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 network operators on resolving connections queues at the distribution level.

The Department is engaging with Ofgem and network companies to reduce connection timescales for all connection types and scales. As part of this, the Energy Networks Association and Electricity System Operator are taking action to improve the connection process for the distribution and transmission networks respectively, and Ofgem published an open letter on future reform to connections in May.

I also recently co-chaired, with Ofgem, a roundtable discussion with network companies and industry stakeholders on accelerating connections. Building on this work, the Government and Ofgem will publish a joint action plan on accelerating connections this summer.