Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether (a) Ministers and (b) officials have held recent discussions with National Grid on the viability of using an underground cable system instead of pylons as part of the great grid upgrade.

The Government’s policy on undergrounding is set out in the energy National Policy Statement for electricity networks (EN-5), which sets a strong starting presumption of overhead lines, except in nationally designated landscapes, where undergrounding is the starting presumption.

Details of Ministers’ meetings with external individuals and organisations are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK