Written questions by Duncan-Jordan.

If his department will take legislative steps to increase the £50,000 cap on fines for oil spills during oil and gas operations.

Awaiting answer.

If he will ensure that new Energy Transitional Certificates uphold high environmental standards to protect UK seas from oil and gas operations.

Awaiting answer.

If he will ensure that new Energy Transitional Certificates uphold high environmental standards to protect UK seas from oil and gas operations.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

If his department will take legislative steps to increase the £50,000 cap on fines for oil spills during oil and gas operations.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

What assessment was he has made of the potential risks of granting Tesla permission to supply electricity to households and businesses.

Supply licence applications are a matter for Ofgem as the independent regulator. Applications for supply licences are considered by Ofgem based on their merits and assessed in line with published guidance, which is available here: Ofgem Licencing Guidance. Companies granted licences are required to comply with all conditions contained within them and the Government and Ofgem take action to address any non-compliance.

What his proposed timeline is for implementing community energy generation and storage across the UK.

This Government is hugely ambitious about the role that local and community energy will play in achieving our mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower. On 10 February 2026, Great British Energy and the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero published the Local Power Plan which sets out the UK’s largest ever public investment in community energy. Backed by up to £1 billion, GBE aims to support more than 1,000 local and community energy projects by 2030. DESNZ will issue a Call for Evidence in 2026 to assess the role of community batteries in the transition and identify measures to scale deployment.

What assessment he has made of the suitability of Ithaca Energy developing on Rosebank oil field.

The NSTA is responsible for suitability checks of license-holders, including their technical and financial capability. The Secretary of State is responsible for determining whether to agree to the grant of consent for development of the project under the Environmental Impact Assessment regulations for offshore oil and gas, and will make a decision in due course.

What steps he is taking to (a) promote and (b) enforce the new EN-1 and EN-3 requirements associated with incinerators.

The Overarching National Policy Statement for Energy (EN-1) and the National Policy Statement for Renewable Energy Infrastructure (EN-3) govern planning requirements for larger-scale incinerators (50MW+) that fall under the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIP) regime. Applications for Development Consent of NSIPs, including larger-scale incinerators, are determined by the Secretary of State under these policy frameworks. In 2025 these documents were updated to reflect current policy, including removal of Critical National Priority policy presumption from Energy from Waste proposals. Updates were subject to public consultation, and the revised energy National Policy Statements were published and came into effect in January 2026.

Whether the proposal to retrofit solar panels and heat pumps in the Warm Homes Plan will apply to Housing Association properties.

Our vision is for every household in Britain to have the opportunity to benefit from clean energy technology in their home.Housing association tenants and low-income households are already having these technologies installed through the Warm Homes: Social Housing fund and Local Grant schemes. The Warm Homes Plan will ensure low-income and fuel poor households, including those in housing association properties in the social rented sector, will benefit from an investment of around £5 billion to 2030 in measures including solar panels and heat pumps.

With reference to Budget 2025, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the proposed scrapping of the Energy Company Obligation on heat pump and solar panel (a) installers, (b) manufacturers, (c) importers, (d) wholesalers and (e) the wider supply chain.

ECO4 has played a part in delivering clean heat technologies; however, issues identified by the NAO and PAC support a shift to a more direct, publicly-funded approach focused on technologies that cut bills and accelerate the transition to clean heat such as heat pumps, solar PV and batteries. The government is providing an additional £1.5 billion—taking planned capital investment to almost £15 billion—to upgrade low‑income homes and scale clean home‑energy technologies. Deployment will be further supported through wider policies and details of this will be set out soon in the Warm Homes Plan.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of ending the ECO scheme on the number of MCS-registered heat pump and solar installations.

ECO4 has played a part in delivering clean heat technologies; however, issues identified by the NAO and PAC support a shift to a more direct, publicly-funded approach focused on technologies that cut bills and accelerate the transition to clean heat such as heat pumps, solar PV and batteries. The government is providing an additional £1.5 billion—taking planned capital investment to almost £15 billion—to upgrade low‑income homes and scale clean home‑energy technologies. Deployment will be further supported through wider policies and details of this will be set out soon in the Warm Homes Plan.

What steps his department is taking to prevent people from dying in fuel poverty.

Tackling fuel poverty is a priority for this Government. We will be publishing a new fuel poverty strategy for England to ensure that many more fuel poor households are protected by 2030, in parallel to the Warm Homes Plan. In March the Government allocated around £1.8 billion to local authorities and social housing providers to support low-income households through the Warm Homes: Local Grant and Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund. This funding will support 170,000 households to get energy saving upgrades, helping families stay warm and cut bills. In addition, the Chancellor has announced a further £1.5 billion to support upgrades for low-income households, benefiting those in fuel poverty. The details of this will be set out soon in the Warm Homes Plan. Financial support is available to eligible low-income households across Great Britain through the Warm Home Discount which has been expanded for this winter increasing the total number of households that are estimated to receive the discount from 3.2 million to around 6 million. DESNZ is working with other government departments to drive better availability and sharing of data to enable us in the future to more effectively target support to those who need help with their energy bills.

What assessment his Department has made of standing charges on the level of energy bills.

The Government knows that, for many consumers, too much of the burden of the bill is placed on standing charges. Ofgem have conducted a broad public consultation to understand the views of consumers on this issue, receiving over 5,000 responses on their 2024 discussion paper. Ofgem judged that if standing charges were fully removed, the fixed costs of the energy system would still need to be recovered, and unit rates would therefore need to increase. In Ofgem's view, this introduced a risk of harm for vulnerable consumers who are high users of energy, often for medical and health needs. Since then, Ofgem have been continuing work in two areas. Firstly, Ofgem have been working to ensure that domestic consumers can choose tariffs with lower standing charges. Ofgem took a further step towards this goal on 24 July, announcing proposals to require suppliers to offer their customers tariffs with lower standing charges from early 2026. Ofgem’s consultation on these proposals closed on 23 October, and they will provide a further update in due course. Secondly, Ofgem have been reviewing how ‘fixed’ costs, which tend to be funded through standing charges, should be recovered in the future energy system. This includes whether those fixed costs could be recovered in more progressive ways, and we are working closely with the regulator on this.

When will the Government respond to the recommendations contained in the Nuclear Regulatory Review led by John Fingleton.

At Budget the Chancellor confirmed that government endorses the report’s approach and accepts the principles of all recommendations it set out. My Rt hon Friend the Prime Minister has also issued a Strategic Steer which sets clear expectations for the civil, defence, and decommissioning nuclear sectors to accelerate safe and efficient delivery through proportionate regulation and stronger collaboration. We will present a full implementation plan within three months, taking account of international obligations, national security considerations, and planning, environmental and court processes.

How many households use the radio teleswitch service for their energy meter connections in Poole constituency.

The Department does not hold constituency level data on remaining RTS meters, but we are regularly engaging with energy suppliers, Ofgem and the industry body Energy UK to review local plans for the switch-off. Energy suppliers have contacted all premises with RTS meters and Ofgem is encouraging customers to book an appointment to ensure they are provided with a replacement meter ahead of the switch-off.

If he will make an estimate of the number of households that are dependent on the Radio Teleswitch Service for energy meter connections in Poole constituency.

The Department does not hold constituency level data on remaining RTS meters, but we are regularly engaging with energy suppliers, Ofgem and the industry body Energy UK to review local plans for the switch-off. Energy suppliers have contacted all premises with RTS meters and Ofgem is encouraging customers to book an appointment to ensure they are provided with a replacement meter ahead of the switch-off.

What assessment his Department has made with Ofgem of the potential impact of the RIIO2 price control on network company performance.

Through the price control, Ofgem regulates network company investments and sets a fair rate of return to ensure necessary investments can be made. Ofgem utilises a framework of incentives and penalties to drive up performance and is currently considering what changes may be required for future price controls to continue to improve network company performance.

If he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the report by Citizens Advice entitled Debt to society: what the network companies should do with their windfall profits, published on 20 February 2025.

Ofgem recognised that recent higher than expected inflation increased equity value for network companies due to fixed-rate debt financing. In 2023, Ofgem consulted on options to address this and will change the way it regulates network company investment, deliverables and returns, to ensure this issue does not occur in the future. Ofgem considered reclaiming previous excess profits but decided against this to avoid raising the cost of capital and costs for consumers. Ofgem has made clear that it expects network companies to use any inflation benefit to accelerate network upgrades and find additional ways to support consumers struggling with bills.

What steps he is taking to prevent housing associations levying commercial rated energy costs onto residents for domestic usage.

Under the maximum resale price direction landlords cannot directly profit from re-selling energy to their tenants. There should therefore be no advantage to landlords for their tenants to have high bills. The previous Government ran a call for evidence on domestic consumers on non-domestic energy contracts. This showed that there is no single solution to address the multiple complex challenges faced by domestic consumers on non-domestic tariffs. The Government will continue to work with the regulator Ofgem and wider stakeholders on this issue.

What assessment he has made of the impact of hydrogen power plants as part of the UK's energy sector.

Hydrogen to power can play an important role in our electricity system at a range of scales. When connected to grid-scale hydrogen storage, it can provide low carbon inter-seasonal storage, whilst also providing a decarbonisation pathway for unabated gas.In December 2024 the government announced its intention to introduce a hydrogen to power business model to support accelerated deployment of hydrogen-fired power stations.This marks a key step in paving the way for Hydrogen to power to support delivery and maintenance of the Clean Power Mission and the UK’s target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050.