Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Great British Energy: Public Services and Renewable Energy

Tuesday 18 November 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 1 Partly answered 1 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Ministerial Questions focused on Great British Energy: Public Services and Renewable Energy.
  • Jeff Smith welcomed the announcement of solar panels at Ladybarn primary school and hospitals in his constituency.
  • Will Forster raised concerns about prohibitive costs for constituents wanting to replace gas boilers with renewable energy.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Jeff Smith Lab Manchester Withington
NHS Climate Energy
Context

Following up on the announcement of solar panels at public services, including schools and hospitals. The question highlights specific instances in Manchester Withington.

Question

I warmly welcome the announcement of solar panels at Ladybarn primary school in Withington—it is great news for an excellent school in my patch and good news for the planet. I have also seen good investment in solar panels on hospital buildings in my patch, and we clearly need to scale that up. How can having Great British Energy as a publicly owned company help us to do that?

Answer from The Minister for Energy (Michael Shanks)

Great British Energy is our idea for a publicly owned energy company—the first in 70 years—that will drive forward investment in the clean power transition and in supply chains, creating jobs across the country and bringing down bills for the public sector, as in these examples in the NHS and at military sites and schools, so that we can invest more in frontline services.

Answered
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Q2 Will Forster Lib Dem Woking
Climate Energy
Context

A constituent of the MP is considering replacing a gas boiler with renewable energy but is concerned about high costs. This raises broader concerns about the affordability and accessibility of such transitions.

Question

A constituent of mine wants to replace his gas boiler with renewable energy, which will cost him around £400. I am concerned by the prohibitive costs, which massively undermine our net zero ambitions. Can the Minister confirm what he and his Government are doing to remove those prohibitive costs?

Answer from The Minister for Energy (Michael Shanks)

We are working to reduce those costs. In fact, it has been announced just today that the boiler upgrade scheme will be made more accessible so that people can take advantage of renewable technologies. We want people to be able to bring down their own household bills. Of course, that also helps us as a country to move towards a clean energy system, which we know is what will bring down bills in the long run.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Specific reduction amounts or timelines were not provided.

How: Working To Reduce

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