Priti Patel

The bill discount scheme will apply to eligible domestic residents and is planned to go live from 2026 once regulations have been laid, when Parliamentary time allows. Eligibility will be set out in regulations, but our aim is that major new transmission projects needed for 2030 will be eligible. Further impact analysis will be conducted prior to scheme introduction. The proposed funding mechanism is by an obligation on electricity suppliers, so it would not directly impact the cost of an infrastructure project. The Government has also published community funds guidance, which could apply to transmission projects yet to start construction.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/electricity-transmission-infrastructure-proposed-bill-discount-scheme

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/electricity-transmission-network-infrastructure-community-funds

The Planning Inspectorate website states that the Norwich to Tilbury project is at the pre-application stage, and that the application is expected to be submitted for examination between June and August 2025. Information can be found here https://national-infrastructure-consenting.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/projects/EN020027. The Examining Authority’s Report should therefore come to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero for decision in 2026. This project is therefore one of the Development Consent Order (DCO) decisions that would count towards the Prime Minister’s target of taking 150 DCO decisions in this Parliament.

Renewable liquid fuels could play a limited role in heating. As sustainable biomass is a limited resource, the Government expect to prioritise its use in sectors like aviation, and potentially homes that are not readily suitable for heat pumps, as these offer the greatest opportunity to reduce emissions and have fewest alternative options to decarbonise. The price of renewable liquid heating fuels is higher than fuels that are currently used off the gas grid. The Government would need to ensure they are affordable before making any decisions on whether to support wider deployment, including the introduction of any obligations.

Full account is taken of potential local community impacts when determining an energy infrastructure application. The Planning Act 2008 requires developers to engage with the local authority (or authorities) and consult the local community on a proposed development before submitting an application. Developers must take into account local community views when developing their proposals.

It is the government’s priority to build support for developments by ensuring communities directly benefit.

We are committed to ensuring that communities who live near new clean energy infrastructure can see the benefits of this and are currently considering how to most effectively deliver this. This includes developing guidance on community benefits for electricity transmission network infrastructure, which we will publish in due course.

Whilst details of the guidance are still under development we are not able to estimate the costs of providing community benefits to communities affected by the Norwich to Tilbury grid upgrade. We will provide an update at the appropriate time.

We are committed to a more strategic approach to energy planning and will shortly commission NESO to produce the first Strategic Spatial Energy Plan (SSEP). The commission is the first step in the process, setting out our expectations for how the SSEP will be produced and governed. It will also include details on timelines for development, consultations and publication.

The SSEP will build upon independent advice provided by NESO on the pathway to delivering clean power by 2030 commissioned in August 2024.

The Government will make use of all available data to inform any future decisions on decarbonising heat in domestic and commercial properties off the gas grid.

It is the responsibility of the developers of electricity network projects – in this case National Grid Electricity Transmission - to propose a route and obtain planning permission for that route. The government sets the rules for a robust and independent planning process that communities can participate in, with consultation being a central element of the planning process. Any engagement by Ministers must consider the role of the Secretary of State in deciding on planning applications for energy projects, and the limitations on discussing live projects in the development process which have not come to the Planning Inspectorate.

It is the responsibility of the developers of electricity network projects – in this case National Grid Electricity Transmission - to propose a route and obtain planning permission for that route. The government sets the rules for a robust and independent planning process that communities can participate in, with consultation being a central element of the planning process. Any engagement by Ministers must consider the role of the Secretary of State in deciding on planning applications for energy projects, and the limitations on discussing live projects in the development process which have not come to the Planning Inspectorate.

The Office for National Statistics publish 2021 Census estimates of occupied household spaces in England and Wales by central heating type, at lower tier local authority level: https://www.ons.gov.uk/datasets/TS046/editions/2021/versions/4

The evidence base for non-domestic buildings is being developed by this Department through the Non-Domestic Building Stock project. Analysis of a survey of large off-gas grid buildings shows national-level estimates of energy source in Tables 26 and 27: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65c3bc2c28a4a00012d2ba61/non-domestic-building-stock-large-off-gas-grid-premises.pdf

The Department also publishes non-domestic building statistics in England and Wales. Tables 3A and 10 include data on the number of off-gas grid buildings, broken down to lower authority and constituency level:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65d605b52197b200117fa7ad/nd-need-2023-geographical-annex-data-tables.xlsx

As details of the guidance on community benefits are still under development, we are not in a position to estimate the costs of providing such benefits to communities affected by the Norwich to Tilbury grid upgrade. We will provide an update at the appropriate time.

The Department publishes total and regional breakdowns of UK electricity generation by renewable technology here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/regional-renewable-statistics. Breakdowns of generation for each offshore wind farm cannot be provided as this is commercially sensitive information.

The Department does not publish generation forecasts for future projects - these will depend on specific factors such as precise site design and turbine size (among others) which may not yet be publicly known. Some individual developers will publish estimated output on their project websites.

Mainstream projects were evaluated against consistent criteria on the need for places, value for money, and whether they would provide a distinctive or innovative education offer or risk negatively impacting other local schools.

We will invest at least £3 billion over the next four years to create around 50,000 places for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) across England. To support this investment, we are not proceeding with some mainstream free school projects.

For Lodge Farm Primary and Nursery, the review found that current evidence does not show sufficient medium‑term need for a new school in the proposed Witham and Hatfield Peverel location. The trust and local authority can submit any further evidence for ministers to consider by 30 January 2026. The local authority has been offered just over £600,000 additional funding to provide the 12 special educational needs unit places that were planned for this school.

The government announced at Budget a £2.3 billion increase to the core schools budget for the 2025/26 financial year. This funding increase includes funding for mainstream schools and high needs funding for complex special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

Funding for mainstream schools will be distributed to schools following the existing funding formula, which includes consideration of pupil numbers and other characteristics. The funding allocations to local authorities for 2025/26 are calculated using the latest pupil numbers from the October 2024 census.

Local authorities are responsible for securing enough school places for children in their area. We provide capital funding through the Basic Need grant to support local authorities to provide school places, based on their own pupil forecasts and school capacity data. They can use this funding to provide places in new schools or through expansions of existing schools and can work with any school in their local area, including academies and free schools.

Departmental Pupil Place Planning Advisors engage with councils on a regular basis to review their plans for creating additional places and to consider alternatives where necessary. When local authorities are experiencing difficulties, we support them to find solutions as quickly as possible. Where local authorities are failing in their duty, the government will intervene.

At the Autumn Budget 2024, the government announced an additional £2.3 billion for mainstream schools and young people with high needs for the 2025/26 financial year, compared to the 2024/25 financial year. This means that overall core school funding will total almost £63.9 billion next year.

Through the schools national funding formula (NFF), Essex will receive £5,379 per primary pupil and £6,984 per secondary pupil in mainstream schools in the 2025/26 financial year. These per pupil figures will be used to calculate final allocations for 2025/26 through the dedicated schools grant (DSG) in December, based on updated pupil numbers.

The provisional funding allocation for primary and secondary schools in Essex based on the 2024/25 DSG pupil numbers is £642.0 million and £587.2 million respectively. These figures do not include premises funding or growth funding.

The department does not provide school funding figures at constituency level. The individual allocations that schools within Witham constituency will actually receive are determined each year by the local funding formula set by Essex County Council.

Almost £1 billion of the £2.3 billion increase announced at the Autumn Budget 2024 has been allocated to high needs budgets in the 2025/26 financial year, bringing total high needs funding for children and young people with complex special educational needs and disabilities and those in alternative provision (AP) to £11.9 billion.

Of that total, Essex County Council is being allocated a provisional high needs funding amount of over £259 million through the high needs NFF. This represents an 8.9% increase per head of their 2 to 18 year old population, on their equivalent 2024/25 financial year NFF allocation. It is for local authorities to decide how to distribute the funding to special and AP schools in their local area.

Essex County Council will also be allocated extra funding for pay and pensions costs in special schools and AP. This funding is additional to the allocations through the high needs NFF, and the department will confirm shortly how the funding allocations will be calculated.

At Budget, HM Treasury confirmed that all public sector organisations will be funded for the increase in employer contributions to national insurance in the 2025/26 financial year. This included additional funding for schools.

The allocations for the national funding formula for the 2025/26 financial year do not include the additional funding for the increase in employer contributions to national insurance from April 2025.

The department anticipates providing this funding to schools through a separate grant in the 2025/26 financial year. It will provide more information on this, including funding rates and allocations, as soon as practicable.

This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or in alternative provision receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.

The department is providing an increase of almost £1 billion for high needs budgets in the 2025/26 financial year, bringing total high needs funding for children and young people with complex SEND to £11.9 billion.

The department is providing this increase to high needs funding to help meet the increase in costs local authorities will be facing next year, as they in turn provide support to schools and pupils with SEND. The impact on individual local authorities’ deficits will be variable, and it remains important that every local authority looks at what it can do within the current system to manage its high needs budget while continuing to provide the support that children with SEND need.

The department is now in the process of calculating local authorities’ indicative high needs funding allocations for the 2025/26 financial year, which it expects to publish before the end of November.

High needs budgets beyond the 2025/26 financial year are a matter for the next stage of the multi-year spending review.

This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or in alternative provision receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.

The department is providing an increase of almost £1 billion for high needs budgets in the 2025/26 financial year, bringing total high needs funding for children and young people with complex SEND to £11.9 billion.

The department is providing this increase to high needs funding to help meet the increase in costs local authorities will be facing next year, as they in turn provide support to schools and pupils with SEND. The impact on individual local authorities’ deficits will be variable, and it remains important that every local authority looks at what it can do within the current system to manage its high needs budget while continuing to provide the support that children with SEND need.

The department is now in the process of calculating local authorities’ indicative high needs funding allocations for the 2025/26 financial year, which it expects to publish before the end of November.

High needs budgets beyond the 2025/26 financial year are a matter for the next stage of the multi-year spending review.

​​The number of education, health and care (EHC) plans issued in each local authority area per year is set out in published statistics on GOV.UK and is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/150da0a4-2fef-4836-8c12-08dbe514ee42.

The department does not make estimates of the number of EHC plans to be issued in each local authority in future years. However, as noted in the recent National Audit Office (NAO) report into special educational needs and disabilities, the department does make estimates at a national level. Page 35 of the NAO report notes that the department’s central estimate is that, without policy interventions, the number of EHC plans will nearly double from approximately 518,000 in 2022/23 to just over one million in 2032/33.

Academies Enterprise Trust informed the department of its intention to change name as part of the department’s regular engagement with them and subsequently confirmed this in writing.

Academy trusts may change their name but must notify Companies House and the department once they have decided to do so.

It is for a trust to determine its name and consider how this affects its public image.

Schools selected for the school rebuilding programme (SRP) will enter delivery at a rate of around 50 per year. All schools, including those announced in February 2024, have been given individual indicative start dates, so responsible bodies can prepare and make informed decisions around their estate.

Once they have entered delivery, SRP projects have taken on average 3-5 years to complete. We assess the individual timelines at each school once delivery begins.

Proposed improvements to the A120 between Braintree and Marks Tey, where the A120 meets the A12, were considered in detail by National Highways and the Department during the second Road Period (2020-2025) as part of the pipeline of potential future major enhancements to the strategic road network. The Department will provide an update on the pipeline of potential future enhancements as part of the publication of RIS3, due in March.