UK Gets New Sec of State for Energy Security and Net Zero

The UK government has revealed that King Charles III has approved several new ministerial appointments.

These include Claire Coutinho as the country’s Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero and Grant Shapps as the UK Secretary of State for Defense.

Coutinho was previously Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Education from October 26, 2022, to August 30, 2023, and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Work and Pensions from September 21 to October 27, 2022, the UK government site shows.

The Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero has overall responsibility for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, according to the UK government’s site, which highlights that Shapps previously held the role from February 7, 2023, to August 31, 2023.

Shapps was Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on October 25, 2022, Secretary of State for the Home Department from October 19, 2022, to October 25, 2022, Secretary of State for Transport between July 24, 2019, and September 6, 2022, and Minister of State at the Department for International Development from May 11, 2015, until November 28, 2015, the site shows.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero is responsible for delivering security of energy supply, ensuring properly functioning energy markets, encouraging greater energy efficiency, and seizing the opportunities of net zero to lead the world in new green industries, according to the department’s website.

The department is focused on the energy portfolio from the former Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, its site highlights.

In a statement posted on her Twitter page, Coutinho said, “I am delighted to have been appointed Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero”.

“I will work with the Prime Minister to safeguard our energy security, reduce bills for families, and build cleaner, cheaper, homegrown energy,” Coutinho added.

In a statement posted on his Twitter page, Shapps said, “I’m honored to be appointed as Defense Secretary by Rishi Sunak”.

“I’d like to pay tribute to the enormous contribution Ben Wallace has made to UK defense and global security over the last four years,” he added.

In a statement posted on industry body Offshore Energies UK’s (OEUK) website, OEUK CEO Dave Whitehouse said, “we welcome the appointment of Claire Coutinho MP as the new Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, a crucial role in a vital department particularly at this time where security of supply and delivering meaningful action on the transition are at the forefront of energy policy”.

“We look forward to working with the new Secretary of State and her team to build on the progress the sector has already made to deliver energy security from the North Sea, underpinned by the North Sea Transition Deal,” Whitehouse added in the statement.

“We also wish The Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP well in his new role as the Secretary of State for Defense – building on his work on energy resilience and security,” he went on to state.

On February 7, the UK government revealed that Sunak had created four new departments. These comprised the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, a Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, a Department for Business and Trade, and a Department for Culture, Media, and Sport, a statement posted on the government’s website at the time highlighted.

“A new Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has been tasked with securing our long-term energy supply, bringing down bills and halving inflation,” that statement noted.

“The move recognizes the significant impact rising prices have had on households across the country as a result of Putin’s illegal war in Ukraine, and the need to secure more energy from domestic nuclear and renewable sources as we seize the opportunities of net zero,” it added.

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