Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what role he expects local authorities to have in implementing community energy schemes.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Together with local and community energy groups and other key stakeholders from devolved governments to mayoral strategic authorities, Great British Energy and the UK government will turbocharge support for local and community energy projects across the UK.
Great British Energy will work closely with Local Authorities to provide commercial, technical and project-planning assistance to increase their capability and capacity to build a pipeline of successful projects in their local areas.
Mayoral Strategic Authorities also have a vital role in offering local expertise with their communities and in July, Great British Energy awarded all 14 mayoral strategic authorities in England a share of £10 million in grant funding to roll out clean energy projects at the heart of their communities.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
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 potential merits of expanding (a) community and (b) co-operative ownership in the renewable energy sector.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
Government recognises the role community groups play in our efforts to tackle climate change and offers support through the £10m Community Energy Fund, which enables both rural and urban communities across England to access grant funding to develop local renewable energy projects for investment.
In addition, a Call for Evidence on the barriers to community energy projects was published on 8 April 2024.