Department for Energy Security and Net Zero provided the following answer to your written parliamentary question (184254):

Question:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he plans to take to use smart meters to reduce peak time electricity demands. (184254)
Tabled on: 10 May 2023

Answer:
Amanda Solloway:

Smart meters are making our energy system more efficient and flexible, helping us manage electricity demand at peak times. The half-hourly energy consumption information from smart meters is enabling innovative products and services for consumers such as ‘time of use’ tariffs, which offer cheaper rates when demand is low or when there is excess clean electricity available.

Smart meters have enabled National Grid ESO’s Demand Flexibility Service. This had positive results through savings to households in the form of reduced energy bills, and reduced energy usage during peak times which helped to balance the electricity network last winter. The ESO is currently undertaking a review to inform the future evolution of the Demand Flexibility Service.

The answer was submitted on 16 May 2023 at 15:46.

I have received the e-mail below in response to my comments regarding the closure of Barclays Bank in Wokingham later this summer. I would be interested in hearing the views of my constituents who will be affected by the closure.

Dear Sir John Redwood,

Thank you for your email regarding the closure of our Wokingham branch.

I want to reassure you that we know face-to-face banking continues to play an important role for some of our customers in Wokingham, and following the branch closure we are seeking to provide a continued presence in the community via a new alternative physical touchpoint, either at a local retail outlet or via a local community space. This is aimed at providing dedicated in person colleague support for customers with complex financial needs and non-transactional services, without the need for travel. We are progressing the local arrangements as we speak and we will of course let you and our customers know more details once finalised.

Turning to shared banking hubs, as a result of the new arrangements announced by Cash Access UK (formerly the Cash Action Group), LINK (the organisation that oversees the ATM network) undertakes an independent review of each community to be impacted by banking service closures to assess their cash needs. Following that review, LINK has the autonomy to commission new cash services, which could be an ATM, enhancements to local Post Office facilities or a Bank Hub, if an unmet need is identified. To confirm no additional access to cash facility needs have been identified following Barclays Wokingham branch closure and the removal of the ATM. As outlined below, the nearest free-to-use ATMs are located at Lloyds and HSBC, Market Place, Wokingham.

More broadly, we continue to work with Cash Access UK on shared solutions with our peers, as we continue to collaborate on innovative and sustainable solutions for customers to bank in different ways or lack confidence in a digital world. In addition, communities are able to request a review from LINK should they feel they have an unaddressed problem with access to cash https://www.link.co.uk/consumers/request-access-to-cash/access-to-cash-in-your-area/.

Finally, we would encourage any of our customers with concerns to talk to colleagues at the Barclays Wokingham branch, or if you are contacted and able to pass on their details, I will organise for one of my colleagues to reach out directly.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if I can help further and I am of course very happy to arrange a call with Liz Smith, Barclays Customer Care Director, to discuss this in more detail. If you have any questions in the meantime, please do not hesitate to contact me.

With kind regards,

Julia Husband

Please find below my interview with Times Radio where we discussed the need for tighter controls on immigration and a focus on economic growth.

You can find it between 2:10:06-2:16:47.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/radio/show/20230516-16757/2023-05-16

I  now have a letter following my question to the Minister. This confirms that taxpayers will put up £20bn, there will be a new tax added, and levies on customer bills. Will all our competitors do the same? The problem with this “investment” is it entails doing something no-one wants to pay for. It needs more taxes to deliver. It will help make the UK less competitive, speeding the transfer of jobs in energy intensive areas to other countries.

Dear John,
Thank you for your question in the House of Commons on 30 March, and for your written
questions tabled on 14 April, regarding the source of the recently announced £20 billion
in Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage (CCUS) funding.
In the Spring Budget the Chancellor announced £20 billion in funding to store carbon and
create jobs through Track-1 CCUS clusters and beyond. This is an unprecedented
investment in the early development of CCUS to help meet the Government’s climate
commitments.
The announced funding will come from levy and Exchequer sources. We expect it to
crowd-in billions of pounds of additional private capital, creating jobs and bringing
investment to our industrial heartlands.
The Government will use Exchequer funding to support industrial carbon capture business
models and the Carbon Capture and Storage Infrastructure Fund (CIF). A dispatchable power
agreement for power generation with CCUS will be funded through consumer levies. Support
for CCUS-enabled hydrogen projects will be funded by a new hydrogen levy on energy bills,
subject to consultation and legislation. As currently proposed, the Revenue Support
Agreement (RSA) for transport and storage will use both taxpayer and consumer funding.
Thank you again for your questions.

Please find below the link to my interview with Justin Webb of BBC Radio 4. We discussed the need for tighter control on immigration, given that the Centre for Policy Studies today announced that net migration for this year is expected to surpass 700,000.

You can find it between 1:36:07-1:41-21.

Today – 15/05/2023 – BBC Sounds