Written questions by McMurdock.

With reference to his Department’s press release entitled Chancellor and Energy Secretary meet with fuel bosses in No11 as government order crackdown on pump prices, published on 13 March 2026, what proportion of petrol forecourts are currently providing real-time price data to the Government’s Fuel Finder scheme.

There are currently approximately 7,400 petrol filling stations (PFSs) registered with Fuel Finder (approximately 90% of UK PFSs). Over 80% of UK PFSs have updated at least one price within the past week. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is responsible for enforcing Fuel Finder, but has confirmed that until at least May 2026, its focus will be on supporting retailers to comply, rather than enforcement.

With reference to his Department’s press release entitled Government to go "further and faster" in becoming energy secure, published on 15 March 2026, whether the plug-in solar panels will be subsidised for purchase.

As set out in the announcement we are working to make plug-in solar panels available in shops as quickly as possible. Plug-in solar panels are not currently eligible for government grants or loans however we keep technology eligibility for government schemes under review.

With reference to his Department’s press release entitled Tough new rules force suppliers to fix faulty smart meters, published on 10 March 2026, what monitoring mechanisms will be in place to verify that faulty smart meters are repaired within 90 days.

Ofgem is responsible for monitoring the compliance of energy suppliers against their licence conditions and to take any compliance or enforcement action, which could include fines.

With reference to his Department’s press release entitled Tough new rules force suppliers to fix faulty smart meters, published on 10 March 2026, what the penalty to suppliers will be for each faulty smart meter not repaired within the proposed 90 day period.

Ofgem is responsible for monitoring the compliance of energy suppliers against their licence conditions and to take any compliance or enforcement action, which could include fines.

With reference to his Department’s press release entitled Tough new rules force suppliers to fix faulty smart meters, published on 10 March 2026, what information his Department holds on the number of smart meters connected to 2G and 3G networks.

The Department collects statistics on the total number of smart meters in operation at a GB-wide level which use a range of technologies including 2G and 3G mobile communications. The latest statistics on smart meters in operation across Great Britain are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/smart-meters-statistics#2025-quarterly-updates.

With reference to his Department’s press release entitled Tough new rules force suppliers to fix faulty smart meters, published on 10 March 2026, whether his Department has a preferred target response time for suppliers to fix faulty smart meters separate to the proposed 90 day maximum response time.

From May 2026 energy suppliers will be obligated to take all reasonable steps to resolve issues with smart meters not operating in smart mode as soon as possible, and within 90 days from when they first become aware of the issue. In many cases we would expect resolution to be well within the 90-day limit. Ofgem is responsible for regulating energy suppliers against this obligation.

With reference to his Department’s press release entitled Tough new rules force suppliers to fix faulty smart meters, published on 10 March 2026, what information his Department holds on the average time taken for suppliers to fix faulty smart meters.

The Department does not hold data on the average time taken by energy suppliers to resolve reported issues with smart meters, but we know too many are waiting an unacceptable amount of time. Ofgem is responsible for regulating suppliers against their obligations to restore smart meters into smart mode and are taking compliance action against the worst performers. The Government wants to speed up the resolution of smart metering communication issues and has confirmed a new requirement (coming into force in May) for suppliers to restore smart meters into smart mode within 90 days or face action by Ofgem.

With reference to his Department’s press release entitled Tough new rules force suppliers to fix faulty smart meters, published on 10 March 2026, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure consumers are aware of their rights when a smart meter is not functioning correctly.

In August 2025, the Department published a consumer guide, outlining rights and expectations, on the government website available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/smart-meters-your-rights-and-expectations/smart-meters-your-rights-and-expectations. The Department works closely with Smart Energy GB, who run the national campaign for smart meters, and consumer organisations such as Citizens Advice to raise awareness of consumer rights in relation to smart metering. Ofgem also publishes consumer guidance on its website.

With reference to his Department’s press release entitled Tough new rules force suppliers to fix faulty smart meters, published on 10 March 2026, what information his Department holds on the number of smart meters installed which are faulty.

The Department collects data on smart meters not operating in smart mode at a GB-wide level. The latest statistics on smart meters in operation across Great Britain until the end of 2025 are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/smart-meters-statistics#2025-quarterly-updates.

What recent assessment he has made of the viability of expanding the utilisation of pumped hydroelectric storage in the energy grid.

There is already 2.8GW of pumped storage hydropower (PSH) on the GB electricity system, which is a form of Long Duration Electricity Storage (LDES). The government agrees that GB needs more LDES, which is why the Clean Power 2030 Action Plan envisages an expansion of capacity of 1.2 to 3.2 GW by 2030 compared to today’s level and also why the National Electricity System Operator (NESO) has published advice that 2.7 to 7.7 GW more LDES is required by 2035 compared to today’s level. In October 2024, this government brought in the LDES cap and floor investment support scheme to deliver new LDES capacity. The scheme is being delivered by Ofgem and is technology neutral (and so could support a number of LDES technologies, including those referenced in the questions). Ofgem plans to consult this spring on the LDES projects it is minded to grant a cap and floor scheme to from its first LDES allocation round.

Pursuant to Answer of 6 February 2026 to Question 109497 on Energy: Manufacturing Industries, what estimate he has made of the additional electricity generation capacity resulting from investments made through the National Wealth Fund.

The UK's National Wealth Fund (NWF) has estimated that its portfolio of investments will deliver an additional 6.4 GW of clean energy generation capacity across solar, wind, nuclear, and other technologies. A significant portion of this comes from the Fund's commitment of up to £36.6 billion for the Sizewell C nuclear power station, which is projected to provide 3.2 GW of additional low-carbon baseload generation capacity by the mid-2030s.NWF is also investing in the storage and transmission capacity needed to enable additional generation capacity, including investments to deliver 7 GW of distributed storage and 4 GW of transmission upgrades.NWF recently provided investment in the Pentland Floating Offshore Wind Farm; a 92.5 MW demonstrator project to prove out a technology which has the potential to deliver 24 GW of clean generation capacity in Scotland alone. This investment was provided alongside Great British Energy (GBE).GBE will play a key role alongside the National Wealth Fund in driving the private investment needed to deliver our Clean Energy Mission, with an ambition to deliver at least 15 GW in clean energy generation and storage capacity by 2030 - enough to power the equivalent of almost 10 million homes.

What steps he is taking to help improve the (a) resilience and (b) reliability of the electricity distribution network.

Government works closely with industry, regulators and other stakeholders to continually improve and maintain the resilience and reliability of electricity infrastructure, networks and assets. This is to reduce vulnerabilities and ensure an effective response to actual or potentially disruptive incidents. Energy resilience is a top priority for Government which is why my Department will publish an Energy Resilience Strategy in 2026.

What recent assessment he has made of the viability of expanding the utilisation of compressed air energy storage in the energy grid.

There is already 2.8GW of pumped storage hydropower (PSH) on the GB electricity system, which is a form of Long Duration Electricity Storage (LDES). The government agrees that GB needs more LDES, which is why the Clean Power 2030 Action Plan envisages an expansion of capacity of 1.2 to 3.2 GW by 2030 compared to today’s level and also why the National Electricity System Operator (NESO) has published advice that 2.7 to 7.7 GW more LDES is required by 2035 compared to today’s level. In October 2024, this government brought in the LDES cap and floor investment support scheme to deliver new LDES capacity. The scheme is being delivered by Ofgem and is technology neutral (and so could support a number of LDES technologies, including those referenced in the questions). Ofgem plans to consult this spring on the LDES projects it is minded to grant a cap and floor scheme to from its first LDES allocation round.

How many and what proportion of staff in his Department have (a) office-based, (b) hybrid and (c) remote-working contracts.

(a) There are 4926 employees who have an office-based contract. This is 100% of the Department. (b) and c) There are no recorded hybrid or remote-working contracts. Hybrid working is a non-contractual arrangement under which employees are expected to spend 40-60% of their working hours in the office as the norm (with a minimum of 40%) with Senior Civil Servants and Fast Stream employees aiming towards 60% office attendance during a 4-week accounting period.

With reference to his Department's press release entitled Clean energy upgrades for hospitals and military sites, published on 5 February 2026, whether the £9 million to be delivered in partnership with Great British Energy is separate from the £74 million energy upgrades.

The £9 million is part of the £74 million of funding for clean energy upgrades announced on 5 February 2026. Solar PV and battery installations are being delivered in partnership with Great British Energy.

With reference to his Department's press release entitled Clean energy upgrades for hospitals and military sites, published on 5 February 2026, whether any of the funding for new batteries and solar panels will go to (a) Basildon hospital and (b) other hospitals in Essex.

Basildon Hospital was not one of the hospitals to receive funding for batteries or solar PV as part of the announcement on 5 February 2026. However, it did receive £246,460 of funding for LED lighting energy efficiency upgrades. As for other hospitals in Essex, Colchester Hospital received £137,940 for solar PV as part of the announcement.

With reference to his Department's press release entitled Clean energy upgrades for hospitals and military sites, published on 5 February 2026, whether (a) Basildon hospital and (b) any hospitals in Essex will receive funding to improve energy efficiency.

Basildon Hospital will receive £246,460 of funding for LED lighting energy efficiency upgrades. Other sites from the Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust to receive funding for LED lighting energy efficiency upgrades are: Braintree Community Hospital - £130,680Broomfield Hospital - £1,976,876Orsett Hospital - £330,532Southend Hospital - £620,965St Michael's Hospital – £354,777 Colchester Hospital is also receiving £137,940 for solar PV and is part of the East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust.

With reference to his Department’s press release entitled Clean energy funding to be tied to stronger workers’ rights, published on 4 February 2026, what mechanisms his Department will use to (a) monitor and (b) enforce compliance with the Fair Work Charter by offshore wind firms.

Signing the fair work charter will be a condition of Clean Industry Bonus eligibility at the point of application. Enforcement during the delivery phase will be set out in the Charter’s governance chapter. It will set out the dispute resolution process agreed by industry and trade union representatives.

With reference to his Department’s press release entitled Clean energy funding to be tied to stronger workers’ rights, published on 4 February 2026, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of requiring offshore wind developers to sign up to the Fair Work Charter on workers’ rights.

The Clean Industry Bonus will ensure public funding supports high quality jobs in offshore wind by requiring firms to sign a Fair Work Charter. The Fair Work Charter commits signatories to provide access to trade unions and to strive for best practice Health and Safety. The associated Impact Assessment , published on GOV.UK, highlights that the overall impact of changes to the Clean Industry Bonus scheme are expected to be positive. The Government estimates that the offshore wind sector will support up to 100,000 jobs by 2030.

With reference to his Department’s press release entitled Clean energy funding to be tied to stronger workers’ rights, published on 4 February 2026, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the introduction of new employment practices linked to clean energy funding on levels of employment.

The Clean Industry Bonus will ensure public funding supports high quality jobs in offshore wind by requiring firms to sign a Fair Work Charter. The Fair Work Charter commits signatories to provide access to trade unions and to strive for best practice Health and Safety. The associated Impact Assessment , published on GOV.UK, highlights that the overall impact of changes to the Clean Industry Bonus scheme are expected to be positive. The Government estimates that the offshore wind sector will support up to 100,000 jobs by 2030.