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 5 September 2024 to Question 2198 on District Heating, when his Department plans to bring forward regulations to implement the Heat Network Market Framework.

The first part of the Heat Networks (Market Framework) (Great Britain) Regulations 2025 was signed into law on the 2nd of March 2025. The remaining parts of this regulatory framework will be laid in Parliament later this year, and Ofgem will assume its role as heat network market regulator on the 27^th of January 2026.

On the 1^st of April, the redress, advice and advocacy functions of the Heat Networks Market Framework came into force. Under these schemes, the Energy Ombudsman, Citizens Advice, and Consumer Scotland will monitor the market and have powers to take enforcement action against operators that break the rules on metering and billing.