Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to work with Ofgem to publish updated planning and grid connection guidance for digital infrastructure to prevent bottlenecks in the grid connections queue and to ensure that other sectors are not deprioritised in favour of data centres.

As announced in the Industrial Strategy, my department is developing measures to accelerate the connection of high-value strategic demand projects in a wide range of sectors, while continuing to support all users to connect to the grid more quickly through broader grid upgrades.

The Department is also working with Ofgem on its End-to-End Review of the obligations and incentives pertaining to network companies in the delivery of grid connections. This will improve customer communications and ensure high levels of service for all customers. This complements ongoing, fundamental reforms to the connections process that will significantly reduce congestion and bottlenecks.