Written questions by MacAlister.

When his Department plans to publish its conclusions on the recommended (a) scales and (b) durations of Community Benefit Fund payments for (i) solar farms and (ii) associated Battery Energy Storage System developments.

On 21 May, the government published a working paper on community benefits and shared ownership of low carbon energy infrastructure. The working paper intends to gather insight on proposals for mandatory community benefit scheme in Great Britain, including the types of energy infrastructure that could be captured, an appropriate level of benefit, and how best this could be calculated. The responses to the working paper will inform next steps on approach and policy design, and the government expects to publish a full response in due course.

Whether (a) his Department and (b) each of its arms length bodies offers employees who are foster carers (i) flexible working, (ii) paid time off for (A) training and (B) settling a new child into their home and (iii) other support.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) does offer our employees who are foster carers flexible working but not paid time off for training or settling a new child into their home. The Department provides a strong offer to all staff with respect to annual leave and hybrid working, as well as flexibility around taking unpaid time off, along with employee wellbeing support through the 24/7 service of our Employee Assistance Programme. DESNZ public bodies similarly exercise a range of flexible working policies that can support staff with caring and other responsibilities.

What steps his Department is taking to ensure the UK’s National Nuclear Laboratory is able to conduct commercially beneficial research.

The Government published its Strategic Review of the UK’s National Nuclear Laboratory (UKNNL) establishing a bold vision for its future (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6762a4b1ff2c870561bde75b/strategic-review-of-the-national-nuclear-laboratory.pdf). This is a vision of UKNNL as a platform for the private sector to accelerate technology to market. Much of the strategic review focuses on how the Government supports UKNNL in this, and considers issues ranging from UKNNL objectives through to the requirement for core government funding. The Government is now working with UKNNL, and industry, on implementing the findings. Industry were extensively consulted on the strategic review, and we are continuing to engage with them. Whilst UKNNL will remain a public corporation, it will operate a commercially driven model which supports customer-focused research. The optimal long-term model of the laboratory remains under consideration to ensure UKNNL can deliver nuclear outcomes for government, and support sector growth.

What steps his Department is taking to support the UK’s National Nuclear Laboratory in expanding the development of americium so it could be used by the space industry.

The Department is supporting the UK’s National Nuclear Laboratory (UKNNL)’s work to extract americium from the UK’s civil separated plutonium inventory at Sellafield for the European Space Agency’s (ESA’s) ENDURE Programme. This includes supporting UKNNL and the UK Space Agency in the development of a new facility which aims to upscale americium extraction to meet future ESA demand.

With reference to the small modular reactor competition run by Great British Nuclear, whether his Department is taking other steps to support the development of privately (a) funded and (b) operated nuclear power projects.

Great British Nuclear (GBN), the Government’s nuclear delivery body, is pushing forward with the small modular reactor competition – at the Autumn Budget it was confirmed GBN had entered negotiations with the four remaining bidders, with final decisions expected in the spring. In parallel, the government is continuing to consider responses to the Alternative Routes to Market consultation for Advanced Nuclear Technologies and will publish a factual response in due course. The Government is the majority shareholder in Sizewell C, and the Budget provided £2.7bn of funding to continue supporting the project's development in 2025/26.