Asked by: Claire Coutinho (Conservative - East Surrey)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to the oral answer by the Prime Minister of 3 December 2025, Official Report, column 980, what the evidence basis is for the statement that the energy bills package announced in the Budget will cut energy bills for every family by £150.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The recent Budget acts to take an average £150 of costs off household energy bills from April 2026. As a result of this action, people can expect to see a significant saving on their bills.
Asked by: Claire Coutinho (Conservative - East Surrey)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether the new British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme will be funded through a) the Exchequer, b) energy suppliers or c) another source.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
As stated in the Modern Industrial Strategy, the Government intends to fund the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme by bearing down on costs across the energy system to ensure that the scheme is delivered in line with our wider priorities to deliver affordable power for businesses and households. For example, the proposals in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero's recent consultations on changes to inflation indexation of the Renewables Obligation and Feed-In Tariffs schemes, if implemented, could contribute to that goal.
Asked by: Claire Coutinho (Conservative - East Surrey)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will publish the names of the (a) organisations and (b) stakeholders that have viewed the Working Group on Anti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia Definition's draft definition of Islamophobia/Anti-Muslim hatred in advance of publication.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
As part of the Government’s careful consideration of the Working Group’s advice, officials have undertaken some limited and focused informal engagement with stakeholders. It is standard practice for Government to engage stakeholders on policy development.
Following consideration of the above, we will make any relevant announcements in due course.
Asked by: Claire Coutinho (Conservative - East Surrey)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether external (a) organisations and (b) stakeholders have been invited to view the Working Group on Anti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia Definition's draft definition of Islamophobia/Anti-Muslim hatred in advance of publication.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
As part of the Government’s careful consideration of the Working Group’s advice, officials have undertaken some limited and focused informal engagement with stakeholders. It is standard practice for Government to engage stakeholders on policy development.
Following consideration of the above, we will make any relevant announcements in due course.
Asked by: Claire Coutinho (Conservative - East Surrey)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will publish the proposed definition of Islamophobia/Anti-Muslim Hatred in advance of its adoption.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
As part of the Government’s careful consideration of the Working Group’s advice, officials have undertaken some limited and focused informal engagement with stakeholders. It is standard practice for Government to engage stakeholders on policy development.
Following consideration of the above, we will make any relevant announcements in due course.
Asked by: Claire Coutinho (Conservative - East Surrey)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will publish the advice provided to the Government by the Working Group on Anti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia Definition.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
As part of the Government’s careful consideration of the Working Group’s advice, officials have undertaken some limited and focused informal engagement with stakeholders. It is standard practice for Government to engage stakeholders on policy development.
Following consideration of the above, we will make any relevant announcements in due course.
Asked by: Claire Coutinho (Conservative - East Surrey)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has entered into any contracts with external organisations to review the use of risk assessment tools to prevent violence against women and girls, including the Domestic Abuse, Stalking, Harassment and Honour Based Violence risk checklist, known as DASH.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
I am aware of challenges in the existing system for identifying, assessing and responding to domestic abuse risk, and we are committed to ensuring it is as effective as possible.
It is vital that the police are supported with the right training and tools to identify offences and protect victims. That is why, as part of our £13 million investment into the new National Centre for Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) and Public Protection, the Centre will conduct a robust review of the range of risk assessment tools available to policing to drive improved practice nationwide, pinpointing areas for improvement.
We have separately funded the charity SafeLives to conduct engagement with the VAWG sector and other experts on the existing risk system. This will inform new non-statutory guidance on best practice for effective multi-agency working on domestic abuse and risk.
Asked by: Claire Coutinho (Conservative - East Surrey)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, with reference to the statutory guidance entitled Preparing your data, updated on 11 August 2025, for what reason it is her policy that an employer may exclude an employee who does not self-identify as either gender from the relevant calculations.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The current gender pay gap reporting guidance was drafted in order to reduce the burden on business, and be mindful of variations in their data collection processes. This part of the guidance has not been updated recently.
We regularly look at a range of considerations when it comes to gender pay gap reporting and updating existing guidance, and we will continue to do so. For example, while the reference to non-binary employees has not been recently updated, a different section of the guidance was updated on 11 August 2025 to publish the latest Behaviour Insights Guidance for employers. We recognise the Supreme Court judgment has changed the landscape in this area; and we are carefully contemplating the impact of the ruling.
Asked by: Claire Coutinho (Conservative - East Surrey)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer on 5 November 2025 to Question 86737 on Energy: Prices, for what reason his intention to cut energy bills by £300 by 2030 was not included in his Department's publication entitled Carbon budget and growth delivery plan, published on 29 October 2025.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Carbon Budget and Growth Delivery Plan sets out how the UK will continue to reduce emissions in a way that lowers bills and secures good jobs, in line with the landmark 2008 Climate Change Act.
In this document and those published alongside it, the government reconfirmed the commitments made in the Clean Power Action Plan to make Britain a clean energy superpower, and to get the UK off the rollercoaster of fossil fuel prices and onto clean, homegrown power that we control.
Our plan for clean power by 2030 will bring down wholesale prices and reduce energy bill volatility.
Asked by: Claire Coutinho (Conservative - East Surrey)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many (a) Ministers, (b) special advisers and (c) civil servants from his Department will attend the COP30 summit in Belem in November 2025; and whether these figures apply to (i) his Department and (ii) other departments.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The full, confirmed list of delegates who attend COP is published by the UNFCCC each year, after COP has concluded.
The UK delegation to COP30 will be significantly smaller than the delegation to COP29 in Baku last year. The UK delegation includes Ministers and negotiators working together to represent the British people on the world stage fighting for investment, jobs, energy security, and action on the climate crisis.