Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the resilience of the rural electricity network to severe weather events in light of the planned replacement of traditional boilers with heat pumps for off-grid properties.

The Government is committed to maintaining high levels of energy resilience as the sector decarbonises. Great Britain has one of the most robust energy systems in the world, however, risks from climate-related hazards will become more common as dependence on electricity grows and the variability of its weather increases.

The Government is working with the industry to continually improve and maintain the resilience of old and new energy infrastructure, networks and assets, to reduce vulnerabilities, and ensure an effective response to actual or potentially disruptive incidents- taking into account future system changes and climate change risks