To ask the Minister for the Economy to detail the collaborative work carried out with other Departments, in particular the Department for Infrastructure and the Department for Communities, in developing the new energy strategy.

I recognise that the development and delivery of a new Energy Strategy requires a joined-up approach across the Executive. That is why my department has led a significant collaborative work programme across central government and also involving local government, arms-length bodies, the energy industry and other key stakeholders.

The structures put in place include a Government Stakeholders Group, which bring together all departments with a remit for energy policy; the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) and Department for Communities (DfC) are both members of this. Officials from DfI and DfC, along with other departments including the Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs and the Department for Infrastructure (DfI), are represented on working groups of relevance to their policy remits. In addition, DfI leads the Transport Working Group for the Energy Strategy.

The success of this collaborative approach is clearly evidenced through the Energy Strategy Policy Options Consultation published at the end of March, which covers the full breadth of energy policy issues across the Executive.