Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will commission and publish an integrated cross-departmental strategy for the development of an electric vehicle charge point network across the United Kingdom (1) covering the ready availability of charge points where people live and work, (2) ensuring that charge points are as simple to use as petrol pumps, and (3) covering the development of the National Grid to supply power to charge points where it is needed.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Government is committed to accelerating the roll-out of affordable and accessible charging infrastructure so that everyone, no matter where they live or work, can make the transition to an electric vehicle. This includes improving availability including through the Local EV Infrastructure Fund and grants to support workplaces to provide charging infrastructure for their staff and fleets.
To ensure chargepoints are reliable and simple to use, the Public Charge Point Regulations have requirements for operators relating to contactless payments, open data, and roaming. These enable consumers to reliably locate, charge, and pay at public chargepoints.
We are also working with DESNZ and Ofgem to ensure the energy sector can support EV charging infrastructure. We are very confident the grid can support the increase in power supply to chargepoints and the wider transition to EVs.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an estimate of the cost of the (a) pylons, (b) cables and (c) batteries required for upgrading the power grid to net zero by 2030.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
In the Clean Power 2030 Action Plan, the Department estimated that the plan would require around £40 billion of investment on average per year between 2025-2030, much of which will be private investment [1]. This included around £30 billion of investment in generation assets per year, together with around £10 billion of investment in electricity transmission network assets per year, estimated by the National Energy System Operator (NESO) [2]. These estimates are in 2024 prices, undiscounted, and rounded to the nearest 10 billion. A substantial proportion of the network costs estimated by NESO would be associated with pylons and cables. In their Clean Power 2030 advice to Government, NESO also estimated that of the £30 billion technology investment required per annum between 2025-30, low carbon flex capacity – which includes batteries and long duration storage – would require approximately ~£5bn per year in investment over the same period [3].
1. DESNZ, Clean Power 2030 Action Plan: A new era of clean electricity: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/clean-power-2030-action-plan
2. DESNZ, Clean Power 2030 Action Plan: A new era of clean electricity – technical annex: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6776727f6a79200ddfa21b81/clean-power-2030-action-plan-technical-annex.pdf
3. NESO, Advice on achieving clean power by 2030, Annex 4: Costs and benefit analysis, p. 21: https://www.neso.energy/document/346806/download
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to his Department's consultation document entitled Scheme design for bill discounts for transmission network infrastructure published on 8 August 2025, on what date will communities affected by the construction of new transmission network infrastructure projects that are approved no longer be eligible to receive payments; and if he will make an estimate of the total cost of providing community benefits in relation to the Norwich to Tilbury Great Grid Upgrade proposals.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
We propose eligible households will start receiving a discount once main construction has begun and will receive a maximum of £250 per year for up to 10 years. It is our intention that the bill discount scheme will run for a set period of time, with a post-implementation review to be conducted 5 years into the scheme to determine whether it is working as envisioned. The aggregate cost associated with providing community benefits, both via the bill discount scheme and community funds, will be detailed in the Impact Assessment accompanying secondary legislation. The government does not comment on individual projects.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what discussions his Department has had with the National Grid on the potential impact of the cost to the public purse for compensation for communities in relation to the erection of pylons on its decisions to opt for (a) electric pylons and (b) subsea cables for energy transmission.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Details of Ministers' and Permanent Secretaries' meetings with external individuals and organisations are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether the National Grid is under a (a) statutory and (b) regulatory obligation to process solar panel installation applications within a specified timeframe.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
For solar installations of 3.68kW per phase, or below, no application is required. The Distribution Network Operator (DNO) must only be notified within 30 days of the installation. For larger projects, DNOs are required to provide a connection offer within 45-65 working days, depending on the size of the installation. Customers are entitled to compensation should these deadlines be missed.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what data his Department holds on the average time taken by the National Grid to (a) process applications for solar panel installations and (b) issue Distributor Network Operator reference numbers in each of the last three years.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department does not hold the data requested.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to page 13 of the Report by the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee entitled Gridlock or growth? Avoiding energy planning chaos HC868, published on 7 July 2025, whether he plans to ensure that grid connection status for renewable energy projects should be treated as a material planning consideration.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The government is currently developing its response to the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee’s Report, including this recommendation. We intend to publish this, and the revised Energy National Policy Statements to which the Report relates, later this year.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what estimate he has made of the potential contribution of the Norwich to Tilbury Great Grid upgrade to his target for low carbon generation of electricity by 2030; and when he expects this infrastructure will be operational.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
National Grid have now submitted their Development Consent Order application to the Planning Inspectorate for consideration.
The Government does not comment on the merits of live planning applications, which, subject to the Planning Inspectorate’s decision to accept the application for examination, will be subject to rigorous, independent assessment and advice by the Examining Authority – to inform the Secretary of State’s final decision.
The project currently has an earliest in-service date 2031, and NESO’s independent advice on 2030 Clean Power demonstrates that failing to bring this forward to 2030 will reduce clean power on the GB grid by 1% and could increase constraint costs by £2.8bn p.a.
Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of large-scale energy grid failure scenarios on the resilience of the UK’s (a) critical infrastructure, (b) public services and (c) defence and emergency response capabilities.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Large-scale energy grid failure has the potential to severely disrupt all other critical systems and cause widespread disruption to public services provisions, businesses and households. However, Great Britain has a highly resilient energy system. The National Electricity Transmission System has never experienced a complete shutdown, and the likelihood of this occurring is assessed as low in the National Risk Register.
Nonetheless, Government prepares for all eventualities and works with a range of stakeholders across the private sector and public sector to prepare for and exercise robust contingency plans, including planning to maintain emergency response and defence capabilities.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he is taking to support the use of subsea cables for energy transmission.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
An extensive offshore network is being built to meet the rising demand for electricity and connect new renewable generation. The strategic, coordinated approach National Energy System Operator (NESO) is taking to network planning has allowed them to recommend extensive use of offshore “bootstraps” to reinforce the onshore grid, and design integrated offshore networks in some areas, where they are the most optimised designs. The recommendations in NESO’s recent strategic network plans (‘Pathway to 2030’ (2022) and ‘Beyond 2030’ (2024)) could mean that by 2035, three times as much undersea cabling could be laid than new pylons across Britain.