Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he plans to take with Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks to help ensure the resilience of the electricity network in rural areas, in the context of trends in the number of (a) extreme weather events and (b) power cuts.

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.

We are also working with Ofgem to provide funding to Distribution Network Operators to improve the service experienced by those customers who experience the poorest levels of performance. This often occurs where the cost of improving the reliability of a part of the network is particularly high, in part due to the low volume of customers served by that part of the network.