Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether her Department has made a recent assessment of the adequacy of funding arrangements for local authorities to develop local area energy plans; and whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of amending the funding arrangements on (a) planning and (b) levels of participation in the process.

Local government has significant discretion about how best to use its funding, including economic growth funding, and will need to consider how best to add value to its planning and strategic work.

Numerous local authorities have adopted or are developing Local Area Energy Plans to explore routes to decarbonisation in their area.