Privacy notice

Great British Energy (GBE) is a wholly publicly owned energy company. As such, we aim to be as transparent as possible about our governance and the information we hold. As a public authority, we are subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004. We are also bound by data protection law such as the UK General Data Protection Regulations 2016 and the Data Protection Act 2018.

This page explains how we comply with those obligations and how you can access certain information. 

Freedom of information

Publication scheme

FOIA requires us to publish and maintain a publication scheme. GBE has adopted the Information Commissioner’s Model Publication Scheme. This commits us to publishing the following types of information that we hold and explaining how that will be published and whether we charge for providing it. The Information Commissioner’s Office recognises that websites fulfil the purpose of a publication scheme.

The classes of information that we must publish are as follows: 

• who we are and what we do
• what we spend and how we spend it
• what our priorities are and how we are doing
• how we make decisions
• policies and procedures
• lists and registers
• the services we offer

The above information is available across our website including in our Strategic Plan. Our Annual Report and Accounts is one of the main sources of information that explains what we do, our priorities, expenditure, and performance, but we regularly publish information across our website about our initiatives and news.

Information is accessible and free of charge unless otherwise stated. 

Some of the information we are required to publish is summarised below. 

About us | Great British Energy

Our vision and mission | Great British Energy 

Freedom of Information / Environmental Information requests

We routinely publish information on our website about what we do, if you can’t find the information you are interested in, you can make a request for it using the following contact details:

foi.requests@energysecurity.gov.uk 

Data Protection

Data subject requests

If we process your personal data, you have a number of rights under data protection law. For more information about why both GBE and DESNZ process personal data in GBE, please see our privacy notices which include reference to the different data protection rights and explain who the relevant data controller and Data Protection Officer (DPO) are. If you wish to exercise your data protection rights, please contact the DPO listed in the relevant Privacy Notice. 

Privacy Notices

Great British Energy privacy notice  

Great British Energy (GBE) is the UK’s publicly owned energy company for a new era of national purpose. It was established by the Great British Energy Act 2025.  

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) will initially be responsible for the creation of GBE and is the data controller for personal data collected and processed in that set up context until GBE is fully operational.  Where GBE undertakes independent operational activities, separate Privacy Notices may be produced, specifying the relevant data controller and processing purpose(s).  

Regarding the establishment of GBE, DESNZ want to engage with stakeholders and organisations, receive feedback, correspondence, and expressions of interest, and keep stakeholders informed about GBE.  

This notice sets out how DESNZ will process your personal data received through correspondence and expressions of interest, and your information rights. It is made under Articles 13 and/or 14 of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR).    

Your data  

DESNZ may process the following personal data if you send it to us through correspondence or web form:    

• contact name    
• role / job title    
• email address    
• phone number  
• organisation name    
• organisation type    
• address  
• IP address  

DESNZ will also:  

• collect details of any concerns raised in your correspondence  
• process any other information you volunteer about yourself or your organisation  

Where you provide your consent, DESNZ uses Google Analytics 4 to collect the following information about how you use this website:    

• the pages you visit on gbe.gov.uk  
• how long you spend on each gbe.gov.uk page  
• how you got to the site  
• what you click on while you are visiting the site  

DESNZ do this to help make sure the site is meeting the needs of its users and to help us make improvements.    

DESNZ Cookies Notice  

See the Cookies notice for more information about the cookies used on this website.    

Purpose    

The purposes for which we are processing your personal data are:    

• To respond to letters, emails, or other communications from members of the public, Parliamentarians, and representatives of organisations.  
• To record, analyse and respond to expressions of interest in GBE.  
• To provide information about GBE and GBE schemes and initiatives to those who submit expressions of interest.  
• IP address is collected to detect and prevent fraudulent activity.  
• Information collected by Google Analytics 4 is used to make sure the site is meeting the needs of its users and to help make improvements.  

Legal basis of processing    

The legal basis for processing your personal data under Article 6 of the UK GDPR is:    

1(e) Public task: Processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the data controller.    

GBE’s mission is:  

Public Ownership of Energy with Purpose: accelerate clean energy and the industries that support it to ensure workers and communities reap the benefits of clean, secure, homegrown energy.  

As part of its activities, DESNZ will receive and may respond to correspondence and expressions of interest relating to GBE from the public and other stakeholders until GBE is fully operational. 

Recipients    

Your information may be shared with other public bodies, or the devolved administrations, where it is necessary to provide a full answer to you, or where it is necessary to transfer correspondence to the appropriate body for an answer.  

Your information may be shared with your MP or MSP, where they are writing on your behalf.  

Your personal data may be shared from DESNZ to GBE during the transition to GBE’s full operational independence.    

Your personal data may be shared by DESNZ with organisations DESNZ contract with, where that is necessary for the purposes explained above.      

As part of DESNZ IT infrastructure, your personal data will be stored in the UK on systems provided by DESNZ data processors - Microsoft and Amazon Web Services. This does not mean DESNZ actively share your personal data with these entities; rather, they are technical service providers who host infrastructure supporting DESNZ IT systems.  

Retention      

Personal information in correspondence or expressions of interest will be deleted 3 calendar years after the correspondence or case is closed or concluded, or 3 calendar years after the expression of interest was submitted.  

Public correspondence may however be kept if it is sufficiently significant that it should be retained for the historical record  in line with the Public Records Act 1958.  

International transfers    

Your personal data will be processed in the UK.    

Your rights    

You have the right to request information about how your personal data are processed, and to request a copy of that personal data.    

You have the right to request that any inaccuracies in your personal data are rectified without delay.    

You have the right to request that any incomplete personal data are completed, including by means of a supplementary statement.    

You have the right to request that your personal data are erased if there is no longer a justification for them to be processed.    

You have the right in certain circumstances (for example, where accuracy is contested) to request that the processing of your personal data is restricted.    

You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data where it is processed for direct marketing purposes.    

You have a right to object to the processing of your personal data.  

To exercise your rights please contact the DESNZ Data Protection Officer using the contact details below.    

Contact details   

You can contact the DESNZ Data Protection Officer at:    

DESNZ Data Protection Officer    
Department for Energy Security and Net Zero    
3-8 Whitehall Place    
London    
SW1A 2EG    

Email: dataprotection@energysecurity.gov.uk  

If you are unhappy with the way we have handled your personal data, please write to the DESNZ Data Protection Officer in the first instance using the contact details above.    

Complaints  

If you consider that your personal data has been misused or mishandled, you may make a complaint to the Information Commissioner, who is an UK independent regulator. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:    

Information Commissioner's Office   
Wycliffe House   
Water Lane   
Wilmslow   
Cheshire   
SK9 5AF  

Telephone: 0303 123 1113  

https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/  

Any complaint to the Information Commissioner is without prejudice to your right to seek redress through the courts.    

Updates to this notice  

If this privacy notice changes in any way, we will place an updated version on this page. Regularly reviewing this page ensures you are always aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances we will share it with other parties. The ‘last updated’ date at the bottom of this page will also change.  

If these changes affect how your personal data is processed, we will take reasonable steps to let you know.  

Last updated: 22 April 2026   

• Amended to reflect updated transition work 

Great British Energy operations  

Where GBE undertakes operational activities independent of DESNZ, separate Privacy Notices may be produced as listed here (detailing the relevant data controller and Data Protection Officer contact details:

Privacy Notice for GBE Local: Expressions of Interest; see here

Privacy Notice for GBE Supply Chain Fund: Offshore Wind and Networks Guidance; see here