Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps her Department is taking to improve its digital services to provide better (a) accessibility and (b) user experience for the public.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Services delivered by the Department must meet level AA of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. An accessibility subject matter expert provides guidance on best practice. The Digital team works in partnership with policy officials to ensure digital services adhere to user-centred design principles and accessibility standards set out by Cabinet Office, in the service manual and the technology code of practice. A service assessment takes place prior to the launch of a service so that any issues with adherence are identified along with an action plan and mitigations to optimise user experience.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the average time taken by her Department to respond to freedom of information requests in the 2022-23 financial year.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) reports its Freedom of Information (FOI) performance as part of the former Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) statistics. The most recent statistics, due to be published by the Cabinet Office on the 20th of September, show that BEIS achieved 91% timeliness for FOIs received in Q2 of 2023.
DESNZ will publish its own FOI performance statistics for Q3, expected December 2023.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps her Department is taking to improve the response time to FOI requests.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) reports its Freedom of Information (FOI) performance as part of the former Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) statistics. The most recent statistics, due to be published by the Cabinet Office on the 20th of September, show that BEIS achieved 91% timeliness for FOIs received in Q2 of 2023.
DESNZ will publish its own FOI performance statistics for Q3, expected December 2023.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if they will take steps to visit Solihull constituency in 2023.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Ministerial visits play an important role in communicating the work of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and understanding how Government policies affect the lives of everyone up and down the country. Decisions on future visits will be taken in due course, and in line with Government and departmental priorities.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps her Department is taking to (a) enhance cybersecurity and (b) protect personal data.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Being cyber secure and protecting personal data underpins everything we do in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. In accordance with the Government Cyber Security Strategy we are working to ensure that our critical functions will be significantly hardened to cyber attack by 2025, with all government organisations across the whole public sector being resilient to known vulnerabilities and attack methods no later than 2030.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what data her Department holds on the average response time to written parliamentary questions in the last six months; and what assessment she has made of the adequacy of that response time.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Over the last six months the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has responded to all Parliamentary Questions on time.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps her Department is taking to improve response times to written parliamentary questions.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Over the last six months the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has responded to all Parliamentary Questions on time.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what information her Department holds on the level of staff retention; and what steps she is taking to improve staff retention.
Answered by Graham Stuart
As a newly formed Department, employee reports are being developed. Employee data on joiners and leavers exists, other measures including length of service will be developed over time. For the financial year 2023/24, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has had c.360 joiners and c.180 leavers (payroll staff only).
The Department is developing a workforce strategy and utilising a range of tools to support attraction and retention. This includes work to build a strong learning and development provision, to establish the Department’s core values and to develop our wider employee offer.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what their Departments policy is on Civil Servants in their Department working from home and receiving the London Weighting Allowance.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero does not pay a separate London Weighting allowance. Instead, the Department operates National and London pay ranges. The range an individual is on is determined by the contractual location of their post.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether he is taking steps to ensure that staff in his Department who are under investigation for alleged misconduct are not named before those allegations are proven.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has clear policies in place aligned with Civil Service HR’s wider model discipline policy, stipulating that all cases of misconduct should be dealt in confidence and everyone involved in the discipline process is expected to maintain confidentiality. Any breaches of confidentiality may be treated as misconduct.