Written questions by Haigh.

What assessment he has made of the potential role of (a) innovative Small Modular Reactors and (b) their associated UK-based (i) manufacturing and (ii) construction supply chains in supporting the Government’s (A) energy security and (B) net zero targets by 2050.

Great British Energy – Nuclear (GBE-N) has selected Rolls-Royce SMR as its preferred bidder to partner with to build the UK’s first small modular reactors (SMRs), subject to final government approvals and contract signature. It is expected that an SMR project could power the equivalent of up to 3 million of today’s homes and support up to 3,000 jobs at peak construction. Further details will follow in due course, but the government's long-term ambition is to bring forward one of Europe's first SMR fleets, with GBE-N's ambition being to deliver over 70% UK content across the fleet which could benefit communities right across the country.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential (a) economic and (b) industrial benefits to (a) Sheffield and (b) South Yorkshire of building innovative Small Modular Reactors using domestic supply chains.

Great British Energy – Nuclear (GBE-N) has selected Rolls-Royce SMR as its preferred bidder to partner with to build the UK’s first small modular reactors (SMRs), subject to final government approvals and contract signature. It is expected that an SMR project could power the equivalent of up to 3 million of today’s homes and support up to 3,000 jobs at peak construction. Further details will follow in due course, but the government's long-term ambition is to bring forward one of Europe's first SMR fleets, with GBE-N's ambition being to deliver over 70% UK content across the fleet which could benefit communities right across the country.

What steps his Department is taking to maximise the role of UK-based supply chains in the (a) development and (b) delivery of innovative Small Modular Reactor projects.

Great British Energy – Nuclear (GBE-N) has selected Rolls-Royce SMR as its preferred bidder to partner with to build the UK’s first small modular reactors (SMRs), subject to final government approvals and contract signature. It is expected that an SMR project could power the equivalent of up to 3 million of today’s homes and support up to 3,000 jobs at peak construction. Further details will follow in due course, but the government's long-term ambition is to bring forward one of Europe's first SMR fleets, with GBE-N's ambition being to deliver over 70% UK content across the fleet which could benefit communities right across the country.

If she will publish the most recent data on the number of (a) unemployed benefit claimants and (b) job vacancies by Jobcentre.

A) Claimant count data for the UK is published and available at: Nomis - Official Census and Labour Market Statistics. Data on the number of people claiming out of work benefits is published and available at: Stat-Xplore - Home. B) There are no published statistics on job vacancies by job centre. However, the number of online job adverts by local authorities can be found here: Labour demand volumes by Standard Occupation Classification (SOC 2020), UK - Office for National Statistics