Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken, or plan to take, to ensure that those dependent on life-critical support machines are protected in cases of power blackouts.

The Department for Health and Social Care is working with the health and social care sector to assess the impact of any potential disruption to energy on services. In addition, we are working with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to understand the likelihood of any power outages. Care providers and equipment suppliers support those with long term conditions to use medical equipment at home safely and in cases where the equipment is disrupted. In a power outage scenario, the Priority Services Register is maintained by electricity network operators to target support to the most vulnerable customers.