This statement is an update to statement “Network Charging Compensation Scheme Uplift” [HCWS869].

Following the four-week consultation that ran between July and August, the Business and Trade Secretary announced on 31 October that the Government will increase the discount on electricity network charges for businesses in sectors like steel, cement, glass, paper and chemicals from 60% to 90%. This will save approximately 500 of the UK’s most energy-intensive businesses—which employ around 400,000 people in total across the UK—up to £420 million per year on their electricity bills from next April.

This uplift to the network charging compensation scheme—the supercharger—delivers one of the crucial commitments in the modern industrial strategy and forms part of the Government’s decisive action to slash industrial energy costs.

Some of these businesses currently pay the highest industrial electricity prices in the G7, making it harder to stay competitive on the international stage, which is why the Government have taken action to deliver this relief and level the playing field for industry.

The supercharger will be funded through reforms to the energy system and at no additional cost to taxpayers. The Government are reducing costs within the system to free up funding without raising household bills or taxes.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has published a consultation seeking views on the proposal to amend the inflation indexation of the renewables obligation from the retail price index to the consumer price index. The proposals in the RO indexation consultation, if implemented, could contribute to bearing down on costs across the energy system.

The increased discount will also slash costs for a range of businesses across Scotland and Wales to help them support local jobs and deliver growth, including Tata Steel at Port Talbot and Ineos in Grangemouth, ensuring the benefits are felt right across the country.

[HCWS1014]

I am pleased to launch the UK city of culture 2029 competition as well as our plans for the town of culture.

Delivered across the UK and in collaboration with the devolved Governments, the UK city of culture competition has become a model for cultural place making. The UK city of culture programme helps to drive the Government’s plan for change by creating opportunities for everyone across the UK to experience great culture that they feel a connection to in their local place, boosting civic pride and community cohesion, and helping to kick-start economic growth through cultural investment. It complements other UK Government place-based initiatives, notably the pride in place strategy, which sets out a plan to create safer, healthier neighbourhoods where communities can thrive. The pride in place programme represents one of the largest investments in deprived neighbourhoods for a generation—up to £5 billion over 10 years to support up to 250 places.

The impacts of UK city of culture for places and people are clear. Bradford, the 2025 titleholder, is delivering real impact across communities, including engaging with over 1 million people in the first six months of its programme. We know that the UK city of culture programme overall—not including Bradford 2025—has stimulated additional investment of over £1 billion, and that more than 70% of attendees to UK city of culture events feel a greater sense of pride.

I am committed to the future of this programme, and places across the UK are now invited to submit expressions of interest to become the next UK city of culture and to deliver a year of transformational cultural programming in 2029. The multi-phase competition will run over the next year, and we aim to announce the winner towards the end of 2026.

In acknowledgement of the programme’s impact, we have announced £10 million prize money for the winning place. This is in addition to £125,000 funding for each of the shortlisted runners up so that they can take forward some elements of their bid, and £60,000 in bid development funds for each of the longlisted places to support them in preparing their full bids. This funding package will help bidding places get the most benefit out of engaging with the competition.

The competition criteria has been refreshed to focus even more on creating transformational opportunities and richer lives for people and communities, delivering local impact where it is most needed and empowering communities to shape their bid.

The UK city of culture competition is open to large towns, cities, regions and groupings of places that have a clear focus and cohesive identity, and that feel that they can achieve the ambitions of the competition. I hope that as many places as possible from across the UK will consider bidding.

Alongside this, I am delighted to launch our plans for the UK town of culture competition in recognition of the fact that all parts of the UK have made a significant contribution to our cultural life and continue to do so, helping to shape and define our national story. This new competition will see multiple towns competing to win the title and the winning town delivering a cultural programme in 2028. We expect UK town of culture to deliver similar impacts as UK city of culture, with the competition helping to remind us of the unique, proud and outstanding contribution made by communities across the UK, shining a spotlight on multiple towns and enabling them to tell their unique story.

Applications for this competition will open shortly and run as a multi-phase process. After an initial expression of interest phase, a shortlist of towns will be selected to develop full bids and we will provide £60,000 in bid development funds for each of these shortlisted towns. A winner will then be selected at the beginning of 2027, and I am pleased to announce that we will provide £3.5 million in prize money to support the winning town to deliver its cultural programme.

I look forward to celebrating the cultural contribution made by our diverse towns and cities.

[HCWS1012]

This statement is to inform Members of the publication of a consultation relating to the capacity market titled “Consultation on proposal regarding locational changes of Capacity Market Units”.

The consultation supports our objectives of delivering clean power by 2030 and accelerating progress towards net zero, while ensuring security of supply.

Since its introduction in 2014, the CM has secured reliable capacity for when there is greater demand for electricity in Great Britain. This capacity is acquired through competitive annual auctions held four years and one year ahead of their respective delivery years. The Government regularly amend the framework underpinning the capacity market before auction cycles to ensure that it is fit for purpose and cost-effective, and that it meets broader strategic objectives such as clean power by 2030.

The consultation we are publishing today includes a proposal intended to maintain electricity security and the scheme’s integrity, and to strengthen delivery assurance.

We are seeking views on a change to the CM that would achieve the following aim:

Removing the rule that allows for notification of a change of address in the capacity market to prevent new-build CMUs from changing address between pre-qualification and delivery.

Remove the ability for CMUs to change their address after pre-qualification.

The consultation proposes the removal of the change of address provisions from the capacity market rules on the basis that they are no longer considered necessary. This is because it is expected that applicants will have certainty regarding project location prior to submitting a capacity market application and should be confident in their ability to deliver at the specified site.

[HCWS1013]