Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps the Government Communication Service is taking to implement cryptographic authentication and digital watermarking on official media to prevent the dissemination of deepfake government content.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
GCS works closely with media partners and makes use of advanced technical capabilities, including artificial intelligence-driven tools, verification systems, and third-party brand safety tools, to ensure official content is served in safe, authentic, and suitable environments.
GCS continuously monitors developments from regulators to ensure that all platforms hosting official government messages uphold robust security measures.
Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking through the Clean Energy Industries Sector Plan to support the gas turbine supply chain.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Clean Energy Industries Sector Plan takes a whole‑system approach to strengthening UK supply chains. Through Great British Energy, we are establishing a £1 billion Clean Energy Supply Chain Fund to support companies with the greatest potential to grow domestic manufacturing and capability.
We are mobilising public and private investment to scale supply chains across clean energy sectors and secure long‑term economic growth. We are also supporting energy‑intensive industries, including those in key manufacturing supply chains, through electricity cost relief and decarbonisation support. Where gas turbine supply chains contribute to the clean energy transition, they can benefit from these wider cross‑cutting interventions to strengthen UK capability and resilience.
Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
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 impact of energy infrastructure procurement times on the delivery timeline for nationally significant data centres.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Government recognises the impact of electricity infrastructure procurement times on data centres and is supporting supply chains and skills across industry through the Sector Growth Plan, to improve demand visibility, strengthen domestic manufacturing, and help reduce lead times and support earlier investment decisions.
This is part of a package of measures to accelerate network build and connections, including for data centres, that includes exploring direct high-voltage connections and self-build of electricity assets, reforms to manage speculative demand applications and accelerate strategically important projects including AI Growth Zones, and establishing the AI Energy Council to explore opportunities to attract investment.
Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
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 potential impact of network constraint payments on the unit cost of electricity for industrial consumers.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Reformed National Pricing Delivery Plan sets out an ambitious package of measures to bear down on costs in the next few years, particularly in relation to the network constraints caused by historic under-investment in the electricity grid.
Furthermore, the Government has committed to uplifting the level of relief offered to energy intensive industries (EIIs) through the Network Charging Compensation Scheme from 60% to 90%, taking effect from the claim month of April 2026. This provides relief for constraints costs by reducing Balancing Services Use of System charges for EIIs.
Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to increase competition in the onshore connection market through the use of Independent Distribution Network Operators.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Ofgem is responsible for the regulation of competition in connections. Following its open letter on “regulatory arrangements for independent distribution network operators”,[1] Ofgem is undertaking a review of the current regulatory framework. The review will consider how Independent Distribution Network Operators can support wider system reform and contribute to whole-system benefits. Ofgem expects to complete the review in the second half of 2027.
Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
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 impact of global gas turbine supply chain lead times on the delivery of dispatchable power capacity.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
As set out in the Clean Power Action Plan, maintaining security of electricity supply in a Clean Power system will require continued reliance on the existing gas fleet as the main mature, reliable source of long-duration flexibility until low-carbon alternative dispatchable technologies are deployed at scale. Given the age of the fleet, a limited amount of new unabated gas capacity may be needed to replace retiring plants as part of a diverse and resilient energy mix.
The Department is engaging with industry to understand global supply chain constraints, including gas turbine availability, and is considering policy options to ensure market signals support timely investment in both refurbishment of existing plant and, where necessary, new build capacity.
Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he is taking through the Energy Resilience Strategy to mitigate risks to national grid stability.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Maintaining the stability and operability of Great Britain’s electricity system is the responsibility of the independent National Energy System Operator (NESO), working with network companies through regulated market arrangements.
The Government works closely with NESO to support the effective delivery of these responsibilities and NESO has a range of tools at its disposal to keep the electricity system in balance and maintain system stability.
The Energy Resilience Strategy will set out the Government’s strategic priorities for a resilient energy system, now and in the future, and how the Government will work with industry, the regulator and wider society to deliver that. Accordingly, the Government is working closely with NESO to develop and deliver the priorities to be set out in this strategy.
Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he is taking through the Energy Skills Passport to ensure a pipeline of specialist engineers for the (a) construction and (b) maintenance of energy infrastructure.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
In October 2025, Government published the Clean Energy Jobs Plan, which set out the workforce to deliver the clean energy superpower mission and how we will work with industry and trade unions to deliver it. This included announcing support to expand the Energy Skills Passport to include additional roles and sectors.
More widely, Government is funding a four-year engineering skills package worth £182 million, including funding for Technical Excellence Colleges, £47 million for engineering skills for adults, £2 million to increase the number of engineering T-Levels, and £8 million investment in level 4 and 5 clean energy engineering courses.
Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of Full Expensing on private investment in national significant grid infrastructure.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government is working with delivery partners to speed up delivery of network infrastructure and increase grid capacity through reforms to planning, support for communities and strategic network design.
Ofgem is responsible for incentivising investment in electricity networks to achieve government strategic priorities, whilst ensuring it delivers value to consumers. Ofgem anticipates £71bn of investment in GB's electricity transmission networks between 2026-2031 as part of their RIIO-ET3 price control.
Whilst the government does not publish forecasts for specific investments or industries, in their November 2023 Economic and Fiscal outlook, the OBR estimated that the move to Permanent Full Expensing will add 0.2 percent to capital stock and generate a net additional £13.9 billion in cumulative real business investment up to 2028-29.
Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking through the Industrial Strategy's research and development missions to expand innovation capacity in regional manufacturing hubs.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
This government is delivering the Industrial Strategy by directing billions of pounds into high-growth, strategic sectors, such as advanced manufacturing - bridging the gap between university research and commercial scaling.
The Advanced Manufacturing Sector Plan launched by the Department of Business and Trade last year planned R&D investment of up to £2.8 billion for innovation, over 5-years. UKRI will invest £1.34 billion over this Spending Review period through their advanced manufacturing programme.
Through the Local Innovation Partnerships Fund, we are investing £500m across 17 regions across the UK to grow their high-potential innovation clusters. This includes supporting advanced manufacturing capabilities in places like the West Midlands, Greater Manchester, Oxford, Cambridge, and the East Midlands.
Additionally, the government's Life Sciences Innovative Manufacturing Fund (LSIMF) – launched in October 2024 and consisting of up to £520m – is providing grant support to medicines and medical devices manufacturing projects across the country, incentivising investment and creating high-quality jobs. Of the 8 projects supported by LSIMF to date, 6 are outside London and the South East.