Written questions by Coutinho.

What estimate his Department has made of the annual cost of Distribution Use of System charges since 2002.

The Government does not hold this information. Distribution Use of System (DUoS) charges are paid for by electricity suppliers and distribution connected generatorsand passed onto consumers through electricity bills. Each Distribution Network Operator (DNO) publishes charging statements every year, which are publicly available on their websites. The system is experiencing rising DUoS charges, due partly to the costs of upgrading the network to connect renewable generation and storage. However, the Government does not hold estimates apportioning overall distribution network costs to these generation sources specifically.

What estimate his Department has made of the proportion of Distribution Use of System charges that were the result of connecting renewable energy generation assets in each year since 2002.

The Government does not hold this information. Distribution Use of System (DUoS) charges are paid for by electricity suppliers and distribution connected generatorsand passed onto consumers through electricity bills. Each Distribution Network Operator (DNO) publishes charging statements every year, which are publicly available on their websites. The system is experiencing rising DUoS charges, due partly to the costs of upgrading the network to connect renewable generation and storage. However, the Government does not hold estimates apportioning overall distribution network costs to these generation sources specifically.

Whether any Government Departments are members of the Stonewall Diversity Champions Programme.

Government departments are responsible for decisions about whether to buy services from third sector organisations to support equality, diversity and inclusion in their organisations. Currently no government department is a member of Stonewall.

Pursuant to the Answer of 23 January to Question 24699 on Electricity: Artificial Intelligence, if he will publish the terms of reference for European Economic Research Limited's analysis of the future net energy demand of artificial intelligence.

This project was awarded through an open tender process, which concluded in November. As part of this process, the terms of reference for the project were publicly disclosed. Once the tender closed and had been awarded to the European Economic Research Limited, we published a Contract Award Notice, (CAN) on the government Contracts Finder website.

Pursuant to the Answer of 23 January 2025 to Question 24699 on Electricity: Artificial Intelligence, what the value is of the contract awarded to European Economic Research Limited to analyse the future net energy demand of artificial intelligence.

This information will be made publicly available the usual way through the Department's annual report and accounts.

Pursuant to the Answer of 23 January 2025 to Question 24699 on Electricity: Artificial Intelligence, if he will publish the report by European Economic Research Limited on the future net energy demand of artificial intelligence when it has been received by his Department.

It is DESNZ policy to publish contracted technical work once it has been independently internally peer reviewed. We intend to similarly publish the report by European Economic Research Limited once it is completed in April.

What recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of UK Emissions Trading Scheme 's allowance allocation policy on (a) carbon leakage and (b) the offshoring of emissions.

The provision of Free Allocation under the UK ETS mitigates the risk of carbon leakage and associated offshoring of emissions by reducing industrial sectors’ exposure to the carbon price. The UK ETS Authority is reviewing Free Allocation policy to ensure it targets sectors most at risk of carbon leakage and is currently consulting on this topic, including alignment with the UK Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism. The Authority will assess how Free Allocation interacts with other policies to ensure a holistic approach to carbon leakage mitigation. An Impact Assessment will be published alongside the Government Response to the Free Allocation Review

How the AI Energy Council will engage with (a) the National Energy System Operator and (b) Distribution Network Operators.

DSIT and DESNZ officials are currently agreeing the membership and Terms of Reference of the AI Energy Council and as part of this they are also discussing how to engage with the National Energy System Operator and Distribution Network Operators.

How the AI Energy Council will engage with the (a) renewables, (b) nuclear, and (c) oil and gas industries.

DSIT and DESNZ officials are currently agreeing the membership and Terms of Reference of the AI Energy Council and as part of this they are also discussing how to engage with the renewables, nuclear, and oil and gas industry.

If he make an assessment of the potential impact of the AI Opportunities Action Plan on trends in the level of electricity demand.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has contracted European Economic Research Limited to analyse the future net energy demand of AI and the National Electricity System Operator (NESO) is investigating the future power consumption of data centres. These assessments will help the Department evaluate the potential impact of AI-driven technologies on electricity demand trends.

If he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the AI Opportunities Action Plan on the Clean Power Action Plan.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has established the AI for Decarbonisation Virtual Centre of Excellence (ADViCE) to support the development and adoption of AI technologies for decarbonisation.[1] ADViCE has identified seven focus areas where the use of AI can contribute directly to the Clean Power Action Plan, including enabling net zero infrastructure, optimising new connections and maximising flexibility in energy networks.[1] https://www.turing.ac.uk/research/research-projects/advice

If he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the AI Opportunities Action Plan on trends in the level of carbon emissions.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has contracted European Economic Research Limited to analyse the future net energy demand of AI and the National Electricity System Operator (NESO) is investigating the future power consumption of data centres. These assessments will help the Department evaluate the potential impact of AI-driven technologies on energy consumption patterns and their contribution to carbon emissions trend.

With reference to the oral contribution of the Minister for Energy in response to the hon. Member for Gordon and Buchan during the Oral Statement of 13 January on Gas Storage Levels, Official Report, column 32, if he will publish details of the meetings the Minister for Energy has had with oil and gas companies in Aberdeen since July 2024.

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 organisations or individuals in attendance.

If she will direct her Department to share all submissions received for the call for input on single-sex spaces with the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

The Government has written to the EHRC to confirm that we will share all the submissions which met the criteria of the previous Government’s call for input on single-sex spaces guidance.

Pursuant to the Answer of 7 January 2025 to Question 21052 on Gender: Public Consultation, if she will publish the submissions to the call for input on single-sex spaces which were determined to have met the submission criteria.

The Government has written to the EHRC to confirm that we will share all the submissions with them which met the criteria of the previous Government’s call for input on single-sex spaces guidance in due course.

Pursuant to the Answer of 7 January 2025 to Question 21052 on Gender: Public Consultation, if she will publish the submissions to the call for input on single-sex spaces which were determined not to meet the criteria because they contained text which was irrelevant to the request.

The Government has written to the EHRC to confirm that we will share all the submissions with them which met the criteria of the previous Government’s call for input on single-sex spaces guidance in due course.

If she will publish all submissions to the call for input on single-sex spaces that were determined to have misinterpreted the Equality Act 2010.

The submissions to the previous Government’s call for input on single-sex spaces guidance which seem to have misinterpreted the Equality Act 2010 have been sent to the EHRC, as the relevant independent regulator, for further review.

When his Department plans to publish its response to the consultation entitled NHS Constitution: 10 year review, which closed in June 2024.

In May 2024, the Department consulted on a series of proposed updates to the NHS Constitution as part of the 10-year review. We appreciate the time and care spent by everyone who contributed to the consultation at the time. Following the General Election in 2024, the Department is considering next steps and will provide an update shortly.

With reference to the Response to call for input on single-sex spaces guidance, published on 17 December 2024, if she will publish (a) a list of reasons for submissions being rejected for not meeting the submi

The call for input on single-sex spaces guidance asked specifically for examples of policy or guidance ‘which states that people have a legal right to access single-sex spaces and services according to their self-identified gender’.A total of 3,272 respon...

With reference to the her Department's publication eneitled Response to call for input on single-sex spaces guidance, published 17 December 2024, how many submissions were received in total.

The call for input on single-sex spaces guidance asked specifically for examples of policy or guidance ‘which states that people have a legal right to access single-sex spaces and services according to their self-identified gender’.A total of 3,272 respon...