Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Renewable Energy: Workers’ Rights

Tuesday 4 February 2025 · 2 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 2 Partly answered 0 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Chris Webb asked about the proposed Silicon Sands data centre campus in Blackpool, which will use renewable energy and innovative cooling techniques.
  • Sir Desmond Swayne questioned whether the Government can achieve renewable energy ambitions without involving Chinese slave labor.
  • The Minister responded by assuring that the Government maintains high standards and established a solar taskforce to address concerns.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Chris Webb Lab Blackpool South
Employment Energy Environment
Context

The MP is concerned about ensuring high-quality, well-paid jobs in the renewable energy sector and highlights a proposed data centre project called Silicon Sands that promises to be environmentally friendly while creating thousands of jobs.

Question

Data centres at Blackpool’s proposed high-performance data centre campus Silicon Sands will be powered by renewable energy and cooled by liquid immersion techniques, with the excess heat repurposed into neighbourhood buildings and homes. Silicon Sands could lead the way in an environmentally friendly approach to data centres, while creating thousands of well-paid jobs for my home town. Will the Minister meet me to discuss how the Department can support my vision to build a better Blackpool?

Answer from Sarah Jones (Minister of State, Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

I would of course be delighted to meet my hon. Friend to talk about this great project, Silicon Sands, which will bring jobs and be really innovative for his area. The wider point is really important—for too long, our coastal and industrial communities have not had the job opportunities they deserve. We are determined to change that.

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Q2 Desmond Swayne Con New Forest West
Climate
Context

The MP raises concerns about the use of solar panels made with materials sourced from regions associated with human rights abuses, and questions whether the government's ambitions for renewable energy can be achieved without reliance on such products.

Question

Can the Minister assure the House that her ambitions for renewable energy can be achieved without Chinese slave labour?

Answer from Sarah Jones (Minister of State, Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

Yes—of course, we ensure that the highest standards are kept in all these things. The Government’s position is to make sure that we are very careful about them. The right hon. Gentleman may be referring to solar, which is a particular issue that people have raised. We have a solar taskforce, which has been set up exactly to look at those points.

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