Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department has conducted a regional impact assessment of the Network Charging Compensation Scheme uplift on industrial competitiveness across the devolved nations.

This Government understands the pressures facing our energy intensive industries (EIIs), across the nation, including high electricity prices. Our recent announcement of the uplift of relief offered by the Network Charging Compensation Scheme from 60% to 90% will benefit EIIs across England, Wales and Scotland. However, the Scheme will not apply to EIIs in Northern Ireland. The Government consulted widely on this policy, our proposal to proceed with this uplift was informed by feedback from energy industry stakeholders across the UK.