Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether he has considered international policy frameworks that distribute responsibility for emissions reductions to account for historic and present inequalities between high-emitting and low-emitting nations.
Answered by Katie White - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Under the Paris Agreement, 194 parties have committed to act to limit global warming.
It is right that developed countries should take the lead by undertaking economy-wide absolute emission reduction targets.
However, every country must accelerate action to tackle climate change this decade, recognising different national circumstances and in the context of sustainable development and efforts to eradicate poverty.
Countries on the front lines of the climate crisis face barriers to investment and increasing costs of dealing with the current and future impacts. The UK is committed to supporting them build resilience to current and future climate impacts.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he Department has made of the potential merits of Ofgem’s pay flexibility business case.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Ofgem is a non-Ministerial Government Department, not an agency or office of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, so DESNZ Ministers do not determine Ofgem’s pay flexibility business case.
However, the Secretary of State has given his consent to the business case being sent to the Cabinet Office and HMT Treasury, who are currently considering whether it is consistent with Civil Service pay policies, is value for money, and affordable.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what discussions his Department has had with the Chief Executive of Ofgem regarding a) the ongoing pay dispute, as well as b) job security at Ofgem.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Details of Ministers' and Permanent Secretaries' meetings with external individuals and organisations are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to the mine water geothermal heat project recently piloted in Gateshead, what steps his Department is taking to support the development and rollout of low-cost, ecological, alternative carbon heating systems using geothermal energy from flooded coal mines or sewer systems.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
To achieve net zero at lowest cost, we are accelerating low-carbon technologies, including geothermal. Water from coal mines and sewer systems offers strong potential for heat networks. Projects can apply to the Green Heat Network Fund for support. DESNZ promotes sewer heat recovery as a reliable urban heat source, given its stable temperatures and alignment with demand. To ensure sustainable deployment, DESNZ issued Exclusion Zone Guidance to protect sewer thermal integrity and avoid conflicts between abstraction points, giving developers and water companies confidence in performance and investment. The Mining Remediation Authority has also published opportunity maps.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
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 with the Scottish Government to ensure that businesses can increase the supply of apprenticeships in response to increases in levels of regional demand for green jobs.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Young people in all UK regions and nations will benefit from the good jobs that the clean energy economy can bring. In Scotland, we estimate up to 40,000 additional clean energy jobs by 2030.
Skills policy is devolved, but the UK Government is working closely with the Scottish Government as we train up the next generation.
The Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper outlines our vision for a world-class skills system, giving students better opportunities, skills, and pathways to success, while meeting employer needs.
The Growth and Skills Offer, with apprenticeships at its heart, will deliver greater flexibility for employers.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how much funding his Department plans to provide to (a) transport and (b) storage companies to help support their carbon capture, usage and storage business models in the next 12 months.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
In the 2025 spending review, the Government allocated £9.4 billion over the Spending Review period.
The bulk of public funding for Track 1 is only provided once projects are operational. Transport & Storage Companies (T&SCos) operate a Regulated Asset Base model regulated by Ofgem. This allows them to recover costs during operation by charging connected capture projects - expected from 2028 onwards.
The government has announced its support for the Acorn and Viking clusters and is providing development funding to advance their delivery, including approximately £200m for Acorn. The exact amounts for each cluster and funding schedule will be subject to negotiations, value for money and deliverability assessments.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, when his Department plans to (a) publish a revised timeline for the track-2 cluster sequencing process and (b) provide funding for non-pipeline carbon capture projects.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government announced its support for the Acorn and Viking clusters in the Spending Review and is providing the development funding to advance their delivery. We've been working with clusters to understand what they need to keep them progressing to a final investment decision (FID) this Parliament, subject to project readiness and affordability.
Non-pipeline methods of CO2 transportation (for example, road, rail and ship) will play an integral role in achieving decarbonisation across multiple regions and sectors of the economy, to meet our carbon budget targets and net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Funding for NPT projects will be subject to future project selection processes and associated deliverability and value for money considerations.