Written questions by Smith.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Local Power Plan on local jobs and supply chain opportunities for small businesses in the clean energy sector.

Local ownership keeps economic benefits local, supporting local labour markets directly and indirectly. Community-led projects tend to create more local jobs due to local ownership and reinvestment of revenue. More broadly, our Clean Energy Industries Sector Plan set out Government’s approach to creating investment, growth and jobs in clean energy industries, including supply chains.

Whether the Local Power Plan will help reduce energy costs for small businesses, particularly in rural areas with limited grid infrastructure.

Great British Energy will provide dedicated capacity and capability, and financial support to help local government and community energy groups deliver local clean energy projects. Clean energy projects owned by local government and community energy groups can lower energy bills and bring in money for the people who own them, which can then be reinvested back into the community. By generating electricity closer to where people use it, community and local projects help to reduce pressure on the national grid and reduce the need for expensive upgrades, when they are strategically placed and paired with flexible technology.

If he will ensure that small and medium-sized enterprises are directly impacted by the Local Power Plan, including hosting renewable energy installations and participating in shared ownership models.

This year Government will consult on detailed plans for a possible mandatory shared ownership scheme and Great British Energy (GBE) will develop a Local Energy Platform to provide an end-to-end business solution for onsite renewable generation. This will be available to small and medium sized enterprises. Great British Energy will set out further funding options in summer 2026. Projects are encouraged to engage early through the EOI form available at https://www.gbe.gov.uk/express-your-interest

Whether Great British Energy will offer finance and guidance to help small businesses install on-site renewable generation and battery storage as part of the Local Power Plan.

Backed by up to £1 billion, Great British Energy (GBE) aims to support at least 1,000 local and community energy projects by 2030. GBE will do this through funding, and support including awareness raising, project origination and project development support and standardised documents and templates. GBE will also provide dedicated capacity and capability support to help local government and wider public sector deliver local clean energy projects.

Whether he plans to bring forward reforms enabling local energy communities to sell clean power directly to nearby small businesses through local power purchase agreements.

The Local Power Plan is a joint DESNZ‑GBE publication setting out the UK’s largest ever public investment in community energy. The Department will deliver the policy and regulatory change working with Ofgem, NESO and others as appropriate. Great British Energy (GBE) will act as the principal delivery body for the Local Power Plan, providing funding and advisory support to eligible projects DESNZ will continue to work across government and with the Community and Local Energy sector to demonstrate the value Power Purchase Agreements offer and develop models in line with accounting standards. GBE’s capability and capacity support will create a knowledge hub with standardised templates for contracts, including PPAs.

Whether the Local Power Plan will support small businesses in market towns and rural communities to access affordable, locally generated clean power.

Great British Energy will provide dedicated capacity and capability, and financial support to help local government and community energy groups deliver local clean energy projects. Clean energy projects owned by local government and community energy groups can lower energy bills and bring in money for the people who own them, which can then be reinvested back into the community. By generating electricity closer to where people use it, community and local projects help to reduce pressure on the national grid and reduce the need for expensive upgrades, when they are strategically placed and paired with flexible technology.

If he will take steps under the Local Power Plan to accelerate grid connections for small business-led renewable energy projects.

The Department continues to work closely with Ofgem, NESO and DNOs to ensure wider grid connections reforms benefit community and local energy projects, including: Ofgem starting to implement proposals in the End‑to‑End Review, a systematic review of Transmission Impact Assessment thresholds in Scotland, and ongoing work to explore remaining policy and regulatory issues. Projects connecting to distribution networks in England and Wales (including the majority of community projects) have benefited from a Transmission Impact Assessment (TIA) threshold increase from 1MW to 5MW in May 2025, meaning more projects can now avoid the more complex, lengthy and costly transmission connection process. The Department is committed to improving the grid connection experience for all connecting customers, including community and local energy projects.

What steps his Department is taking to ensure households in rural communities that cannot receive smart meter connections via (a) long-range radio and (b) 4G are able to access alternative connectivity, including Wi-Fi-enabled smart meters.

The Government is working closely with the DCC and energy suppliers to ensure smart meter connectivity can be extended to currently unserved properties in all regions as soon as reasonably possible. One such solution, currently being trialled, will involve Virtual WAN (VWAN) - a new option that, with their consent, uses customers’ broadband connections to carry smart metering communications.

What guidance his Department provides to energy suppliers on prioritising households in rural areas, such as those in North Yorkshire where neither radio nor 4G smart meter connectivity is viable, for participation in trials of Wi-Fi-enabled smart meters.

The Government is working closely with the DCC and energy suppliers to ensure smart meter connectivity can be extended to currently unserved properties in all regions as soon as reasonably possible. One such solution, currently being trialled, will involve Virtual WAN (VWAN) - a new option that, with their consent, uses customers’ broadband connections to carry smart metering communications.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of localised connectivity limitations on rural households; and what steps he is taking to ensure that rural communities are not disadvantaged in comparison with urban areas.

The Government is working closely with the DCC and energy suppliers to ensure smart meter connectivity can be extended to currently unserved properties in all regions as soon as reasonably possible. One such solution, currently being trialled, will involve Virtual WAN (VWAN) - a new option that, with their consent, uses customers’ broadband connections to carry smart metering communications.

Pursuant to the Answer of 23 December 2025 to Question 99769, what support his Department is providing to non-energy intensive industries.

The Government has recently announced the decision to directly regulate energy brokers and other Third Party Intermediaries (TPIs). Once implemented, our plans will help ensure that consumers, in particular businesses, can trust that brokers are acting in their best interests. The Government has also published a consultation with proposals to strengthen the powers of the Energy Ombudsman to ensure consumers receive fairer and faster redress. Taken together these measures aim to improve competition and market access, and ensure that non-domestic customers are able to access free dispute resolution support.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of an increase in energy costs on businesses in North Yorkshire.

The Government has not made such an assessment specific to North Yorkshire. While the Government is tackling energy costs at every avenue, to drive growth, we also understand that some UK industries are struggling with the cost of energy. The Government has a variety of schemes, already in place or due to be launched soon, that either directly support businesses by reducing energy costs or support them to reduce costs by making energy efficiencies and decarbonising. Schemes that directly reduce energy costs include the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme, which will reduce electricity prices by up to 25% for eligible businesses in electricity intensive manufacturing sectors in the Industrial Strategy and foundational sectors in their supply chain, and the British Industry Supercharger, which includes a series of targeted measures to bring down electricity policy costs for businesses in key energy intensive industries. The Government is also providing funding to improve the UK Business Climate Hub (UKBCH), an online resource which will support SMEs to identify and implement changes to their energy use, resulting in decarbonisation and energy bill savings. Funding is also being provided to support a Zero Carbon Services Hospitality trial, which will deliver a trial of online tools and services to support SMEs in hospitality across England to decarbonise and reduce their energy demand.

What steps he is taking to ensure households in (a) Skipton and Ripon constituency and (b) northern England can access reliable smart meter signal.

The Data Communications Company (DCC) is obligated under its licence conditions to provide Wide Area Network (WAN) coverage to at least 99.25% of premises across Great Britain and 99.5% in the ‘North’ region, which includes the Skipton and Ripon constituency. The DCC is required by licence conditions to assess opportunities to increase the overall level of smart meter Wide Area Network coverage and is examining several options to reach homes not currently able to get coverage as part of its Future Connectivity strategy, which includes consideration of a full range of technical solutions.