income, in the ‘Measuring fuel poverty’ section. An estimated 6.6 million low income households spent over 10% of income on energy costs in England in 2023.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what contribution GB Energy has made to reducing (a) gas, (b) electricity and (c) fuel bills since its establishment in May 2025.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Great British Energy (GBE) is a key part of our plan to protect bill payers from volatile international fossil fuel markets by accelerating clean power deployment. By investing in and developing clean energy projects GBE will ensure UK taxpayers and billpayers reap the benefits of homegrown energy.
The Great British Energy Act gained Royal Assent on the 15th May and the company is now setting up its headquarters in Aberdeen and recruiting the team that will deliver its work. The Secretary of State will set out a Statement of Strategic Priorities in due course but in the meantime GBE has made initial investments in community energy and working alongside other government departments to deliver a programme of solar power for schools and hospitals across the country.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 25 June 2025 to Question 60503 on Housing: Construction, what steps he is taking to help mitigate risks associated with fluctuations in energy prices.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government believes the best way to protect billpayers, both households and businesses, from fluctuations in energy prices is through our mission to deliver clean power by 2030. The creation of Great British Energy will help us to harness clean energy and have less reliance on volatile international energy markets and help in our commitment to make Britain a clean energy superpower by 2030.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
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 households to get value for money from their energy supplier.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government has been working with Ofgem to drive a step-change in customer service through the regulator's Consumer Confidence programme. This includes reviewing the rules around billing accuracy and complaint handling so that suppliers get it right first time.
Further, the government has been working with Ofgem to ensure that when things do go wrong, households get fairer, quicker, easier compensation. This includes looking at expanding automatic compensation to cover more key issues and at further increasing the value of base-level compensation from £40 to reflect the inconvenience for consumers when they are let down by their supplier.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what his Department's planned timetable is for publishing the outcome of the consultation entitled Extending the UK Emissions Trading Scheme cap beyond 2030, which closed on 9 April 2025.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The UK ETS Authority, the joint governance body comprising of the UK Government, Welsh Government, Scottish Government and the Northern Ireland Executive, is grateful for the range of stakeholder responses to the Extending the UK ETS cap beyond 2030 consultation.
The Authority recognises the importance of providing certainty and clarity on the scheme that is a cornerstone of its economy-wide approach to decarbonising the whole of the UK. A response to the consultation, outlining the Authority’s decisions, will be published as soon as possible.