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 Scottish Government on ensuring economic and skills impacts for communities in Scotland hosting nationally significant energy infrastructure, including grid reinforcement and subsea transmission projects.

The department engages regularly with the Scottish Government to maximise the positive impacts from energy infrastructure investments on local economies and skills. Engagement is both at the ministerial and official level through formal fora such as the Interministerial Group on Net Zero, Energy & Climate Change, Grangemouth Investment Taskforce and ad-hoc when useful. This includes coordinated work on workforce needs such as our joint approach and funding on reskilling Grangemouth employees; coordinating work between the governments on ensuring developers provide community benefits and discussions on network connections.