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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what his Department's policy is on changing market rules to enable community energy groups to supply renewable energy on a local basis; and what steps his Department is taking to support local renewable electricity generation as a way of meeting the UK's Carbon Budget.

The current Ofgem regulatory regime allows for a company to supply a specified geographic area, and small scale electricity operations may be able to operate without being regulated by Ofgem.

We are supporting community energy through the Rural Community Energy Fund and there are already mechanisms in the market to allow local supply. We will work with Ofgem to ensure that local communities can play their role in delivering Net Zero and a Green Recovery.