Asked by: Andrew Bowie (Conservative - West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the requirement for offshore wind firms to sign the Fair Work Charter on trade union recognition and collective bargaining in the sector.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Clean Industry Bonus will ensure public funding supports high quality jobs in offshore wind by requiring firms to sign a Fair Work Charter. The Fair Work Charter commits signatories to early implementation of the Employment Rights Act 2025, supporting access to trade unions across the sector. Additionally, it will commit signatories to strive for best practice health and safety at work.
The associated Impact Assessment highlights that the overall impact of changes to the Clean Industry Bonus are expected to be positive.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to his Department's press release entitled Clean energy upgrades for hospitals and military sites, published on 5 February 2026, whether (a) Basildon hospital and (b) any hospitals in Essex will receive funding to improve energy efficiency.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Basildon Hospital will receive £246,460 of funding for LED lighting energy efficiency upgrades.
Other sites from the Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust to receive funding for LED lighting energy efficiency upgrades are:
Colchester Hospital is also receiving £137,940 for solar PV and is part of the East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to his Department's press release entitled Clean energy upgrades for hospitals and military sites, published on 5 February 2026, whether the £9 million to be delivered in partnership with Great British Energy is separate from the £74 million energy upgrades.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The £9 million is part of the £74 million of funding for clean energy upgrades announced on 5 February 2026. Solar PV and battery installations are being delivered in partnership with Great British Energy.
Asked by: Lord Strathcarron (Non-affiliated - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government how they arrived at the estimate in the Clean Energy Campaign that it costs approximately £2,000 a year to heat a typical three-bedroom house with a gas boiler; and what assessment they have made of the accuracy of Ofgem’s estimate of the cost of heating a typical three-bedroom house with a gas boiler.
Answered by Lord Whitehead - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The cost estimates used in the Clean Energy Campaign are based on the total energy for a home with a gas boiler including both gas and electricity costs (e.g. for lighting and appliances). Details for the assumptions behind the analysis are provided in the section marked “*How we calculated heat pump savings” on the campaign web page https://cleanenergy.campaign.gov.uk/heat-pump/. The analysis in the campaign assumed an annual gas demand of 12,200kWh, which is well aligned to OFGEM’s ‘Medium’ typical domestic consumption value of 11,500kWh.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what the relationship will be between the proposed Warm Homes Agency and Combined Authorities.
Answered by Lord Whitehead - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Warm Homes Agency will play a critical role in place-based delivery and work closely with local partners, including combined authorities. The Agency will seek to build on their good practice in local delivery, convening and supporting where necessary to build capacity to enable delivery to be led at a local level. The full scope of the Agency, including how it will work with combined authorities, is being finalised and will be confirmed in due course.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the proposed Warm Homes Agency will allocate funding to Combined Authorities.
Answered by Lord Whitehead - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The full scope of the Warm Homes Agency, including any role in funding allocation, is being finalised and will be confirmed in due course.
Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment his Department has made of the (a) environmental and (b) ethical standards required for the continued provision of support to Drax.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
In February 2025, DESNZ concluded a consultation on a “transitional support mechanism for large-scale biomass generators”. This included a comprehensive assessment of sustainability criteria for biomass used in the UK, as well as broader environmental and ethical considerations:
Following this consultation, the new Low-Carbon Dispatchable Contract for Difference (LCD CfD) with Drax, finalised in November 2025, has increased the proportion of biomass that must come from sustainable sources to 100%, tightened the supply chain emissions threshold to 36.6 mgCO2eq/MJ, and excluded material sourced from activities within primary forests and old growth forest areas from receiving subsidy support.
Asked by: Adrian Ramsay (Green Party - Waveney Valley)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department has considered using GB Energy to invest in reducing the carbon footprint of the general practice estate.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Great British Energy has funded rooftop solar for 250 schools and around 260 NHS sites. This is cutting bills for schools and hospitals, releasing money for frontline services.
For GPs that aren’t part of these NHS sites, they can access the Boiler Upgrade Scheme accessing £7,500 towards a heat pump and £5,000 towards a biomass boiler.
As set out in the Local Power Plan (Local Power Plan | Great British Energy) published on 10 February 2026 GBE will be announcing their new support schemes in Spring 2026. You can sign up on their website to find out more.
Asked by: Andrew Bowie (Conservative - West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what his planned timetable is for the implementation of the cross-border wind energy projects agreed under Annex B of the Hamburg Declaration.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Hamburg Declaration sets a collective ambition of 100 GW of offshore wind cooperation projects by 2050. Future GB co-ordinated projects will be guided by domestic strategic energy planning conducted by our National Energy System Operator (NESO), which is due to be consulted on in Q1 2027.
Asked by: Andrew Bowie (Conservative - West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what funding mechanisms will be utilised to support cross-border offshore renewable energy projects between the UK and neighbouring North Sea countries.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government and Ofgem are developing a future approach to interconnection including offshore hybrid assets, and expect to publish further details in the spring. This will include consideration of delivery and finance models.