Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps their Department is taking to implement the guidance entitled The government’s approach to rural proofing 2025, published on 15 May 2025.

The Government has made a commitment that all policy decision-making should be rural proofed. Rural proofing ensures that rural areas are not overlooked and that the intended outcomes are deliverable in rural areas.

Defra leads on rural proofing, but individual departments are responsible for ensuring that their policy decision-making is rural proofed.

Rural proofing is important because rural communities are an important part of the economy. Rural areas are home to around one-fifth of England’s population and half a million registered businesses.

Policy outcomes in rural areas can be affected by economies of scale, distance, sparsity and demography. That is why it is important that government policies consider how they can be delivered in rural areas. Rural proofing ensures that these areas receive fair and equitable policy outcomes.

Our department takes its obligation to rural proofing seriously and is committed to ensuring there is a suitable low-carbon heat solution for every home, including rural properties, through the Warm Homes Plan. The government recognises that heat pumps may not be the best solution for all buildings. Other low carbon heating technologies are available, and the government offers grants of £5,000 for biomass boilers in off-gas-grid rural homes under the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS). The department has recently consulted on expanding BUS to support other low carbon heating technologies.

The government is offering energy efficiency upgrades to rural low-income homeowners through the Warm Homes: Local Grant, with support available until 2028.

The Local Net Zero Delivery Group convenes Government Ministers and local government leaders, including from rural areas, to discuss net zero strategy, policy and delivery, this provides a forum which supports rural proofing.

Great British Energy, the new publicly owned energy company, will be supporting community energy schemes, including in rural communities, as it delivers its mission to accelerate clean power deployment.