Oral Answers to Questions

Mary Kelly Foy Excerpts

Tuesday 10th February 2026 Commons Chamber

[Katie White]

My hon. Friend is absolutely correct to highlight the huge opportunities for the north-east in the energy transition. We estimate an additional 10,000 jobs by 2030, building on those that are already in place in offshore wind in the Port of Tyne and in nuclear Hartlepool. She is right to point out the importance of the transition for both existing workers and the next generation. That is why we have introduced a clean energy jobs plan to ensure that that transition is as successful as possible. I highlight the work of Mayor Kim McGuinness, who held an excellent green jobs fair in the north-east, which has provided a blueprint for the rest of the country, and the importance of our work, hand in hand with the trade unions, to ensure that we deliver the most effective transition possible.

[Mary Kelly Foy (City of Durham) (Lab)]

9. What assessment he has made of the resilience of the electricity distribution network.

[The Minister for Energy (Michael Shanks)]

Great Britain’s electricity distribution network is highly resilient and the Government work closely with industry to maintain that. Energy resilience is a top priority for the Government, which is why my Department will publish an energy resilience plan in 2026.

[Mary Kelly Foy]

Constituents in areas like Esh Winning, Witton Gilbert, Brandon and Waterhouses and increasingly businesses in Durham city regularly contact me about repairing power outages. They have been told by Northern Powergrid that temporary repairs will be made, but that clearly offers no reassurance to those who are elderly, live alone or rely on their electricity supply for medication or to power medical equipment. Recent storms cannot be blamed, as many of the outages were reported during spells of fine weather. Will the Minister say what work the Government are carrying out to improve the resilience of the electricity distribution network in Durham so that my constituents are not constantly worried about when their power will next go out?

[Michael Shanks]

My hon. Friend asks an important question. I completely understand the frustrations of people who are without power and the disruption that it has on people’s lives. My Department has had a number of conversations with Northern Powergrid on the particular issues in my hon. Friend’s constituency and I am advised that many of the power outages across Waterhouses, Brandon and Esh Winning were caused by trees contacting overhead lines. This is all feeding into work that is being done to ensure that the resilience of the network allows us to avoid those situations in the future. We are also working on how we can upgrade the network where possible to ensure it is resilient. There is always more that we can do, but the grid does remain hugely resilient across the country, and we will work to support communities such as that of my hon. Friend where, unfortunately, there are power outages.