Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many times a member of the Civil Nuclear Constabulary was referred to Prevent in each year since 2018.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
There were no referrals.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many (a) officers and (b) other staff left the Civil Nuclear Constabulary in each year since 2015; and what the leaving rate was in each of those years.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Year | Combined Staff/Officer Headcount as at Feb (17257) | Total Leavers in FY | % Leavers in FY | Total Leavers in FY | % Leavers in FY | % Leavers in FY |
2014/15 | 1533 | 86 | 6.7% | 38 | 15.3% | 8.1% |
2015/16 | 1586 | 79 | 6.0% | 26 | 9.6% | 6.6% |
2016/17 | 1623 | 112 | 8.6% | 43 | 13.1% | 9.6% |
2017/18 | 1589 | 149 | 11.5% | 27 | 9.2% | 11.1% |
2018/19 | 1598 | 109 | 8.4% | 28 | 9.5% | 8.6% |
2019/20 | 1545 | 188 | 14.9% | 45 | 15.7% | 15.1% |
2020/21 | 1638 | 99 | 7.5% | 25 | 7.8% | 7.6% |
2021/22 | 1620 | 90 | 7.0% | 24 | 7.3% | 7.0% |
2022/23 | 1602 | 116 | 9.1% | 35 | 10.8% | 9.4% |
2023/24 | 1624 | 132 | 10.3% | 37 | 10.6% | 10.4% |
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many people were serving in the Civil Nuclear Constabulary on 20 February in each year since 2015.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Financial Year | Total Combined Staff/Officer Headcount as at Feb (17257) |
2014/15 | 1533 |
2015/16 | 1586 |
2016/17 | 1623 |
2017/18 | 1589 |
2018/19 | 1598 |
2019/20 | 1545 |
2020/21 | 1638 |
2021/22 | 1620 |
2022/23 | 1602 |
2023/24 | 1624 |
Asked by: Peter Grant (Scottish National Party - Glenrothes)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether funding will be made available through the Green Industries Growth Accelerator for the manufacture of wind turbine jackets.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Government has committed £1.1 billion to the Green Industries Growth Accelerator to support the expansion of domestic green manufacturing capacity and strengthen clean energy supply chains. At Spring Budget, government announced provisional allocations of up to £390 million for offshore wind and networks, up to £390 million for carbon capture, utilisation and storage and hydrogen and up to £300m to support domestic production of high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) for nuclear fuel.
Government is conducting engagement with industry on the design of the Accelerator and more detail on eligibility and how to apply for funding will be shared in due course.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to make investment in energy infrastructure more attractive for pension funds.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government is attracting tens of billions of private investment into energy infrastructure from a wide variety of sources. Autumn Statement 2023 announced planning and grid reforms which could bring forward £90 billion of investment in energy infrastructure over 10 years, and since September 2023 alone companies have announced plans for £30 billion of new energy investment.
Autumn Statement added to the significant progress government has already made in creating the right enabling environment for infrastructure in decarbonization, as set out in Powering Up Britain. This includes:
- Innovative financing mechanisms and business models to provide revenue support and long-term certainty for investors in green industries, including Contracts for Difference (CfDs) for renewable energy generation, Regulated Asset Base (RAB) for nuclear, and models for CCUS and hydrogen.
- A strong public finance offer, including the £22bn in financial capacity in the UK Infrastructure Bank (UKIB) which enables it to partner with the private sector and government to increase net zero infrastructure investment.
Spring Budget 2024 delivers and builds on announcements from Autumn Statement, creating the enabling environment for net zero investment through energy system reforms. This includes:
- Confirmation of the parameters of the 6th Contracts for Difference (CfD) round for offshore wind, with the largest ever budget set at £1 billion.
- Seizing the growth opportunities of the net zero transition, with an additional £120 million for the Green Industries Growth Accelerator targeted at manufacturing capacity in the clean energy sectors where the UK has the strongest current or potential advantage: CCUS, hydrogen, offshore wind, networks, and nuclear. This brings overall funding for the Green Industries Growth Accelerator to over £1 billion.
- The pensions reforms currently being developed by the Government, Financial Conduct Authority and The Pensions Regulator, which will also help ensure that pension funds are investing in the full range of asset classes including infrastructure.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many staff have job titles that include the words (a) equality, (b) diversity, (c) inclusion, (d) gender, (e) LGBT and (f) race in the (i) Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, (ii) Civil Nuclear Police Authority and (iii) UK Atomic Energy Authority.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The table below refers to the organisations as per your question:
Organisation | Number of roles |
Nuclear Decommissioning Authority | 4 |
Civil Nuclear Police Authority | 6 |
UK Atomic Energy Authority | 1 |
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many security inspections were carried out by the Office for Nuclear Regulation in each year since 2015.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) has carried out 1583 security inspections over the period January 2015 to end December 2023. The below table details the number of security inspections for each year over this period.
Year | Number of ONR Security Inspections |
2015 | 240 |
2016 | 197 |
2017 | 220 |
2018 | 146 |
2019 | 169 |
2020 | 144 |
2021 | 136 |
2022 | 178 |
2023 | 153 |
Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to reconsider the commitment in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero's command paper, Civil Nuclear Roadmap to 2050, published in January, "not to support the use of plutonium stored at Sellafield by Advanced Nuclear Technologies".
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government confirmed in the Civil Nuclear Roadmap that the UK will not support the use of plutonium stored at Sellafield by advanced nuclear technologies, whilst high hazard risk reduction activities are prioritised at site. The Government has no plans to reconsider this commitment.
Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what support is available to businesses that export British civil nuclear technology, including small modular reactors.
Answered by Lord Offord of Garvel - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
My Department recognises that nuclear technology, including small modular reactors (SMRs), offers a significant UK export opportunity, which could create substantial economic benefits.
The Department for Business and Trade is proud to be supporting the sector, including SMR technology companies, and is working closely with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Ofiice, and across our overseas network, to offer a full range of support for UK exports to responsible nuclear nations.
This includes UK Export Finance, who can consider a range of options to support overseas sales, including loan guarantees for foreign buyers, and working capital, insurance and bond support products to assist UK suppliers.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many (a) minor, (b) moderate and (c) major incident notification forms were submitted to the Office for Nuclear Regulation in each year since 2015.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Office for Nuclear Regulation's (ONR) incident notification process requires dutyholders to state their judgement on the significance of an incident as major, moderate and minor in an initial incident notification form. Incidents could relate to safety, nuclear security and/or safeguards.
This categorisation is the dutyholders’ initial perspective when they first reported the incident. This means that a “major incident notification form” does not necessarily align with a “major incident”. ONR’s guidance is that the dutyholders should use the plain English interpretations of the words and their judgement on the significance of the incident. ONR inspectors use the dutyholders’ perspective as one aspect of the diverse information that informs their judgements on the significance of incidents.
ONR reports each financial year on the number of incident forms it has received, including the dutyholders’ initial perspective on incident significance, in annex 3 of the Chief Nuclear Inspector’s Annual Report on Great Britain’s Nuclear Industry 2022/23 (onr.org.uk).
Summary of dutyholders’ reports received 2015 to present:
Financial Year | Minor | Moderate | Major |
2015/16 | 300 | 11 | 2 |
2016/17 | 514 | 33 | 2 |
2017/18 | 571 | 60 | 1 |
2018/19 | 578 | 50 | 1 |
2019/20 | 707 | 39 | 4 |
2020/21 | 642 | 57 | 1 |
2021/22 | 855 | 47 | 3 |
2022/23 | 644 | 82 | 5 |
2023/24* | 491 | 60 | 3 |
*up to 28/02/2024
Source: ONR Information management system