Written questions by Milne.

What assessment he has made of the resilience of electricity networks serving rural businesses.

Energy resilience is one of our top priorities. The Government is working with the industry to continually improve and maintain the resilience of old and new energy infrastructure, networks and assets, including the ones in rural areas. This will reduce vulnerabilities and ensure an effective response to actual or potentially disruptive incidents. The Government will also publish an Energy Resilience Strategy in 2026 to set long term priorities for maintaining a secure and resilient energy system.

What estimate his Department made of the level of imported emissions from liquefied natural gas for carbon capture, usage and storage in the policy paper entitled Clean Energy Industries Sector Plan, published on 23 June 2025.

Natural gas is used as an input for Power CCUS and CCUS-enabled hydrogen production. However, the Clean Energy Industries Sector Plan (23 June 2025) did not include a specific estimate of imported LNG emissions for CCUS. We are clear that future emissions from the production of natural gas will need to reduce in the UK and across the world and we are working with the US, EU and others to develop a framework to better measure, monitor, and report methane emissions from imported gas.

With reference to page 392 of the report by the Climate Change Committee entitled The Seventh Carbon Budget, published on 26 February 2025, if he will take steps to (a) identify priority sources of imported emissions and (b) define a benchmark for reducing emissions imported into the UK.

The Climate Change Committee’s (CCC) recommendations are independent advice, not government policy. The Government is considering the CCC’s advice and will set the CB7 level by 30th June 2026. Alongside reporting the UK’s territorial emissions, the Government publishes UK carbon footprint statistics, which includes imported emissions. In July 2025, we announced the Production and Consumption Transformation (PACT) Centre. PACT will conduct independent world class research to expand the evidence base on production and consumption, providing actionable insights on energy and material efficiency solutions, including assessing imported emissions. This will support effective analysis and policy making in this field.

What steps his Department is undertaking to tackle imported emissions in the supply chain of liquefied natural gas.

Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) provides the UK with a flexible source of gas supply to meet gas demand – helping respond when demand peaks, for example over winter when gas demand rises for home heating. However, we are aware of the emissions associated with its use and we are working with international partners to explore ways to minimise methane and CO2 emissions across the LNG supply chain. This includes considering enhanced measuring, monitoring, reporting and verification of emissions to improve accountability and progress toward lower-emission LNG production and transport.

Whether communities affected by (a) community-run and (b) centrally-led energy infrastructure development will receive (i) energy bill discounts and (ii) other compensation.

In the Clean Power Action Plan, we made clear that where communities host clean energy infrastructure, they should feel tangible and enduring benefit of doing so. We are exploring options in this area, including community funds and shared ownership. The Government has already announced bill discounts for communities living nearest to new electricity transmission infrastructure, and published guidance on community funds for electricity transmission infrastructure. The Government intends to publish community benefit guidance for onshore wind in England, and Solar Energy UK has also committed to publishing further guidance.

Who is responsible for the (a) design and (b) delivery of the Strategic Spatial Energy Plan.

The UK, Scottish and Welsh governments have commissioned the National Energy System Operator (NESO) to develop the Strategic Spatial Energy Plan. NESO is independently producing the plan, with oversight from the three governments and Ofgem.

Whether his Department plans to direct the Strategic Spatial Energy Plan to be inclusive of community energy projects.

The Strategic Spatial Energy Plan is a national, transmission-level plan covering Great Britain, and as such it will not prescribe or authorise individual projects at community level. Regional Energy Strategic Plans (RESPs) will undertake spatial planning at a more local level.

How spatial planning responsibilities will be split between national and local level; and whether local people will be able to run community energy projects.

The Strategic Spatial Energy Plan (SSEP) is the national-level plan covering GB, whilst Regional Energy Strategic Plans (RESPs) will work with organisations at a local level to plan how local energy systems need to be developed to reach net zero, considering both the national targets set by government and local needs. Great British Energy will also provide increased funding and support to ensure that local communities continue to directly benefit from clean energy projects.

What steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help ensure that the land use framework encourages community energy projects.

My Rt hon Friend the Secretary of State has regular discussions with Ministerial Colleagues on a number of issues. The Government is currently consulting on the Land Use Framework, which aims to use the most sophisticated land use data ever published, to provide the principles, advanced data, and tools to support decision-making by stakeholders to make the most of our land. Views are currently being sought in the public consultation, which closes on 25 April. The previous Government consulted on the barriers to community energy through a Call for Evidence and published a response to this Call for Evidence on 21 March. The evidence is being used to inform potential changes that could be put in place to overcome these barriers. The Government is committed to growing community energy and supporting its important role in the energy transition.

What steps he is taking to (a) protect and (b) promote community energy projects beyond the Local Power Plan.

Local power generation is an essential part of the UK’s energy generation and increasing support from Great British Energy will ensure that local communities benefit as the UK supercharges its mission to become a clean energy superpower. We recently announced that Community Energy Groups will be able to access a share of £5 million in grant funding through the Great British Energy Community Fund to help communities develop their own clean energy projects. Great British Energy will also work closely with Community Energy Groups, providing commercial, technical, and project-planning assistance to increase their capability and capacity to build a pipeline of successful projects in their local areas.

How many projects in the Teesside carbon capture and storage cluster are (a) existing projects being retrofitted and (b) new developments.

The Teesside Carbon Capture and storage cluster includes the projects mentioned below: NEP (Transport and Storage Network) - New network with Northern Endurance PartnershipNet Zero Teesside (NZT) - New dispatchable gas-fired power station with carbon capture technologyH2 Teesside - New build CCUS-enabled hydrogen production plantBOC - Existing industrial plant owned by BOC looking to add CCUS technology The NEP and NZT are included in the current funding envelope related to the funding announcement made in October 2024. H2 Teesside and BOC are currently a part of the Project Negotiation List (PNL). Following a period of assessment and due diligence, the Track 1 PNL was determined and published in March 2023. Projects that were most likely to be delivered within our required timeframes and budget and storage capacity were selected.

If he will take steps to introduce (a) new national standards for the construction of facilities and (b) operational safety regulations for battery energy storage systems.

The Government recognises the importance of having robust measures in place to manage battery energy storage system (BESS) safety. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) regulates BESS under a regulatory regime which requires BESS designers, installers, and operators to take the necessary health and safety measures throughout all stages of the system’s construction, operation and decommissioning.