Every parliamentary written question tabled by Ashley Fox this session, with the full answer and department. See how every department answers, or back to the MP page.
Showing 1–15 of 15 · Department for Energy Security and Net Zero
What assessment he has made of the extent to which costs associated with the UK ETS maritime extension will be passed through to freight rates, supply chains, and consumers in the short term.
The Impact Assessment finds UK ETS compliance costs are modest relative to operators' overall costs. Route-specific case studies show very small effects on final prices, with increases well under 1% for typical freight goods. The extent to which costs are...
What discussions he has had with the Secretaries of State for Work and Pensions and Education on aligning skills funding with workforce requirements for the UK nuclear programme.
This government is committed to ensuring that the UK has the skilled workforce required to deliver the civil and defence nuclear programmes through the Nuclear Skills Plan – a collaborative effort between government, industry, and academia – delivering targeted action to address skills gaps and secure the UK’s nuclear workforce.
What steps his Department is taking to support the development of regional nuclear skills pipelines in areas hosting nuclear new-build projects.
The Department is supporting delivery of the Nuclear Skills Plan, including through Nuclear Skills Hubs which tailor national initiatives to meet regional needs. Nuclear Skills Hubs have been established in the North West, the South West, the Midlands and Scotland. Last week (13 March 2026) the government announced a £65.6m investment to train over 500 doctoral students at universities across the country over 4 cohorts starting next academic year, quadrupling today’s intake. Individual projects are making important contributions to local and national skills bases. Sizewell C has plans to create 1500 apprentices during construction – including 540 from the local area – and to build a new College on the Coast in Leiston. EDF reports that Hinkley Point C has trained 1700 apprentices to date, with the majority of these coming from the South West, and has invested £24m in education, skills and employment.
What proportion of staff in his Department have flexible working arrangements; and how many of those work compressed hours.
The Department’s flexible working policy sets out the types of formal and informal flexible working available to our employees. All eligible employees have a statutory right to request flexible working arrangements, including, for example, part time working and compressed hours. In addition, some informal flexible working arrangements within the parameters of the policy are managed locally. Central information on the proportion of Departmental employees with flexible working arrangements is therefore not held.
What proportion of staff in his Department did not meet the minimum office attendance target in the latest period for which data is available; and what sanctions his Department issues to staff who do not meet this target.
Employees are expected to spend a minimum of 40% of their working hours in the office. Office attendance requirements are managed locally to ensure employees are meeting the requirements, and no central data is held on this. Line Managers are responsible for ensuring the requirements are met and taking steps to address any non-compliance, including consideration of disciplinary action should that be necessary.
Whether there are any requirements for civil servants to book a desk in advance in order to attend the office in person in each of (a) their Department's office workplaces and (b) the arm’s length bodies of their Department.
Civil servants who work in the Department’s office locations are asked to book a space to work from the office. In 12 buildings this is a booking for a specific desk, and in 3 buildings it is for an unspecified working space on a particular floor within the building. Desk booking services for arm’s-length bodies within the Department are not centrally held, and would come at disproportionate cost to the Department in producing this information.
Whether he has agreed to meet with the British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme Trustees.
Details of Ministers’ and Permanent Secretaries' meetings with external individuals and organisations are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK. Published declarations include the purpose of the meeting and the names of any additional external organisa...
How much was spent on (a) new furniture and fittings and (b) other refurbishment of Ministerial offices in his Department since the dissolution of the last Parliament; and on what items this
The Department is a customer of the Government Property Agency (GPA) at all its office locations. The office where the Department’s ministers are located is a GPA Hub building, where GPA is the landlord and building manager and the Department is a tenant....
How many and what proportion of desks were occupied in each of his Department’s offices in the most recent four weeks for which figures are available; and how many staff attended each office
There are 571 desks in 55 Whitehall and 3-8 Whitehall Place. The average daily building attendance between week commencing 16 September through to week commencing 7 October was 900. The average number of daily building attendees exceeds the number of desk...
How many civil servants are assigned to work in each of his Department's offices; and how many desks are available in each office.
The number of civil servants assigned to the Department’s office locations, and how many desks are available in each office location, are shown below:LocationHeadcountDesks Overall45691688Aberdeen, Crimon Place10162Belfast, Erskine House48Birmingham, Vict...
Whether there will be any exceptions to the planned phasing out of gas boilers in favour of heat pumps in all homes by 2035.
The Government’s position is not to force anyone to rip out a working boiler and will incentivise moves to cleaner, affordable heating. The Government has started delivery of the Warm Homes Plan, which will offer grants and low interest loans to support i...
Whether the Local Power Plan will contain measures to increase the take up of cooperative energy schemes.
Yes. The aim of Great British Energy’s Local Power Plan (LPP) is to support a more decentralised and resilient energy system, with more local generation and ownership. By doing so, we are giving communities a stake in the transition to net zero as owners ...
Whether his Department has had discussions with Ofgem on reducing electricity standing charges.
Although standing charges are a commercial matter for suppliers, and are regulated by Ofgem, we know that too much of the burden of the bill is placed on them. The Government has worked constructively with the regulator on the issue of standing charges, a...
What his Department’s policy is on reducing electricity standing charges.
Although standing charges are a commercial matter for suppliers, and are regulated by Ofgem, we know that too much of the burden of the bill is placed on them. The Government has worked constructively with the regulator on the issue of standing charges, a...
Whether he plans to include in his Solar Roadmap a target for the proportion of UK solar energy that should be generated through the installation of solar panels on industrial or commercial r
The Solar Roadmap will be published after consultation with the relaunched Solar Taskforce, which will bring together Government and industry to discuss barriers to solar deployment. The nature of any targets included in the Roadmap will be for the Taskfo...