Asked by: Claire Young (Liberal Democrat - Thornbury and Yate)
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 extent to which priority system-level datasets supporting the operation of a renewables-led electricity system are (a) clearly defined and (b) published openly as standard.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The electricity system in Great Britain is operated by the National Energy System Operator (NESO), which uses a wide range of datasets to support system operation and publishes a substantial amount of this data through its public data portal. Where data is not made public this will be for reasons such as commercial sensitivity or system security.
Asked by: Claire Young (Liberal Democrat - Thornbury and Yate)
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 support households that are not connected to the gas grid in the context of forecast increases to the Default Tariff Cap from July 2026.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government acted in the Autumn Budget to reduce electricity costs, to the benefit of all households with a domestic electricity meter, including those not on the gas grid. By scrapping the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) home insulation scheme and moving 75% of the domestic costs of the Renewables Obligation to the Exchequer, we have been able to provide immediate savings for households. The changes made by this Government remain in place, meaning energy bills will rise by less that they would have done otherwise.
This support is in addition to the support provided for families that use heating oil and LPG via the Crisis and Resilience Fund in England, as well as the continuation of the Warm Home Discount Scheme – which provides low-income households with a £150 rebate off their winter energy bill – until the end of the decade. In addition, we are upgrading as many homes as possible ahead of winter with the biggest investment in warm homes in British history.
The way to get bills down for good and avoid these price spikes is to go further and faster with this Government’s drive for clean homegrown power we control.
Asked by: Claire Young (Liberal Democrat - Thornbury and Yate)
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 reduce the exposure of domestic energy bills to volatility in international wholesale gas markets.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is going further and faster to protect domestic consumers from volatile gas prices. Firstly, we are accelerating the deployment of low-cost renewable electricity technologies to reduce our reliance on international fossil fuel markets.
Secondly, Government plans to offer legacy low-carbon generators – which provide around 30% of our power today – the option to move onto fixed price Contracts for Difference (CfDs). This will build on the success of existing CfDs for new build renewables, delinking electricity generation from volatile gas prices.
Finally, Government has raised the tax rate of the Electricity Generator Levy from 45% to 55% to limit revenues low-carbon generators can make due to gas price spikes.
Asked by: Claire Young (Liberal Democrat - Thornbury and Yate)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate her Department has made of the cost to the Exchequer of reducing the rate of VAT on domestic heating oil from 5 per cent to zero per cent.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC does not hold information on the VAT revenue from domestic heating oil. This is because businesses are not required to provide a breakdown by product or service on their VAT returns, as this would impose an excessive administrative burden. Hence, we do not have figures for the cost to exchequer of reducing the VAT on domestic heating oil from the reduce rate of 5% to 0%.
HMRC has published estimates on the wider cost of the reduced rate of VAT on supplies of domestic fuel and power. This relief costs the exchequer £7 billion in the 2025 to 2026 tax year.
Asked by: Claire Young (Liberal Democrat - Thornbury and Yate)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions she has had with the Financial Conduct Authority on the regulation of online platforms hosting unauthorised motor insurance brokers.
Answered by Rachel Blake - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
HM Treasury has regular engagement with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on a wide range of financial services issues.
The FCA is the independent body responsible for regulating and supervising the financial services industry and has robust powers to deal with those that do not comply with its rules. The FCA is working to raise awareness of online insurance scams, including recently issuing a warning to consumers about the risks of fake insurance policies sold via social media. Consumers can check if firms are legitimate through the FCA’s Firm Checker.
The government is also taking action more widely to tackle fraud on online platforms. The Online Safety Act places duties on the largest social media platforms to tackle fraudulent advertising, and the government’s Fraud Strategy sets out the steps the government is taking to ensure bad actors can be identified, disrupted and, where appropriate, prosecuted.
Asked by: Claire Young (Liberal Democrat - Thornbury and Yate)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what data her Department holds on the number of prosecutions of parents under section 444 of the Education Act 1996 where the child had an Education, Health and Care Plan at the time the prosecution was initiated.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Data for prosecution of offences in England, including offences for non-attendance, is collected by the Ministry of Justice. The Department for Education does not collect data on the protected characteristics of the children of individuals who have been prosecuted for an offence related to their child’s non-attendance at school. Nevertheless, we recognise that pupils with special educational needs and disabilities may face more complex barriers to school attendance and we expect schools to take a ’support first’ approach to tackling non-attendance for these pupils.
The department’s statutory guidance on attendance makes clear that legal intervention, including prosecution, should only be considered where support has been exhausted, not engaged with or, in the cases of term-time holidays, is not appropriate. The guidance sets out clear expectations on how schools, local authorities and wider services should work together to support attendance for all children.
Asked by: Claire Young (Liberal Democrat - Thornbury and Yate)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many prosecutions of parents under section 444 of the Education Act 1996 were brought in each of the last three years.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Data for prosecution of offences in England, including offences for non-attendance, is collected by the Ministry of Justice. The Department for Education does not collect data on the protected characteristics of the children of individuals who have been prosecuted for an offence related to their child’s non-attendance at school. Nevertheless, we recognise that pupils with special educational needs and disabilities may face more complex barriers to school attendance and we expect schools to take a ’support first’ approach to tackling non-attendance for these pupils.
The department’s statutory guidance on attendance makes clear that legal intervention, including prosecution, should only be considered where support has been exhausted, not engaged with or, in the cases of term-time holidays, is not appropriate. The guidance sets out clear expectations on how schools, local authorities and wider services should work together to support attendance for all children.
Asked by: Claire Young (Liberal Democrat - Thornbury and Yate)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what data her Department holds on the number of prosecutions of parents under section 444 of the Education Act 1996 where the child was receiving SEN Support at the time the prosecution was initiated.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Data for prosecution of offences in England, including offences for non-attendance, is collected by the Ministry of Justice. The Department for Education does not collect data on the protected characteristics of the children of individuals who have been prosecuted for an offence related to their child’s non-attendance at school. Nevertheless, we recognise that pupils with special educational needs and disabilities may face more complex barriers to school attendance and we expect schools to take a ’support first’ approach to tackling non-attendance for these pupils.
The department’s statutory guidance on attendance makes clear that legal intervention, including prosecution, should only be considered where support has been exhausted, not engaged with or, in the cases of term-time holidays, is not appropriate. The guidance sets out clear expectations on how schools, local authorities and wider services should work together to support attendance for all children.
Asked by: Claire Young (Liberal Democrat - Thornbury and Yate)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to monitor the proportion of prosecutions of parents under section 444 of the Education Act 1996 that involve children with special educational needs and disabilities.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Data for prosecution of offences in England, including offences for non-attendance, is collected by the Ministry of Justice. The Department for Education does not collect data on the protected characteristics of the children of individuals who have been prosecuted for an offence related to their child’s non-attendance at school. Nevertheless, we recognise that pupils with special educational needs and disabilities may face more complex barriers to school attendance and we expect schools to take a ’support first’ approach to tackling non-attendance for these pupils.
The department’s statutory guidance on attendance makes clear that legal intervention, including prosecution, should only be considered where support has been exhausted, not engaged with or, in the cases of term-time holidays, is not appropriate. The guidance sets out clear expectations on how schools, local authorities and wider services should work together to support attendance for all children.
Asked by: Claire Young (Liberal Democrat - Thornbury and Yate)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance her Department has issued to local authorities on the application of discretion in attendance enforcement proceedings against parents of children with special educational needs and disabilities.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Data for prosecution of offences in England, including offences for non-attendance, is collected by the Ministry of Justice. The Department for Education does not collect data on the protected characteristics of the children of individuals who have been prosecuted for an offence related to their child’s non-attendance at school. Nevertheless, we recognise that pupils with special educational needs and disabilities may face more complex barriers to school attendance and we expect schools to take a ’support first’ approach to tackling non-attendance for these pupils.
The department’s statutory guidance on attendance makes clear that legal intervention, including prosecution, should only be considered where support has been exhausted, not engaged with or, in the cases of term-time holidays, is not appropriate. The guidance sets out clear expectations on how schools, local authorities and wider services should work together to support attendance for all children.