Written questions by Fox.

What steps his Department is taking to support the development of regional nuclear skills pipelines in areas hosting nuclear new-build projects.

The Department is supporting delivery of the Nuclear Skills Plan, including through Nuclear Skills Hubs which tailor national initiatives to meet regional needs. Nuclear Skills Hubs have been established in the North West, the South West, the Midlands and Scotland. Last week (13 March 2026) the government announced a £65.6m investment to train over 500 doctoral students at universities across the country over 4 cohorts starting next academic year, quadrupling today’s intake. Individual projects are making important contributions to local and national skills bases. Sizewell C has plans to create 1500 apprentices during construction – including 540 from the local area – and to build a new College on the Coast in Leiston. EDF reports that Hinkley Point C has trained 1700 apprentices to date, with the majority of these coming from the South West, and has invested £24m in education, skills and employment.

What discussions he has had with the Secretaries of State for Work and Pensions and Education on aligning skills funding with workforce requirements for the UK nuclear programme.

This government is committed to ensuring that the UK has the skilled workforce required to deliver the civil and defence nuclear programmes through the Nuclear Skills Plan – a collaborative effort between government, industry, and academia – delivering targeted action to address skills gaps and secure the UK’s nuclear workforce.

What proportion of staff in his Department did not meet the minimum office attendance target in the latest period for which data is available; and what sanctions his Department issues to staff who do not meet this target.

Employees are expected to spend a minimum of 40% of their working hours in the office. Office attendance requirements are managed locally to ensure employees are meeting the requirements, and no central data is held on this. Line Managers are responsible for ensuring the requirements are met and taking steps to address any non-compliance, including consideration of disciplinary action should that be necessary.

What proportion of staff in his Department have flexible working arrangements; and how many of those work compressed hours.

The Department’s flexible working policy sets out the types of formal and informal flexible working available to our employees. All eligible employees have a statutory right to request flexible working arrangements, including, for example, part time working and compressed hours. In addition, some informal flexible working arrangements within the parameters of the policy are managed locally. Central information on the proportion of Departmental employees with flexible working arrangements is therefore not held.

Whether there are any requirements for civil servants to book a desk in advance in order to attend the office in person in each of (a) their Department's office workplaces and (b) the arm’s length bodies of their Department.

Civil servants who work in the Department’s office locations are asked to book a space to work from the office. In 12 buildings this is a booking for a specific desk, and in 3 buildings it is for an unspecified working space on a particular floor within the building. Desk booking services for arm’s-length bodies within the Department are not centrally held, and would come at disproportionate cost to the Department in producing this information.

Whether he has agreed to meet with the British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme Trustees.

Details of Ministers’ and Permanent Secretaries' meetings with external individuals and organisations are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK. Published declarations include the purpose of the meeting and the names of any additional external organisations or individuals in attendance.

How many civil servants are assigned to work in each of his Department's offices; and how many desks are available in each office.

The number of civil servants assigned to the Department’s office locations, and how many desks are available in each office location, are shown below:LocationHeadcountDesks Overall45691688Aberdeen, Crimon Place10162Belfast, Erskine House48Birmingham, Victoria Square House23978Bristol, Rivergate House635Cambridge, Eastbrook11Cardiff, Companies House22356Darlington, Feethams House12443Edinburgh, Queen Elizabeth House17686Leeds, Wellington Place23London, 22-26 Whitehall227439London, 55 Whitehall and 3-8 Whitehall Place2969571London, Caxton House4130London, Old Admiralty Building2835Newcastle, Citygate55Nottingham, Apex Court33Salford, Trinity Bridge House420233 Notes:In all locations except 55 Whitehall and 3-8 Whitehall Place, London and Old Admiralty Building, London, the Department’s staff are located in shared spaces with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. The desk figures shown are for both Government departments.

How many and what proportion of desks were occupied in each of his Department’s offices in the most recent four weeks for which figures are available; and how many staff attended each office in person in the same period.

There are 571 desks in 55 Whitehall and 3-8 Whitehall Place. The average daily building attendance between week commencing 16 September through to week commencing 7 October was 900. The average number of daily building attendees exceeds the number of desks due to usage of meeting rooms and other parts of the building. Figures are provided for the Department’s main London occupation at 55 Whitehall and 3-8 Whitehall Place only, which are two adjacent conjoined buildings, and the only office location where attendance figures enabling desk occupancy to be calculated are available, and which is occupied solely by the Department’s staff.

How much was spent on (a) new furniture and fittings and (b) other refurbishment of Ministerial offices in his Department since the dissolution of the last Parliament; and on what items this was spent.

The Department is a customer of the Government Property Agency (GPA) at all its office locations. The office where the Department’s ministers are located is a GPA Hub building, where GPA is the landlord and building manager and the Department is a tenant. GPA is responsible for the fit out, furnishing and refurbishment of all office spaces, which includes ministerial offices.

Whether there will be any exceptions to the planned phasing out of gas boilers in favour of heat pumps in all homes by 2035.

The Government’s position is not to force anyone to rip out a working boiler and will incentivise moves to cleaner, affordable heating. The Government has started delivery of the Warm Homes Plan, which will offer grants and low interest loans to support investment in insulation, heat pumps and other home improvements to cut bills. More detail will be set out in due course.

Whether the Local Power Plan will contain measures to increase the take up of cooperative energy schemes.

Yes. The aim of Great British Energy’s Local Power Plan (LPP) is to support a more decentralised and resilient energy system, with more local generation and ownership. By doing so, we are giving communities a stake in the transition to net zero as owners and stakeholders in clean power projects. The LPP will support Local and Combined Authorities, and Community Energy Groups, which could include energy cooperative schemes, to roll out small and medium-scale renewable energy projects. The LPP will increase the capability and capacity of these groups to build a pipeline of successful projects in their local areas, including through commercial, technical and project-planning assistance.

Whether his Department has had discussions with Ofgem on reducing electricity standing charges.

Although standing charges are a commercial matter for suppliers, and are regulated by Ofgem, we know that too much of the burden of the bill is placed on them. The Government has worked constructively with the regulator on the issue of standing charges, and we are committed to lowering the cost of them. Ofgem’s recently published discussion paper sets out the options for how standing charges could be reduced, including by moving some supplier operational costs off standing charges onto the unit rate, increasing the variety of tariffs available for consumer in the market, and in the longer term, reviewing how system costs are allocated. Ofgem's publication can be found here: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/call-for-input/standing-charges-domestic-retail-options.

What his Department’s policy is on reducing electricity standing charges.

Although standing charges are a commercial matter for suppliers, and are regulated by Ofgem, we know that too much of the burden of the bill is placed on them. The Government has worked constructively with the regulator on the issue of standing charges, and we are committed to lowering the cost of them. Ofgem’s recently published discussion paper sets out the options for how standing charges could be reduced, including by moving some supplier operational costs off standing charges onto the unit rate, increasing the variety of tariffs available for consumer in the market, and in the longer term, reviewing how system costs are allocated. Ofgem's publication can be found here: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/call-for-input/standing-charges-domestic-retail-options.

Whether he plans to include in his Solar Roadmap a target for the proportion of UK solar energy that should be generated through the installation of solar panels on industrial or commercial roofs; and what incentives his Department plans to provide to encourage such installations.

The Solar Roadmap will be published after consultation with the relaunched Solar Taskforce, which will bring together Government and industry to discuss barriers to solar deployment. The nature of any targets included in the Roadmap will be for the Taskforce to consider. At present, many smaller-scale commercial rooftop projects are covered by permitted development rights, which allow them to be installed without an application for planning consent. From next year, Future Buildings Standards will ensure that all newly-built commercial buildings are fit for a net zero future. Further measures to encourage rooftop installations will be considered by the Solar Taskforce.