Carla Denyer

This Government remains determined to restore order to the asylum system and clear the backlog of claims as quickly as possible.

Asylum seekers can apply for permission to work if their claim has been outstanding for 12 months or more, through no fault of their own. Those granted permission, can seek employment in roles on the Immigration Salary List.

We are also committed to delivering an asylum process that is gender sensitive – building on the Government’s wider strategy to tackle violence against women and girls.

By the time the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme concludes in 2028, it will have delivered approximately £3.5 billion in capital funding to over 1,400 projects across England. These investments have supported heat decarbonisation and energy efficiency upgrades in public sector buildings, contributing to emissions reductions and progress toward net zero as well as climate resilience.

The Government will shortly publish its Carbon Budgets and Growth Delivery Plan, which will outline plans for non-domestic buildings, including the public sector. The Warm Homes Plan will also set out plans to support the decarbonisation of buildings.

No estimate has been made of the impacts on public sector climate resilience resulting from not decarbonising the public sector.

The internal estimate made by the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero in 2022 suggests that fully decarbonising the public sector would cost between £25–30 billion. The Department is currently updating this based on more recent cost assumptions. No estimate has been made regarding the adaptation costs that may arise from not decarbonising the public sector.

The decision not to provide further funding for the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme was taken in the context of wider fiscal pressures and competing priorities which required difficult choices during the 2025 Spending Review.

In addition to the £1bn for public sector decarbonisation between 2025/26 and 2027/28, the Government and Great British Energy Solar programme is investing £255 million to fund around 250 schools, 260 NHS sites and 15 military sites to install solar panels.

Additional detail on the Government’s approach will be set out in the forthcoming Carbon Budgets and Growth Delivery Plan.

The UK has set an ambitious 2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), to reduce its net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 81% by 2035, compared to base year levels. The base year is 1990 for carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide and 1995 for hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, sulphur hexafluoride and nitrogen trifluoride.

The latest 2019 emissions statistic can be found in the Government’s publication of UK territorial greenhouse gas emissions here.

UK 2035 NDC performance will be assessed in 2037 based on the latest emissions estimates available at the time. Historical emissions estimates are revised annually to incorporate new data, improved methods and changes to international guidelines. Therefore, the % reductions on specific years (excluding the base year) are subject to change.

The UK’s 2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) is a target to reduce economy-wide greenhouse gas emissions by at least 81% compared to 1990 levels. The 2035 NDC is consistent with the effort to deliver against the UK’s sixth carbon budget (2033-37), as set out in the Climate Change Act. The sixth carbon budget limits UK emissions to an annual average of 193 megatons carbon dioxide equivalent, including international aviation and shipping.

The Department has paid a total of £26,773 in legal fees relating to the Jackdaw and Rosebank fields since 4 July 2024.

The Government has committed that it will not revoke existing licences and will partner with business and workers to manage our existing fields for the entirety of their lifespan.

We have already consulted on revised environmental guidance for development consents to take into account emissions from burning extracted oil and gas to provide stability for industry.

This consultation closed in January, and we are working to have guidance in place as soon as possible.

The UK is committed to transitioning away from fossil fuels and meeting global climate targets.

The Government supports action on decarbonising oil and gas production and is consulting on new guidance to ensure the impact of burning oil and gas is considered in the Environmental Impact Assessment for new projects. The Government will consult on its commitment to not issue new oil and gas licences to explore new fields, in due course.

The Government will consult on its commitment to not issue new oil and gas licences to explore new fields in due course.

At COP28, the UK and others agreed to transition away from fossil fuels in an orderly and equitable manner, accelerating action in this critical decade. This is essential to keep the global temperature limit of 1.5°C within reach. The Government has acted swiftly to consult on new environmental guidance for oil and gas firms to ensure that the impact of burning oil and gas is considered in the Environmental Impact Assessment for new projects.

The Government will consult on the implementation of its manifesto position, not to issue new oil and gas licences to explore new fields, in due course.

There are no current plans to make such assessment.

We routinely update our guidance to British businesses on the Overseas Business Risk website.

We advise British businesses to bear in mind the British Government's view on the illegality of settlements under international law when considering their investments and activities in the region.

My Rt hon Friend the Secretary of State has regular discussions with Ministerial Colleagues on a number of issues.

A Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) Minister cannot enter into a discussion on this area. This will be a quasi-judicial decision to be taken by a DESNZ Minister under the Planning Act 2008, based only on the facts, evidence and arguments made in the case as presented to us once it has been through the formal planning process.

EDF’s assumed maximum capacity of HPC is 3.2GW, overlaid with assumptions for planned and unplanned outages. There isn’t a specific discounting rate applied to the First-of-a-Kind cost sharing. Instead, the payment for this cost sharing is included in the forecast expenditure eligible for the SZC RAB, along with other eligible project costs; and the consumer costs, driven by the RAB, are discounted at the applicable Social Discount Rate used in the Government’s Value for Money assessment of the SZC project.

Under the terms of a contractual agreement between HPC and SZC, which was agreed at the time of the Final Investment Decision on HPC, a payment is payable from SZC to HPC if SZC takes a positive FID. This payment reflects benefits for SZC, including the significant learning and ‘avoided First-of-a-Kind’ costs that SZC will gain from being a ‘second-of-a-kind’ replica of HPC.

The payment would be financed by the investors in SZC and would be added to the cost base of SZC, and is therefore included in the Government’s Value for Money assessment of the SZC project.

The value of the payment to HPC is intended to be broadly equal to £3/MWh in Net Present Value terms, reflecting the size of the reduction in the strike price at HPC if a positive FID on SZC is taken.

Taking into account the lower HPC strike price, the overall effect of the payment on GB electricity consumers would be broadly neutral.

The Government is committed to strong collaboration with local government on net zero, as demonstrated by having recently signed up to CHAMP - the Coalition for High Ambition Multilevel Partnerships for Climate Action.

The previous government ran the Local Net Zero Forum of which terms of reference, membership and meeting minutes can be found on the Local Net Zero Forum gov.uk page. The Government is currently reviewing the approach and will set out plans in due course.

The Government’s Warm Homes Plan will set out a range of measures to support upgrading millions of homes over this parliament, including grants and low interest loans to support investment in low carbon heating, focusing on incentivising people to transition to clean sources of heat.

The Government is also continuing with the Boiler Upgrade Scheme which offers grant payments of £7,500 towards the cost of installing heat pumps, supporting property owners transition away from fossil fuel heating. These grants are in addition to the 0% rate of VAT on the purchase of heat pumps, which will last until March 2027.

The Boiler Upgrade Scheme is intended to cover the cost of installations of heat pumps and biomass boilers in individual properties.

However, the Government recognise that heat networks will be one of the primary low-carbon technologies for decarbonising home heating over the next decade and will play a key role in all pathways to 2050.

The Government is working with industry and local authorities and has invested over £500 million to transform the heat network market, protect consumers, improve existing networks, and build new low-carbon ones.

The statutory relationships, sex and health education guidance makes it clear that, at secondary school, there should be an equal opportunity to explore the features of stable and healthy same-sex relationships when learning about relationships. It strongly encourages primary schools to include same-sex parents when discussing family arrangements. From primary school, children will learn about the importance of kindness and respect, including respect for people who are different from them.

We expect schools to ensure that all children and young people, including trans pupils, are treated with the same respect and dignity as their peers, fostering an environment where everyone feels safe, valued and supported. The guidance remains clear that those who share the protected characteristic of gender reassignment also have protection from discrimination by law and should be treated with respect and dignity. It acknowledges that, beyond law and facts about biological sex and gender reassignment, there is significant debate. That is why it sets out that schools should not endorse any particular view or teach it as fact.

The new guidance informs teaching from September 2026. We will fund schools to pilot initiatives that enhance teaching of relationships and sex education. Oak National Academy has developed materials across the updated curriculum.

In early December, the department launched a national conversation on special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) reform, building on extensive engagement over the past year with children, young people, parents and professionals.

We are hosting nine regional face‑to‑face events and five open online conversations focused on the five principles of reform. These began on 2 December and provide thousands of opportunities for families and the sector to share their views. We are also running a wide range of roundtable discussions with young people, parents and practitioners, including sessions with KIDS, Speech and Language UK and the Council for Disabled Children. We are encouraging wider participation through our Citizen Space portal.

The department also convenes a weekly development group of SEND parent organisations and key stakeholders, representing a broad range of voices across the sector. Membership includes:

• Council for Disabled Children

• Disabled Children’s Partnership

• National Network of Parent Carer Forums

• National Association for Special Educational Needs

• The Difference

• Dingley’s Promise

• The Athelstan Trust

• Let Us Learn Too

• The SEND Sanctuary.

Additional organisations will be invited on a rolling basis, aligned with the topics under discussion.

Independent schools are regulated against The Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014, which set out the standards for the education, welfare and safety for pupils attending an independent school. These standards can be accessed at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2014/3283. The standards related to ‘quality of education provided’ (curriculum and teaching) require independent schools to ensure their written policy, plans and schemes of work take into account the ages, aptitudes and needs of all their pupils, including those with special educational needs.

Section 85 of the Equality Act 2010 prohibits schools, including independent schools, from discriminating against pupils with certain protected characteristics. This includes a requirement that schools must not discriminate in the way they provide education for pupils; the way they afford pupils access to benefits, facilities or services; or by not providing education for pupils.