Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the benefits of providing residents who are local to energy and nuclear plants with discounts to their energy bills.

It is important that communities can participate in and benefit from the deployment of new low carbon energy technologies in their local areas. As set out in its recent British Energy Security Strategy, the Government is developing onshore wind partnerships in England that will enable supportive communities to host new onshore wind infrastructure and enjoy the benefits of doing so, through developers supporting for example, local energy discounts and new community infrastructure projects.

Renewable and nuclear projects can also bring wider socio-economic benefits to local people and businesses, including increasing local employment, creating regional supply chains and investing in new training facilities in the community.