Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to support small businesses in Buckingham and Bletchley constituency with increased energy costs.

The Government is committed to engaging with and supporting small businesses across the UK through the transition to net zero.

DBT has recently announced the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme which will reduce electricity costs for over 7,000 electricity-intensive businesses and reform the grid connections process.

DESNZ will publish its response later this year to the September 2024 consultation on introducing a regulatory regime for the third-party intermediary (TPI) market. TPIs, such as energy brokers, play a prominent role in how SMEs secure contracts for the energy usage.