Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether he plans to introduce additional regulatory mechanisms to ensure the financial viability of community energy schemes under the Great British Energy Bill.

The Government recognises the role community groups play in our efforts to tackle climate change. In March, we published a response to a consultation, started by the previous government, on the barriers to community energy. We will learn from the responses to the consultation to inform our future work on community energy.

The Government also recognises requests to take steps to better enable local energy markets. The Secretary of State previously commissioned Ofgem to explore the policy and regulatory barriers and solutions for the community energy sector. The energy industry has also been working to make changes to industry rules to support local trade of energy, including modification P442 of the Balancing and Settlement Code, which came into effect in February 2025. The Department is working closely with Ofgem and other key stakeholders to develop this work further.