Energy Bill [HL]

Consideration of Commons amendments
Tuesday 12th September 2023 Lords Chamber

Commons Amendments

Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland Legislative Consent sought.

15:38

Motion on Amendment 1

Moved by

[Lord Callanan]

That the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment 1.

1: Clause 1, page 3, line 2, at end insert—
“(aa) the interim targets, as defined in section 2 of that Act;”

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (Lord Callanan) (Con)]

My Lords, with the leave of the House, as well as moving that this House do agree with the Commons in their amendment, I will also speak to the other Commons amendments. I am pleased to bring the Energy Bill back to this House, following on from the many hours of debate that we had during its parliamentary stages in this place. The Bill is essential to the transformation of our energy system and will leverage private investment in clean technologies. It will reform our energy system so that it is fit for the future, and it contains essential provisions for ensuring the safety, security and resilience of the UK’s energy system.

The Government have listened carefully to the points raised, both in this House and in the other place, and we tabled various amendments in the other place to address many of these issues. The amendments have been gathered into three groups. First, there are the amendments making changes to the Bill in response to concerns raised across the House and where we have overturned lost votes. Secondly, there are amendments where we have introduced new government policy. Thirdly, there are amendments addressing minor and technical amendments made to the Bill. I wrote to noble Lords about this in advance of the debate, and I am grateful for the positive engagement that I have received from across the House.

I will speak first to the amendments in the first group, tabled following constructive engagement with both Houses. First, on the amendment on Ofgem’s duties, no doubt the noble Baroness, Lady Hayman, will be pleased about this—and I am grateful to her for her amendments on Report that sought to include the Government’s net-zero targets within Ofgem’s duties. The Government have now tabled a revised version of the noble Baroness’s amendment to ensure that it would not impact the hierarchy and intended effect of Ofgem’s duties, but very much in the spirit of the original amendment. The revised provision amends Ofgem’s existing duty to consider a reduction in greenhouse gases by making specific reference to the net-zero targets and carbon budgets in the Climate Change Act 2008. This reaffirms the Government’s commitment and mandate in achieving our net-zero targets and ensures that Ofgem’s role in net zero is clear.

I turn to the amendments to the hydrogen levy provisions. The Government have included these provisions following consideration of the concerns raised by colleagues in both Houses, particularly the Labour Front Bench. Following careful analysis of the implications, these amendments are similar in intent to an amendment made on Report in this House, but they help to ensure that the provisions work in a way that is practical. Specifically, they remove provisions that enable the levy to be imposed on energy suppliers in Great Britain, ensuring that within Great Britain the levy could be placed only on gas shippers. In the case of Northern Ireland, the amendments are intended to ensure that only gas supply licence holders who engage in gas shipping activities can be subject to the levy. This reflects the different approach to the licensing of gas shipping across Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The revised legislation provides a fairer approach to funding hydrogen, placing the charge higher up the supply chain, with the potential for costs to be spread to sectors expected to benefit most from early hydrogen deployment.

Finally, I remind the House that the Bill will not impose a levy on gas shippers. Instead, it will enable government to introduce such a levy through secondary legislation. Any decision to do so would take into account all relevant considerations, including the affordability of energy bills. The Government will hold a public consultation as usual, before laying regulations introducing the levy.

I turn to amendments on renewable liquid heating fuel. As the recent biomass strategy made clear, such fuels will have a critical role to play in decarbonising our economy. We recognise that these fuels have the potential to play an important role in decarbonising heat in those off-grid properties that are not suited to electric heating. I thank the noble Lord, Lord Berkeley, for his amendment and comments on Report on this issue. I am pleased to confirm that we will explore the potential of these fuels for heat by issuing a consultation within 12 months, and we are taking powers in the Bill to support the use of these fuels in heat in future. This amendment would provide government with the powers to introduce, again by regulation, measures that would impose obligations on heating fuel suppliers to supply specified amounts of renewable liquid heating fuel within specified periods. The Government also commit to consult specifically with the Scottish Government when consulting on the role of renewable liquid fuels in heating buildings off the gas grid and the implementation of a renewable liquid heating fuel obligation. The Government will look to legislate when parliamentary time allows to give statutory force to this consultation requirement.

Amendments 165 and 165A on sustainable aviation fuel commit the Government to publishing a consultation on the options for designing and implementing a revenue certainty scheme for sustainable aviation fuel within six months of the Bill being passed. The Government are also introducing a sustainable aviation fuel mandate from 2025 that will do the heavy lifting to close the cost gap between jet kerosene and sustainable aviation fuel by providing price support in the form of tradable certificates. These policies, along with the £165 million advanced fuels fund, will help to deliver our ambition of having at least five commercial-scale sustainable aviation fuel plants under construction in the UK by 2025.

I turn to community energy. The Government recognise that such projects can have real benefits for the communities in which they are based, and we are keen to ensure that they deliver value for money for consumers. That is why earlier this summer we launched a new £10 million community energy fund, which expands on the success of the previous rural community energy fund to enable both rural and urban communities across England to access grant funding to develop local renewable energy projects for investment. Alongside the proposed fund, we are committing to publishing an annual report and to consulting on the barriers the sector faces when developing projects.

15:45

I turn to the amendment that would remove Clause 270 on the prohibition of coal mines, inserted into the Bill by this House. I know the House feels strongly about this matter, but we have considered this clause in detail. We agree that unabated coal has no role in our future power generation mix. The share of electricity generated by coal has already declined sharply, from almost 40% in 2012 to around 2% in 2021, and we do not expect any electricity to be generated from coal after 2024. Although coal will soon cease to be part of our electricity system, there may continue to be domestic demand for it, in industries such as steel and cement and for things such as heritage railways, which can be met domestically. Prohibiting all coal extraction would deny access to domestic coal reserves for these few legacy industries. We do not believe that now is the right time to take such a step.

I turn now to the amendment that would remove Clause 204, which would place a duty on the Government to publish a plan for delivering specific targets on low-carbon heat and energy-efficient homes and non-domestic properties, and higher standards on new homes. We have carefully considered this clause but do not believe it would help to deliver our commitments to improve the energy performance of buildings. Several action plans that relate to this topic have already been produced, such as the Heat and Buildings Strategy, the net zero strategy and the net zero growth plan. Another plan would simply duplicate many of these previous efforts. The important thing now is to concentrate on delivery. Therefore, we do not believe that this clause is necessary.

I turn to the amendments related to devolution. I am pleased to update the House that the Government have reached an agreement with the Scottish Government to amend the Bill to secure their support for a legislative consent Motion in the Scottish Parliament. This comprehensive set of amendments strengthens the Bill’s consultation provisions and requires the Secretary of State to seek the consent of devolved Ministers before exercising certain powers under Clauses 2, 3 and 293. However, the Government are disappointed that the Welsh Government are currently not supporting a legislative consent Motion for the Bill in the Senedd, which is considering the Bill today. The Government have extended the amendments agreed with the Scottish Government to apply in Wales and Northern Ireland, where appropriate and in good faith. This demonstrates our commitment to continue to work closely with all devolved Governments. I beg to move.

[Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (GP)]

My Lords, I will speak to Amendment 165A in my name and briefly comment on Amendment 272A in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Teverson, and Amendment 274A in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Boycott, both of which have the strongest possible Green support.

It is 2023 and we are in a climate emergency. We cannot consider new coal. I am afraid the Minister’s brandishing of heritage railways does not hack it; it is a tiny usage, much as I have no objection to heritage railways. For steel and cement, other nations are moving very quickly away from using coal while we are stuck in the starting gate. On the community energy amendment from the noble Baroness, Lady Boycott, I had the great pleasure formally to move it on Report and we saw hugely strong support not just in your Lordships’ House but all around the country. Tomorrow we will debate the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill. This is a way to allow communities to take control of their energy supplies and provide the framework to set free huge opportunities up and down the land. It is a no-brainer and I urge your Lordships’ House to vote for both amendments.

Moving chiefly to my Amendment 165A, it is worth revisiting the history of the Bill. Those with a very long memory might think back to 19 July 2022, when it had its Second Reading in your Lordships’ House. That was three Prime Ministers back and I really cannot count how many energy policies we have had from the Government since then. We might be in traditional ping-pong now, but the Government’s positions on so many of the issues in the Energy Bill have bounced back and forward so fast within the Government that it is enough to make any observer dizzy.

One of the last-minute additions was this clause on so-called sustainable aviation fuel. If noble Lords look back to the other place, they will see that the level of debate that occurred around this very significant amendment was really very scant. That is why I have tabled this amendment now, to provide a real opportunity for your Lordships’ House to at least explore the issues and bring out some of the Government’s thinking. I hope we will also hear significant explanations from the other Front Benches on what their thinking is on so-called sustainable aviation fuel. It is often linked with and spoken about as though it is in the same stable as renewable energy, but the fact is, of course, that almost no flights now are powered by sustainable fuel because of supply and cost. Sustainable fuel can be three times as expensive and even for United, the largest consumer of sustainable fuels in the US, last year it comprised less than 1% of its total fuel consumption.

The fact is that so-called sustainable aviation fuels are not a “get out of the limits of this finite planet free card” for the aviation sector. The idea that aviation can keep expanding, or that it should—I shall be coming back to this tomorrow in an amendment to the levelling-up Bill—is, I would say, for the birds: although of course the birds cannot afford the inevitable environmental damage that burning stuff, whatever the stuff is, inflicts.

I can go through some statistics on this. Bain & Company in June published a report assessing the most likely pathways to net zero by 2050 for the aviation sector. The headline was that it can eliminate 70% of emissions from aircraft operations without using electric or hydrogen at scale. Just 5% of emissions reductions come from hydrogen and electric planes in the Bain & Company scenario; the rest is engine efficiency, aircraft efficiency, optimising routes and scaling up so-called sustainable aviation fuels. A 70% reduction is significant, but the Science Based Targets initiative net-zero standard requires a 90% reduction in CO₂ across all scopes by 2050 at the very latest. This report suggests that so-called sustainable aviation fuel can meet a maximum of 60% of global jet fuel demand in 2050 in the best-case scenario.

I think it is worth reflecting very briefly, looking to debates in the other place, that we saw both Labour and Tory MPs going further than this amendment does and calling for government subsidies for the sector. We have to set this in the context of the fact that tax exemptions last year saw the Treasury lose £4.7 billion from the aviation sector: that is calculated by Transport & Environment. That could pay for—gosh—more than 40 new hospitals: does that sound familiar? Or it could cover the cost 10 times over of additional medical staff. It is the equivalent of 1% of the income taxes collected by the Government last year. That is the context.

To come to the detail, my amendment simply addresses subsection (6). It seeks to bring in some systems thinking: an approach that does not look simply at the climate emergency because, as huge and pressing as that is, we are actually in a state where we have exceeded so many other planetary boundaries and we face so many other crises and threats that it is absolutely critical that the Government think in a systemic kind of way. If your Lordships want to think about where things went horribly wrong when we did not do that, Dieselgate is the obvious example. That was a case of corruption and fraud, but behind it was the problem of looking simply at the carbon emissions from diesel and not considering all the other environmental effects.

The current government amendment says that the Secretary of State should look at the contribution to the reduction in greenhouse gases. My amendment keeps that but adds the impact on the food system. Your Lordships’ House often debates the fact that food security is a huge and pressing issue of our age, and if we take land out of use for growing food and turn it to growing stock for aviation fuels, we are creating a potentially huge problem for ourselves.

Proposed new subsection (6)(c) says,

“not negatively impact human, animal or plant health”.

That perhaps comes back to the diesel reference, if we think particularly about human health. Burning stuff produces pollutants—that is just practical reality. However, we must also think about plant health. We often talk about using agricultural waste for these sustainable aviation fuels. That agricultural waste could be going back into the soil to contribute to soil and plant health, bringing us to a situation where we are not depleting our soils and then topping them up with artificial fertilisers, particularly nitrogen produced by the incredibly energy-intensive Haber-Bosch process. This is a systems-thinking, joined-up approach.

Finally, my amendment says,

“not negatively impact the availability of feedstocks for other industrial processes”.

The Minister referred to steel and cement, but all kinds of different, innovative steps are being taken to use all kinds of different materials to replace current fossil fuel production. We need to think about where what we call waste could best go.

I am aware of the desire to move this debate on, so I will not speak much longer, but I have just two final reflections. First, we hear a great deal of talk about waste cooking oil in terms of so-called sustainable fuels. Well, I am afraid that your local chippy is not going to take your private jet flight very far at all—let us be realistic about that. Secondly, my mother’s favourite movie was “The Sound of Music”, in which there is a song that goes:

“Nothing comes from nothing,


Nothing ever could”.

All energy use—all fuel—has environmental and social costs associated with its production and use. We have to think in that systemic, holistic way when we think about how we fuel our sustainable future.

[Baroness Blake of Leeds (Lab)]

My Lords, I will speak to Amendment 187A in my name. The purpose of moving this amendment is straightforward: we have an opportunity to put in place an enforceable plan of action that will deliver the often-mentioned aspirations to deliver energy-efficient homes and properties. I was sure that the Minister would repeat the line that this is unnecessary—and so he did. But I am afraid that the facts tell a different story. The new clause would enable a plan to be in place, working to clear targets to reduce gas supply in homes by 25% and a 10-year programme to retrofit 19 million homes, costed at £6 billion, with local authority and a community base to deliver.

The facts are these. Since 2010, progress to reduce emissions has stalled. The UK is still heavily reliant on fossil fuels for home heating and industry, and has the least energy-efficient housing stock in Europe, according to the IMF. Limited progress on energy-efficiency measures has been made worse by poor public information campaigns and the lack of a long-term plan with clear targets, clear technical explanations and little evidence of a financial and structural plan to go alongside. I do not wish to repeat all the comments that have been made throughout the debates on this Bill. However, we have to acknowledge a lack of grip, of urgency, and of serious explanation of the benefits of determined action.

In terms of tackling emissions and meeting legally binding decarbonisation targets, reducing the need for heat must be a top priority. Benefits include: a reduction in the cost of heating homes—therefore, a very positive help to those suffering from the cost of living crisis; a huge benefit to the health of the population by achieving affordable warmth, potentially saving the NHS £500 million a year; and a major contribution to energy security by reducing our dependence on fossil fuels.

These come on top of the potential of delivering economic benefits, providing skilled jobs and high-wage opportunities. Retrofitting poorly performing homes alone could support 190,000 jobs across all regions. Given the strength of opinion on energy efficiency in so many analyses of progress, I am minded to test the opinion of the House.

16:00

[Lord Teverson (LD)]

My Lords, first, I congratulate the Minister—he knows that I like to praise his work—particularly on the change in the Ofgem amendment, in that our major regulator will now have a net-zero objective. To me, that is absolutely stark staringly obvious, and the fact that there has been government resistance to it while the Bill has been in this House I find strange, so that is a real move forward. The other thing that is to me stark staringly stupid is that we are talking about opening a coal mine in 2023. That makes no sense at all, and I will go through the reasons why.

It is not just we on these Benches or the Opposition who have that view. Let me quote from the Commons at Report. The then Energy Minister, Chris Skidmore—highly respected in this area and highly respected by the Government, in that he wrote their independent net zero review—said:

“Legislating to prevent the opening of new coal mines simply maintains the commitment that the UK sought to make to the rest of the world at COP26”—[Official Report, Commons, 5/9/23; col. 303.]


That was Chris Skidmore, former Energy Minister, valued by the Government for his net zero review, and by all of us for that great piece of work.

At COP 26 in Glasgow a couple of years ago, which we chaired very successfully under Sir Alok Sharma, we nailed our colours to the mast and led a coalition of countries—I think the government press release says 190—and celebrated the fact that we would phase out coal. What motivates me most to put Amendment 272A forward again is that our international reputation is being shredded by the fact that we are moving ahead on this basis. Let us not pretend that it is not noticed internationally, because it is. Even the White House, under John Kerry, the climate envoy, has remarked on this piece of government policy planning and Michael Gove’s proposal to open the coal mine. So, our international reputation for climate leadership, which all of us on all sides of this House have been particularly proud of over the years, is being literally trashed by this decision.

That has other effects as well. During a Private Notice Question yesterday, we debated the fact that we had no investor take for offshore wind on the CfD pitch when it concluded last week. That shows that we need rock-solid commitment to net zero in order to attract investment into this country. To me, our saying internationally that we are starting to open coal mines absolutely goes against what we are saying to bring in investment. It questions UK government policy, which is competing with the Inflation Reduction Act in the United States and a green deal industrial plan in the EU. We are trying to get a slice of that global investment, yet our environmental and climate focus is wobbling. That is absolutely wrong.

This amendment would apply to any sort of coal mine, but the Minister mentioned the Cumbrian coal mine, which is what that decision is all about. Let us be clear about that proposition and the company West Cumbria Mining. As the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett, has said already, that industry is moving—indeed, must move—competitively towards a much greener stance; for the UK steel industry to remain competitive, it must do so as well. As I understand it, scientists have questions about West Cumbrian coal, including whether its sulphur content is even sufficient for the steel industry. However, the main facts are these: first, the steel industry generally is not that interested in that coal; and, secondly, the company itself says that some four-fifths of the coal will not be used by the UK steel industry, which means that it needs to be exported. Once coal is exported, we have no control over how that substance is used.

That brings me to transport. The argument is that it is better to provide our own coking coal than to import it. However, if we export 80% of this coal, that will put transport costs up because we will have the cost of transporting it to other, international markets.

The one argument that I do have sympathy with concerns jobs. We all know that the region of Cumbria is hugely challenged in terms of levelling up, jobs and income. However, it is completely obvious to me that, as the noble Baroness, Lady Blake, just talked about with regard to Labour’s amendment, we have the ability to provide green jobs and proper energy efficiency. It is clear to me that this coal mine will not be there for a particularly long time, so those jobs will be transient.

I will leave it at that but let me come back to the United Kingdom’s international reputation and our important share in global investment in the green sector. I quote the Government’s own website, which said this after COP 26:

“The end of coal—the single biggest contributor to climate change—is in sight thanks to the UK securing a 190-strong coalition of countries and organisations at COP26”.


That was a proud moment for not just Alok Sharma but the Government. It is being trashed.

[Baroness Boycott (CB)]

My Lords, I rise to speak to Amendment 274B in my name. I draw attention to my interests in the register.

I will speak briefly about community energy but let me just say that I absolutely support the amendments in the names of the noble Baroness, Lady Blake, and the noble Lord, Lord Teverson. I also very much support the noble Lord’s words, especially about what this measure is going to do to Britain’s reputation, and his reminding us of where this country was just a couple of short years ago as the leaders of COP, playing a proud role on the world stage; that seems to be in tatters right now.

Community energy is wildly popular in the country—it is extremely popular with all sorts of people. I find it puzzling why the Government are not bending over backwards to make this easier and simpler for people. I do not want to get into the arguments about onshore wind, but surely one way to mitigate communities’ concerns about renewable energy is to give people a stake in it so that it is about not just a bit of money but owning something. My sister has lived on a small island in Denmark for 60 years. The people there are completely energy independent. It was the first place I knew of that had wind farms everywhere. Everyone knows how much electricity is coming in and what it is doing. They have ownership and share prices—that is just the way it has been done, and it is kind of brilliant. Why can we not say, “The local energy we produce off that hill heats my towel rail all year round”? They can report, “I co-own it”, “It has paid to put solar panels on the roof of the community hall”, or “It has paid for energy efficiency advice and deals for the other homes in our village”.

In fairness to the Government, they have acknowledged this, but we seem to have spent an incredible amount of time hand-wringing about the difficulties rather than finding the easy, appropriate ways of supporting it. All that the sector wants is a deal comparable with all the other renewable energy that we have in this country, via a guaranteed minimum price. This gives communities the certainty that they need to raise the funds to go ahead. This is true across so much of the alternative energy sector.

I supported the establishment of the £10 million community energy fund but, quite honestly, that is not very much. If you look in the Evening Standard, you find that you can buy a flat for £10 million within about 100 yards of here. It is not going to go far enough. We need real reform, so the commitment made by Andrew Bowie in the other place

“to consulting on the barriers the sector faces when developing projects”—[Official Report, Commons, 5/9/23; col. 281.]

was particularly welcome.

That is why I have come up with this compromise amendment, which I hope that the Minister feels able to accept. It would give the industry a boost to know that there was something coming down the tracks on an agreed timeframe. A problem that we have seen before is consultations which do not receive a response—or do but with serious delays. That is all that I am trying to avoid with this amendment in lieu, which sets a generous timescale of 18 months for a consultation and a further six months for bringing forward proposals to remove the barriers to community energy schemes. This times nicely with the end of the two-year community energy fund and would avoid a potential cliff edge.

I believe that the Minister will appreciate the need for clarity for the sector and the need to reassure over 300 MPs, including 147 Conservative MPs, who backed the original Local Electricity Bill, which recognised the barriers to community energy and proposed remedies. I therefore ask him to give this house more clarity on timescales, or I may be required to test the opinion of the House.

[Baroness Meacher (CB)]

My Lords, I rise extremely briefly to support very strongly the amendments of the noble Baroness, Lady Blake, the noble Lord, Lord Teverson, and my noble friend Lady Boycott. Regarding the amendment tabled by my noble friend Lady Boycott, it is crazy that we have barriers inhibiting the development of renewable energy by community energy schemes. This amendment is a very modest proposal to ensure that those barriers are removed within a reasonable timeframe. I hope that all sides of the House can support these three amendments, but I have particularly spoken to that tabled by the noble friend Lady Boycott.

[Baroness Hayman (CB)]

My Lords, I declare my interests as set out in the register and record my gratitude to the Minister for the Ofgem amendment. In much more elegant language, the noble Lord, Lord Teverson, said that it was a no-brainer. It absolutely is, and Amendment 187A is equally a no-brainer. However, before I say why, I add my support to those amendments tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Teverson, and the noble Baroness, Lady Boycott. Particularly in the latter we have a compromise which would really boost a sector of the energy industry that is of great benefit.

In terms of benefits, no one—including the Government —fundamentally challenges the benefits of improving the energy efficiency of Britain’s old, cold, leaky housing stock. They recognise the benefits for individuals and families in terms of health and reduced bills, but it goes beyond that. There are benefits for the UK because improving energy efficiency reduces demand, helps towards our net-zero target and improves our energy security. It is also potentially of benefit to the taxpayer in reducing the huge expense that the Government take on board when energy prices spike. We have seen how much the Government have spent on heating homes and that money going out of the window because of the state of the housing stock. There are also benefits in stimulating the retrofitting industry, which is a national industry. It goes across all parts of the country and helps with the training and then the providing of secure and sustainable jobs.

We have debated this—I will not say ad nauseam, but certainly at length—not only on this Bill but on the Social Housing (Regulation) Bill and the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill, because of the issues that I was talking about, such as employment and the fact that the poorest people suffer most from the worst homes, in terms of energy efficiency and their health.

16:15

As the Minister said, the Government accept the fundamental argument and indeed put money into various schemes, so the issue is whether they need to do more to make sure that we see change. Experience in this area says that they absolutely need to bring together what needs to be done to have a substantive effect. That has not happened in the past.

We have a history of stop-go policies that have been extremely damaging. We were talking about new housing and building standards; how many houses have we built in the last eight years that are totally inadequate because we reduced the building standards that were set for energy efficiency? We have seen stop-go on that and the warm home scheme start, fail and reduce public and industry confidence. We have seen piecemeal policies, inadequate implementation and a lack of a strategic approach on bringing the policies together, on action and on making the change that we need.

I do not think that this amendment duplicates what the Government have already done; it actually focuses them on an area where we need to do better than we have in the past. If the noble Baroness, Lady Blake, chooses to test the opinion of the House, I will certainly support her.

[Lord Lucas (Con)]

My Lords, I very much support the amendment from the noble Baroness, Lady Boycott, as I did in Committee. The reduction that she has achieved in her ambitions sits very well with what the Government have said are their ambitions. I would like to see my noble friend supporting this and saying that it is an opportunity. Giving us a tight, but not too tight, timescale to make this happen is a good way to demonstrate that.

[Lord Lennie (Lab)]

My Lords, I will make a few comments. First, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Boycott, the noble Lord, Lord Teverson, and my noble friend Lady Blake for their amendments and will make our position on them clear. Secondly, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Callanan, for the welcome changes that he made to the Bill in the other place on the housing levy and on renewable liquid fuels.

We generally welcome the passage of the Bill. It has been a long time in gestation—15 months or more—with hundreds of changes and more today. We welcome all those too, although they probably could have been made earlier.

I turn to the three amendments. First, on coal, the new new Labour Party is no longer in favour of coal. We absolutely support what the noble Lord, Lord Teverson, said about the coal industry, and it is time to put this in legislation. It is not enough to say that we are no longer committed to coal; we need to legislate for it and so we will be supporting this amendment.

On my noble friend Lady Blake’s amendment on energy efficiency, I will restate the facts. First, the UK has the least energy-efficient homes in Europe. Domestic energy-efficiency measures have fallen 95% since 2012 and are 20 times lower than they were when Labour was last in power. The Resolution Foundation estimates that 9 million households are paying an extra £170 a year as a result of these failings.

The Minister said that the amendment is unnecessary, because it is partly in the net zero strategy and the Powering Up Britain publication, but this is legislation, and it should state what the Government propose to achieve and by what timescale. Therefore, we support the amendment.

On community energy, the noble Baroness, Lady Boycott, set out very clearly her proposal to commit the Government to finding out what the barriers inhibiting the development of community energy are, and to bring forward a plan to overcome them. That is a very modest amendment from where we were the last time around, and I can see no reason whatever for the Government not to support it. We will support those three amendments should the Members wish to test the opinion of the House.

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

My Lords, I thank all noble Lords who have contributed to the debate. I will start on the last issue raised by the noble Baronesses, Lady Boycott and Lady Meacher, and others: that of community energy.

The Government launched the £10 million fund this summer, and it is larger than its predecessors. From what I have seen so far, it has been welcomed across the community energy sector. It will fund projects such as Congleton Hydro, which received £73,500 in funding from the former rural community energy fund—this fund will do a similar job. Thanks to that funding, it is producing affordable, clean and secure electricity from a local weir, enough to power the equivalent of 60 homes. Not only is the project reducing emissions in the area but its success has led to the creation of an annual £5,000 fund for local community projects.

Amendments 274A and 274B aim to commit us to a consultation on the barriers preventing the development of community energy schemes. The amendments set out with whom we should consult, and commit government to bringing forward proposals to remove identified barriers to community energy. But as I referred to earlier, the Government have already committed to consult on the barriers that the sector faces when developing projects. As part of this process, we will of course involve the community energy sector in designing the consultation, through the Community Energy Contact Group. We continue to believe that it is more appropriate to allow the small-scale export market to develop with minimum intervention than to introduce a support scheme that specifies minimum prices or contract lengths for generators.

I know that the House is keen on supporting community energy, and we are the same, but it has to be done in a cost-effective manner, because the cost is borne by every other bill payer. It might be advantageous to certain islands or rural community villages, but if there is a cost in excess of the system, it is borne by every other bill payer in the country. The amendments would place an additional obligation on government to bring forward proposals to remove these barriers within a specified timeframe.

In Committee in the other place, Energy UK submitted evidence recognising the role of community energy but cautioning:

“The additional context of developing roles for future energy system operation, reform of competition in delivery of network infrastructure, and wider reforms of electricity markets including energy retail”


mean that the consideration of community energy needs to take into account this much wider context, rather than considering community energy “in isolation”, and that we need

“to give the Government, the regulator, and the industry time to fully consider”

all those issues. We must be careful not to disadvantage the majority of the population to benefit a very small minority.

We obviously cannot be sure what the consultation will conclude until we have carried it out, so in our view it is not appropriate to make a commitment to do something the outcome of which, and what barriers or proposals will come forward, we do not know at this stage. But I reassure the House that the Government will continue to work closely with the sector and the wider industry on the best way forward.

I now move on to the somewhat contentious issue of coal. Amendment 272A, on prohibiting coal extraction, was raised by a number of noble Lords, including the noble Lords, Lord Teverson and Lord Lennie, and of course the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett. I was particularly interested to hear the comments of the noble Lord, Lord Lennie, because of course we both come from the north-east of England, and there are still sitting Labour MPs in the north-east, whom the noble Lord, Lord Lennie, knows well, campaigning in favour of opening new coal mines. It is interesting that the Labour position seems to be developing from that.

A full prohibition on coal extraction is likely to prevent extensions in existing operational mining—even where that extension could enable site restoration or deliver public safety benefits. It would cut across heritage mining rights in, for instance, the Forest of Dean, which is important to its tourism offer, and perhaps also in Beamish, another area that we know well. Importantly, it would prevent domestic coal extraction projects from progressing that seek to supply industries that are still reliant on coal, such as steel manufacturing. Again, the Labour Party loses no opportunity to lecture us on the importance of the steel industry. That industry is going through a transformation, but many parts of it still require access to coal, so I hope the Labour Party has cleared its position with the steel unions, which I suspect would not support an amendment such as this—I will leave that little domestic argument to different Labour members.

The phasing out of future coal-powered generation, which we do agree with, is a more proportionate response to moving away from coal use than a complete prohibition on coal extraction. Such a ban would deny the prospect of access to domestic coal reserves for future generations, regardless of the circumstances, regardless of the use it could be put to and regardless of the fact that it could perhaps play a role with CCUS in the future.

The Secretary of State for DLUHC’s decision on the mine followed a comprehensive planning inquiry that heard from over 40 different witnesses and considered matters including the demand for coking coal and its suitability. It went into all the issues that the noble Lord, Lord Teverson, recommended, the climate change impact and, crucially, the impact on that particular local economy. While the full reasons for the Secretary of State’s decision are set out in his published letter—which should perhaps be read in its entirety—he concluded that

“there is currently a UK and European market for the coal … it is highly likely that a global demand would remain”.

While coking coal may be required for steel production for quite some time—I assume the Labour Party is not proposing that we should close the steel industry down overnight; if so, that would be a fairly radical policy change from all that it has said before—to support the decarbonisation of that industry through its transition period, as well as other industries that still rely on coking coal, we have already put in place the £315 million industrial energy transformation fund. We think that is a better way to help industry move away from coal in the future, rather than just banning their fuel source, because you would be banning British coal—you would not be banning coal; you would just import those same supplies produced by miners in other parts of the world. This helps business, in our view, with their high energy use, to cut their energy bills and reduce their carbon emissions through investing in energy efficiency and low-carbon technologies—that is a more constructive way to proceed.

On sustainable aviation fuel, again the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett, got excited and condemned us for something that we are not doing. Sustainable aviation fuel is the most developed technology pathway for aviation decarbonisation and will play a key role along with the other technologies as outlined in the jet zero strategy. Many experts view sustainable aviation fuel as the only alternative to kerosene for long-haul flights up until 2050. If the noble Baroness does not want that, she should have the courage of her convictions and say to people that what the Greens really want to do is to ban flying completely, to prevent people going on business or on their holidays. If that is her agenda, she should say so, rather than try to put amendments forward to prevent us developing those sustainable fuels that we could use in the future to decarbonise the sector.

We recognise that there is uncertainty around feedstock availability and we will continue to work closely with colleagues across government to ensure that the most up-to-date evidence and modelling are reflected throughout the policy design of the SAF mandate and the revenue certainty mechanism. We have already confirmed that the sustainable aviation fuel mandate will not support crop-based biofuels and that SAF must meet strict sustainability criteria. These measures will prevent negative environmental consequences, such as the loss of biodiversity, deforestation and the clearance of land with high-carbon stock that could be associated with the cultivation of raw materials that may be used in certain SAF production.

On energy efficiency and energy statements, of course I understand noble Lords’ desire to go further. I am passionately committed to the cause of energy efficiency, but I do not recognise some of the characterisation put forward in this House. We are making good progress in this country. In 2010, some 14% of UK homes were at EPC band C or above. Now it almost 50%. We have a particularly difficult problem because we have the oldest housing stock in Europe, but we are making progress on this matter. We could go further and faster, and we are endeavouring to do so, but we do have a good record in this country. I want to put that on the record before I talk about the specific issues.

16:30

As I referred to in my earlier remarks, the Government have already stated their ambitions, covering the points in the amendment in the heating and building strategy, our net zero strategy and the net zero growth plan. We have already consulted on improving standards in the private rented sector and we continue to refine the policy design to ensure that the burden of energy-efficiency improvements is fair and proportionate for both landlords and tenants. This is not an easy area to legislate in, because we want to make sure that there is still a decent supply of rental properties in many parts of the country—already we are seeing landlords withdraw from the market. So it is an important policy to get right.

In the 2020 Energy White Paper, the Government committed that the trajectory for minimum energy-efficiency standards for non-domestic rented buildings should be EPC band B by 2030, where that is cost effective. The Government will publish a full technical consultation for the future homes standard later this year and we intend to introduce the necessary legislation in 2024, ahead of full implementation in 2025. Furthermore, the Government already consult with the Climate Change Committee and we will respond to its progress report later this year. I thank the noble Baroness for raising these matters but, for the reasons I have set out, the Government cannot support her amendment.

Motion on Amendment 1 agreed.

Motion on Amendment 2

Moved by

[Lord Callanan]

That the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment 2.

2: Clause 2, page 4, line 14, after “repeals” insert “or revocations”

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

My Lords, with the leave of the House, I will speak also to the other amendments in this group. The Government introduced amendments on Report in the Commons to commence further provisions of the Bill on Royal Assent. These amendments will ensure that key secondary legislation can progress at the pace required for the department’s policy objectives to be met.

The remaining government amendments are technical and minor in nature. They relate to existing policies already in the Bill. I wrote to noble Lords about these amendments, setting out what they do and our intentions behind them. Therefore, the House will forgive me if I do not speak to every amendment in detail; I will instead recap the key amendments we sought to make in the other place.

In general, the amendments have been made to improve the clarity, precision and consistency of the Bill. In Part 1, we have amended the definition of a carbon capture entity to include direct air capture projects, with the intention of supporting such projects that bolster our greenhouse gas removals efforts, as set out in the net zero strategy.

In Part 2, we have tabled amendments to the definitions of hydrogen production revenue support contract and carbon capture revenue support contract so that, while contracts can be offered only to eligible low-carbon hydrogen producers and eligible carbon capture entities, after the point of contract signature it is for the contracts to set the parameters of the ongoing support that they provide. This will help ensure that projects and their investors are clear on the terms of their support. That should inspire confidence in this new regime.

We have amended Part 5, on the independent system operator and planner, to limit the breadth of its efficiency and economy objective and clarify the definitions of ISOP functions in the Bill. These changes leave the ISOP with a mission that is more clearly defined but also flexible enough to accommodate wider developments in energy regulation. They should also help to reduce the risk of the ISOP being distracted from its core purposes and potentially incurring unnecessary costs to customers.

Part 12 on the offshore wind environmental improvement package has been amended to make clear that the clauses apply to all infrastructure in the UK marine area used or intended for use in connection with an offshore wind farm and in connection with the conveyance of electricity generated by such wind farms. Further amendments have been made on the energy performance of premises, petroleum production licensing, the disposal of radioactive waste and compensation for nuclear damage, as well as other minor drafting and clarificatory amendments. I hope noble Lords will agree that they are necessary amendments that improve the Bill. I beg to move.

Motion on Amendment 2 agreed.

Motion on Amendments 3 to 16

[Lord Callanan]

Moved by

That the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendments 3 to 16.

3: Clause 2, page 4, line 19, at end insert—
“(7A) But regulations made by virtue of subsection (7)(a) may not make provision amending (or repealing or revoking) any provision of—
(a) an Act of the Scottish Parliament, or an instrument made under such an Act, unless the Scottish Ministers have consented to the making of that provision;
(b) a Measure or Act of Senedd Cymru, or an instrument made under such a Measure or Act, unless the Welsh Ministers have consented to the making of that provision;
(c) Northern Ireland legislation, or an instrument made under Northern Ireland legislation, unless the Department for the Economy in Northern Ireland has consented to the making of that provision.”

4: Clause 6, page 7, line 39, at end insert “, and
(b) consider any representations which are duly made and not withdrawn.”

5: Clause 8, page 9, line 10, after “repeals” insert “or revocations”

6: Clause 8, page 9, line 14, at end insert—
“(2A) Before making regulations under this section containing provision within devolved competence, the Secretary of State must give notice to each relevant devolved authority—
(a) stating that the Secretary of State proposes to make regulations under this section, and
(b) specifying the period (of not less than 28 days from the date on which the notice is given) within which representations may be made with respect to the provision within the relevant devolved competence, and must consider any representations duly made and not withdrawn.
(2B) For the purposes of this section “relevant devolved authority” means—
(a) the Scottish Ministers, if the regulations contain provision within Scottish devolved competence;
(b) the Welsh Ministers, if the regulations contain provision within Welsh devolved competence;
(c) the Department for the Economy in Northern Ireland, if the regulations contain provision within Northern Ireland devolved competence;
and “the relevant devolved competence”, in relation to a relevant devolved authority, is to be construed accordingly.
(2C) For the purposes of this section, provision—
(a) is within Scottish devolved competence if it would be within the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament if it were contained in an Act of that Parliament;
(b) is within Welsh devolved competence if it would be within the legislative competence of Senedd Cymru if it were contained in an Act of the Senedd (ignoring any requirement for the consent of a Minister of the Crown imposed under Schedule 7B to the Government of Wales Act 2006);
(c) is within Northern Ireland devolved competence if it—
(i) would be within the legislative competence of the Northern Ireland Assembly if it were contained in an Act of that Assembly, and
(ii) would not, if it were contained in a Bill in the Northern Ireland Assembly, result in the Bill requiring the consent of the Secretary of State under section 8 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998;
and references to provision being within devolved competence are to provision that is within Scottish, Welsh or Northern Ireland devolved competence.”

7: Clause 9, page 9, line 32, at end insert “and
(b) specify a period of not less than 28 days within which representations or objections with respect to the proposed regulations may be made,
and the Secretary of State must consider any representations or objections which are duly made and not withdrawn.”

8: Clause 9, page 10, line 5, at end insert “, and
(b) sending a copy of the notice to—
(i) the Scottish Ministers, if an activity that would be authorised by the proposed licence is within Scottish devolved competence;
(ii) the Welsh Ministers, if an activity that would be authorised by the licence is within Welsh devolved competence;
(iii) the Department for the Economy in Northern Ireland, if an activity that would be authorised by the licence is within Northern Ireland devolved competence.
(5A) Section 17(4) (activities authorised by a licence: devolved competence) applies for the purposes of subsection (5)(b) of this section as it applies for the purposes of section 17.”

9: Clause 9, page 10, line 15, leave out subsection (10) and insert—
“(10) For the purposes of this section “appropriate devolved authority”, in relation to regulations, means—
(a) the Scottish Ministers, if the regulations contain provision within Scottish devolved competence;
(b) the Welsh Ministers, if the regulations contain provision within Welsh devolved competence;
(c) the Department for the Economy in Northern Ireland, if the regulations contain provision within Northern Ireland devolved competence.
(10A) For the purposes of this section, provision—
(a) is within Scottish devolved competence if it would be within the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament if it were contained in an Act of that Parliament;
(b) is within Welsh devolved competence if it would be within the legislative competence of Senedd Cymru if it were contained in an Act of the Senedd (ignoring any requirement for the consent of a Minister of the Crown imposed under Schedule 7B to the Government of Wales Act 2006);
(c) is within Northern Ireland devolved competence if it—
(i) would be within the legislative competence of the Northern Ireland Assembly if it were contained in an Act of that Assembly, and
(ii) would not, if it were contained in a Bill in the Northern Ireland Assembly, result in the Bill requiring the consent of the Secretary of State under section 8 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998.”

10: Clause 10, page 11, line 12, leave out “consult” and insert “give notice to”

11: Clause 10, page 11, line 12, at end insert—
“(a) stating that the Secretary of State proposes to make regulations under this section, and
(b) specifying the period (of not less than 28 days from the date on which the notice is given) within which representations must be made with respect to the proposed provisions,
and must consider any representations duly made and not withdrawn.”

12: Clause 13, page 15, line 40, at end insert “and
(iii) the appropriate devolved authorities (if any).”

13: Clause 13, page 16, line 31, at end insert—
“(12) For the purposes of this section the “appropriate devolved authorities” are—
(a) the Welsh Ministers, if provision making the modifications proposed in the notice under subsection (2) would be within the legislative competence of Senedd Cymru if it were contained in an Act of the Senedd (ignoring any requirement for the consent of a Minister of the Crown imposed under Schedule 7B to the Government of Wales Act 2006);
(b) the Scottish Ministers, if provision making the modifications proposed in that notice would be within the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament if it were contained in an Act of that Parliament;
(c) the Department for the Economy in Northern Ireland, if provision making the modifications proposed in that notice—
(i) would be within the legislative competence of the Northern Ireland Assembly if it were contained in an Act of that Assembly, and
(ii) would not, if it were contained in a Bill in the Northern Ireland Assembly, result in the Bill requiring the consent of the Secretary of State under section 8 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998.”

14: Clause 19, page 20, line 28, leave out quotegraph (b) and insert— “(b) send a copy of the notice to—
the Scottish Ministers, if an activity authorised by the licence is within Scottish devolved competence,
the Welsh Ministers, if an activity authorised by the licence is within Welsh devolved competence,
the Department for the Economy in Northern Ireland, if an activity authorised by the licence is within Northern Ireland devolved competence,
(iv) the Oil and Gas Authority, and
(v) such other persons as the economic regulator considers are likely to be affected by the decision, and”

15: Clause 19, page 20, line 31, at end insert—
“(1A) Section 17(4) (activities authorised by a licence: devolved competence) applies for the purposes of subsection (1)(b) of this section as it applies for the purposes of section 17.”

16: Clause 39, page 35, line 4, at end insert—
“(5A) The economic regulator must send a copy of any notice given by it under subsection (4) to—
(a) the Welsh Ministers,
(b) the Scottish Ministers, and
(c) the Department for the Economy in Northern Ireland.”

Motion on Amendments 3 to 16 agreed.

Motion on Amendment 17

Moved by

[Lord Callanan]

That the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment 17.

17: Clause 56, page 50, line 15, at end insert—““carbon dioxide transport and storage counterparty” has the meaning given by section 59(3);
“carbon dioxide transport and storage revenue support contract” has the meaning given by section 59(2);”

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

My Lords, with the leave of the House I will speak also to the other amendments in this group, which concern new policy that was introduced in the other place. I turn first to the amendments on hydrogen transport and storage infrastructure. These amendments will enable business models to be brought forward to provide investors with the long-term revenue certainty that they will need to establish and scale up the deployment of hydrogen transport and storage infrastructure. I am sure this will be of interest to the noble Lord, Lord Whitty, and the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett, who spoke about this earlier in the Bill’s passage.

The development of this infrastructure represents the critical next step in the growth of the hydrogen economy to support the Government’s ambition to have up to 10 gigawatts of low-carbon hydrogen production capacity by 2030. The business models are intended to help overcome the key barriers to investment in this infrastructure, such as high capital costs, lengthy development lead times and uncertain financial investment returns in what is a very nascent market.

Next, on carbon capture storage information and samples, the amendments support the role of the North Sea Transition Authority—NSTA—as the regulator of carbon dioxide storage in the UK continental shelf. They achieve this by ensuring that it has the relevant powers to access and share information and samples collected through relevant carbon-storage activities. This reflects similar powers already held by the NSTA for the petroleum industry and will enhance knowledge sharing across the carbon capture, usage and storage industry. It will support innovation for the effective utilisation of the UK’s geological storage potential and help encourage private investment in the UK’s growing green economy.

The Government have also tabled amendments relating to Great British Nuclear. These amendments will enable GBN to support government in rebuilding our civil nuclear industry and facilitating the delivery of nuclear projects to achieve our net-zero ambitions. GBN will play a critical role in strengthening the UK’s energy security. By legislating for GBN, we are working to undo decades of underinvestment and inspire trust in the UK civil nuclear industry, restoring the global leadership that the UK used to have in civil nuclear power.

I move on to discuss the amendments to provide relief on network charging for energy-intensive industries. High industrial electricity prices are one of the key barriers that inhibit the most carbon-intensive sectors from adopting greener technology. The measures deliver on a fundamental element of the British industry supercharger set out in February. These amendments will give the Government the powers to deliver a scheme that will provide relief on electricity network charges for Britain’s strategic energy-intensive industries. It will bring electricity prices for these UK businesses in line with some of their global competitors, thereby helping to preserve thousands of jobs and investment and enabling greater electrification of industrial processes, removing one of the major barriers to decarbonisation. I beg to move.

[Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (GP)]

My Lords, I rise to speak to Amendments 259A to 271A inclusive; your Lordships will be pleased to know that I do not intend to speak to each one individually. For technical reasons these had to be split up but, essentially, this is a chance for your Lordships’ House to reconsider again the whole Great British Nuclear introduction that the Minister just outlined.

This debate follows on in many ways from that secured for last Thursday by the noble Lord, Lord Howell of Guildford, about nuclear power. I will not revisit all the many issues raised there, although I note that the noble Lord, Lord Howell, expressed rightful and strong scepticism about the progress of both Hinkley Point C and Sizewell C, on cost and other factors. There is also the continuing cost of the clean-up of dinosaur technology from the last century of £260 billion, and issues of waste that we have still not tackled.

I said that I will not go through these amendments one by one, but I do want to speak to Amendment 262A, which disagrees with the financial assistance. In our discussion yesterday on the failure of the offshore wind contract for difference bidding process, the Minister said my suggestion that we should look at a higher strike price for offshore wind was not thinking about the bill payer. I do not know how many Members of your Lordships’ House have looked closely at the detail of government Amendment 262, but it is utterly an open slather:

“The Secretary of State may provide financial assistance … to facilitate the design, construction, commissioning and operation of nuclear energy generation”.


Proposed new subsection (2) says that this assistance

“may be provided … by way of grant, loan, guarantee or indemnity … the acquisition of shares … the acquisition of … assets … a contract, or … by incurring expenditure for the benefit of the person assisted”.

Proposed new subsection (3) says that the assistance may be considered “without interest”—it goes on and on. I will not go through the whole lot, but basically this allows the Secretary of State the open slather to do whatever they like to fund nuclear—and one thing we know about nuclear energy generation is that it costs, and the cost just keeps going up.

I am afraid there is currently a great deal of speculation. Many people accept that, essentially, Hinkley Point C and Sizewell C are ongoing disasters. We have this wonderful new idea of small-scale nuclear plants scattered all over the countryside, as a noble Lord suggested in last Thursday’s debate. Really, my Lords, how realistic is this? We are talking about something that simply does not scale down.

I am aware of the desire of your Lordships’ House to move on to votes, but I want to quote one person who perhaps has a different perspective from mine. Markus Krebber, the chief executive of RWE, suggests that investors should not and will not back nuclear plants. This comes back to the issue of finance. If there will not be private money coming in, we are talking about massive sums of government money. He told the Australian Financial Review:

“I would have a big question mark whether building new ones is really a good strategy, because if you look at the cost overruns and the delays, I think purely a renewables-based energy system including the necessary storage is probably in most of the regions already today cheaper than new nuclear”.


I think that is unarguable.

I will briefly address the issue of Sizewell C. We are talking as Japanese fishermen around the Fukushima nuclear plant suffer massive economic loss as a result of the dumping of wastewater into the sea there. In Suffolk we will see the local economy facing massive loss if Sizewell C goes ahead. Studies by the Suffolk Coast destination management organisation show that visitors would stay away, losing the tourism industry up to £40 million a year and an estimated 400 jobs.

If we look at the environmental impacts of the proposed Sizewell C, we can see that it is opposed by both the RSPB and the Suffolk Wildlife Trust. The site is surrounded by protected wildlife habitats. When it comes to water, the Planning Inspectorate was unable to recommend that Sizewell C be granted planning consent due to the lack of an identified long-term supply of potable water. There is a huge problem with access to the site. It will require a 60-metre cut-off wall so that it can be dewatered and existing soil can be swapped out for more suitable material and huge, as yet undesigned, sea defences. Looking at the state of our climate now, we are seeing significant runaway with very serious potential risks in the impact on our sea levels. I note that Cefas said that

“it is generally only possible to predict detailed changes to the coastline over the next 10 years”.

I have focused a little on Sizewell C and the deep uncertainties and concern because of the point about money. Under the government amendment, we are letting a Government go ahead and do whatever they like and spend whatever they like on a project that is so deeply problematic.

16:45

[Lord Kerr of Kinlochard (CB)]

The Minister waxed lyrical about the scheme to provide subsidies for energy-intensive industries. We were deeply moved by his enthusiasm. He was silent on the clause that follows. He was talking about Clause 177, but Clause 178 sets out how the subsidies are to be paid for—by levies on all electricity users. I do not want this moment to pass without making the old-fashioned comment that I think it is best that subsidies are paid for out of taxation, rather than by levies.

Subsidies are a political decision by the Government; they are absolutely entitled to make those political decisions. But all electricity users are, at the moment, suffering from the political decision to instruct Ofgem to prioritise competition, which has led to the collapse of more than 30 supply companies. The costs of these collapses are being borne by us all in the levies on our electricity bills. You can debate whether it is honest or dishonest for political decisions to be paid for in a concealed fashion of this kind, but what is certain is that it is regressive. I am therefore slightly less enthusiastic about the combination of Amendments 177 and 178 than the Minister was about Amendment 177.

[Lord Lennie (Lab)]

All I would like to say is that, in response to the comments by the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett, we are interested in keeping the lights on and we are interested in nuclear being part of the mix of fuels that will keep the electricity going, particularly now that coal will no longer be part of the electricity production in this country.

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

I thank all noble Lords for their contributions. I will first deal directly with the points by the noble Lord, Lord Kerr. What should I say about this? He is, of course, prescient in his observations, but this has been a long-standing policy—effectively of the Treasury, which is unwilling to fund many of these policies from general taxation. Therefore, a lot of previous subsidies, such as the warm home discount, are levied on energy bills. That has been a long-standing policy through a number of Governments and different Treasuries. I wish the noble Lord luck in his campaign to change the mind of His Majesty’s Treasury on these matters.

Moving on to the other issues, let me deal first with the points made by the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett. The problem for the Greens on this is that any sensible energy system in the UK—this is recognised also by the Opposition and we are grateful for their support—needs nuclear power, because it is a source of carbon-free electricity. Of course, many Greens, the more progressive Greens who have looked at our energy system properly, also support the use of nuclear power. I would point the noble Baroness to a very interesting website that I was looking at, called Greens for Nuclear Energy. This is a statement from a series of members of the Green Party who take a sensible and progressive view about this. Looking at the needs of the energy supply system and the need for decarbonisation, they have come to the same conclusion as many other sensible experts: that there is a need for nuclear power in this country.

The website says:

“Greens For Nuclear Energy seek to influence the Green movement’s key organisations and institutions”


in favour of nuclear energy because

“We need every available low carbon power source to combat catastrophic climate change”.


They therefore believe that

“the increasingly urgent need to deal decisively with our emerging climate crisis makes continued opposition to nuclear energy irrational for environmentalists and reduces our chances of averting a climate catastrophe.”

Perhaps the noble Baroness would want to go away and look at some of the more sensible members of her own party.

The invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent rise in global energy prices have demonstrated the paramount importance of accelerating our homegrown power and strengthening our national energy security. This is in addition to the significant contribution, as I have just said, that nuclear would make to achieving our net-zero objectives because it is very low carbon. Nuclear technology generates zero direct carbon or other greenhouse gas emissions and has one of the lowest life cycle emission rates among generating technologies. The Committee on Climate Change, the International Energy Agency and the UN Economic Commission for Europe—alongside some sensible Green members—have all highlighted the role that new nuclear electricity generating capacity, in partnership with renewables, can play as part of our diverse energy mix while helping us to achieve net zero.

Great British Nuclear will de-risk new nuclear developments by, among other things, co-funding selected technologies through their development. This will provide greater certainty for investors to develop projects over the long term required to deliver new nuclear generation capacity on to the electricity grid. We intend to fund Great British Nuclear’s initial operating costs via grant in aid. It will be subject to standard NDPB reporting and accountability requirements, which will be set out in Great British Nuclear’s framework document.

The terms of investment in development projects will be bespoke and negotiated on an individual basis. The key goal will be to deliver on the Government’s commitment to increase nuclear energy capacity in Britain, while of course ensuring, as always, value for money for the taxpayer and the bill payer. We are legislating to ensure that Great British Nuclear has the long-term operational mandate needed to carry out the role that government intend for it. The amendments set out the framework within which Great British Nuclear shall operate in facilitating the deployment of nuclear reactors in Britain.

I spoke earlier about the comments of the noble Lord, Lord Kerr. The EII support levy, like the other measures in the British Industry Supercharger, would simply constitute a rebalancing of existing electricity costs away from EIIs and on to other energy users, who have traditionally received more protection from higher energy prices than some in industry.

At the end of these debates, I am grateful to all noble Lords who have contributed. In particular, I thank my colleague in the other place, Andrew Bowie, for guiding the Bill through the House of Commons. I also thank the department’s Bill team and all the other policy and legal officials across various government departments who have been involved in this huge and landmark piece of legislation. They who have worked tirelessly to deliver it. I particularly thank the House authorities, parliamentary staff, clerks and doorkeepers, and all noble Lords who have contributed to the evolution of this landmark Bill.

Amendment 17 agreed.

The Deputy Speaker (Lord Geddes) (Con): We now come to the largest single group I have come across in 23 years.

Motion on Amendments 18 to 164

Moved by Lord Callanan

That the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendments 17 to 164.

18: Clause 56, page 50, leave out lines 16 to 19

19: Clause 56, page 50, line 21, leave out “63(3)” and insert “64(4)”

20: Clause 56, page 50, line 21, at end insert—

““eligible hydrogen storage provider” is to be interpreted in accordance with section (Direction to offer to contract with eligible hydrogen storage provider)(4);

“eligible hydrogen transport provider” is to be interpreted in accordance with section (Direction to offer to contract with eligible hydrogen transport provider)(4)”

21: Clause 56, page 50, line 23, for “61(3)” substitute “62(4)”

22: Clause 56, page 50, line 24, at beginning insert “GB”

23: Clause 56, page 50, leave out lines 26 to 29

24: Clause 56, page 50, line 36, at end insert—

““hydrogen storage counterparty” has the meaning given by section (Designation of hydrogen storage counterparty)(3);

“hydrogen storage provider” has the meaning given by section (Designation of hydrogen storage counterparty)(7);

“hydrogen storage revenue support contract” has the meaning given by section (Designation of hydrogen storage counterparty)(2);

“hydrogen transport counterparty” has the meaning given by section (Designation of hydrogen transport counterparty)(3);

“hydrogen transport provider” has the meaning given by section (Designation of hydrogen transport counterparty)(7);

“hydrogen transport revenue support contract” has the meaning given by section (Designation of hydrogen transport counterparty)(2);”

25: Clause 56, page 50, line 37, at end insert—

““Northern Ireland gas shipper” means a person who holds a licence under Article 8(1)(c) of the Gas (Northern Ireland) Order 1996 (S.I. 1996/275 (N.I. 2)) and who in the opinion of the Secretary of State carries on an activity which is similar to an activity that (in Great Britain) may be authorised by a licence under section 7A(2) of the Gas Act 1986;”

26: Clause 56, page 51, leave out lines 3 to 6

27: Clause 57, page 51, line 16, after “a” insert “carbon dioxide”

28: Clause 57, page 51, line 16, at end insert—

“(aa) a hydrogen transport revenue support contract (see section (Designation of hydrogen transport counterparty)(2)),

(ab) a hydrogen storage revenue support contract (see section (Designation of hydrogen storage counterparty)(2)),”

29: 29 Clause 57, page 52, line 5, after “60(3),” insert “(Direction to offer to contract with eligible hydrogen transport provider)(2) or (4), (Direction to offer to contract with eligible hydrogen storage provider)(2) or (4),”

30: Clause 57, page 52, line 5, leave out “61(3)”

31: Clause 57, page 52, line 6, after “62(2)” insert “or (4)”

32: Clause 57, page 52, line 6, leave out “63(3)”

33: Clause 57, page 52, line 6, after “64(2)” insert “or (4)”

34: Clause 58, page 53, line 2, after “a” insert “carbon dioxide”

35: Clause 58, page 53, line 3, after “counterparty,” insert “hydrogen transport counterparty, hydrogen storage counterparty,”

36: Clause 58, page 53, line 4, after “any” insert “carbon dioxide”

37: Clause 58, page 53, line 5, after “contract” insert “hydrogen transport revenue support contract, hydrogen storage revenue support contract, ”

Clause 58, page 53, line 5, after “contract,” insert “hydrogen transport revenue support contract, hydrogen storage revenue support contract,”

38: Clause 58, page 53, line 8, after “a” insert “carbon dioxide”

39: Clause 58, page 53, line 8, at end insert—

“(aa) a hydrogen transport counterparty (see section (Designation of hydrogen transport counterparty)(3));

(ab) a hydrogen storage counterparty (see section (Designation of hydrogen strorage counterparty)(3));”

40: Clause 59, page 53, line 14, after “for” insert “carbon dioxide”

41: Clause 59, page 53, line 15, leave out ““transport” and insert ““carbon dioxide transport”

42: Clause 59, page 53, line 17, after “a” insert “carbon dioxide”

43: Clause 59, page 53, line 19, after “a” insert “carbon dioxide”

44: Clause 59, page 53, line 22, leave out ““transport” and insert ““carbon dioxide transport”

45: Clause 59, page 53, line 28, after “a” insert “carbon dioxide”

46: Clause 59, page 53, line 30, after “a” insert “carbon dioxide”

47: Clause 59, page 53, line 32, after “a” insert “carbon dioxide”

48: Clause 59, page 53, line 36, after “any” insert “carbon dioxide”

49: Clause 59, page 53, line 38, after first “a” insert “carbon dioxide”

50: Clause 60, page 54, line 3, after “a” insert “carbon dioxide”

51: After Clause 60, insert the following Clause—

“Designation of hydrogen transport counterparty

The Secretary of State may by notice given to a person designate the person to be a counterparty for hydrogen transport revenue support contracts.

(2) A “hydrogen transport revenue support contract” is a contract to which a hydrogen transport counterparty is a party and which was entered into by a hydrogen transport counterparty in pursuance of a direction given to it under section (Direction to offer to contract with eligible hydrogen transport provider)(1).

(3) A person designated under subsection (1) is referred to in this Chapter as a “hydrogen transport counterparty”.

(4) A designation may be made only with the consent of the person designated (except where that person is the Secretary of State).

(5) The Secretary of State may exercise the power of designation so that more than one designation has effect under subsection (1), but only if the Secretary of State considers it necessary for the purposes of ensuring that—

(a) liabilities under a hydrogen transport revenue support contract are met,

(b) arrangements entered into for purposes connected to a hydrogen transport revenue support contract continue to operate, or

(c) directions given to a hydrogen transport counterparty continue to have effect.

(6) As soon as reasonably practicable after a designation ceases to have effect, the Secretary of State must make one or more transfer schemes under section 82 to ensure the transfer of all rights and liabilities under any hydrogen transport revenue support contract to which the person who has ceased to be a hydrogen transport counterparty was a party.

(7) In this Chapter “hydrogen transport provider” means a person who carries on (or is to carry on) in the United Kingdom activities of transporting hydrogen.

(8) In subsection (7) the reference to carrying on activities in the United Kingdom includes carrying on activities in, above or below—

(a) the territorial sea adjacent to the United Kingdom;

(b) waters in a Renewable Energy Zone (within the meaning of Chapter 2 of Part 2 of the Energy Act 2004);

(c) waters in a Gas Importation and Storage Zone (within the meaning given by section 1 of the Energy Act 2008).

(9) In subsection (7) “transporting hydrogen” includes transporting a compound, of which hydrogen is an element, which revenue support regulations specify as a qualifying compound for the purposes of this section.”

52: Insert the following Clause—

“Direction to offer to contract with eligible hydrogen transport provider

(1) The Secretary of State may, in accordance with any provision made by revenue support regulations, direct a hydrogen transport counterparty to offer to contract with an eligible hydrogen transport provider specified in the direction, on terms specified in the direction.

(2) Revenue support regulations may make further provision about a direction under this section and in particular about—

(a) the circumstances in which a direction may or must be given;

(b) the terms that may or must be specified in a direction.

(3) Provision falling within subsection (2) may include provision for calculations or determinations to be made under the regulations, including by such persons, in accordance with such procedure and by reference to such matters and to the opinion of such persons, as may be specified in the regulations.

(4) Revenue support regulations must make provision for determining the meaning of “eligible” in relation to a hydrogen transport provider.

(5) Regulations within subsection (4) may in particular make provision by reference to standards or other published documents (as they have effect from time to time).”

53: Insert the following Clause—

“Designation of hydrogen storage counterparty

(1) The Secretary of State may by notice given to a person designate the person to be a counterparty for hydrogen storage revenue support contracts.

(2) A “hydrogen storage revenue support contract” is a contract to which a hydrogen storage counterparty is a party and which was entered into by a hydrogen storage counterparty in pursuance of a direction given to it under section (Direction to offer to contract with eligible hydrogen storage provider)(1).

(3) A person designated under subsection (1) is referred to in this Chapter as a “hydrogen storage counterparty”.

(4) A designation may be made only with the consent of the person designated (except where that person is the Secretary of State).

(5) The Secretary of State may exercise the power of designation so that more than one designation has effect under subsection (1), but only if the Secretary of State considers it necessary for the purposes of ensuring that—

(a) liabilities under a hydrogen storage revenue support contract are met,

(b) arrangements entered into for purposes connected to a hydrogen storage revenue support contract continue to operate, or

(c) directions given to a hydrogen storage counterparty continue to have effect.

(6) As soon as reasonably practicable after a designation ceases to have effect, the Secretary of State must make one or more transfer schemes under section 82 to ensure the transfer of all rights and liabilities under any hydrogen storage revenue support contract to which the person who has ceased to be a hydrogen storage counterparty was a party.

(7) In this Chapter “hydrogen storage provider” means a person who carries on (or is to carry on) in the United Kingdom activities of storing hydrogen.

(8) In subsection (7) the reference to carrying on activities in the United Kingdom includes carrying on activities in, above or below—

(a) the territorial sea adjacent to the United Kingdom;

(b) waters in a Renewable Energy Zone (within the meaning of Chapter 2 of Part 2 of the Energy Act 2004);

(c) waters in a Gas Importation and Storage Zone (within the meaning given by section 1 of the Energy Act 2008).

(9) In subsection (7) “storing hydrogen” includes storing a compound, of which hydrogen is an element, which revenue support regulations specify as a qualifying compound for the purposes of this section.”

54: Insert the following Clause—

“Direction to offer to contract with eligible hydrogen storage provider

(1) The Secretary of State may, in accordance with any provision made by revenue support regulations, direct a hydrogen storage counterparty to offer to contract with an eligible hydrogen storage provider specified in the direction, on terms specified in the direction.

(2) Revenue support regulations may make further provision about a direction under this section and in particular about—

(a) the circumstances in which a direction may or must be given;

(b) the terms that may or must be specified in a direction.

(3) Provision falling within subsection (2) may include provision for calculations or determinations to be made under the regulations, including by such persons, in accordance with such procedure and by reference to such matters and to the opinion of such persons, as may be specified in the regulations.

(4) Revenue support regulations must make provision for determining the meaning of “eligible” in relation to a hydrogen storage provider.

(5) Regulations within subsection (4) may in particular make provision by reference to standards or other published documents (as they have effect from time to time).”

55: Clause 61, page 54, line 18, leave out from second “contract” to “was” in line 22 and insert “to which a hydrogen production counterparty is a party and which”

56: Clause 61, page 54, line 25, leave out subsection (3)

57: Clause 61, page 55, line 8, after “on)” insert “in the United Kingdom”

58: Clause 61, page 55, line 12, at end insert—

“(9) In subsection (8) the reference to carrying on activities in the United Kingdom includes carrying on activities in, above or below—

(a) the territorial sea adjacent to the United Kingdom;

(b) waters in a Renewable Energy Zone (within the meaning of Chapter 2 of Part 2 of the Energy Act 2004).”

59: Clause 62, page 55, line 28, leave out subsection (4) and insert—

“(4) Revenue support regulations must make provision for determining the meaning of “eligible” in relation to a low carbon hydrogen producer.”

60: Clause 62, page 55, line 29, at end insert—

“(5) Regulations within subsection (4) may in particular make provision by reference to standards or other published documents (as they have effect from time to time).”

61: Clause 63, page 55, line 33, after “be” insert “(a)”

62: Clause 63, page 55, line 33, at end insert—

“(b) a counterparty for any one or more descriptions of carbon capture revenue support contract.”

63: Clause 63, page 55, line 34, leave out from second “contract” to “was” in line 1 on page 56 and insert “to which a carbon capture counterparty is a party and which”

64: Clause 63, page 56, line 4, leave out subsection (3)

65: Clause 63, page 56, line 10, leave out from “may” to end of line 17 and insert—

“(a) exercise the power under paragraph (a) of subsection (1) so that more than one designation has effect under that paragraph;

(b) exercise the power under paragraph (b) of that subsection so that more than one designation has effect in respect of any description of carbon capture revenue support contract.”

66: Clause 63, page 56, line 25, after “on)” insert “in the United Kingdom”

67: Clause 63, page 56, line 25, leave out from “on)” to end of line 27 and insert “, with a view to the storage of carbon dioxide, activities of capturing carbon dioxide (or any substance consisting primarily of carbon dioxide) that—

(i) has been produced by commercial or industrial activities,

(ii) is in the atmosphere, or

(iii) has dissolved in sea water.”

68: Clause 63, page 56, line 29, at end insert—

“(9) In subsection (8) the reference to carrying on activities in the United Kingdom includes carrying on activities in, above or below—

(a) the territorial sea adjacent to the United Kingdom;

(b) waters in a Gas Importation and Storage Zone (within the meaning given by section 1 of the Energy Act 2008).”

69: Clause 64, page 57, line 5, leave out subsection (4) and insert—

“(4) Revenue support regulations must make provision for determining the meaning of “eligible” in relation to a carbon capture entity.”

70: Clause 64, page 57, line 6, at end insert—

“(5) Regulations within subsection (4) may in particular make provision by reference to standards or other published documents (as they have effect from time to time).”

71: Clause 66, page 57, line 25, leave out “the Consolidated Fund or gas shippers” and insert “relevant market participants (see subsection (8))”

72: Clause 66, page 57, line 27, at end insert—

“(za) a hydrogen transport counterparty to make payments under a hydrogen transport revenue support contract or in respect of liabilities incurred in connection with hydrogen transport revenue support contracts;

(zb) a hydrogen storage counterparty to make payments under a hydrogen storage revenue support contract or in respect of liabilities incurred in connection with hydrogen storage revenue support contracts;”

73: Clause 66, page 57, line 31, after second “a” insert “carbon dioxide”

74: Clause 66, page 58, line 26, leave out from “but” to end of line 30 and insert “a description so specified may not include persons other than—

(a) GB gas shippers;

(b) Northern Ireland gas shippers.”

75: Clause 67, page 58, line 38, leave out “hydrogen production” and insert “relevant”

76: Clause 67, page 59, line 6, leave out “hydrogen production” and insert “relevant”

77: Clause 67, page 59, line 7, leave out “hydrogen production” and insert “relevant”

78: Clause 67, page 59, line 10, leave out “hydrogen production” and insert “relevant”

79: Clause 67, page 59, line 13, leave out “hydrogen production” and insert “relevant”

80: Clause 67, page 59, line 16, leave out “hydrogen production” and insert “relevant”

81: Clause 67, page 59, line 18, leave out “hydrogen production” and insert “relevant”

82: Clause 67, page 59, line 25, leave out “hydrogen production” and insert “relevant”

83: Clause 67, page 59, line 28, at end insert—

“(4) In this section “relevant counterparty” means any of the following—

(a) a hydrogen transport counterparty;

(b) a hydrogen storage counterparty;

(c) a hydrogen production counterparty.”

84: Clause 69, page 61, line 14, leave out “designation” and insert “appointment”

85: Clause 72, page 63, line 35, at end insert—

“(ba) make provision by reference to standards or other published documents (as they have effect from time to time);”

86: Clause 77, page 66, line 34, after “59,” insert “(Designation of hydrogen transport counterparty), (Designation of hydrogen storage counterparty),”

87: Clause 77, page 67, line 3, after “59,” insert “(Designation of hydrogen transport counterparty), (Designation of hydrogen storage counterparty),”

88: Clause 77, page 67, line 9, after “59(1),” insert “(Designation of hydrogen transport counterparty)(1), (Designation of hydrogen storage counterparty)(1),”

89: Clause 77, page 67, line 12, after “a” insert “carbon dioxide”

90: Clause 77, page 67, line 12, after “counterparty,” insert “hydrogen transport counterparty, hydrogen storage counterparty,”

91: Clause 79, page 68, line 23, leave out sub-paragraphs (iii) to (v) and insert—

“(iii) a relevant market participant, or”

92: Clause 80, page 69, line 5, leave out sub-paragraphs (i) and (ii) and insert “a GB gas shipper”

93: Clause 80, page 69, line 11, leave out paragraph (b)

94: Clause 80, page 69, line 16, leave out sub-paragraphs (i) and (ii) and insert “a person who holds a licence under Article 8(1)(c) of the Gas (Northern Ireland) Order 1996 (S.I. 1996/275 (N.I. 2))”

95: Clause 81, page 69, line 40, leave out “consult” and insert—

“(a) consult the persons mentioned in subsection (1A), and

specify a period of not less than 28 days for the purposes of subsection (1B).

(1A) The persons to be consulted under subsection (1) are—”

96: Clause 81, page 70, line 18, at end insert—

“(1B) The Secretary of State must consider any representations that are—

(a) duly made within the period specified under subsection (1)(b) by persons consulted under subsection (1), and

(b) not withdrawn.”

97: Clause 81, page 70, line 18, at end insert—

“(1C) Before making regulations under section 73(1) (power to appoint allocation bodies) the Secretary of State must consult—

(a) the Scottish Ministers, if the regulations contain provision that would be within the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament if it were contained in an Act of that Parliament;

(b) the Welsh Ministers, if the regulations contain provision that would be within the legislative competence of Senedd Cymru if it were contained in an Act of the Senedd (ignoring any requirement for the consent of a Minister of the Crown imposed under Schedule 7B to the Government of Wales Act 2006);

(c) the Department for the Economy in Northern Ireland, if the regulations contain provision that—

(i) would be within the legislative competence of the Northern Ireland Assembly if it were contained in an Act of that Assembly, and

(ii) would not, if it were contained in a Bill in the Northern Ireland Assembly, result in the Bill requiring the consent of the Secretary of State under section 8 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998,

and the Secretary of State must consider any representations duly made by persons consulted under this subsection and not withdrawn.”

98: Clause 81, page 70, leave out lines 20 and 21 and insert—

“(a) consult the persons mentioned in subsection (2A), and

(b) specify a period of not less than 28 days for the purposes of subsection (2B).

(2A) The persons to be consulted under subsection (2) are—

(a) the Scottish Ministers, if the standard terms contain provision that would be within the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament if it were contained in an Act of that Parliament;

(b) the Welsh Ministers, if the standard terms contain provision that would be within the legislative competence of Senedd Cymru if it were contained in an Act of the Senedd (ignoring any requirement for the consent of a Minister of the Crown imposed under Schedule 7B to the Government of Wales Act 2006);

(c) the Department for the Economy in Northern Ireland, if the standard terms contain provision that—

(i) would be within the legislative competence of the Northern Ireland Assembly if it were contained in an Act of that Assembly, and

(ii) would not, if it were contained in a Bill in the Northern Ireland Assembly, result in the Bill requiring the consent of the Secretary of State under section 8 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998;

(d) such other persons as the Secretary of State considers appropriate.

(2B) The Secretary of State must consider any representations that are—

(a) duly made within the period specified under subsection (2)(b) by persons consulted under subsection (2), and

(b) not withdrawn.”

99: Clause 85, page 73, line 25, leave out subsection (1)

100: Clause 85, page 73, line 41, leave out subsection (3)

101: Clause 85, page 74, line 17, leave out “(1) to” and insert “(2) and”

102: Clause 85, page 74, line 23, leave out “(1) to” and insert “(2) and”

103: Clause 85, page 74, line 29, leave out paragraph (a)

104: Clause 85, page 74, line 31, leave out paragraph (c)

105: Clause 85, page 74, line 35, leave out “(c) and”

106: Clause 85, page 74, line 36, leave out “those sub-paragraphs” and insert “that sub-paragraph”

107: Clause 85, page 74, line 38, leave out “(1) or”

108: Clause 85, page 75, line 1, leave out “(3) or”

109: Clause 87, page 76, line 14, leave out “any of subsections (1) to” and insert “subsection

(2) or”

110: Clause 87, page 77, line 10, leave out from “1986” to “or” in line 11

111: Clause 87, page 77, line 16, leave out “Smart Meters Act 2018” and insert “Energy Prices Act 2022”

112: Clause 87, page 77, line 18, leave out subsection (14)

113: Clause 88, page 79, line 7, at end insert—

““carbon storage installation” has the same meaning as in section 30 of the Energy Act 2008;”

114: After Clause 89, insert the following Clause—

“Regulations under section 88(1): procedure with devolved authorities

(1) Before making regulations under section 88(1) that contain provision within devolved competence, the Secretary of State must give notice to each relevant devolved authority—

(a) stating that the Secretary of State proposes to make regulations under section 88(1), and

(b) specifying the period (of not less than 28 days from the date on which the notice is given) within which representations may be made with respect to the provision within the relevant devolved competence,

and must consider any representations duly made and not withdrawn.

(2) In this section, “relevant devolved authority”, in relation to regulations, means—

(a) the Scottish Ministers, if the regulations contain provision within Scottish devolved competence;

(b) the Welsh Ministers, if the regulations contain provision within Welsh devolved competence;

(c) the Department for the Economy in Northern Ireland, if the regulations contain provision within Northern Ireland devolved competence;

and “the relevant devolved competence”, in relation to a relevant devolved authority, is to be construed accordingly.

(3) For the purposes of this section, provision—

(a) is within Scottish devolved competence if it would be within the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament if it were contained in an Act of that Parliament;

(b) is within Welsh devolved competence if it would be within the legislative competence of Senedd Cymru if it were contained in an Act of the Senedd (ignoring any requirement for the consent of a Minister of the Crown imposed under Schedule 7B to the Government of Wales Act 2006);

(c) is within Northern Ireland devolved competence if it—

(i) would be within the legislative competence of the Northern Ireland Assembly if it were contained in an Act of that Assembly, and

(ii) would not, if it were contained in a Bill in the Northern Ireland Assembly, result in the Bill requiring the consent of the Secretary of State under section 8 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998,

and references to provision being within devolved competence are to provision that is within Scottish, Welsh or Northern Ireland devolved competence.”

115: Clause 90, page 80, line 36, leave out “(5)” and insert “(5A)”

116: Clause 90, page 82, line 43, leave out subsection (5) and insert—

“(5) In subsection (5), for the words from “falling” to the end substitute “which is or has been maintained, or is intended to be established, for the purposes of an activity mentioned in section 17(2)(a), (b) or (c) to which subsection (6) applies.

(5A) In subsection (6), for the words from the beginning to “it” substitute “This subsection applies to any activity which is carried on from, by means of or on an installation which”.”

117: Clause 96, page 90, line 40, leave out from beginning to “before”

118: Clause 96, page 90, line 41, at end insert “the Secretary of State must give notice to the appropriate consultees—

(a) setting out the Secretary of State’s proposed decision, and

(b) specifying the period (of not less than 28 days from the date on which the notice is given) within which representations must be made,

and the Secretary of State must consider any representations which are duly made and not withdrawn.

(10A) For the purposes of subsection (10), the “appropriate consultees” are—”

119: After Clause 101, insert the following Clause—

“Key definitions

(1) This section applies for the purposes of this Chapter.

(2) “Carbon storage licence” means a licence granted, or having effect as if granted, by the OGA under section 18(1) of the Energy Act 2008 (and references to a "licensee" are to a person who holds such a licence).

(3) “Exploration operator”, in relation to a carbon storage licence, means a person who is responsible for organising or supervising—

(a) the carrying on of exploration, within the area within which activities are authorised under the licence, with a view to, or in connection with, the carrying on of activities within section 17(2)(a) or (b) of the Energy Act 2008, or

(b) the establishment or maintenance in a controlled place (as defined in section 17 of the Energy Act 2008) of an installation for the purposes of such exploration.

(4) “Carbon storage information” means information acquired or created by or on behalf of a licensee in the course of carrying out activities under the licensee’s carbon storage licence.

(5) “Carbon storage samples” means samples of substances acquired by or on behalf of a licensee in the course of carrying out activities under the licensee’s carbon storage licence.

(6) “Sanctionable requirement” means a requirement imposed on a person by or under a provision of this Chapter which, by virtue of the provision, is sanctionable in accordance with this Chapter.”

120: Insert the following Clause—

“Retention of information and samples

(1) Regulations made by the Secretary of State may require—

(a) specified licensees to retain specified carbon storage information;

(b) specified licensees to retain specified carbon storage samples.

(2) “Specified” means specified, or of a description specified, in regulations under this section.

(3) Regulations under this section may include provision about—

(a) the form or manner in which information or samples are to be retained;

(b) the period for which information or samples are to be retained;

(c) the event that triggers the commencement of that period.

(4) Regulations under this section may provide for requirements imposed by the regulations to continue following a termination of rights under the licensee’s carbon storage licence (whether by transfer, surrender, expiry or revocation and whether in relation to all or only part of the licence).

(5) Regulations under this section may not impose requirements which have effect in relation to particular carbon storage information or particular carbon storage samples at any time when an information and samples plan dealing with the information or samples has effect.

(6) Requirements imposed by regulations under this section are sanctionable in accordance with this Chapter.

(7) Before making regulations under this section, the Secretary of State must consult each licensing authority that may under section 18(1) of the Energy Act 2008 grant a licence in respect of the carrying on, in a place to which the regulations would apply, of activities within section 17(2) of that Act.

(8) Regulations under this section are subject to the negative procedure.”

121: Insert the following Clause—

“Preparation and agreement of information and samples plans

(1) The responsible person must prepare an information and samples plan in connection with any of the following (each “a licence event”)—

(a) where a licensee is a company, a change in control of the company within the meaning of paragraph 6 of Schedule 1 to the Carbon Dioxide (Licensing etc.) Regulations 2010 (S.I. 2010/2221) (inserted by Schedule 6 to this Act);

(b) a change in the identity of—

(i) the exploration operator under a carbon storage licence, or

(ii) where a storage permit has been granted under a carbon storage licence, the operator in relation to the storage permit (within the meaning of regulation 1(3) of the Carbon Dioxide (Licensing etc.) Regulations 2010);

(c) a transfer of rights under a carbon storage licence, whether in relation to all or part of the area in respect of which the licence was granted;

(d) a surrender of rights under a carbon storage licence in relation to all of the area in respect of which the licence was granted, or in relation to so much of that area in respect of which the licence continues to have effect;

(e) the expiry of a carbon storage licence;

(f) the termination of a carbon storage licence;

(g) the revocation of a storage permit.

(2) “Responsible person”, in relation to a licence event, means the person who is or was, or the persons who are or were, the licensee in respect of the relevant licence immediately before the licence event.

(3) “Relevant licence”, in relation to a licence event, means the carbon storage licence in respect of which the licence event occurs.

(4) “Information and samples plan”, in relation to a licence event, means a plan dealing with what is to happen, following the event, to—

(a) carbon storage information held by the responsible person before the event, and

(b) carbon storage samples held by that person before the event.

(5) The responsible person must agree the information and samples plan with the OGA—

(a) in the case of a licence event mentioned in subsection (1)(a), (b), (c), (d) or (e), before the licence event takes place, or

(b) in the case of a licence event mentioned in subsection (1)(f) or (g), within a reasonable period after the termination of the carbon storage licence or revocation of the storage permit.

(6) An information and samples plan has effect once it is agreed with the OGA.

(7) If an information and samples plan is not agreed with the OGA as mentioned in subsection (5)(a) or (b), the OGA—

(a) may itself prepare an information and samples plan in connection with the licence event, and

(b) may require the responsible person to provide it with such information as the OGA may require to enable it to do so.

(8) The OGA must inform the responsible person of the terms of any information and samples plan it prepares in connection with a licence event.

(9) Where the OGA—

(a) prepares an information and samples plan in connection with a licence event, and

(b) informs the responsible person of the terms of the plan,

the plan has effect as if it had been prepared by the responsible person and agreed with the OGA.

(10) Where an information and samples plan has effect in connection with a licence event, the responsible person must comply with the plan.

(11) The requirements imposed by subsection (5) and (10), or under subsection (7)(b), are sanctionable in accordance with this Chapter.”

122: Insert the following Clause—

“Information and samples plans: supplementary

(1) Where an information and samples plan has effect in relation to a licence event, the OGA and the responsible person may agree changes to the plan.

(2) Once changes are agreed, the plan has effect subject to those changes.

(3) Where—

(a) two or more persons are the responsible person in relation to a licence event, and

(b) those persons include a company that has, since the licence event, been dissolved,

the reference to the responsible person in subsection (1) does not include that company.

(4) An information and samples plan, in relation to a licence event, may provide as appropriate for—

(a) the retention, by the responsible person, of any carbon storage information or carbon storage samples held by or on behalf of that person before the licence event,

(b) the transfer of any such information or samples to a new licensee, or

(c) appropriate storage of such information or samples.

(5) Where an information and samples plan makes provision under subsection (4) for a person, other than the responsible person, to hold information or samples in accordance with the plan—

(a) the plan may, with the consent of that other person, impose requirements on that person in connection with the information and samples, and

(b) any such requirements are sanctionable in accordance with this Chapter.

(6) An information and samples plan prepared by the OGA under section (Preparation and agreement of information and samples plans) may not include provision under subsection (4)(b) for the transfer of information or samples to another person without the consent of the responsible person.

(7) An information and samples plan may provide for the storage of information or samples as mentioned in subsection (4)(c) to be the responsibility of the OGA.

(8) Where a transfer of rights under a carbon storage licence relates to only part of the area in relation to which the licence was granted, the information and samples plan prepared in connection with the transfer is to relate to all carbon storage information and carbon storage samples held by the responsible person before the licence event, and not only information and samples in respect of that part of the area.

(9) In this section, “licence event” and “responsible person” have the same meaning as in section (Preparation and agreement of information and samples plans).”

123: Insert the following Clause—

“Information and samples coordinators

(1) A person within subsection (2) (a “relevant person”) must—

(a) appoint an individual to act as an information and samples coordinator, and

(b) notify the OGA of that individual’s name and contact details.

(2) The following persons are within this subsection—

(a) a licensee, and

(b) an exploration operator under a carbon storage licence.

(3) The information and samples coordinator is to be responsible for monitoring the relevant person’s compliance with its obligations under this Chapter.

(4) A relevant person must comply with subsection (1) within a reasonable period after—

(a) the date on which this section comes into force, if the person is a relevant person on that date, or

(b) becoming a relevant person, in any other case.

(5) The relevant person must notify the OGA of any change in the identity or contact details of the information and samples coordinator within a reasonable period of the change taking place.

(6) The requirements imposed by this section are sanctionable in accordance with this Chapter.”

124: Insert the following Clause—

“Power of OGA to require information and samples

(1) The OGA may by notice in writing, for the purpose of carrying out any of its functions under Chapter 3 of Part 1 of the Energy Act 2008 (storage of carbon dioxide), require—

(a) a licensee to provide it with any carbon storage information, or a portion of any carbon storage sample, held by or on behalf of the licensee;

(b) a person who holds information or samples in accordance with an information and samples plan to provide it with any such information or a portion of any such sample.

(2) The notice must specify—

(a) the form or manner in which the information or the portion of a sample must be provided;

(b) the time at which, or period within which, the information or the portion of a sample must be provided.

(3) Information requested under subsection (1) may not include items subject to legal privilege.

(4) Requirements imposed by a notice under this section are sanctionable in accordance with this Chapter.

125 Insert the following Clause—

“Prohibition on disclosure of information or samples obtained by OGA

(1) Protected material must not be disclosed—

(a) by the OGA, or

(b) by a subsequent holder,

except in accordance with section (Power of Secretary of State to require information and samples) or Schedule (Permitted disclosures of material obtained by OGA).

(2) In this section and in Schedule (Permitted disclosures of material obtained by OGA)— “protected material” means information or samples which have been obtained by the OGA under section (Power of OGA to require information and samples)

or (Sanctions: information powers);

“subsequent holder”, in relation to protected material, means a person holding protected material who has received it directly or indirectly from the OGA by virtue of a disclosure, or disclosures, in accordance with Schedule (Permitted disclosures of material obtained by OGA).

(3) References to disclosing protected material include references to making the protected material available to other persons (where the protected material includes samples).”

125: Insert the following Clause—

“Prohibition on disclosure of information or samples obtained by OGA

(1) Protected material must not be disclosed—

(a) by the OGA, or

(b) by a subsequent holder,

except in accordance with section (Power of Secretary of State to require information and samples) or Schedule (Permitted disclosures of material obtained by OGA).

(2) In this section and in Schedule (Permitted disclosures of material obtained by OGA)— “protected material” means information or samples which have been obtained by the OGA under section (Power of OGA to require information and samples) or (Sanctions: information powers);

“subsequent holder”, in relation to protected material, means a person holding protected material who has received it directly or indirectly from the OGA by virtue of a disclosure, or disclosures, in accordance with Schedule (Permitted disclosures of material obtained by OGA).

(3) References to disclosing protected material include references to making the protected material available to other persons (where the protected material includes samples).”

126: Insert the following Clause—

“Power of Secretary of State to require information and samples

(1) The Secretary of State may require the OGA to provide the Secretary of State with such information or samples held by or on behalf of the OGA as the Secretary of State may require for the purpose of—

(a) carrying out any function conferred by or under any Act,

(b) monitoring the OGA's performance of its functions, or

(c) any Parliamentary proceedings.

(2) The Secretary of State may use information or samples acquired under subsection

(1) (“acquired material”) only for the purpose for which it is provided.

(3) Acquired material must not be disclosed—

(a) by the Secretary of State, or

(b) by a subsequent holder,

except in accordance with this section.

(4) For the purposes of subsection (3)(b), “subsequent holder”, in relation to acquired material, means a person who receives acquired material directly or indirectly from the Secretary of State by virtue of a disclosure, or disclosures, in accordance with this section.

(5) Subsection (3) does not prohibit the Secretary of State from disclosing acquired material so far as necessary for the purpose for which it was provided.

(6) Subsection (3) does not prohibit a disclosure of acquired material if—

(a) the disclosure is required by virtue of an obligation imposed by or under any Act, or

(b) the OGA consents to the disclosure and, where the acquired material in question was provided to the OGA by or on behalf of another person, confirms that that person also consents to the disclosure.

(7) References in this section to disclosing acquired material include references to making the acquired material available to other persons (where the acquired material includes samples).”

127: Insert the following Clause—

“Power of OGA to give sanction notices

(1) If the OGA considers that a person has failed to comply with a sanctionable requirement imposed on the person, it may give the person a sanction notice in respect of that failure.

(2) If the OGA considers that there has a been a failure to comply with a sanctionable requirement imposed jointly on two or more persons, it may give a sanction notice in respect of that failure—

(a) to one only of those persons (subject to section (Revocation notices)(2)),

(b) jointly to two or more of them, or

(c) jointly to all of them,

but it may not give separate sanction notices to each of them in respect of the failure.

(3) In this Chapter “sanction notice” means—

(a) an enforcement notice (see section (Enforcement notices)),

(b) a financial penalty notice (see section (Financial penalty notices)),

(c) a revocation notice (see section (Revocation notices)), or

(d) an operator removal notice (see section (Operator removal notices)).

(4) Sanction notices, other than enforcement notices, may be given in respect of a failure to comply with a sanctionable requirement even if, at the time the notice is given, the failure to comply has already been remedied.

(5) Where the OGA gives a sanction notice to a person in respect of a particular failure to comply with a sanctionable requirement—

(a) it may, at the same time, give another type of sanction notice to the person in respect of that failure to comply;

(b) it may give subsequent sanction notices in respect of that failure only in accordance with section (Subsequent sanction notices) (subsequent sanction notices).

(6) The OGA’s power to give sanction notices under this section is subject to section (Duty of OGA to give sanction warning notices) (duty of OGA to give sanction warning notices).

(7) Where the OGA gives a sanction notice to a licensee in respect of a failure to comply with a sanctionable requirement—

(a) the matter is to be dealt with in accordance with this Chapter, and

(b) any requirement under the licensee’s carbon storage licence to deal with the matter in a certain way (including by arbitration) does not apply in respect of that failure to comply.”

128: Insert the following Clause—

“Enforcement notices

(1) An enforcement notice is a notice which—

(a) specifies the sanctionable requirement in question,

(b) gives details of the failure to comply with the requirement, and

(c) informs the person or persons to whom the notice is given that the person or persons must comply with—

(i) the sanctionable requirement, and

(ii) any directions included in the notice as mentioned in subsection (2),

before the end of the period specified in the notice.

(2) The notice may include directions as to the measures to be taken for the purposes of compliance with the sanctionable requirement.

(3) Requirements imposed by directions included in an enforcement notice as mentioned in subsection (2) are sanctionable in accordance with this Chapter.”

129: Insert the following Clause—

“Financial penalty notices

(1) A financial penalty notice is a notice which—

(a) specifies the sanctionable requirement in question,

(b) gives details of the failure to comply with the requirement, and

(c) informs the person or persons to whom the notice is given that the person or persons must—

(i) comply with the sanctionable requirement before the end of a period specified in the notice, where it is appropriate to require such compliance and the failure to comply with the requirement has not already been remedied at the time the notice is given, and

(ii) pay the OGA a financial penalty of the amount specified in the notice before the end of a period specified in the notice.

(2) The period specified under subsection (1)(c)(ii) must not end earlier than the end of the period of 28 days beginning with the day on which the financial penalty notice is given.

(3) The financial penalty payable under a financial penalty notice in respect of a failure to comply with a sanctionable requirement (whether payable by one person, or jointly by two or more persons) must not exceed £1 million.

(4) If a financial penalty notice is given jointly to two or more persons, those persons are jointly and severally liable to pay the financial penalty under it.

(5) A financial penalty payable under a financial penalty notice is to be recoverable as a civil debt if it is not paid before the end of the period specified under subsection (1)(c)(ii).

(6) The OGA must—

(a) issue guidance as to the matters to which it will have regard when determining the amount of the financial penalty to be imposed by a financial penalty notice, and

(b) have regard to the guidance when determining the amount of the penalty in any particular case.

(7) The OGA may from time to time review guidance issued under subsection (6)(a) and, if it considers appropriate, revise it.

(8) Before issuing or revising guidance under this section, the OGA must consult such persons as it considers appropriate.

(9) The OGA must—

(a) lay any guidance issued under this section, and any revision of it, before each House of Parliament;

(b) publish any guidance issued under this section, and any revision of it, in such manner as the OGA considers appropriate.

(10) The Secretary of State may by regulations subject to the affirmative procedure amend subsection (3) to change the amount specified to an amount not exceeding £5 million.

(11) Money received by the OGA under a financial penalty notice must be paid into the Consolidated Fund.”

130: Insert the following Clause—

“Revocation notices

(1) A revocation notice may be given only in respect of a failure to comply with a sanctionable requirement imposed on a licensee in that capacity.

(2) Where two or more persons are the licensee in respect of a carbon storage licence, the revocation notice must be given jointly to all of those persons.

(3) A revocation notice is a notice which—

(a) specifies the sanctionable requirement in question,

(b) gives details of the failure to comply with the requirement,

(c) informs the person or persons to whom the notice is given that—

(i) where no storage permit has been granted under the carbon storage licence, the licence is to be terminated, or

(ii) where a storage permit has been granted under the carbon storage licence, the permit is to be revoked,

on the date specified in the notice (“the revocation date”).

(4) The revocation date must not be earlier than the end of the period of 28 days beginning with the day on which the revocation notice is given.

(5) A revocation notice may not be given in circumstances where the carbon storage licence to be terminated, or the storage permit to be revoked, in accordance with the notice is one which, on the date the notice is given, the OGA would not have the power to grant.

(6) Where a carbon storage licence is terminated in accordance with a revocation notice—

(a) the rights granted to the licensee by the licence cease on the revocation date;

(b) the revocation does not affect any obligation or liability imposed on or incurred by the licensee under the terms and conditions of the licence;

(c) the terms and conditions of the licence apply as if the licence had been terminated in accordance with those terms and conditions, subject to section (Power of OGA to give sanction notices)(7)(b).

(7) Where a storage permit is revoked in accordance with a revocation notice—

(a) the authorisation granted by the storage permit ceases on the revocation date;

(b) the revocation does not affect any obligation or liability imposed or incurred under the terms and conditions of the storage permit;

(c) the terms and conditions of the carbon storage licence apply as if the storage permit had been revoked in accordance with those terms and conditions, subject to section (Power of OGA to give sanction notices)(7)(b).”

131: Insert the following Clause—

“Operator removal notices

(1) An operator removal notice may be given only in respect of a failure to comply with a sanctionable requirement imposed on an exploration operator under a carbon storage licence in that capacity.

(2) An operator removal notice is a notice which—

(a) specifies the sanctionable requirement,

(b) gives details of the failure to comply with the requirement, and

(c) informs the exploration operator to whom it is given that, with effect from a date specified in the notice (“the removal date”), the licensee under whose carbon storage licence the exploration operator operates (“the relevant licensee”) is to be required to remove the exploration operator (see subsection (4)).

(3) The OGA must—

(a) give a copy of the operator removal notice to the relevant licensee, and

(b) require the relevant licensee to remove the exploration operator with effect from the removal date.

(4) Where a licensee is required to remove an exploration operator from a specified date, the licensee must ensure that, with effect from that date, the exploration operator does not exercise any function of organising or supervising any of the activities referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b) of section (Key definitions)(3).

(5) The removal date must not be earlier than the end of the period of 28 days beginning with the day on which the operator removal notice is given.

(6) An operator removal notice may not be given in circumstances where the carbon storage licence under which the exploration operator operates is one which, on the date the notice is given, the OGA would not have the power to grant.

(7) A requirement imposed on a licensee under subsection (3)(b) is sanctionable in accordance with this Chapter.”

132: Insert the following Clause—

“Duty of OGA to give sanction warning notices

(1) This section applies where the OGA proposes to give a sanction notice in respect of a failure to comply with a sanctionable requirement.

(2) The OGA must give a sanction warning notice in respect of the sanctionable requirement to—

(a) the person or persons to whom it proposes to give a sanction notice, and

(b) where it proposes to give an operator removal notice, the relevant licensee (see section (Operator removal notices)(2)(c)).

(3) A sanction warning notice, in respect of a sanctionable requirement, is a notice which—

(a) specifies the sanctionable requirement,

(b) informs the person or persons to whom it is given that the OGA proposes to give a sanction notice in respect of a failure to comply with the requirement,

(c) gives details of the failure to comply with the sanctionable requirement, and

(d) informs the person or persons to whom it is given that the person or persons may, within the period specified in the notice (“the representations period”), make representations to the OGA in relation to the matters dealt with in the notice.

(4) The representations period must be such period as the OGA considers appropriate in the circumstances.

(5) Subsections (6) and (7) apply where the OGA gives a sanction warning notice to a person or persons in respect of a sanctionable requirement.

(6) The OGA must not give a sanction notice to the person or persons in respect of a failure to comply with the requirement until after the end of the representations period specified in the sanction warning notice.

(7) Having regard to representations made during the representations period specified in the sanction warning notice, the OGA may decide—

(a) to give the person or persons a sanction notice in respect of the failure to comply with the requirement detailed in the sanction warning notice under subsection (3)(c),

(b) to give the person or persons a sanction notice in respect of a failure to comply with the requirement which differs from the failure detailed in the sanction warning notice under subsection (3)(c), or

(c) not to give the person or persons a sanction notice in respect of a failure to comply with the requirement.”

133: Insert the following Clause—

“Publication of details of sanctions

(1) The OGA may publish details of any sanction notice given in accordance with this Chapter.

(2) But the OGA may not publish anything that, in its opinion—

(a) is commercially sensitive,

(b) is not in the public interest to publish, or

(c) is otherwise not appropriate for publication.

(3) If, after details of a sanction notice are published by the OGA, the sanction notice is—

(a) cancelled on appeal, or

(b) withdrawn under section (Withdrawal of sanction notices),

the OGA must publish details of the cancellation or withdrawal.”

134: Insert the following Clause—

“Subsequent sanction notices

(1) This section applies where the OGA gives a sanction notice in respect of a particular failure to comply with a sanctionable requirement (whether the notice is given alone or at the same time as another type of sanction notice).

(2) If the sanction notice given is a revocation notice or an operator removal notice, no further sanction notices may be given in respect of the failure to comply.

(3) If the sanction notice given is a financial penalty notice which does not require compliance with the sanctionable requirement, no further sanction notices may be given in respect of the failure to comply.

(4) Subsection (5) applies if the sanction notice given is—

(a) an enforcement notice, or

(b) a financial penalty notice which requires compliance with the sanctionable requirement.

(5) No further sanction notices may be given in respect of the failure to comply before the end of the period specified under section (Enforcement notices)(1)(c) or (Financial penalty notices)(1)(c)(i), as the case may be (period for compliance with sanctionable requirement).”

135: Insert the following Clause—

“Withdrawal of sanction notices

(1) The OGA may, at any time after giving a sanction notice, withdraw the sanction notice.

(2) If a sanction notice is withdrawn by the OGA—

(a) the notice ceases to have effect, and

(b) the OGA must notify the following persons of the withdrawal of the notice—

(i) the person or persons to whom the notice was given;

(ii) in the case of an operator removal notice, the licensee under whose carbon storage licence the exploration operator operates.”

136: Insert the following Clause—

“Sanctions: information powers

(1) This section applies for the purposes of an investigation which—

(a) concerns whether a person has failed to comply with a sanctionable requirement, and

(b) is carried out by the OGA for the purpose of enabling it to decide whether to give the person a sanction notice, or on what terms a sanction notice should be given to the person.

(2) The OGA may by notice in writing, for the purposes of that investigation, require the person to provide specified documents or other information.

(3) “Specified” means specified, or of a description specified, in a notice under this section.

(4) A requirement under subsection (2) applies only to the extent—

(a) that the documents requested are documents in the person’s possession or control, or

(b) that the information requested is information in the person’s possession or control.

(5) A requirement imposed by a notice under subsection (2) is sanctionable in accordance with this Chapter.

(6) The documents or information requested—

(a) may include documents or information held in any form (including in electronic form);

(b) may include documents or information that may be regarded as commercially sensitive;

(c) may not include items that are subject to legal privilege.

(7) The notice must specify—

(a) to whom the information is to be provided;

(b) where it is to be provided;

(c) when it is to be provided;

(d) the form and manner in which it is to be provided.”

137: Insert the following Clause—

“Appeals in connection with Chapter

In Schedule (Carbon storage information and samples: appeals)—

(a) Part 1 contains provision about appeals against decisions by the OGA relating to the preparation of an information and samples plan and appeals against the giving of a notice under section (Power of OGA to require information and samples), and

(b) Part 2 contains provision about appeals against the imposition of sanction notices and appeals against the giving of a notice under section (Sanctions: information powers).”

138: Insert the following Clause—

“Procedure for enforcement decisions

(1) The OGA—

(a) must determine the procedure that it proposes to follow in relation to enforcement decisions, and

(b) must issue a statement of its proposals.

(2) The procedure mentioned in subsection (1)(a) must be designed to secure, among other things, that an enforcement decision is taken—

(a) by a person falling within subsection (3), or

(b) by two or more persons, each of whom falls within subsection (3).

(3) A person falls within this subsection if the person was not directly involved in establishing the evidence on which the enforcement decision is based.

(4) The statement mentioned in subsection (1)(b) must be published in whatever way appears to the OGA to be best calculated to bring the statement to the attention of the public.

(5) When the OGA takes an enforcement decision, the OGA must follow its stated procedure.

(6) If the OGA changes its procedure in a material way, it must publish a revised statement.

(7) A failure of the OGA in a particular case to follow its procedure as set out in the latest published statement does not affect the validity of an enforcement decision taken in that case.

(8) But subsection (7) does not prevent the Tribunal from taking into account any such failure in considering an appeal under paragraph 4 or 5 of Schedule (Carbon storage information and samples: appeals) in relation to a sanction notice.

(9) In this section, “enforcement decision” means—

(a) a decision to give a sanction notice in respect of a failure to comply with a sanctionable requirement, or

(b) a decision as to the details of the sanction to be imposed by the notice.”

139: Insert the following Clause—

“Interpretation of Chapter

In this Chapter—

“information and samples plan” has the meaning given in section (Preparation and agreement of information and samples plans);

“items subject to legal privilege”—

(a) in England and Wales, has the same meaning as in the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (see section 10 of that Act);

(b) in Scotland, has the meaning given by section 412 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002;

(c) in Northern Ireland, has the same meaning as in the Police and Criminal Evidence (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 (S.I. 1989/1341 (NI 12));

“OGA” means the Oil and Gas Authority;

“protected material” has the meaning given in section (Prohibition on disclosure of information or samples obtained by OGA);

“sanction notice” has the meaning given in section (Power of OGA to give sanction notices);

“storage permit” has the same meaning as in the Storage of Carbon Dioxide (Licensing etc) Regulations 2010 (S.I. 2010/2221) (see regulation 1(3) of those Regulations);

“subsequent holder” has the meaning given in section (Prohibition on disclosure of information or samples obtained by OGA);

“Tribunal” means the First-tier tribunal.”

140: Clause 102, page 96, line 22, leave out “consult” and insert “give to the appropriate consultees a notice—

(a) stating that the Secretary of State proposes to make regulations under subsection (1), and

(b) specifying the period (of not less than 28 days from the date on which the notice is given) within which representations must be made with respect to the proposed provisions,

and must consider any representations duly made and not withdrawn.”

(6A) For the purposes of this section the “appropriate consultees” are—”

141: Clause 103, page 97, line 19, leave out “, out of money provided by Parliament,”

142: Clause 103, page 97, line 22, leave out “and storage”

143: Clause 103, page 97, line 22, at end insert—

“(aa) storage of carbon dioxide;”

144: Clause 103, page 97, line 24, leave out from “for” to end of line 25 and insert “any activity mentioned in paragraph (a) or (aa)”

145: Clause 103, page 97, line 27, leave out “and storage”

146: Clause 103, page 97, line 27, at end insert—

“(e) storage of hydrogen.”

147: Clause 103, page 98, line 3, leave out paragraph (f) and insert—

“(f) may be provided by the acquisition of shares or any other interest in, or securities of, a body corporate;”

148: Clause 103, page 98, line 5, leave out “take the form of investment” and insert “be provided”

149: After Clause 105, insert the following Clause—

“Key definitions for Part

(1) In this Part—

“designated person” means a person in relation to whom a designation under section (Designation)(1) has effect (and any reference to designation, in relation to a person, is to be construed accordingly);

“designated project”, in relation to a person, means a hydrogen pipeline project in relation to which the person is designated;

“gas transporter licence” means a licence under section 7 of the Gas Act 1986; “hydrogen” means any gas that consists wholly or mainly of hydrogen; “hydrogen pipeline project” means a project involving the construction,

alteration or operation of a pipeline for the purpose of the conveyance of

hydrogen.

(2) References in this Part to the extension or restriction of a licence are to the giving of a direction in respect of the licence under (respectively) section 7(4) or (4A) of the Gas Act 1986.”

150: Insert the following Clause—

“Designation

(1) The Secretary of State may by notice given to a person designate the person in relation to a hydrogen pipeline project.

(2) The Secretary of State may designate a person in relation to a hydrogen pipeline project only if the Secretary of State is of the opinion—

(a) that it is likely to be appropriate for conditions described in section (Scope of modification powers under section (Modification of gas transporter licences by Secretary of State))(1)(a) and (b) to be included in any gas transporter licence held by the person for the purposes of the project (whether or not the person already holds such a licence), and

(b) that the project is likely to result in value for money.

(3) A person may be designated only with the person’s consent.

(4) A designation may not relate to more than one hydrogen pipeline project (but a person who is designated in relation to one project may be designated separately in relation to another).”

151: Insert the following Clause—

“Designation: procedure

(1) The Secretary of State must publish a statement setting out—

(a) the procedure that the Secretary of State expects to follow in determining whether to exercise the power under section (Designation)(1), and

(b) how the Secretary of State expects to determine whether the conditions in section (Designation)(2) are met.

(2) A duty imposed by subsection (1) may be satisfied by things done before the passing of this Act (as well as by things done after that time).

(3) A designation notice must include—

(a) a description of the hydrogen pipeline project to which the designation relates,

(b) the Secretary of State’s reasons for the designation,

(c) details of any conditions to which the designation is subject, and

(d) the date of the notice.

(4) The Secretary of State must give the GEMA a copy of a designation notice.

(5) The Secretary of State must publish a designation notice, but may exclude from publication any material the disclosure or publication of which the Secretary of State considers—

(a) would be likely to prejudice the commercial interests of any person, or

(b) would be contrary to the interests of national security.

(6) In this section, “designation notice” means a notice under section (Designation)(1).”

152: Insert the following Clause—

“Revocation of designation

(1) The Secretary of State may by notice given to a designated person revoke the person’s designation in relation to a hydrogen pipeline project if—

(a) either of the conditions in section (Designation)(2) ceases to be met in relation to the project,

(b) the Secretary of State determines that a condition to which the designation is subject has not been met, or

(c) the person consents to the designation being revoked.

(2) Section (Designation: procedure)(3)(a), (b) and (d), (4) and (5) applies (with necessary modifications) in relation to the revocation of a person’s designation as it applies in relation to the designation of a person.

(3) Where the Secretary of State gives a notice to a person under subsection (1), the person’s designation in relation to the hydrogen pipeline project in question ceases to have effect at the end of the day on which the notice is given to the person.

(4) The revocation of a person’s designation in relation to a hydrogen pipeline project does not affect anything done in relation to the licence by the Secretary of State under or by virtue of this Part while the person was designated in relation to the project

153: Insert the following Clause—

“Grant, extension or restriction of gas transporter licence by Secretary of State

(1) The Secretary of State may exercise the power under section 7(2) of the Gas Act 1986 (grant of gas transporter licences) so as to grant a gas transporter licence to a designated person, subject to subsection (2).

(2) The Secretary of State may only grant a gas transporter licence which authorises the conveyance of hydrogen through pipes for the purposes of the person’s designated project.

(3) The Secretary of State may exercise the power under section 7(4) of the Gas Act 1986 (direction to extend licence) so as to extend a gas transporter licence where—

(a) the licence is held by a designated person, and

(b) the extension authorises the conveyance of hydrogen through pipes for the purposes of the person’s designated project.

(4) The Secretary of State may exercise the power under section 7(4A) of the Gas Act 1986 (direction to restrict licence) so as to restrict a gas transporter licence where—

(a) the licence is or was held by a designated person, and

(b) the restriction is in connection with the revocation of the person’s designation in relation to a hydrogen pipeline project.

(5) In its application for the purposes of subsections (1), (3) and (4), the Gas Act 1986 has effect as if—

(a) in the following provisions, references to the GEMA were to the Secretary of State—

(i) section 7(5) and (6)(a);

(ii) section 7B(9);

(iii) section 8(3), (4) and (5)(a);

(b) in sections 7(6)(b) and 8(5)(b), references to the Secretary of State were to the GEMA;

(c) in section 7B(4)(c), the reference to the GEMA included a reference to the Secretary of State, but only for the purpose of enabling the inclusion of conditions requiring the rendering of a payment on the grant of a licence;

(d) section 7B(9) also required a copy of the licence to be sent to the GEMA.

(6) When granting or extending a gas transporter licence by virtue of this section, the Secretary of State must have regard to—

(a) costs, expenditure or liabilities of any description that the designated person may reasonably be expected to incur in carrying out its activities;

(b) the need to secure that the designated person is able to finance its activities;

(c) the need to secure that the designated person has appropriate incentives in relation to the carrying on of its activities;

(d) such other matters as the Secretary of State considers appropriate.

(7) References in subsection (6) to a designated person’s activities are to the person’s activities for the purposes of—

(a) the designated project to which the grant or extension relates, and

(b) in the case of an extension, any other designated project already authorised by the person’s gas transporter licence.

(8) A gas transporter licence granted, extended or restricted by the Secretary of State by virtue of this section has effect for all purposes as if it had been granted, extended or restricted by the GEMA.”

154: Insert the following Clause—

“Applications for grant etc of gas transporter licence

(1) The Secretary of State may by regulations make provision about the making, consideration and determination of relevant applications, including provision—

(a) about the person to whom a relevant application must be made;

(b) about the form and manner in which a relevant application must be made;

(c) imposing timing requirements in relation to the making of a relevant application;

(d) requiring a relevant application to be accompanied by such information and documents as may be specified in the regulations;

(e) requiring a relevant application to be accompanied by such fee (if any) as may be—

(i) specified in the regulations, or

(ii) determined, by the person to whom the application is made, in accordance with the regulations;

(f) about the matters to be taken into account in determining a relevant application;

(g) requiring a determination to be accompanied by reasons;

(h) requiring determinations to be published;

(i) conferring functions on the Secretary of State or the GEMA (including functions involving the exercise of a discretion);

(j) for anything falling to be determined under the regulations to be determined—

(i) by the Secretary of State, the GEMA or another person specified in the regulations, and

(ii) in accordance with such procedure and by reference to such matters and to the opinion of such persons as may be so specified.

(2) “Relevant application” means an application within any of the following paragraphs (whether made to the Secretary of State or the GEMA)—

(a) an application by a designated person for the grant of a gas transporter licence that authorises the conveyance of hydrogen through pipes for the purposes of the person’s designated project;

(b) an application by a designated person for the extension of a gas transporter licence held by the person so that it authorises the conveyance of hydrogen through pipes for the purposes of the person’s designated project;

(c) an application by a person who is or has been designated for the restriction of a gas transporter licence held by the person, in connection with the person’s designation in relation to a hydrogen pipeline project ceasing to have effect.

(3) Provision made by virtue of subsection (1)(j)(ii) may in particular be made by reference to a document as amended from time to time.

(4) Regulations under this section—

(a) may provide for cases in which an application is not required;

(b) may provide for a relevant application that has been rejected by one person to be dealt with afresh by another person.

(5) Before making regulations under this section, the Secretary of State must consult the GEMA.

(6) Section 7B(1) to (2A) of the Gas Act 1986 does not apply to an application for the grant, extension or restriction of a gas transporter licence so far as the application is one to which regulations under this section apply.

(7) Any sums received by the Secretary of State or the GEMA by virtue of this section are to be paid into the Consolidated Fund.

(8) Regulations under this section are subject to the negative procedure.

(9) For the purposes of section 5A(1) to (10) of the Utilities Act 2000 (duty of the GEMA to carry out impact assessment), a function exercisable by the GEMA by virtue of regulations under this section is to be treated as if it were a function exercisable by it under or by virtue of Part 1 of the Gas Act 1986.”

155: Insert the following Clause—

“Modification of gas transporter licence by Secretary of State

(1) The Secretary of State may modify—

(a) the conditions of a designated person’s gas transporter licence;

(b) the terms of a designated person’s gas transporter licence;

(c) the standard conditions incorporated in gas transporter licences by virtue of section 8 of the Gas Act 1986;

(d) a document maintained in accordance with the conditions of licences of a relevant type or an agreement that gives effect to a document so maintained.

(2) The Secretary of State may exercise the power under subsection (1) only for the purpose of—

(a) facilitating or supporting the financing of the design, construction, commissioning or operation of a hydrogen pipeline project (or of hydrogen pipeline projects generally), or

(b) promoting value for money in connection with a hydrogen pipeline project (or in connection with hydrogen pipeline projects generally).

(3) When making modifications under subsection (1)(a) or (b), the Secretary of State must have regard to—

(a) the duties in sections 1 and 4(1)(b) of the Climate Change Act 2008 (carbon targets and budgets);

(b) the interests of existing and future consumers of gas conveyed through pipes, including their interests in relation to the cost and security of supply of gas;

(c) costs, expenditure or liabilities of any description that the designated person may reasonably be expected to incur in carrying out its activities;

(d) the need to secure that the designated person is able to finance its activities;

(e) the need to secure that the designated person has appropriate incentives in relation to the carrying on of its activities;

(f) such other matters as the Secretary of State considers appropriate.

In paragraph (b), “gas” has the same meaning as in Part 1 of the Gas Act 1986 (see section 48(1) of that Act).

(4) The Secretary of State may modify the conditions or terms of a gas transporter licence held by a person who is or was a designated person in connection with the revocation of the person’s designation in relation to a hydrogen pipeline project.

(5) For the purposes of subsection (1), each of the following is a relevant type of licence—

(a) a gas transporter licence;

(b) a licence under section 7A(1) of the Gas Act 1986 (gas supply licence);

(c) a licence under section 7AA of that Act (gas system planner licence);

(d) a licence under section 7AC of that Act (code manager licence).

(6) References in this section to a designated person’s activities are to the person’s activities for the purposes of—

(a) the designated project to which the modification relates, and

(b) any other designated project authorised by the person’s gas transporter licence.”

156: Insert the following Clause—

“Scope of modification powers under section (Modification of gas transporter licences by Secretary of State)

(1) Modifications made under section (Modification of gas transporter licences by Secretary of State)(1)(a) may include, for example, provision—

(a) about the revenue that the designated person may receive in respect of its activities (its “allowed revenue”);

(b) about how the designated person’s allowed revenue is to be calculated;

(c) about the amounts that the designated person is entitled to receive, or is required to pay, under any hydrogen transport revenue support contract (within the meaning of Chapter 1 of Part 2) to which it is a party;

(d) about activities that the designated person must, may or may not carry on;

(e) about the management of the designated person’s activities, including the manner in which they are carried out;

(f) conferring functions on the GEMA, including provision enabling or requiring the designated person to refer for determination, decision or approval by the GEMA matters specified, or of a description specified, in the licence;

(g) for the amendment of the licence for the purpose of implementing a determination or decision of the GEMA or the Competition and Markets Authority;

(h) requiring the designated person to comply with any direction or instruction, or to have regard to any guidance, given by the GEMA in relation to matters specified, or of a description specified, in the licence;

(i) requiring the designated person to co-operate with the GEMA and to provide such information and assistance to the GEMA as it may require for the purposes of carrying out any of its functions;

(j) about the payment by the designated person, to the GEMA or to the Competition and Markets Authority, of such amounts as may be determined by or in accordance with the licence;

(k) about the disclosure or publication of information by the designated person.

(2) Modifications made under section (Modification of gas transporter licences by Secretary of State)(1)(b) may include, for example, provision about the circumstances in which a licence may be revoked or suspended.

(3) The powers under section (Modification of gas transporter licences by Secretary of State)(1) and (4) to “modify” include the power to amend, add to or remove; and references to modification in section (Modification of gas transporter licences by Secretary of State), this section and section (Procedure etc relating to modifications under section (Modification of gas transporter licences by Secretary of State)) are to be construed accordingly.

(4) The powers conferred by section (Modification of gas transporter licences by Secretary of State)(1) and (4) —

(a) may be exercised generally, only in relation to specified cases, or subject to exceptions (including by making provision for a case to be excepted only so long as specified conditions are satisfied);

(b) may be exercised differently for different purposes or areas;

(c) include power to make incidental, supplementary, consequential or transitional modifications.

(5) Provision included in a gas transporter licence, or in a document or agreement described in section (Modification of gas transporter licences by Secretary of State)(1)(d), by virtue of section (Modification of gas transporter licences by Secretary of State)—

(a) need not relate to the activities authorised by the licence;

(b) may do anything authorised for gas transporter licences by section 7B(4A), (5)(a), (6) or (7) of the Gas Act 1986.

(6) The modification under section (Modification of gas transporter licences by Secretary of State)(1) or (4) of part of a standard condition of a gas transporter licence does not prevent any other part of the condition from continuing to be regarded as a standard condition for the purposes of Part 1 of the Gas Act 1986.

(7) In section 81(2) of the Utilities Act 2000 (standard conditions of gas licences), after “section 85” (as inserted by section 87(13) of this Act) insert “, (Modification of gas transporter licences by Secretary of State)(1) or (4)”.

(8) References in this section to a designated person’s activities are to the person’s activities for the purposes of—

(a) the designated project to which the modification relates, and

(b) any other designated project authorised by the person’s gas transporter licence.”

157: Insert the following Clause—

“Procedure etc relating to modifications under section (Modification of gas transporter licences by Secretary of State)

(1) Before making a modification under section (Modification of gas transporter licences by Secretary of State)(1) or (4), the Secretary of State must consult—

(a) the holder of any licence being modified,

(b) the GEMA, and

(c) such other persons as the Secretary of State considers appropriate.

(2) If under section (Modification of gas transporter licences by Secretary of State)(1) the Secretary of State modifies the standard conditions of a gas transporter licence, the GEMA must—

(a) make the same modification of those standard conditions for the purposes of their incorporation in gas transporter licences granted after that time, and

(b) publish the modification.

(3) The Secretary of State must publish details of any modifications made under section (Modification of gas transporter licences by Secretary of State)(1) and (4) as soon as reasonably practicable after they are made.

(4) The Secretary of State may exclude from publication under subsection (3) any material the disclosure or publication of which the Secretary of State considers—

(a) would be likely to prejudice the commercial interests of any person, or

(b) would be contrary to the interests of national security.”

158: Insert the following Clause—

“Information and advice

(1) The Secretary of State may by regulations make provision about the provision and publication of information and advice in connection with the carrying out of functions of any person under or by virtue of this Part.

(2) The provision that may be made by virtue of subsection (1) includes provision—

(a) for the Secretary of State to require the GEMA to provide information to a hydrogen transport counterparty or any other specified person;

(b) for a hydrogen transport counterparty to require the GEMA to provide information to it;

(c) for the Secretary of State to require a designated person, a hydrogen transport counterparty or any other specified person to provide information to the GEMA;

(d) for the GEMA to require a designated person, a hydrogen transport counterparty or any other specified person to provide information to the GEMA;

(e) for the Secretary of State to require a designated person, a hydrogen transport counterparty, the GEMA or any other specified person to provide information or advice to the Secretary of State or any other specified person;

(f) for the classification and protection of confidential or sensitive information;

(g) for the enforcement of any requirement imposed by virtue of any of paragraphs (a) to (f).

(3) Section 105(1) of the Utilities Act 2000 (general restrictions on disclosure of information) does not apply to a disclosure required by virtue of this section.

(4) The first regulations under this section are subject to the affirmative procedure.

(5) Any other regulations under this section are subject to the negative procedure.

(6) In this section—

“designated person” includes a person who has been a designated person; “hydrogen transport counterparty” has the same meaning as in Chapter 1 of Part 2 (see section 56);

“specified person” means a person specified, or of a description specified, in regulations under this section.

(7) See also section 34(4) of the Gas Act 1986 (general duty for the GEMA to give information, advice and assistance to the Secretary of State or the Competition and Markets Authority).”

159: Insert the following Clause—

“Conditions of gas transporter licences for conveyance of hydrogen

(1) For the purposes of this section, “relevant licence” means a gas transporter licence so far as it authorises a person to convey hydrogen through pipes in connection with the carrying on of a hydrogen pipeline project.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of section 7B(4)(a) of the Gas Act 1986 (conditions of licences), conditions described in subsection (3) may be included in a relevant licence in respect of circumstances where a person other than the licence holder (“the candidate”)—

(a) has applied for, or is considering whether to apply for, a relevant licence, or

(b) is considering whether to apply for financial support for activities relating to the production, transportation, storage or use of hydrogen.

(3) The conditions referred to in subsection (2) are conditions that require the licence holder to comply with a direction given by the Secretary of State or the GEMA requiring the holder to provide to the candidate—

(a) information in relation to the activities authorised by the licence, and

(b) any other assistance that the candidate may reasonably require for the purpose of determining whether to—

(i) apply for a relevant licence, or

(ii) apply for financial support as mentioned in subsection (2)(b).

(4) A person (“P”) may not under section 8(3) of the Gas Act 1986 modify a condition of a relevant licence unless P is of the opinion that the modification is such that—

(a) the licence holder would not be unduly disadvantaged in competing with one or more other holders of relevant licences, and

(b) no other holder of a relevant licence would be unduly disadvantaged in competing with other holders of such licences (including the holder of the relevant licence to be modified).”

160: Insert the following Clause—

“Secretary of State directions to the GEMA

(1) In exercising any functions it has in relation to relevant gas transporter licences, the GEMA must comply with general or particular directions given to it by the Secretary of State for the purpose of promoting value for money in connection with a hydrogen pipeline project (or in connection with hydrogen pipeline projects generally).

(2) In subsection (1), “relevant gas transporter licence” means a gas transporter licence, held by a designated person, that authorises the conveyance of hydrogen through pipes in connection with the person’s designated project.”

161: Insert the following Clause—

“Repeal of Part

(1) The Secretary of State may by regulations repeal any of the preceding provisions of this Part.

(2) So far as any of those provisions is still in force on a relevant date, the Secretary of State must—

(a) consider whether it is appropriate to repeal that provision, and

(b) if satisfied that it is not appropriate to do so, publish a statement no later than 3 months after that date explaining why not.

(3) “Relevant date” in subsection (2) means 31 December 2040 and each five-year anniversary of that date.

(4) Regulations under this section are subject to the affirmative procedure.”

162: Clause 112, page 104, line 15, leave out subsection (3)

163: Clause 112, page 104, line 23, at end insert—

“(5) Before making scheme regulations that apply in relation to Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, the Secretary of State must give notice—

(a) stating that the Secretary of State proposes to make scheme regulations,

(b) setting out or describing the provisions of the regulations that apply in relation to Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, and

(c) specifying the period (of not less than 28 days from the date on which the notice is given) within which representations may be made with respect to those provisions,

and must consider any representations duly made and not withdrawn.

(6) A notice under subsection (5) must be given to each relevant devolved authority, that is to say—

(a) the Scottish Ministers, so far as the regulations apply in relation to Scotland;

(b) the Welsh Ministers, so far as the regulations apply in relation to Wales;

(c) the Department for the Economy in Northern Ireland, so far as the regulations apply in relation to Northern Ireland.

(7) The Secretary of State need not wait until the end of the period specified under subsection (5)(c) before making regulations if, before the end of that period, each relevant devolved authority to which the notice was given has confirmed that it has made any representations it intends to make with respect to the provisions referred to in subsection (5)(b).

(8) The Secretary of State must, if requested to do so by a relevant devolved authority, give the authority a statement setting out whether and how representations made by the authority with respect to the provisions referred to in subsection (5)(b) have been taken into account in the regulations.”

164: After Clause 115, insert the following Clause—

“Power to modify Gas Act 1986 in relation to hydrogen

(1) The Secretary of State may by regulations provide for any provision of the Gas Act 1986—

(a) not to apply, or

(b) to apply with modifications specified in the regulations,

in relation to the production, transportation, storage or use of hydrogen.

(2) The power under subsection (1) may be exercised by amending the Gas Act 1986.

(3) The power under subsection (1) may be exercised only for the purpose of facilitating or promoting the production, transportation, storage or use of hydrogen.

(4) Before exercising the power under subsection (1), the Secretary of State must consult—

(a) the GEMA, and

(b) such other persons as the Secretary of State considers appropriate.

(5) Regulations under subsection (1) are subject to the affirmative procedure.”

Motion on Amendments 18 to 164 agreed.

Motion on Amendment 165

Moved by Lord Callanan

That the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment 165.

165: Insert the following Clause—

“Revenue certainty scheme for sustainable aviation fuel producers: consultation and report

(1) The Secretary of State must carry out a public consultation on the options for designing and implementing a sustainable aviation fuel revenue certainty scheme.

(2) A “sustainable aviation fuel revenue certainty scheme” is a scheme whose purpose is to give producers of sustainable aviation fuel greater certainty than they otherwise would have about the revenue that they will earn from sustainable aviation fuel that they produce.

(3) The Secretary of State must open the consultation within the period of 6 months beginning with the day on which this Act is passed.

(4) The Secretary of State must bring the consultation to the attention of, in particular, such of each of the following as the Secretary of State considers appropriate—

(a) producers of sustainable aviation fuel;

(b) suppliers of sustainable aviation fuel;

(c) airlines.

(5) The Secretary of State must, within the period of 18 months beginning with the day on which this Act is passed, lay before Parliament a report on progress made towards the development of a sustainable aviation fuel revenue certainty scheme.

(6) In this section, “sustainable aviation fuel” means aviation turbine fuel whose use (as compared with the use of other aviation turbine fuel) will, in the opinion of the Secretary of State, contribute to a reduction in emissions of greenhouse gases; and for this purpose—

“aviation turbine fuel” has the meaning given by article 3(1B) of the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligations Order 2007 (S.I. 2007/3072);

“greenhouse gas” has the meaning given by section 92(1) of the Climate Change Act 2008.”

Amendment 165A (as an amendment to Commons Amendment 165) not moved.

Motion on Amendment 165 agreed.

Motion on Amendments 166 to 186

Moved by Lord Callanan

That the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendments 166 to 186.

166: Insert the following Clause—

“Renewable liquid heating fuel obligations

(1) The Secretary of State may by regulations subject off-grid heating fuel suppliers (or off-grid heating fuel suppliers of a particular description) to an obligation in respect of renewable liquid heating fuel that corresponds to or is similar to the obligation mentioned in section 124(2) of the Energy Act 2004 (renewable transport fuel obligation).

(2) The regulations may, for any purpose connected with that obligation, make provision corresponding to or similar to any provision made by, or that may be made under, Chapter 5 of Part 2 of the Energy Act 2004 (powers etc relating to renewable transport fuel obligation).

(3) Before making regulations under this section, the Secretary of State must consult such persons as the Secretary of State considers appropriate.

(4) Regulations under this section are subject to the affirmative procedure.

(5) In this section—

“off-grid heating fuel supplier” means a person who, in the course of business, supplies any—

(a) renewable liquid heating fuel,

(b) fossil fuel, or

(c) other fuel, apart from solid fuel,

at or for delivery to places in Great Britain with a view to its being used wholly or mainly for the purpose of heating buildings to which there is no mains gas supply;

“renewable liquid heating fuel” means fuel that is typically supplied or stored in a liquid state and that is—

(a) biofuel or blended biofuel, or

(b) fuel (other than fossil fuel or nuclear fuel) produced—

(i) wholly by energy from a renewable source, or

(ii) wholly by a process powered wholly by such energy;

and “biofuel”, “blended biofuel”, “fossil fuel” and “renewable source” have the meanings given in section 132 of the Energy Act 2004.”

167: Clause 121, page 110, line 16, at end insert “within subsection (5)(a), (b) or (ba)”

168: Clause 121, page 110, line 25, at end insert—

“(ba) an activity, other than an activity within paragraph (a) or (b), in respect of which the ISOP has functions;”

169: Clause 121, page 110, line 26, leave out “or (b)” and insert “, (b) or (ba)”

170: Clause 121, page 110, line 34, leave out paragraph (d)

171: Clause 124, page 114, line 1, leave out subsection (11)

172: Clause 134, page 120, line 20, leave out “in or securities of” and insert “or any other interest in, or securities of,”

173: Clause 138, page 122, line 21, leave out subsection (3) and insert—

“(3) For the purposes of this Part, references to the ISOP’s functions are to any functions that are exercisable by the person for the time being designated as the ISOP (whether they are exercisable in the person’s capacity as the ISOP or in another capacity).”

174: Clause 139, page 122, line 32, at end insert—

“(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to regulations under paragraph 9 of Schedule 7.”

175: After Clause 159, insert the following Clause—

“Principal objectives of Secretary of State and GEMA

(1) Section 4AA of the Gas Act 1986 (principal objective and general duties of Secretary of State and GEMA) is amended as set out in subsections (2) and (3).

(2) In subsection (1A)(a), for “the reduction of gas-supply emissions of targeted greenhouse gases” substitute “the Secretary of State’s compliance with the duties in sections 1 and 4(1)(b) of the Climate Change Act 2008 (net zero target for 2050 and five-year carbon budgets)”.

(3) In subsection (5B), omit the definitions of “emissions”, “gas-supply emissions” and “targeted greenhouse gases”.

(4) Section 3A of the Electricity Act 1989 (principal objective and general duties of Secretary of State and GEMA) is amended as set out in subsections (5) and (6).

(5) In subsection (1A)(a), for “the reduction of electricity-supply emissions of targeted greenhouse gases” substitute “the Secretary of State’s compliance with the duties in sections 1 and 4(1)(b) of the Climate Change Act 2008 (net zero target for 2050 and five-year carbon budgets)”.

(6) In subsection (5B), omit the definitions of “emissions”, “electricity-supply emissions” and “targeted greenhouse gases”.”

176: Clause 160, page 136, line 20, at end insert—

“(2) The power conferred by section 274(1) (consequential provision) includes, in particular, power to amend provision inserted in the Electricity Act 1989 by Schedule 13 where the amendment is consequential on the coming into force of paragraph 4 of Schedule 9.”

177: After Clause 167, insert the following Clause—

“Electricity support payments for energy-intensive industries

(1) The Secretary of State may make regulations requiring payments (“electricity support payments”) to be made to a person who carries out an energy-intensive activity, for the purpose of alleviating the impact on the person of electricity costs.

(2) In subsection (1), “energy-intensive activity” means an activity (or description of activity) that is designated as such in the regulations.

(3) The regulations may make provision—

(a) about the circumstances in which a person is eligible for electricity support payments;

(b) about how eligibility is to be considered and determined;

(c) setting out a process for applying for electricity support payments, including provision about the form and content of applications;

(d) about the calculation of electricity support payments;

(e) requiring a person to provide information that is relevant to their eligibility for electricity support payments or to the calculation of any such payments;

(f) requiring a person who supplies electricity to another person to provide information that is relevant to the matters mentioned in paragraph (e) (whether to the person to whom the information relates or to another person specified in the regulations);

(g) about the sharing of information provided by virtue of paragraph (e) or (f);

(h) requiring past electricity support payments to be repaid (with or without interest) in circumstances specified in the regulations;

(i) about how amounts repaid by virtue of paragraph (h) are to be applied (including provision for amounts to be held in reserve or paid into the Consolidated Fund);

(j) for the enforcement of obligations imposed by or under the regulations (including provision about interest on late payments and imposing financial penalties);

(k) about the resolution of disputes, including provision about arbitration or appeals (which may in particular include provision for the person conducting an arbitration or determining an appeal to order the payment of costs or expenses or compensation).

(4) Where by virtue of subsection (3)(j) the regulations provide for the imposition of a financial penalty, they must also provide for a right of appeal against the imposition of the penalty.

(5) The regulations may—

(a) appoint a person, with the person’s consent, to carry out functions in connection with electricity support payments (a “support payment administrator”);

(b) confer functions on the support payment administrator;

(c) require the support payment administrator to provide information or assistance to the Secretary of State, or to another person specified in the regulations, in relation to any functions so conferred.

(6) Where—

(a) the regulations impose a requirement on a regulated person (as defined by section 25(8) of the Electricity Act 1989),

(b) the requirement is enforceable by a support payment administrator, and

(c) the support payment administrator is the GEMA,

the regulations may provide for the requirement to be enforceable by the GEMA as if it were a relevant requirement imposed on the person for the purposes of section 25 of that Act.

(7) The regulations may provide for any sum—

(a) that a person is required under the regulations to pay to the Secretary of State or to a support payment administrator, and

(b) that has not been paid by the date required,

to be recoverable from the person as a civil debt due to the Secretary of State or to the support payment administrator (as the case may be).

(8) The regulations may make provision about the terms of a support payment administrator’s appointment, including provision—

(a) for the support payment administrator to be remunerated, or compensated for costs that they incur;

(b) about how an appointment may be terminated by the Secretary of State or by the support payment administrator, and when termination takes effect.

(9) If functions of a support payment administrator (“the outgoing administrator”) are to be taken on by another support payment administrator or by the Secretary of State (“the successor”), the regulations may—

(a) require the outgoing administrator to take steps specified in the regulations to enable or facilitate the carrying out of those functions by the successor;

(b) provide for the transfer of any property, rights or liabilities from the outgoing administrator to the successor;

(c) provide for anything done by or in relation to the outgoing administrator in connection with any property, rights or liabilities to be treated as done, or to be continued, by or in relation to the successor.

“Property” in this subsection includes interests of any description.

(10) Regulations under this section may confer a discretion on the Secretary of State or on a support payment administrator.

(11) Regulations under this section are subject to the affirmative procedure.”

178: Insert the following Clause—

“Levy to fund electricity support payments

(1) The Secretary of State may make regulations requiring the payment of a levy by electricity suppliers for the purpose of funding—

(a) the making of electricity support payments by virtue of section 1 (including expected future payments);

(b) any other costs arising by virtue of section 1 or this section (including expected future costs).

(2) The regulations may make provision—

(a) about the calculation of the levy;

(b) requiring electricity suppliers to provide financial collateral in respect of their obligations to pay the levy, and about the form and terms of such collateral;

(c) for the issuing of notices to require the payment of the levy or the provision of collateral;

(d) for the provision of copies of such notices to persons specified in the regulations or for the publication of such notices;

(e) about how amounts of levy are to be applied once paid (including provision for amounts to be held in reserve or paid into the Consolidated Fund);

(f) for the recovery of unpaid amounts of levy in the event of the insolvency or default of an electricity supplier (including provision requiring amounts to be borne by other electricity suppliers in accordance with the regulations);

(g) requiring electricity suppliers or the GEMA to provide information that is needed to determine—

(i) what an electricity supplier’s obligations are in relation to the levy, or

(ii) whether an electricity supplier has complied with those obligations;

(h) about the sharing of information provided by virtue of paragraph (g);

(i) for the enforcement of obligations imposed by or under the regulations (including provision about interest on late payments and imposing financial penalties);

(j) about the resolution of disputes, including provision about arbitration or appeals (which may in particular include provision for the person conducting an arbitration or determining an appeal to order the payment of costs or expenses or compensation).

(3) Where by virtue of subsection (2)(i) the regulations provide for the imposition of a financial penalty, they must also provide for a right of appeal against the imposition of the penalty.

(4) The regulations may—

(a) appoint a person, with the person’s consent, to carry out functions in connection with the levy (a “levy administrator”);

(b) confer functions on the levy administrator;

(c) require the levy administrator to provide information or assistance to the Secretary of State, or to another person specified in the regulations, in relation to any functions so conferred.

(5) Where—

(a) the regulations impose a requirement on a regulated person (as defined by section 25(8) of the Electricity Act 1989),

(b) the requirement is enforceable by a levy administrator, and

(c) the levy administrator is the GEMA,

the regulations may provide for the requirement to be enforceable by the GEMA as if it were a relevant requirement imposed on the person for the purposes of section 25 of that Act.

(6) The regulations may provide for any sum—

(a) that a person is required under the regulations to pay to the Secretary of State or to a levy administrator, and

(b) that has not been paid by the date required,

to be recoverable from the person as a civil debt due to the Secretary of State or to the levy administrator (as the case may be).

(7) The regulations may make provision about the terms of a levy administrator’s appointment, including provision—

(a) for the levy administrator to be remunerated, or compensated for costs that they incur;

(b) about how an appointment may be terminated by the Secretary of State or by the levy administrator, and when termination takes effect.

(8) If functions of a levy administrator (“the outgoing administrator”) are to be taken on by another levy administrator or by the Secretary of State (“the successor”), the regulations may—

(a) require the outgoing administrator to take steps specified in the regulations to enable or facilitate the carrying out of those functions by the successor;

(b) provide for the transfer of any property, rights or liabilities from the outgoing administrator to the successor;

(c) provide for anything done by or in relation to the outgoing administrator in connection with any property, rights or liabilities to be treated as done, or to be continued, by or in relation to the successor.

“Property” in this subsection includes interests of any description.

(9) Regulations under this section may confer a discretion on the Secretary of State or on a levy administrator.

(10) Regulations under this section are subject to the affirmative procedure.

(11) In this section, “electricity supplier” means the holder of a licence under section 6(1)(d) of the Electricity Act 1989.”

179: Clause 170, page 146, line 6, at end insert—

“(3A) Subsections (3B) and (3C) apply if this section comes into force after 1 November 2023.

(3B) Section 89(1) of the Energy Act 2008 (duty to consult on modifications) may be satisfied by consultation before, as well as by consultation after, 1 November 2023.

(3C) Where—

(a) on or before 1 November 2023 the Secretary of State has, in accordance with section 89(3) of the Energy Act 2008, laid before Parliament a draft of proposed modifications under section 88 of that Act, and

(b) on that date the 40-day period referred to in section 89(4) of that Act has not expired,

in calculating that 40-day period no account is to be taken of the period beginning with 2 November 2023 and ending immediately before the day on which this section comes into force.”

180: Clause 174, page 148, line 13, leave out “provisions amending or repealing primary legislation” and insert “—

(a) provisions amending or repealing an Act of Parliament, an Act or Measure of Senedd Cymru or Northern Ireland legislation;

(b) provisions amending the Heat Networks (Scotland) Act 2021 (asp 9).”

181: Clause 174, page 148, leave out lines 18 to 24

182: Clause 174, page 148, line 25, leave out “or (8)”

183: Clause 174, page 148, leave out lines 32 to 36

184: After Clause 174, insert the following Clause—

“Regulations made by Secretary of State: consultation with devolved authorities

(1) This section applies where—

(a) the Secretary of State proposes to make regulations under section 174 by virtue of any of Parts 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11 and 12 of Schedule 16, and

(b) the regulations contain—

(i) in the case of regulations made by virtue of Part 3, 4, 7, 8, 10, 11 or 12 of Schedule 18, provision within Scottish devolved competence;

(ii) in the case of regulations made by virtue of Part 5 of Schedule 18, provision within Welsh devolved competence.

(2) Before making the regulations, the Secretary of State must give notice—

(a) stating that the Secretary of State proposes to make the regulations,

(b) setting out or describing—

(i) so far as the regulations are made as mentioned in subsection (1)(b)(i), the provision within Scottish devolved competence,

(ii) so far as the regulations are made as mentioned in subsection (1)(b)(ii), the provision within Welsh devolved competence, and

(c) specifying the period (of not less than 28 days from the date on which the notice is given) within which representations may be made with respect to those provisions,

and must consider any representations duly made and not withdrawn.

(3) A notice under subsection (2) must be given to each relevant devolved authority, that is to say—

(a) the Scottish Ministers, if the regulations are made as mentioned in subsection (1)(b)(i) and contain provision within Scottish devolved competence;

(b) the Welsh Ministers, if the regulations are made as mentioned in subsection (1)(b)(ii) and contain provision within Welsh devolved competence.

(4) The Secretary of State need not wait until the end of the period specified under subsection (2)(c) before making regulations if, before the end of that period, each relevant devolved authority to which the notice was given has confirmed that it has made any representations it intends to make with respect to the provision referred to in subsection (2)(b)(i) or (ii) (as the case may be).

(5) The Secretary of State must, if requested to do so by a relevant devolved authority, give the authority a statement setting out whether and how representations made by the authority with respect to the provision referred to in subsection (2)(b)(i) or

(ii) (as the case may be) have been taken into account in the regulations.

(6) For the purposes of this section, provision—

(a) is within Scottish devolved competence if it would be within the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament if it were contained in an Act of that Parliament;

(b) is within Welsh devolved competence if it would be within the legislative competence of Senedd Cymru if it were contained in an Act of the Senedd (ignoring any requirement for the consent of a Minister of the Crown imposed under Schedule 7B to the Government of Wales Act 2006).”

185: Clause 175, page 149, line 12, leave out “primary legislation (as defined in section 174)” and insert “legislation mentioned in section 174(5)”

186: Clause 178, page 151, line 22, at end insert—

“(3A) The Secretary of State may make regulations under this section only if the Secretary of State has also made regulations under section 177(1) (and those regulations are still in force).”

Motion on Amendments 166 to 186 agreed.

Motion on Amendment 187

Moved by Lord Callanan

That the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment 187.

187: Page 172, line 14, leave out Clause 204

Amendment to the Motion on Amendment 187

Moved by Baroness Blake of Leeds

At end insert “and do propose Amendment 187B instead of the words so left out of the Bill—

A187B: Before Clause 205, insert the following new Clause—

“Energy Performance statement

(1) The Secretary of State must, before the end of the period of 6 months beginning with the day on which this Act is passed, lay before Parliament a statement setting out how His Majesty’s Government intends—

(a) to achieve EPC band C or better—

(i) by 2028, in all privately rented residential tenancies, and

(ii) by 2035, in all other homes in the United Kingdom,

where practical, technically feasible, cost effective and affordable,

(b) to achieve EPC band B or better by 2030 in all non-domestic properties, and

(c) to introduce the Future Homes Standard for all new- builds in England by 2025.

(2) The Secretary of State must review, and if subsequently required, by regulations revise—

(a) the level of the cost cap in the Energy Efficiency (Private Rented Property) (England and Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2019 (S.I.2019/595), and

(b) the penalties imposed on landlords of domestic private rented sector property in the Energy Efficiency (Private Rented Property) (England and Wales) Regulations 2015 (S.I. 2015/962).

(3) The Secretary of State must, in developing the content of the statement under subsection (1), consult the Climate Change Committee and its sub-committee on adaptation.””

16:55

Division 0

Ayes: 191

Noes: 216

17:07

Motion on Amendment 187 agreed.

Motion on Amendments 188 to 258

Moved by

[Lord Callanan]

That the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendments 188 to 258.

188: Clause 205, page 172, line 30, leave out “Secretary of State” and insert “appropriate authority”

189: Clause 205, page 173, line 34, at end insert— ““the appropriate authority” means—
(a) in relation to England and Wales, the Secretary of State;
(b) in relation to Scotland, the Scottish Ministers;
(c) in relation to Northern Ireland, the Department;”

190: Clause 205, page 173, line 36, at end insert—
““the Department” means the Department of Finance in Northern Ireland;”

191: Clause 207, page 175, line 14, leave out “Secretary of State” and insert “appropriate authority”

192: Clause 208, page 175, line 24, leave out paragraphs (a) and (b) and insert “primary legislation”

193: Clause 208, page 175, line 25, at end insert—
“(1A) Regulations under this Part containing provision within subsection (2) (with or without other provision)—
(a) if made by the Secretary of State, are subject to the affirmative procedure (see section 276);
(b) if made by the Scottish Ministers, are subject to the affirmative procedure (see section 29 of the Interpretation and Legislative Reform (Scotland) Act 2010 (asp 10));
(c) if made by the Department, may not be made unless a draft of the regulations has been laid before and approved by a resolution of the Northern Ireland Assembly.”

194: Clause 208, page 175, line 26, leave out from beginning to end of line 27 and insert “The provision within this subsection is—”

195: Clause 208, page 175, line 31, at end insert “(but excluding provision made by virtue of section 207(7) (inflation-related adjustments))”

196: Clause 208, page 175, line 32, leave out “an Act of Parliament” and insert “primary legislation”

197: Clause 208, page 175, line 33, at end insert—
“(2A) Any other regulations under this Part—
(a) if made by the Secretary of State, are subject to the negative procedure (see section 276);
(b) if made by the Scottish Ministers, are subject to the negative procedure (see section 28 of the Interpretation and Legislative Reform (Scotland) Act 2010 (asp 10));
(c) if made by the Department, are subject to negative resolution within the meaning given by section 41(6) of the Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954 (c. 33 (N.I.)).”

198: Clause 208, page 175, line 37, at end insert—
“(4) A power of the Department to make regulations under this Part is exercisable by statutory rule for the purposes of the Statutory Rules (Northern Ireland) Order 1979 (S.I. 1979/1573 (N.I. 12)).”

199: Clause 208, page 175, line 37, at end insert—
“(5) In this section “primary legislation” means—
(a) an Act of Parliament,
(b) an Act of the Scottish Parliament,
(c) an Act or Measure of Senedd Cymru, or
(d) Northern Ireland legislation.”

200: Clause 218, page 185, line 38, leave out from beginning to end of line 5 on page 186

201: Clause 218, page 186, line 7, at end insert—
“(2A) Before making ESOS regulations that contain provision within devolved competence, the Secretary of State must give notice—
(a) stating that the Secretary of State proposes to make ESOS regulations,
(b) setting out or describing the provisions of the regulations that contain provision within devolved competence, and
(c) specifying the period (of not less than 28 days from the date on which the notice is given) within which representations may be made with respect to those provisions,
and must consider any representations duly made and not withdrawn.
(2B) A notice under subsection (2A) must be given to each relevant devolved authority, that is to say—
(a) the Scottish Ministers, so far as the regulations contain provision within Scottish devolved competence;
(b) the Welsh Ministers, so far as the regulations contain provision within Welsh devolved competence;
(c) the Department for the Economy in Northern Ireland, so far as the regulations contain provision within Northern Ireland devolved competence.
(2C) The Secretary of State need not wait until the end of the period specified under subsection (2A)(c) before making ESOS regulations if, before the end of that period, each relevant devolved authority to which the notice was given has confirmed that it has made any representations it intends to make with respect to the provisions referred to in subsection (2A)(b).
(2D) The Secretary of State must, if requested to do so by a relevant devolved authority, give the authority a statement setting out whether and how representations made by the authority with respect to the provisions referred to in subsection (2A)(b) have been taken into account in the regulations.
(2E) References in subsection (2A) to provision within devolved competence are to provision that is within Scottish, Welsh or Northern Ireland devolved competence.
(2F) Where the Secretary of State makes ESOS regulations that have effect in relation to the compliance period beginning on 6 December 2019 (see regulation 4 of the Energy Savings Opportunity Schemes Regulations 2014 (S.I. 2014/1643))—
(a) subsections (2A) to (2E) do not apply, and
(b) before making the regulations, the Secretary of State must consult—
(i) the Scottish Ministers, so far as the regulations contain provision within Scottish devolved competence,
(ii) the Welsh Ministers, so far as the regulations contain provision within Welsh devolved competence, and
(iii) the Department for the Economy in Northern Ireland, so far as the regulations contain provision within Northern Ireland devolved competence,
and subsection (2) applies to consultation under paragraph (b) as it applies to consultation under subsection (1).”

202: Clause 218, page 186, line 8, leave out subsection (3)

203: Clause 218, page 186, line 30, leave out paragraph (h)

204: Clause 218, page 186, line 32, leave out subsection (8)

205: Clause 242, page 203, line 35, leave out from beginning to “financial” in line 1 on page 204 and insert “The Secretary of State may, with the consent of the Treasury, provide”

206: Clause 242, page 204, line 11, leave out paragraph (d) and insert—
“(d) the acquisition of shares or any other interest in, or securities of, a body corporate;”

207: Clause 242, page 204, line 13, leave out “investment by”

208: Clause 245, page 206, line 13, leave out from “wind” to end of line 18 and insert “activity” means—
(a) the planning, construction, operation or decommissioning of offshore wind electricity infrastructure, or
(b) the identification of an area for activity within paragraph (a) (whether or not any particular offshore wind electricity infrastructure is in contemplation).”

209: Clause 245, page 206, line 18, at end insert—
“(2) In subsection (1), “offshore wind electricity infrastructure” means—
(a) a generating station, in the UK marine area, that generates electricity from wind (an “offshore wind generating station”), or
(b) infrastructure, in the UK marine area, used or intended for use in connection with—
(i) an offshore wind generating station, or
(ii) the conveyance of electricity generated by an offshore wind generating station.”

210: Clause 245, page 206, line 18, at end insert—
“(3) For the purposes of the reference in subsection (2)(b)(ii) to infrastructure used or intended for use in connection with the conveyance of electricity generated by an offshore wind generating station, it does not matter whether the infrastructure is also used or intended for use in connection with the conveyance of electricity generated from other sources.”

211: Clause 246, page 206, line 21, leave out “one or more relevant offshore wind projects” and insert “relevant offshore wind activities”

212: Clause 246, page 206, line 25, leave out “a project” and insert “an activity”

213: Clause 246, page 206, line 28, leave out “a project” and insert “an activity”

214: Clause 246, page 207, line 7, leave out “project or projects” and insert “activities”

215: Clause 247, page 207, line 36, leave out “projects” and insert “activities”

216: Clause 247, page 207, line 38, leave out “one or more relevant offshore wind projects” and insert “relevant offshore wind activities”

217: Clause 247, page 208, line 2, leave out “for and in connection with the determination of the extent to which” and insert “enabling a determination to be made, by or on behalf of the relevant person, as to whether (and, if so, the extent to which)”

218: Clause 247, page 208, line 4, leave out “a person” and insert “another person”

219: Clause 247, page 208, line 5, leave out “project” and insert “activity”

220: Clause 247, page 208, line 7, after “extent” insert “(if any)”

221: Clause 247, page 208, line 11, leave out “project” and insert “activity”

222: Clause 247, page 208, line 11, at end insert—
“(5A) “Relevant person”, for the purposes of a determination made by virtue of subsection (4)(a), means the person who imposed the compensation condition.”

223: Clause 247, page 208, line 24, at end insert “, where the functions relate to the operation or management of a marine recovery fund”

224: Clause 247, page 208, line 32, at end insert—
“(8A) Regulations made by virtue of subsection (7)(c) must provide that the delegation of a function—
(a) to a Scottish public authority requires the consent of the Scottish Ministers;
(b) to a Welsh public authority requires the consent of the Welsh Ministers;
(c) to a Northern Ireland public authority requires the consent of DAERA.”

225: Clause 247, page 208, line 38, at end insert—
“(9A) Before making regulations under this section, the Secretary of State must consult—
(a) the Scottish Ministers, so far as the regulations relate to relevant offshore wind activities in Scotland,
(b) the Welsh Ministers, so far as the regulations relate to relevant offshore wind activities in Wales,
(c) DAERA, so far as the regulations relate to relevant offshore wind activities in Northern Ireland, and
(d) such other persons as the Secretary of State considers appropriate.”

226: Clause 247, page 208, line 40, leave out subsection (11)

227: Clause 248, page 209, line 6, leave out “projects” and insert “activities”

228: Clause 248, page 209, line 9, leave out “a relevant offshore wind project” and insert “relevant offshore wind activities”

229: Clause 248, page 209, line 15, leave out “projects” and insert “activities”

230: Clause 248, page 209, line 15, leave out from “region” to end of line 16

231: Clause 248, page 209, line 18, leave out “projects” and insert “activities”

232: Clause 248, page 209, line 22, leave out “projects” and insert “activities”

233: Clause 248, page 209, line 24, leave out “project” does not include a project” and insert “activity” does not include an activity within section 245(a)”

234: Clause 248, page 210, line 4, leave out “a project” and insert “an activity”

235: Clause 248, page 210, line 11, leave out sub-paragraph (ii)

236: Clause 248, page 211, line 1, leave out sub-paragraph (iii)

237: Clause 248, page 211, line 21, at end insert—
“(6A) Regulations made under this section by the Secretary of State—
(a) may not provide for a function that is exercisable by a Scottish public authority, a Welsh public authority or a Northern Ireland public authority to cease to be exercisable by that authority, and
(b) to the extent that a function is exercisable by or on behalf of a Scottish public authority, a Welsh public authority or a Northern Ireland public authority, may not provide for the function also to be exercisable to that extent by another person,
but may (subject to paragraphs (a) and (b)) modify such a function.”

238: Clause 248, page 211, line 23, after “authority” insert “or a specified person”

239: Clause 248, page 211, line 25, at end insert—
“(7A) But regulations made by the Secretary of State by virtue of subsection (7)(a) may not enable directions to be given—
(a) to a Scottish public authority by a person other than the Scottish Ministers;
(b) to a Welsh public authority by a person other than the Welsh Ministers.”

240: Clause 248, page 212, line 3, leave out “projects” and insert “activities”

241: Clause 248, page 212, line 4, leave out “the Scottish inshore region,”

242: Clause 248, page 212, line 6, leave out from beginning to end of line 12

243: Clause 249, page 212, line 21, leave out “projects” and insert “activities”

244: Clause 249, page 212, line 24, leave out “projects” and insert “activities”

245: Clause 250, page 214, line 34, leave out “project” and insert “activity”

246: Clause 250, page 215, line 3, at end insert—
“(3) References in this Chapter—
(a) to a Scottish public authority are to the Scottish Ministers or any other public authority whose functions are exercisable only or mainly in or as regards Scotland;
(b) to a Welsh public authority are to the Welsh Ministers or any other public authority whose functions are exercisable only or mainly in or as regards Wales;
(c) to a Northern Ireland public authority are to a Northern Ireland department or any other public authority whose functions are exercisable only or mainly in or as regards Northern Ireland.”

247: After Clause 252, insert the following Clause—
“Regulations under section 251 and 252: procedure with devolved authorities
Regulations under section 251
(1) Before making regulations under section 251 that contain provision within devolved competence, the Secretary of State must give notice to each relevant devolved authority—
(a) stating that the Secretary of State proposes to make regulations under that section,
(b) setting out or describing the provision that is within the relevant devolved competence, and
(c) specifying the period (of not less than 28 days from the date on which the notice is given) within which representations may be made with respect to that provision,
and must consider any representations duly made and not withdrawn.
(2) The Secretary of State need not wait until the end of the period specified under subsection (2)(c) before making regulations if, before the end of that period, each relevant devolved authority to which the notice was given has confirmed that it has made any representations it intends to make with respect to the provision referred to in subsection (2)(b).
(3) The Secretary of State must, if requested to do so by a relevant devolved authority, give the authority a statement setting out whether and how representations made by the authority with respect to the provision referred to in subsection (2)(b) have been taken into account in the regulations.
(4) In subsections (1) to (3), “relevant devolved authority”, in relation to regulations, means—
(a) the Scottish Ministers, if the regulations contain provision within Scottish devolved competence;
(b) the Welsh Ministers, if the regulations contain provision within Welsh devolved competence;
(c) the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland, if the regulations contain provision within Northern Ireland devolved competence;
and “the relevant devolved competence”, in relation to a relevant devolved authority, is to be construed accordingly.
Regulations under section 252
(5) The Secretary of State may not make regulations under section 252 containing provision within Scottish devolved competence unless the Scottish Ministers have consented to that provision.
(6) The Secretary of State may not make regulations under section 252 containing provision within Welsh devolved competence unless the Welsh Ministers have consented to that provision.
Devolved competence
(7) For the purposes of this section, provision—
(a) is within Scottish devolved competence if it would be within the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament if it were contained in an Act of that Parliament;
(b) is within Welsh devolved competence if it would be within the legislative competence of Senedd Cymru if it were contained in an Act of the Senedd (ignoring any requirement for the consent of a Minister of the Crown imposed under Schedule 7B to the Government of Wales Act 2006);
(c) is within Northern Ireland devolved competence if it—
(i) would be within the legislative competence of the Northern Ireland Assembly if it were contained in an Act of that Assembly, and
(ii) would not, if it were contained in a Bill in the Northern Ireland Assembly, result in the Bill requiring the consent of the Secretary of State under section 8 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998;
and references to provision being within devolved competence are to provision that is within Scottish, Welsh or Northern Ireland devolved competence.”

248: Clause 254, page 220, line 8, leave out “the”

249: Clause 254, page 220, line 8, at end insert—
“(za) the Petroleum (Production) (Landward Areas) Regulations 1995 (S.I.
1995/1436),
(zb) the Petroleum (Current Model Clauses) Order 1999 (S.I. 1999/160),
(zc) the Petroleum Licensing (Exploration and Production) (Seaward and Landward Areas) Regulations 2004 (S.I. 2004/352),”

250: Clause 254, page 220, line 10, leave out “(“the 2008 Regulations”)”

251: Clause 254, page 220, line 12, leave out “(“the 2014 Regulations”)”

252: Clause 254, page 220, line 13, leave out subsections (2) and (3) and insert—
“(2) Where a licence granted (or having effect as if granted) by the Oil and Gas Authority under the Petroleum (Production) Act 1934 or the Petroleum Act 1998—
(a) incorporates model clauses amended by a paragraph of Schedule 19 (whether or not any provision of those model clauses is modified or excluded), and
(b) is in force immediately before that paragraph comes into force,
the licence has effect with the amendments provided for by that paragraph.”

253: Clause 254, page 220, line 35, leave out “2014 Regulations” and insert “Petroleum Licensing (Exploration and Production) (Landward Areas) Regulations 2014”

254: Clause 257, page 223, line 15, leave out “or a licensed disposal site”

255: Clause 257, page 224, leave out lines 5 to 8

256: Clause 257, page 225, line 8, after “installation” insert “or a licensed disposal site”

257: Clause 257, page 225, line 36, at end insert—
““licensed disposal site” means a site that would be, or would at any time have been, a relevant disposal site but for section 7B(5)(a) (nuclear site licence granted in respect of site);”

258: After Clause 259, insert the following Clause—
“Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage: implementation power
(1) The Secretary of State may by regulations make such provision as the Secretary of State considers appropriate—
(a) to implement the CSC, or
(b) otherwise for the purposes of dealing with any other matter arising out of, or related to, the CSC.
(2) The provision that may be made by virtue of subsection (1) includes provision that is authorised by the CSC to be made in relation to a particular matter.
(3) Regulations under this section may amend—
(a) Schedule 20,
(b) the Nuclear Installations Act 1965, or
(c) any other enactment having effect in relation to a matter to which the CSC relates.
(4) In this section, “the CSC” means the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage (as amended or supplemented from time to time).
(5) Regulations under this section are subject to the affirmative procedure.”

Motion on Amendments 188 to 258 agreed.

Motion on Amendment 259

Moved by

[Lord Callanan]

That the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment 259.

259: After Clause 269, insert the following Clause—
“Great British Nuclear
(1) The Secretary of State may by notice designate a company as Great British Nuclear.
(2) A company may be designated under this section only if—
(a) it is limited by shares, and
(b) it is wholly-owned by the Crown.
(3) A notice under subsection (1)—
(a) must specify the time from which the designation has effect, and
(b) must be published by the Secretary of State as soon as reasonably practicable after the notice is given.
(4) The designation of a company terminates—
(a) if it ceases to be wholly-owned by the Crown, or
(b) if the Secretary of State revokes its designation by notice.
(5) A notice under subsection (4)(b)—
(a) must specify the time from which the revocation has effect, and
(b) must be published by the Secretary of State as soon as reasonably practicable after the notice is given.
(6) For the purposes of this section a company is wholly-owned by the Crown if each share in the company is held by—
(a) a Minister of the Crown,
(b) the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority established by section 1 of the Energy Act 2004,
(c) the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority established by section 1 of the Atomic Energy Authority Act 1954,
(d) a company which is wholly-owned by the Crown, or
(e) a nominee of a person falling within any of paragraphs (a) to (d).
(7) A company designated as Great British Nuclear under this section is exempt from the requirement in section 59 of the Companies Act 2006 (requirement as to use of “limited” in company name).
(8) In this section—
“company” means a company registered under the Companies Act 2006;
“Minister of the Crown” has the same meaning as in the Ministers of the Crown Act 1975 (see section 8(1) of that Act).”

Amendment to the Motion not moved.

Motion on Amendment 259 agreed.

Motion on Amendment 260

Moved by

[Lord Callanan]

That the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment 260.

260: Insert the following Clause—
“Crown status
(1) Great British Nuclear is not to be regarded as a servant or agent of the Crown or as enjoying any status, immunity or privilege of the Crown.
(2) Great British Nuclear’s property is not to be regarded as property of, or property held on behalf of, the Crown.”

Amendment to the Motion not moved.

Motion on Amendment 260 agreed.

Motion on Amendment 261

Moved by

[Lord Callanan]

That the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment 261.

261: Insert the following Clause—
“Great British Nuclear’s objects
Great British Nuclear’s objects are to facilitate the design, construction, commissioning and operation of nuclear energy generation projects for the purpose of furthering any policies published by His Majesty's government.”

Amendment to the Motion not moved.

Motion on Amendment 261 agreed.

Motion on Amendment 262

Moved by

[Lord Callanan]

That the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment 262.

262: Insert the following Clause—
“Financial assistance
(1) The Secretary of State may provide financial assistance—
(a) to Great British Nuclear, or
(b) to any other person to facilitate the design, construction, commissioning and operation of nuclear energy generation projects.
(2) Financial assistance under this section may be provided in any form and in particular may be provided—
(a) by way of grant, loan, guarantee or indemnity,
(b) by the acquisition of shares or any other interest in, or securities of, a body corporate,
(c) by the acquisition of any undertaking or of any assets,
(d) pursuant to a contract, or
(e) by incurring expenditure for the benefit of the person assisted.
(3) Financial assistance under this section may be provided subject to such conditions as the Secretary of State considers appropriate, which may include—
(a) conditions about repayment with or without interest or other return, or
(b) conditions with which Great British Nuclear or any recipient of financial assistance under subsection (1)(b) must comply if the financial assistance is used for—
(i) acquiring shares or any other interest in, or securities of, a body corporate, or
(ii) participating in a partnership or joint venture.
(4) The power to provide financial assistance under this section is in addition to (and does not limit or replace) any other power of a Minister of the Crown to provide financial assistance.
(5) In this section—
“Minister of the Crown” has the same meaning as in the Ministers of the Crown Act 1975 (see section 8(1) of that Act);
“partnership” means—
(a) a partnership within the meaning of the Partnership Act 1890, or
(b) a limited partnership within the meaning of the Limited Partnerships Act 1907.”

Amendment to the Motion not moved.

Motion on Amendment 262 agreed.

Motion on Amendment 263

Moved by

[Lord Callanan]

That the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment 263.

263: Insert the following Clause—
“Secretary of State directions and guidance
(1) The Secretary of State may from time to time give Great British Nuclear directions or guidance.
(2) Before giving a direction or issuing guidance the Secretary of State must consult Great British Nuclear and such other persons as the Secretary of State considers appropriate.
(3) Directions may be general or particular in character.
(4) Great British Nuclear must—
(a) comply with any directions given to it under this section, and
(b) have regard to any guidance given to it under this section.
(5) The Secretary of State must—
(a) publish and lay before Parliament any directions given to Great British Nuclear under this section, and
(b) publish any guidance given to Great British Nuclear under this section.”

Amendment to the Motion not moved.

Motion on Amendment 263 agreed.

Motion on Amendment 264

Moved by

[Lord Callanan]

That the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment 264.

264: Insert the following Clause—
“Annual report
(1) Great British Nuclear must, after the end of each reporting year, send a report to the Secretary of State about the activities it has undertaken during that year.
(2) The Secretary of State must lay a copy of the report before Parliament together with any comments that the Secretary of State considers appropriate.
(3) In this section “reporting year”, in relation to Great British Nuclear, means a period of 12 months ending with 31 March (but does not include any period before its designation as Great British Nuclear).”

Amendment to the Motion not moved.

Motion on Amendment 264 agreed.

Motion on Amendment 265

Moved by

[Lord Callanan]

That the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment 265.

265: Insert the following Clause—
“Annual accounts
(1) Great British Nuclear must send a copy of its accounts and reports for each financial year to the Secretary of State before the end of the period for filing those accounts and reports.
(2) The Secretary of State must lay a copy of any accounts and reports received under subsection (1) before Parliament.
(3) In this section—
“accounts and reports” means, in relation to Great British Nuclear, the annual accounts and reports that Great British Nuclear’s directors must deliver to the registrar under section 441 of the Companies Act 2006;
“financial year”, in relation to Great British Nuclear, means Great British Nuclear’s financial year determined in accordance with section 390 of the Companies Act 2006;
“period for filing”, in relation to accounts and reports for a financial year, has the same meaning as in the Companies Acts (see section 442 of the Companies Act 2006);
“the registrar” has the meaning given by section 1060(3) of the Companies Act 2006.”

Amendment to the Motion not moved.

Motion on Amendment 265 agreed.

Motion on Amendment 266

Moved by

[Lord Callanan]

That the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment 266.

266: Insert the following Clause—
“Transfer schemes
(1) The Secretary of State may make one or more schemes for the transfer of property, rights and liabilities—
(a) to a GBN body or a proposed GBN body from—
(i) a former GBN body;
(ii) a GBN body;
(iii) a proposed GBN body;
(iv) a Minister of the Crown or Crown body;
(v) a designated BNFL body;
(vi) an NDA body;
(vii) a UKAEA body;
(viii) a nominee of a person falling within any of sub- paragraphs (i) to (vii);
(b) to a former GBN body, a Minister of the Crown or Crown body, a designated BNFL body or a public body from—
(i) a former GBN body;
(ii) a GBN body.
(2) The things that may be transferred under a transfer scheme include—
(a) rights and liabilities relating to a contract of employment;
(b) property, rights and liabilities that could not otherwise be transferred;
(c) property acquired, and rights and liabilities arising, after the making of the scheme;
(d) criminal liabilities.
(3) A transfer scheme may—
(a) create rights, or impose liabilities, in relation to property, rights or liabilities transferred;
(b) make provision about the continuing effect of things done by a transferor in respect of anything transferred;
(c) make provision about the continuation of things (including legal proceedings) in the process of being done by, on behalf of or in relation to a transferor in respect of anything transferred;
(d) make provision for references to a transferor in an instrument or other document in respect of anything transferred to be treated as references to the transferee;
(e) make provision for shared ownership or use of the property;
(f) make provision for apportioning property, rights or liabilities;
(g) require a transferor, an associate of a transferor, or a transferee, to enter into any agreement of any kind, or for a purpose, specified in or determined in accordance with the scheme;
(h) make provision for transferring property, rights and liabilities irrespective of any requirement for consent that would otherwise apply;
(i) make provision for preventing a right of pre-emption, right of reverter, right of forfeiture, right to compensation or other similar right from arising or becoming exercisable as a result of the transfer of property, rights or liabilities;
(j) make provision for dispensing with any formality in relation to the transfer of property, rights or liabilities by the scheme;
(k) make provision for reimbursing any person in respect of expenditure reasonably incurred by the person in connection with the making of a transfer scheme;
(l) make provision that has the same or similar effect to the TUPE regulations;
(m) make other consequential, supplementary, incidental or transitional provision.
(4) A transfer scheme may provide—
(a) for modifications by agreement;
(b) for modifications to have effect from the date when the original scheme came into effect.
(5) A transfer scheme may make provision requiring a transferor to provide such co-operation to a transferee as the transferee may reasonably require in connection with the implementation of the scheme.
(6) The co-operation that may be required by virtue of subsection (5) includes, in particular, co-operation in relation to—
(a) the provision of information;
(b) consultation with representatives of employees transferred by the scheme.
(7) Any requirement imposed on a person by a transfer scheme is enforceable by the Secretary of State in civil proceedings—
(a) for an injunction,
(b) for specific performance of a statutory duty under section 45 of the Court of Session Act 1988, or
(c) for any other appropriate remedy or relief.
(8) Before making a transfer scheme, the Secretary of State must consult—
(a) the transferor (or, if there is more than one transferor, the transferors), and
(b) such other persons as the Secretary of State considers appropriate.
(9) Subsection (8) may be satisfied by consultation before the passing of this Act (as well as by consultation after that time).
(10) The making of a transfer scheme is not a trigger event for the purposes of the National Security and Investment Act 2021.
(11) In this section—
“associate” has the meaning given by section 1152 of the Companies Act 2006; “company” means a company registered under the Companies Act 2006; “Crown body” means any body corporate in which a Minister of the Crown holds, directly or indirectly, any shares or other interest;
“designated BNFL body” means a company designated for the purposes of Schedule 7 to the Energy Act 2004 or any body corporate in which a company designated for those purposes holds, directly or indirectly, any shares or other interest;
“former GBN body” means—
(a) a company formerly designated as Great British Nuclear, or
(b) any body corporate in which a company formerly designated as Great British Nuclear—
(i) holds, directly or indirectly, any shares or other interest, and
(ii) held, directly or indirectly, any shares or other interest, at a time at which it was designated as Great British Nuclear;
“GBN body” means Great British Nuclear or any body corporate in which Great British Nuclear holds, directly or indirectly, any shares or other interest;
“information” includes documents;
“Minister of the Crown” has the same meaning as in the Ministers of the Crown Act 1975 (see section 8(1) of that Act);
“NDA company” means the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (established by section 1 of the Energy Act 2004) or any body corporate in which the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority holds, directly or indirectly, any shares or other interest;
“proposed GBN body” means a company that the Secretary of State proposes to designate as Great British Nuclear or any body corporate in which a company proposed to be designated for those purposes holds, directly or indirectly, any shares or other interest;
“public body” means a body established by an enactment (within the meaning of Part 1 of this Act) or any body corporate in which a body established by an enactment holds, directly or indirectly, any shares or other interest;
“the TUPE regulations” means the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (S.I. 2006/246);
“UKAEA body” means the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (established by section 1 of the Atomic Energy Authority Act 1954) or any body corporate in which the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority holds, directly or indirectly, any shares or other interest.”

Amendment to the Motion not moved.

Motion on Amendment 266 agreed.

Motion on Amendment 267

Moved by

[Lord Callanan]

That the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment 267.

267: Insert the following Clause—
“Transfer schemes: compensation
(1) A scheme under section (Transfer schemes) may provide for a transferor or any person who has suffered loss or damage in consequence of the scheme to be entitled to compensation from the Secretary of State or a transferee under the scheme, in accordance with provision made by or under the scheme.
(2) Where a person is entitled to compensation, the amount of compensation is to be the amount—
(a) agreed by the Secretary of State and the person, or
(b) in the absence of such agreement, determined by an independent valuer.
(3) An independent valuer appointed for the purposes of subsection (2) must be appointed—
(a) by the Secretary of State and the person, or
(b) in the absence of such agreement, by the Secretary of State on behalf of both the Secretary of State and the person.
(4) The Secretary of State may by regulations make provision about compensation under this section that corresponds or is similar to any provision about compensation that may be made by the Secretary of State by regulations under paragraph 8(5) of Schedule 7.
(5) Regulations under this section are subject to the negative procedure.”

Amendment to the Motion not moved.

Motion on Amendment 267 agreed.

Motion on Amendment 268

Moved by

[Lord Callanan]

That the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment 268.

268: Insert the following Clause—
“Transfer schemes: taxation
(1) The Treasury may by regulations make provision varying the way in which a relevant tax has effect in relation to—
(a) anything transferred under a scheme under section (Transfer schemes), or
(b) anything done for the purposes of, or in relation to, a transfer under such a scheme.
(2) The provision that may be made under subsection (1)(a) includes, in particular, provision for—
(a) a tax provision not to apply, or to apply with modifications, in relation to anything transferred;
(b) anything transferred to be treated in a specified way for the purposes of a tax provision;
(c) the Secretary of State to be required or permitted to determine, or to specify the method for determining, anything that needs to be determined for the purposes of any tax provision so far as relating to anything transferred.
(3) The provision that may be made under subsection (1)(b) includes, in particular, provision for—
(a) a tax provision not to apply, or to apply with modifications, in relation to anything done for the purposes of, or in relation to, the transfer;
(b) anything done for the purposes of, or in relation to, the transfer to have or not have a specified consequence or be treated in a specified way;
(c) the Secretary of State to be required or permitted to determine, or to specify the method for determining, anything that needs to be determined for the purposes of any tax provision so far as relating to anything done for the purposes of, or in relation to, the transfer.
(4) In this section—
(a) “relevant tax” means income tax, corporation tax, capital gains tax, stamp duty, stamp duty reserve tax, stamp duty land tax or value added tax;
(b) “tax provision” means any provision—
(i) about a relevant tax, and
(ii) made by an enactment (within the meaning of Part 1 of this Act);
(c) references to the transfer of a property include the grant of the lease.
(5) A statutory instrument containing regulations under this section is subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of the House of Commons.”

Amendment to the Motion not moved.

Motion on Amendment 268 agreed.

Motion on Amendment 269

Moved by

[Lord Callanan]

That the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment 269.

269: Insert the following Clause—
“Transfer schemes: provision of information or assistance
(1) The Secretary of State may direct a person within subsection (2) to provide the Secretary of State with such specified information or assistance as the Secretary of State may reasonably require in connection with the making of a scheme under section (Transfer schemes).
(2) A person is within this subsection if—
(a) property, rights or liabilities are likely to be transferred from or to the person by such a scheme, or
(b) the person is a body corporate that is likely to be transferred under such a scheme.
(3) Paragraph 12(4), (6), (7) and (8) of Schedule 7 apply to a direction under this section as they apply to a direction under sub-paragraph (1) of that paragraph.
(4) In this section—
“assistance” includes assistance provided in a country or territory other than the United Kingdom;
“information” includes documents;
“specified” means specified in the direction.”

Amendment to the Motion not moved.

Motion on Amendment 269 agreed.

Motion on Amendment 270

Moved by

[Lord Callanan]

That the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment 270.

270: Insert the following Clause—
“Reimbursement and compensation in connection with designation
The Secretary of State may reimburse a person in respect of expenditure reasonably incurred by the person in preparation for or in connection with the designation of a company under section (Great British Nuclear) (other than any expenditure incurred in connection with the making of a scheme under section (Transfer schemes)).”

Amendment to the Motion not moved.

Motion on Amendment 270 agreed.

Motion on Amendment 271

Moved by

[Lord Callanan]

That the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment 271.

271: Insert the following Clause—
“Pension arrangements in connection with Great British Nuclear
(1) The Secretary of State may by regulations make provision about pension arrangements in relation to Great British Nuclear that corresponds or is similar to any provision about pension arrangements in relation to the ISOP that may be made by the Secretary of State by regulations under paragraph 2 or 3 of Schedule 8 (see paragraph 4 of that Schedule for restrictions on how the power to make regulations under paragraph 2 or 3 of that Schedule may be exercised).
(2) Before making regulations under subsection (1) that make provision corresponding or similar to the provision that may be made by regulations under paragraph 2(1) of Schedule 8, the Secretary of State must carry out a consultation corresponding to the consultation required by paragraph 2(5) of that Schedule.
(3) Before making regulations under subsection (1) that make provision corresponding or similar to the provision that may be made by regulations under paragraph 3(1) of Schedule 8, the Secretary of State must carry out a consultation corresponding to the consultation required by paragraph 3(4) of that Schedule.
(4) Subsections (2) and (3) may be satisfied by consultation before the passing of this Act (as well as by consultation after that time).
(5) The Secretary of State may direct a person within subsection (6) to provide the Secretary of State with specified pensions information or such specified assistance as the Secretary of State may reasonably require in preparation for or in connection with the exercise of the power conferred on the Secretary of State by subsection (1).
(6) The following persons are within this subsection—
(a) the trustee of a qualifying pension scheme;
(b) any person who exercises functions on behalf of a person within paragraph (a);
(c) any person who is or has been an employer of a qualifying member of a qualifying pension scheme.
(7) Sub-paragraphs (5) to (7) of paragraph 5 of Schedule 8 apply to a direction given under subsection (5) as they apply to a direction given under sub-paragraph (1) of that paragraph.
(8) The exercise of the power conferred on the Secretary of State by subsection (1) is not a trigger event for the purposes of the National Security and Investment Act 2021.
(9) In this section—
“pensions information” means information that—
(a) relates to pensions or other benefits under a qualifying pension scheme, or
(b) relates to the administration of a qualifying pension scheme in respect of pensions or other benefits under the scheme;
“qualifying member”, in relation to a qualifying pension scheme, means a person who is or has been a member (as defined by section 124(1) of the Pensions Act 1995) of the scheme;
“qualifying pension scheme” means a pension scheme that provides for the payment of pensions or other benefits to or in respect of employees or former employees of—
(a) a transferor in relation to a transfer scheme under section (Transfer schemes), or
(b) an associate (as defined by section 1152 of the Companies Act 2006) of such a transferor;
“specified” means specified in the direction.
(10) Regulations under this section are subject to the negative procedure.”

Amendment to the Motion not moved.

Motion on Amendment 271 agreed.

Motion on Amendment 272

Moved by

[Lord Callanan]

That the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment 272.

272: Page 238, line 5, leave out Clause 270

Amendment to the Motion on Amendment 272

Moved by

[Lord Teverson]

Leave out “agree” and insert “disagree”.

[Lord Teverson (LD)]

My Lords, for the reputation of the UK internationally and for the health of the planet, I wish to test the opinion of the House on this amendment.

17:12

Division 2

Ayes: 186

Noes: 214

17:23

Motion on Amendment 272 agreed.

Motion on Amendment 273

Moved by

[Lord Callanan]

That the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment 273.

273: Page 238, line 10, leave out Clause 271

Motion on Amendment 273 agreed.

Motion on Amendment 274

Moved by

[Lord Callanan]

That the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment 274.

274: Page 238, line 23, leave out Clause 272

Amendment to the Motion on Amendment 274

Moved by

[Baroness Boycott]

At end insert “and do propose Amendment 274B instead of the words so left out of the Bill—

274B: After Clause 271, insert the following new Clause—
“Local supply for community energy
(1) Within 18 months of this Act being passed the Secretary of State must consult and report on the barriers preventing the development of community energy schemes.
(2) For the purposes of this section, community energy schemes are defined as low carbon and renewable energy schemes owned, or part-owned, by community organisations.
(3) In carrying out the consultation, the Secretary of State must consult with—
(a) current and prospective community energy generators,
(b) the community energy industry,
(c) the electricity transmission and distribution industries,
(d) licensed energy suppliers, and
(e) any other persons deemed relevant by the Secretary of State.
(4) Within six months of the closure of the consultation conducted under subsection (1), the Secretary of State must respond to the consultation and bring forward proposals to remove the barriers preventing the development of community energy schemes.””

[Baroness Boycott (CB)]

My Lords, I beg leave to test the opinion of the House on this very simple, good-for-everybody amendment.

17:25

Division 3

Ayes: 208

Noes: 205

17:35

Motion on Amendments 275 to 338

Moved by

[Lord Callanan]

That the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendments 275 to 338.

275: Page 240, line 6, leave out Clause 273

276: Clause 274, page 241, line 22, leave out “this Act or any provision made” and insert “provision made by or under this Act or”

277: Clause 275, page 241, line 35, after “State” insert “, the Treasury”

278: Clause 275, page 242, line 32, leave out subsection (11)

279: Clause 277, page 243, line 6, leave out “Chapters 1 and 3” and insert “Chapter 1”

280: Clause 277, page 243, line 6, at end insert “, except section (Power to modify Gas Act 1986 in relation to hydrogen)”

281: Clause 277, page 243, line 6, at end insert—
“(ca) Chapter 3 of Part 3, except section (Renewable liquid heating fuel obligations);”

282: Clause 277, page 243, line 9, after “Parts” insert “9,”

283: Clause 277, page 243, line 16, at end insert—
“(aa) sections (Key definitions for Part), (Designation), (Designation: procedure), (Revocation of designation), (Grant, extension or restriction of gas transporter licence by Secretary of State), (Applications for grant etc of gas transporter licence), (Modification of gas transporter licence by Secretary of State), (Scope of modification powers under section (Modification of gas transporter licence by Secretary of State)), (Procedure etc relating to modifications under section (Modification of gas transporter licence by Secretary of State)), (Information and advice), (Conditions of gas transporter licences for conveyance of hydrogen), (Secretary of State directions to the GEMA) and (Repeal of Part);”

284: Clause 277, page 243, line 17, at end insert—
“(ba) section (Power to modify Gas Act 1986 in relation to hydrogen);”

285: Clause 277, page 243, line 17, at end insert—
“(bb) section (Renewable liquid heating fuel obligations);”

286: Clause 277, page 243, line 22, at end insert—
“(h) sections (Great British Nuclear), (Crown status), (Great British Nuclear’s objects), (Financial assistance), (Secretary of State directions and guidance), (Annual report), (Annual accounts), (Transfer schemes), (Transfer schemes: compensation), (Transfer schemes: taxation), (Transfer schemes: provision of information or assistance), (Reimbursement and compensation in connection with designation) and (Pension arrangements in connection with Great British Nuclear);”

287: Clause 277, page 243, line 23, leave out subsection (3) and insert—
“(3) Chapter 2 of Part 7 extends to England and Wales only, subject to subsection (5).”

288: Clause 278, page 243, line 36, at end insert—
“(za) in Chapter 1 of Part 2—
(i) section 56;
(ii) sections 57 and 58, so far as relating to hydrogen production revenue support contracts and a hydrogen production counterparty;
(iii) sections 61 and 62;
(iv) section 77(1) to (3), so far as relating to a designation under section 61;
(v) section 79, so far as relating to hydrogen production revenue support contracts and a hydrogen production counterparty;
(vi) sections 81 and 84, so far as relating to the exercise of any power that comes into force in accordance with this paragraph;
and in this paragraph “hydrogen production revenue support contract” and “hydrogen production counterparty” have the same meaning as in that Chapter;”

289: Clause 278, page 243, line 36, at end insert—
“(za) section 103;”

290: Clause 278, page 243, line 36, at end insert—
“(za) Chapter 1 of Part 3;”

291: Clause 278, page 243, line 36, at end insert—
“(za) section 115;”

292: Clause 278, page 243, line 36, at end insert—
“(za) section 117;”

293: Clause 278, page 243, line 36, at end insert— “(za) in Part 4—
(i) sections 127 and 128;
(ii) section 132 (including Schedule 7) and section 133 (including Schedule 9);
(iii) section 136(2) and (3), so far as relating to other provisions in force by virtue of this paragraph;
(iv) sections 138 and 139;”

294: Clause 278, page 243, line 36, at end insert—
“(za) section 160 (including Schedule 13);”

295: Clause 278, page 243, line 36, at end insert—
“(za) section (Revenue certainty scheme for sustainable aviation fuel producers: consultation and report);”

296: Clause 278, page 243, line 36, at end insert—
“(za) section (Renewable liquid heating fuel obligations);”

297: Clause 278, page 243, line 37, at end insert—
“(aa) section 170;”

298: Clause 278, page 244, line 1, after “sections” insert “260,”

299: Clause 278, page 244, line 2, leave out “Chapter 3” and insert “Chapters 3 and 4”

300: Clause 278, page 244, line 7, leave out paragraph (b) and insert—
“(b) Chapters 1 to 3, sections (Key definitions), (Retention of information and samples), (Preparation and agreement of information and samples plans), (Information and samples plans: supplementary), (Information and samples coordinators), (Powers of OGA to require information and samples), (Prohibition on disclosure of information or samples obtained by OGA), (Power of Secretary of State to require information and samples), (Power of OGA to give sanctions notices), (Enforcement notices) (Financial penalty notices), (Revocation notices), (Operator removal notices), (Duty of OGA to give sanction warning notices), (Publication of details of sanctions), (Subsequent sanctions notices), (Withdrawal of sanction notices), (Sanctions: information powers), (Appeals in connection with Chapter), (Procedure for enforcement decisions) and (Interpretation of Chapter) and Chapter 5 of Part 2, so far as not already in force by virtue of subsection (2);”

301: Clause 278, page 244, line 7, at end insert—
“(ba) sections (Key definitions for Part), (Designation), (Designation: procedure), (Revocation of designation), (Grant, extension or restriction of gas transporter licence by Secretary of State), (Applications for grant etc of gas transporter licence), (Modification of gas transporter licence by Secretary of State), (Scope of modification powers under section (Modification of gas transporter licence by Secretary of State)), (Procedure etc relating to modifications under section (Modification of gas transporter licence by Secretary of State)), (Information and advice), (Conditions of gas transporter licences for conveyance of hydrogen), (Secretary of State directions to the GEMA) and (Repeal of Part);”

302: Clause 278, page 244, line 8, leave out “Chapter 2 of Part 3” and insert “section 114”

303: Clause 278, page 244, line 8, at end insert—
“(ca) section (Power to modify Gas Act 1986 in relation to hydrogen);”

304: Clause 278, page 244, line 9, leave out paragraph (d)

305: Clause 278, page 244, line 10, at end insert—
“(ea) section (Principal objectives of Secretary of State and GEMA);”

306: Clause 278, page 244, line 11, leave out paragraph (f)

307: Clause 278, page 244, line 12, leave out “170” and insert “169”

308: Clause 278, page 244, line 12, at end insert—
“(ga) sections (Electricity support payments for energy-intensive industries) and (Levy to fund electricity support payments);”

309: Clause 278, page 244, line 16, leave out paragraph (k)

310: Clause 278, page 244, line 16, at end insert—
“(l) section (Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage: implementation power).”

311: Clause 279, page 244, line 29, leave out subsection (2)

312: Schedule 1, page 245, line 31, leave out from beginning to second “the” in line 32 and insert—
“(d) after subsection (10) insert—
“(10A) For the purposes of subsection (5)””

313: Insert the following Schedule—
“SCHEDULE
Section (Prohibition on disclosure of information or samples obtained by OGA)
PERMITTED DISCLOSURES OF MATERIAL OBTAINED BY OGA
Disclosure by OGA to specified persons
1 (1) Section (Prohibition on disclosure of information or samples obtained by OGA) does not prohibit a disclosure of protected material by the OGA which—
(a) is made to a person mentioned in column 1 of the table below,
(b) is made for the purpose of facilitating the carrying out of that person’s functions, and
(c) is a disclosure of protected material obtained by the OGA under a provision mentioned in the corresponding entry of column 2 of the table.

Column 1	Column 2
A Minister of the Crown	Section (Power of OGA to require information and samples) or (Sanctions: information powers)
His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs	Section (Power of OGA to require information and samples) or (Sanctions: information powers)
The Competition and Markets Authority	Section (Power of OGA to require information and samples) or (Sanctions: information powers)
The Scottish Ministers	Section (Power of OGA to require information and samples)
The Welsh Ministers	Section (Power of OGA to require information and samples)
A Northern Ireland Department	Section (Power of OGA to require information and samples)
The Office for Budget Responsibility	Section (Power of OGA to require information and samples) or (Sanctions: information powers)
An enforcing authority	Section (Power of OGA to require information and samples) or (Sanctions: information powers)
The Statistics Board	Section (Power of OGA to require information and samples) or (Sanctions: information powers)
The GEMA	Section (Power of OGA to require information and samples) or (Sanctions: information powers)
The Crown Estate	Section (Power of OGA to require information and samples)
A manager of the Crown Estate in Scotland	Section (Power of OGA to require information and samples)

(2) In the table—
“enforcing authority” has the same meaning as in Part 1 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (see section 18(7)(a) of that Act);
“manager of the Crown Estate in Scotland” means a person who for the time being is discharging functions in relation to the management of any property, rights or interests to which section 90B(5) of the Scotland Act 1998 applies;
“Minister of the Crown” has the same meaning as in the Ministers of the Crown Act 1975.
(3) Section (Prohibition on disclosure of information or samples obtained by OGA) does not prohibit a disclosure of protected material by the OGA which—
(a) is a disclosure of protected material obtained by it under section (Power of OGA to require information and samples),
(b) is made to the Natural Environment Research Council, or any other similar body carrying on geological activities, and
(c) is made for the purpose of enabling the body to prepare and publish reports and surveys of a general nature using information derived from the protected material.
(4) A person to whom protected material is disclosed by virtue of sub-paragraph
(1) or (3) may use the protected material only for the purpose mentioned in sub-paragraph (1)(b) or (3)(c) (as the case may be).
(5) Section (Prohibition on disclosure of information or samples obtained by OGA) does not prohibit a person mentioned in sub-paragraph (4) from disclosing the protected material so far as necessary for the purpose mentioned in that sub-paragraph.
(6) The Secretary of State may by regulations amend the table in sub-paragraph (1)—
(a) to remove a person from column 1,
(b) to add to column 1 a person to whom sub-paragraph (7) applies, or
(c) to add, remove or change entries in column 2.
(7) This sub-paragraph applies to—
(a) persons holding office under the Crown;
(b) persons in the service or employment of the Crown;
(c) persons acting on behalf of the Crown;
(d) government departments;
(e) publicly owned companies as defined in section 6 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
(8) Regulations under sub-paragraph (6) are subject to the affirmative procedure.
Disclosure required for returns and reports prepared by OGA
2 (1) Section (Prohibition on disclosure of information or samples obtained by OGA) does not prohibit the OGA from using protected material obtained by the OGA under section (Power of OGA to require information and samples) for the purpose of—
(a) preparing such returns and reports as may be required under obligations imposed by or under any Act;
(b) preparing and publishing reports and surveys of a general nature using information derived from the protected material.
(2) Section (Prohibition on disclosure of information or samples obtained by OGA) does not prohibit the OGA from disclosing protected material so far as necessary for those purposes.
Disclosure in exercise of certain OGA powers
3 Section (Prohibition on disclosure of information or samples obtained by OGA) does not prohibit a disclosure of protected material if it is made in the exercise of the OGA’s powers under section (Publication of details of sanctions) (publication of details of sanctions).
Disclosure after specified period
4 (1) Section (Prohibition on disclosure of information or samples obtained by OGA) does not prohibit protected material obtained by the OGA under section (Power of OGA to require information and samples) from being—
(a) published, or
(b) made available to the public (where the protected material includes samples),
by the OGA or a subsequent holder at such time as may be specified in regulations made by the Secretary of State.
(2) Regulations under sub-paragraph (1) may include provision permitting protected material to be published, or made available to the public, immediately after it is provided to a person.
(3) Before making regulations under sub-paragraph (1), the Secretary of State must consult such persons as the Secretary of State considers appropriate.
(4) Sub-paragraph (3) does not apply if the Secretary of State is satisfied that consultation is unnecessary having regard to consultation carried out by the OGA in relation to what time should be specified in regulations under sub-paragraph (1).
(5) Regulations under sub-paragraph (1) are subject to the affirmative procedure.
(6) In determining the time to be specified in respect of protected material in regulations under sub-paragraph (1), the Secretary of State must have regard to the following factors—
(a) whether the specified time will allow owners of protected material a reasonable period of time to satisfy the main purpose for which they acquired or created the material;
(b) any potential benefits to the [carbon storage] industry of protected material being published or made available at the specified time;
(c) any potential risk that the specified time may discourage persons from acquiring or creating carbon storage information or carbon storage samples;
(d) any other factors the Secretary of State considers relevant.
(7) In balancing the factors mentioned in sub-paragraph (6)(a) to (d), the Secretary of State must take into account the principal objectives of the Secretary of State set out in section 1(1).
(8) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (6)(a), the owner of protected material is the person by whom, or on whose behalf, the protected material was provided to the OGA under section (Power of OGA to require information and samples).
Disclosure with appropriate consent
5 (1) Section (Prohibition on disclosure of information or samples obtained by OGA) does not prohibit a disclosure of protected material if it is made with the appropriate consent.
(2) For this purpose a disclosure is made with the appropriate consent if—
(a) in the case of disclosure by the OGA, the original owner consents to the disclosure;
(b) in the case of disclosure by a subsequent holder—
(i) the OGA consents to the disclosure, and
(ii) where the protected material in question was provided to the OGA under section (Power of OGA to require information and samples), the OGA confirms that the original owner of the material also consents to the disclosure.
(3) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (2), the original owner of protected material provided to the OGA is the person by whom, or on whose behalf, the protected material was so provided.
Disclosure required by legislation
6 Section (Prohibition on disclosure of information or samples obtained by OGA) does not prohibit a disclosure of protected material required by virtue of an obligation imposed by or under this or any other Act.
Disclosure for purpose of proceedings
7 (1) Section (Prohibition on disclosure of information or samples obtained by OGA) does not prohibit a disclosure of protected material by the OGA for the purposes of, or in connection with—
(a) civil proceedings, or
(b) arbitration proceedings.
(2) Section (Prohibition on disclosure of information or samples obtained by OGA) does not prohibit a disclosure of protected material by the OGA for the purposes of, or in connection with—
(a) the investigation or prosecution of criminal offences, or
(b) the prevention of criminal activity.”

314: Insert the following Schedule—
“SCHEDULE Section (Appeals)
CARBON STORAGE INFORMATION AND SAMPLES: APPEALS
PART 1
APPEALS AGAINST DECISIONS RELATING TO INFORMATION AND SAMPLES
Appeals in relation to information and samples plans
1 (1) A person affected by any decision of the OGA to which effect is given by the preparation of an information and samples plan may appeal against it to the Tribunal—
(a) on the ground that the decision was not within the powers of the OGA, or
(b) on the ground that the plan is unreasonable.
(2) On an appeal under this paragraph the Tribunal may—
(a) affirm, vary or quash the decision under appeal,
(b) remit the decision under appeal to the OGA for reconsideration with such directions (if any) as the Tribunal considers appropriate, or
(c) substitute its own decision for the decision under appeal.
Appeals against notices requiring provision of information or samples
2 (1) A person affected by any decision of the OGA to which effect is given by the giving of a notice requiring the provision of information or samples under section (Power of OGA to require information and samples) may appeal against it to the Tribunal—
(a) on the ground that the decision was not within the powers of the OGA, or
(b) on the ground that the length of time given to comply with the notice is unreasonable.
(2) On an appeal under this paragraph the Tribunal may—
(a) affirm, vary or quash the decision under appeal,
(b) remit the decision under appeal to the OGA for reconsideration with such directions (if any) as the Tribunal considers appropriate, or
(c) substitute its own decision for the decision under appeal.
PART 2
APPEALS RELATING TO ENFORCEMENT OF SANCTIONABLE REQUIREMENTS
Appeals in relation to sanction notices
3 (1) Where a sanction notice is given under section (Power of OGA to give sanction notices) in respect of a failure to comply with a sanctionable requirement, an appeal may be made—
(a) under paragraph 4 (on the ground that there was no such failure to comply);
(b) under paragraph 5 (against the sanction imposed by the notice).
(2) Where an appeal is made in relation to a sanction notice, the notice ceases to have effect until a decision is made by the Tribunal to confirm, vary or cancel the notice.
(3) Where, on an appeal made in relation to a sanction notice—
(a) the Tribunal makes a decision to confirm or vary the notice, and
(b) an appeal is or may be made in relation to that decision,
the Tribunal, or the Upper Tribunal, may further suspend the effect of the notice pending a decision which disposes of proceedings on such an appeal.
Appeals against finding of failure to comply
4 (1) An appeal may be made to the Tribunal by the person, or by any of the persons, to whom a sanction notice is given in respect of a failure to comply with a sanctionable requirement, on the grounds that the person, or persons, did not fail to comply with the requirement.
(2) On an appeal under this paragraph, the Tribunal may confirm or cancel the sanction notice.
(3) Where sanction notices are given on more than one occasion in respect of the same failure to comply with a sanctionable requirement—
(a) an appeal under this paragraph may be made only in relation to the sanction notice, or any of the sanction notices, given on the first of those occasions, and
(b) appeals in relation to sanction notices given on subsequent occasions in respect of that failure to comply may be made only under paragraph 5.
Appeals against sanction imposed
5 (1) Where a sanction notice is given in respect of a failure to comply with a sanctionable requirement, a person mentioned in sub- paragraph (2) may appeal to the Tribunal against any of the decisions of the OGA mentioned in sub-paragraph (3) (as to the sanction imposed by the notice) on the grounds mentioned in sub-paragraph (4).
(2) The persons who may appeal are—
(a) the person, or any of the persons, to whom the notice was given, and
(b) in the case of an operator removal notice under section (Operator removal notices), the licensee under whose carbon storage licence the exploration operator operates.
(3) The decisions against which an appeal may be made are—
(a) where an enforcement notice has been given, the decision as to—
(i) the measures that are required to be taken for the purposes of compliance with the sanctionable requirement, or
(ii) the period for compliance with the sanctionable requirement;
(b) where a financial penalty notice has been given, the decision—
(i) to impose a financial penalty, or
(ii) as to the amount of the financial penalty imposed;
(c) where a revocation notice has been given, the decision to terminate the carbon storage licence or to revoke the storage permit;
(d) where an operator removal notice has been given, the decision to require the removal of the exploration operator.
(4) The grounds on which an appeal may be made are that the decision of the OGA—
(a) was unreasonable, or
(b) was not within the powers of the OGA.
(5) On an appeal under this paragraph against a decision made in relation to an enforcement notice, the Tribunal may—
(a) confirm or quash the decision, in the case of a decision mentioned in sub-paragraph (3)(a)(i) (remedial action), or
(b) confirm or vary the decision, in the case of a decision mentioned in sub-paragraph (3)(a)(ii) (period for compliance),
and confirm, vary or cancel the enforcement notice accordingly.
(6) On an appeal under this paragraph against a decision made in relation to a financial penalty notice, the Tribunal may—
(a) confirm or quash the decision, in the case of a decision mentioned in sub-paragraph (3)(b)(i) (imposition of penalty), or
(b) confirm or vary the decision, in the case of a decision mentioned in sub-paragraph (3)(b)(ii) (amount of penalty),
and confirm, vary or cancel the financial penalty notice accordingly.
(7) The Tribunal must have regard to any guidance issued by the OGA under section (Financial penalty notices)(6)(a) when deciding whether to confirm or vary a decision as to the amount of a financial penalty under sub-paragraph (6)(b).
(8) On an appeal under this paragraph against a decision to terminate a carbon storage licence, to revoke a storage permit or to require the removal of an exploration operator the Tribunal may—
(a) confirm the decision,
(b) vary the decision by changing the revocation date or the removal date, as the case may be, or
(c) quash the decision,
and confirm, vary or cancel the sanction notice in question accordingly.
(9) Where a decision is quashed under sub-paragraph (5)(a), (6)(a) or (8), the Tribunal may remit the decision to the OGA for reconsideration with such directions (if any) as the Tribunal considers appropriate.
Appeals against information requirements
6 (1) A person to whom a notice is given under section (Sanctions: information powers) may appeal against it to the Tribunal on the grounds that—
(a) the giving of the notice is not within the powers of the OGA, or
(b) the length of time given to comply with the notice is unreasonable.
(2) On an appeal under this paragraph the Tribunal may—
(a) confirm, vary or cancel the notice, or
(b) remit the matter under appeal to the OGA for reconsideration with such directions (if any) as the Tribunal considers appropriate.”

315: Schedule 7, page 279, line 26, leave out “or rights” and insert “, rights or liabilities”

316: Schedule 7, page 280, line 6, at end insert—
“(2A) Any requirement imposed on a person by a transfer scheme is enforceable by the Secretary of State in civil proceedings—
(a) for an injunction,
(b) for specific performance of a statutory duty under section 45 of the Court of Session Act 1988, or
(c) for any other appropriate remedy or relief.”

317: Schedule 7, page 280, line 35, leave out “appointed by the Secretary of State and the transferor”

318: Schedule 7, page 281, line 1, leave out sub-paragraph (4)

319: Schedule 7, page 282, line 7, at end insert—
“(3A) A statutory instrument containing regulations under this paragraph is subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of the House of Commons.”

320: Schedule 7, page 282, line 10, leave out “, land and buildings transaction tax, land transaction tax”

321: Schedule 8, page 289, line 1, leave out paragraphs (a) and (b) and insert—
“(a) such specified pensions information, or
(b) such specified assistance,
as the Secretary of State may reasonably require in preparation for or in connection with the exercise of a power conferred on the Secretary of State by this Schedule.”

322: Schedule 12, page 303, line 15, leave out from “in” to “of” in line 17 and insert “a notice under section 142(1) of the Energy Act 2023 in relation to a designated central system (within the meaning of Part 5”

323: Schedule 12, page 303, line 25, leave out from “in” to “of” in line 26 and insert “a notice under section 142(1) of the Energy Act 2023 in relation to a designated central system (within the meaning of Part 5”

324: Schedule 12, page 304, line 4, leave out from “in” to “of” in line 6 and insert “a notice under section 142(1) of the Energy Act 2023 in relation to a designated central system (within the meaning of Part 5”

325: Schedule 12, page 304, line 14, leave out from “in” to “of” in line 15 and insert “a notice under section 142(1) of the Energy Act 2023 in relation to a designated central system (within the meaning of Part 5”

326: Schedule 12, page 305, line 6, leave out paragraph (a)

327: Schedule 12, page 305, line 19, leave out paragraph (d)

328: Schedule 19, page 369, line 16, at end insert—
“PART A1
PETROLEUM (PRODUCTION) (LANDWARD AREAS) REGULATIONS 1995
A1 In the Petroleum (Production) (Landward Areas) Regulations 1995 (S.I. 1995/1436), Schedule 3 (model clauses for petroleum exploration and development licences in landward areas) is amended as follows.
A2 After clause 37 insert—
“37A Change in control of Licensee
(1) This clause applies if—
(a) the Licensee is a company, or
(b) where two or more persons are the Licensee, any of those persons is a company,
and references in this clause to a company are to such a company.
(2) A change in control of a company is not permitted without the consent of the Oil and Gas Authority (“the OGA”).
(3) There is a “change in control” of a company if a person takes control of the company, not having previously been a person who controlled the company.
(4) If a change in control of a company is contemplated, the company must apply in writing to the OGA for consent at least three months before the date on which it is proposed that the change would occur (if consent were given).
(5) The OGA may—
(a) consent to the change in control unconditionally,
(b) consent to the change in control subject to conditions, or
(c) refuse consent to the change in control.
(6) If the OGA proposes to grant consent subject to any condition or to refuse consent, the OGA must, before making a final decision—
(a) give the company an opportunity to make representations, and
(b) consider any representations that are made.
(7) The general rule is that the OGA must decide an application within three months of receiving it, but the OGA may delay its decision by notifying the interested parties in writing.
(8) Conditions as mentioned in paragraph (5)(b) may be imposed on the person taking control of the company (as well as on the company), and may include—
(a) conditions relating to the arrangements for the change in control, including the date by which it must occur,
(b) conditions relating to the performance of activities permitted by this licence, and
(c) financial conditions.
(9) The OGA’s decision on the application, and any conditions as mentioned in paragraph (5)(b), must be notified in writing to the interested parties.
(10) In this clause “the interested parties” means—
(a) the company,
(b) the person who (if consent were granted) would take control of the company, and
(c) if the company and another person or persons are the Licensee, that other person or those other persons.
(11) For the purposes of this clause, the question of whether a person has control of a company is to be determined in accordance with the test set out in clause 37(4).”
A3 (1) Clause 38 (power of revocation) is amended as follows.
(2) In paragraph (2)—
(a) after sub-paragraph (i) insert—
“(j) if the Licensee is a company, any breach of a condition subject to which the Oil and Gas Authority gave its consent to a change in control of the Licensee (see clause 37A);
(k) if the Licensee is a company, any failure to provide full and accurate information in response to a notice given by the Oil and Gas Authority to that company under section 5D of the Petroleum Act 1998;”;
(b) in the closing words, after “(g)” insert “or (j) or (k)”.
(3) Omit paragraphs (3) to (5).
A4 (1) Clause 38A (power of partial revocation) is amended as follows.
(2) For paragraph (1) substitute—
“(1) This clause applies in a case where two or more persons are the Licensee and—
(a) an event mentioned in clause 38(2)(c), (d), (e) or (g) occurs in relation to one of those persons;
(b) an event mentioned in clause 38(2)(b) occurs which consists of a breach of clause 37A(2) or (4) in relation to a change in control of one of those persons;
(c) an event mentioned in clause 38(2)(j) occurs in relation to a change in control of one of those persons (see clause 37A); or
(d) an event mentioned in clause 38(2)(k) occurs which consists of a failure by one of those persons as mentioned in that provision.”
(3) In paragraph (2), for “or (b)” substitute “, (b), (c) or (d)”.
PART A2
PETROLEUM (CURRENT MODEL CLAUSES) ORDER 1999
Introduction
A5 The Petroleum (Current Model Clauses) Order 1999 (S.I. 1999/160) is amended in accordance with this Part of this Schedule.
Part 2 of Schedule 2
A6 Part 2 of Schedule 2 (current model clauses for controlled waters or seaward production licences deriving from Schedule 2 to the 1964 Regulations and Schedule 4 to the 1966 Regulations) is amended in accordance with paragraphs A7 to A9.
A7 After clause 38 insert—
“38A Change in control of Licensee
(1) This clause applies if—
(a) the Licensee is a company, or
(b) where two or more persons are the Licensee, any of those persons is a company,
and references in this clause to a company are to such a company.
(2) A change in control of a company is not permitted without the consent of the Oil and Gas Authority (“the OGA”).
(3) There is a “change in control” of a company if a person takes control of the company, not having previously been a person who controlled the company.
(4) If a change in control of a company is contemplated, the company must apply in writing to the OGA for consent at least three months before the date on which it is proposed that the change would occur (if consent were given).
(5) The OGA may—
(a) consent to the change in control unconditionally,
(b) consent to the change in control subject to conditions, or
(c) refuse consent to the change in control.
(6) If the OGA proposes to grant consent subject to any condition or to refuse consent, the OGA must, before making a final decision—
(a) give the company an opportunity to make representations, and
(b) consider any representations that are made.
(7) The general rule is that the OGA must decide an application within three months of receiving it, but the OGA may delay its decision by notifying the interested parties in writing.
(8) Conditions as mentioned in paragraph (5)(b) may be imposed on the person taking control of the company (as well as on the company), and may include—
(a) conditions relating to the arrangements for the change in control, including the date by which it must occur,
(b) conditions relating to the performance of activities permitted by this licence, and
(c) financial conditions.
(9) The OGA’s decision on the application, and any conditions as mentioned in paragraph (5)(b), must be notified in writing to the interested parties.
(10) In this clause “the interested parties” means—
(a) the company,
(b) the person who (if consent were granted) would take control of the company, and
(c) if the company and another person or persons are the Licensee, that other person or those other persons.
(11) For the purposes of this clause, the question of whether a person has control of a company is to be determined in accordance with the test set out in clause 38(4).”
A8 (1) Clause 39 (power of revocation) is amended as follows.
(2) In paragraph (2)—
(a) after sub-paragraph (i) insert—
“(j) if the Licensee is a company, any breach of a condition subject to which the Oil and Gas Authority gave its consent to a change in control of the Licensee (see clause 38A);
(k) if the Licensee is a company, any failure to provide full and accurate information in response to a notice given by the Oil and Gas Authority to that company under section 5D of the Act of 1998;”;
(b) in the closing words, after “(g)” insert “or (j) or (k)”.
(3) Omit paragraphs (3) to (5).
A9 (1) Clause 39A (power of partial revocation) is amended as follows.
(2) For paragraph (1) substitute—
“(1) This clause applies in a case where two or more persons are the Licensee and—
(a) an event mentioned in clause 39(2)(c), (d), (e) or (g) occurs in relation to one of those persons;
(b) an event mentioned in clause 39(2)(b) occurs which consists of a breach of clause 38A(2) or (4) in relation to a change in control of one of those persons;
(c) an event mentioned in clause 39(2)(j) occurs in relation to a change in control of one of those persons (see clause 38A); or
(d) an event mentioned in clause 39(2)(k) occurs which consists of a failure by one of those persons as mentioned in that provision.”
(3) In paragraph (2), for “or (b)” substitute “, (b), (c) or (d)”.
Part 2 of Schedule 3
A10 Part 2 of Schedule 3 (current model clauses for landward production licences deriving from Schedule 3 to the 1966 regulations) is amended in accordance with paragraphs A11 to A13.
A11 After clause 36 insert—
“36A Change in control of Licensee
(1) This clause applies if—
(a) the Licensee is a company, or
(b) where two or more persons are the Licensee, any of those persons is a company,
and references in this clause to a company are to such a company.
(2) A change in control of a company is not permitted without the consent of the Oil and Gas Authority (“the OGA”).
(3) There is a “change in control” of a company if a person takes control of the company, not having previously been a person who controlled the company.
(4) If a change in control of a company is contemplated, the company must apply in writing to the OGA for consent at least three months before the date on which it is proposed that the change would occur (if consent were given).
(5) The OGA may—
(a) consent to the change in control unconditionally,
(b) consent to the change in control subject to conditions, or
(c) refuse consent to the change in control.
(6) If the OGA proposes to grant consent subject to any condition or to refuse consent, the OGA must, before making a final decision—
(a) give the company an opportunity to make representations, and
(b) consider any representations that are made.
(7) The general rule is that the OGA must decide an application within three months of receiving it, but the OGA may delay its decision by notifying the interested parties in writing.
(8) Conditions as mentioned in paragraph (5)(b) may be imposed on the person taking control of the company (as well as on the company), and may include—
(a) conditions relating to the arrangements for the change in control, including the date by which it must occur,
(b) conditions relating to the performance of activities permitted by this licence, and
(c) financial conditions.
(9) The OGA’s decision on the application, and any conditions as mentioned in paragraph (5)(b), must be notified in writing to the interested parties.
(10) In this clause “the interested parties” means—
(a) the company,
(b) the person who (if consent were granted) would take control of the company, and
(c) if the company and another person or persons are the Licensee, that other person or those other persons.
(11) For the purposes of this clause, the question of whether a person has control of a company is to be determined in accordance with the test set out in clause 36(3).”
A12(1) Clause 37 (power of revocation) is amended as follows.
(2) In paragraph (2)—
(a) after sub-paragraph (i) insert—
“(j) if the Licensee is a company, any breach of a condition subject to which the Oil and Gas Authority gave its consent to a change in control of the Licensee (see clause 36A);
(k) if the Licensee is a company, any failure to provide full and accurate information in response to a notice given by the Oil and Gas Authority to that company under section 5D of the Act of 1998;”;
(b) in the closing words, after “(g)” insert “or (j) or (k)”.
(3) Omit paragraphs (3) to (5).
A13(1) Clause 37A (power of partial revocation) is amended as follows.
(2) For paragraph (1) substitute—
“(1) This clause applies in a case where two or more persons are the Licensee and—
(a) an event mentioned in clause 37(2)(c), (d), (e) or (g) occurs in relation to one of those persons;
(b) an event mentioned in clause 37(2)(b) occurs which consists of a breach of clause 36A(2) or (4) in relation to a change in control of one of those persons;
(c) an event mentioned in clause 37(2)(j) occurs in relation to a change in control of one of those persons (see clause 36A); or
(d) an event mentioned in clause 37(2)(k) occurs which consists of a failure by one of those persons as mentioned in that provision.”
(3) In paragraph (2), for “or (b)” substitute “, (b), (c) or (d)”.
Part 2 of Schedule 4
A14 Part 2 of Schedule 4 (current model clauses for landward production licences deriving from Schedule 4 to the 1976 Regulations or Schedule 4 to the 1982 Regulations) is amended in accordance with paragraphs A15 to A17.
A15 After clause 37 insert—
“37A Change in control of Licensee
(1) This clause applies if—
(a) the Licensee is a company, or
(b) where two or more persons are the Licensee, any of those persons is a company,
and references in this clause to a company are to such a company.
(2) A change in control of a company is not permitted without the consent of the Oil and Gas Authority (“the OGA”).
(3) There is a “change in control” of a company if a person takes control of the company, not having previously been a person who controlled the company.
(4) If a change in control of a company is contemplated, the company must apply in writing to the OGA for consent at least three months before the date on which it is proposed that the change would occur (if consent were given).
(5) The OGA may—
(a) consent to the change in control unconditionally,
(b) consent to the change in control subject to conditions, or
(c) refuse consent to the change in control.
(6) If the OGA proposes to grant consent subject to any condition or to refuse consent, the OGA must, before making a final decision—
(a) give the company an opportunity to make representations, and
(b) consider any representations that are made.
(7) The general rule is that the OGA must decide an application within three months of receiving it, but the OGA may delay its decision by notifying the interested parties in writing.
(8) Conditions as mentioned in paragraph (5)(b) may be imposed on the person taking control of the company (as well as on the company), and may include—
(a) conditions relating to the arrangements for the change in control, including the date by which it must occur,
(b) conditions relating to the performance of activities permitted by this licence, and
(c) financial conditions.
(9) The OGA’s decision on the application, and any conditions as mentioned in paragraph (5)(b), must be notified in writing to the interested parties.
(10) In this clause “the interested parties” means—
(a) the company,
(b) the person who (if consent were granted) would take control of the company, and
(c) if the company and another person or persons are the Licensee, that other person or those other persons.
(11) For the purposes of this clause, the question of whether a person has control of a company is to be determined in accordance with the test set out in clause 37(3).”
A16(1) Clause 38 (power of revocation) is amended as follows.
(2) In paragraph (2)—
(a) after sub-paragraph (i) insert—
“(j) if the Licensee is a company, any breach of a condition subject to which the Oil and Gas Authority gave its consent to a change in control of the Licensee (see clause 37A);
(k) if the Licensee is a company, any failure to provide full and accurate information in response to a notice given by the Oil and Gas Authority to that company under section 5D of the Act of 1998;”;
(b) in the closing words, after “(g)” insert “or (j) or (k)”.
(3) Omit paragraphs (3) to (5).
A17(1) Clause 38A (power of partial revocation) is amended as follows.
(2) For paragraph (1) substitute—
“(1) This clause applies in a case where two or more persons are the Licensee and—
(a) an event mentioned in clause 38(2)(c), (d), (e) or (g) occurs in relation to one of those persons;
(b) an event mentioned in clause 38(2)(b) occurs which consists of a breach of clause 37A(2) or (4) in relation to a change in control of one of those persons;
(c) an event mentioned in clause 38(2)(j) occurs in relation to a change in control of one of those persons (see clause 37A); or
(d) an event mentioned in clause 38(2)(k) occurs which consists of a failure by one of those persons as mentioned in that provision.”
(3) In paragraph (2), for “or (b)” substitute “, (b), (c) or (d)”.
Part 2 of Schedule 5
A18 Part 2 of Schedule 5 (current model clauses for seaward production licences deriving from Schedule 5 to the 1976 Regulations) is amended in accordance with paragraphs A19 to A21.
A19 After clause 39 insert—
“39A Change in control of Licensee
(1) This clause applies if—
(a) the Licensee is a company, or
(b) where two or more persons are the Licensee, any of those persons is a company,
and references in this clause to a company are to such a company.
(2) A change in control of a company is not permitted without the consent of the Oil and Gas Authority (“the OGA”).
(3) There is a “change in control” of a company if a person takes control of the company, not having previously been a person who controlled the company.
(4) If a change in control of a company is contemplated, the company must apply in writing to the OGA for consent at least three months before the date on which it is proposed that the change would occur (if consent were given).
(5) The OGA may—
(a) consent to the change in control unconditionally,
(b) consent to the change in control subject to conditions, or
(c) refuse consent to the change in control.
(6) If the OGA proposes to grant consent subject to any condition or to refuse consent, the OGA must, before making a final decision—
(a) give the company an opportunity to make representations, and
(b) consider any representations that are made.
(7) The general rule is that the OGA must decide an application within three months of receiving it, but the OGA may delay its decision by notifying the interested parties in writing.
(8) Conditions as mentioned in paragraph (5)(b) may be imposed on the person taking control of the company (as well as on the company), and may include—
(a) conditions relating to the arrangements for the change in control, including the date by which it must occur,
(b) conditions relating to the performance of activities permitted by this licence, and
(c) financial conditions.
(9) The OGA’s decision on the application, and any conditions as mentioned in paragraph (5)(b), must be notified in writing to the interested parties.
(10) In this clause “the interested parties” means—
(a) the company,
(b) the person who (if consent were granted) would take control of the company, and
(c) if the company and another person or persons are the Licensee, that other person or those other persons.
(11) For the purposes of this clause, the question of whether a person has control of a company is to be determined in accordance with the test set out in clause 39(4).”
A20(1) Clause 40 (power of revocation) is amended as follows.
(2) In paragraph (2)—
(a) after sub-paragraph (i) insert—
“(j) if the Licensee is a company, any breach of a condition subject to which the Oil and Gas Authority gave its consent to a change in control of the Licensee (see clause 39A);
(k) if the Licensee is a company, any failure to provide full and accurate information in response to a notice given by the Oil and Gas Authority to that company under section 5D of the Act of 1998;”;
(b) in the closing words, after “(g)” insert “or (j) or (k)”.
(3) Omit paragraphs (3) to (5).
A21(1) Clause 40A (power of partial revocation) is amended as follows.
(2) For paragraph (1) substitute—
“(1) This clause applies in a case where two or more persons are the Licensee and—
(a) an event mentioned in clause 40(2)(c), (d), (e) or (g) occurs in relation to one of those persons;
(b) an event mentioned in clause 40(2)(b) occurs which consists of a breach of clause 39A(2) or (4) in relation to a change in control of one of those persons;
(c) an event mentioned in clause 40(2)(j) occurs in relation to a change in control of one of those persons (see clause 39A); or
(d) an event mentioned in clause 40(2)(k) occurs which consists of a failure by one of those persons as mentioned in that provision.”
(3) In paragraph (2), for “or (b)” substitute “, (b), (c) or (d)”.
Part 2 of Schedule 6
A22 Part 2 of Schedule 6 (current model clauses for seaward production licences deriving from Schedule 5 to the 1982 Regulations) is amended in accordance with paragraphs A23 to A25.
A23 After clause 38 insert—
“38A Change in control of Licensee
(1) This clause applies if—
(a) the Licensee is a company, or
(b) where two or more persons are the Licensee, any of those persons is a company,
and references in this clause to a company are to such a company.
(2) A change in control of a company is not permitted without the consent of the Oil and Gas Authority (“the OGA”).
(3) There is a “change in control” of a company if a person takes control of the company, not having previously been a person who controlled the company.
(4) If a change in control of a company is contemplated, the company must apply in writing to the OGA for consent at least three months before the date on which it is proposed that the change would occur (if consent were given).
(5) The OGA may—
(a) consent to the change in control unconditionally,
(b) consent to the change in control subject to conditions, or
(c) refuse consent to the change in control.
(6) If the OGA proposes to grant consent subject to any condition or to refuse consent, the OGA must, before making a final decision—
(a) give the company an opportunity to make representations, and
(b) consider any representations that are made.
(7) The general rule is that the OGA must decide an application within three months of receiving it, but the OGA may delay its decision by notifying the interested parties in writing.
(8) Conditions as mentioned in paragraph (5)(b) may be imposed on the person taking control of the company (as well as on the company), and may include—
(a) conditions relating to the arrangements for the change in control, including the date by which it must occur,
(b) conditions relating to the performance of activities permitted by this licence, and
(c) financial conditions.
(9) The OGA’s decision on the application, and any conditions as mentioned in paragraph (5)(b), must be notified in writing to the interested parties.
(10) In this clause “the interested parties” means—
(a) the company,
(b) the person who (if consent were granted) would take control of the company, and
(c) if the company and another person or persons are the Licensee, that other person or those other persons.
(11) For the purposes of this clause, the question of whether a person has control of a company is to be determined in accordance with the test set out in clause 38(4).”
A24(1) Clause 39 (power of revocation) is amended as follows.
(2) In paragraph (2)—
(a) after sub-paragraph (i) insert—
“(j) if the Licensee is a company, any breach of a condition subject to which the Oil and Gas Authority gave its consent to a change in control of the Licensee (see clause 38A);
(k) if the Licensee is a company, any failure to provide full and accurate information in response to a notice given by the Oil and Gas Authority to that company under section 5D of the Act of 1998;”;
(b) in the closing words, after “(g)” insert “or (j) or (k)”.
(3) Omit paragraphs (3) to (5).
A25(1) Clause 39A (power of partial revocation) is amended as follows.
(2) For paragraph (1) substitute—
“(1) This clause applies in a case where two or more persons are the Licensee and—
(a) an event mentioned in clause 39(2)(c), (d), (e) or (g) occurs in relation to one of those persons;
(b) an event mentioned in clause 39(2)(b) occurs which consists of a breach of clause 38A(2) or (4) in relation to a change in control of one of those persons;
(c) an event mentioned in clause 39(2)(j) occurs in relation to a change in control of one of those persons (see clause 38A); or
(d) an event mentioned in clause 39(2)(k) occurs which consists of a failure by one of those persons as mentioned in that provision.”
(3) In paragraph (2), for “or (b)” substitute “, (b), (c) or (d)”.
Part 2 of Schedule 8
A26 Part 2 of Schedule 8 (current model clauses for landward development licences deriving from Schedule 5 to the 1984 Regulations) is amended in accordance with paragraphs A27 to A29.
A27 After clause 35 insert—
“35A Change in control of Licensee
(1) This clause applies if—
(a) the Licensee is a company, or
(b) where two or more persons are the Licensee, any of those persons is a company,
and references in this clause to a company are to such a company.
(2) A change in control of a company is not permitted without the consent of the Oil and Gas Authority (“the OGA”).
(3) There is a “change in control” of a company if a person takes control of the company, not having previously been a person who controlled the company.
(4) If a change in control of a company is contemplated, the company must apply in writing to the OGA for consent at least three months before the date on which it is proposed that the change would occur (if consent were given).
(5) The OGA may—
(a) consent to the change in control unconditionally,
(b) consent to the change in control subject to conditions, or
(c) refuse consent to the change in control.
(6) If the OGA proposes to grant consent subject to any condition or to refuse consent, the OGA must, before making a final decision—
(a) give the company an opportunity to make representations, and
(b) consider any representations that are made.
(7) The general rule is that the OGA must decide an application within three months of receiving it, but the OGA may delay its decision by notifying the interested parties in writing.
(8) Conditions as mentioned in paragraph (5)(b) may be imposed on the person taking control of the company (as well as on the company), and may include—
(a) conditions relating to the arrangements for the change in control, including the date by which it must occur,
(b) conditions relating to the performance of activities permitted by this licence, and
(c) financial conditions.
(9) The OGA’s decision on the application, and any conditions as mentioned in paragraph (5)(b), must be notified in writing to the interested parties.
(10) In this clause “the interested parties” means—
(a) the company,
(b) the person who (if consent were granted) would take control of the company, and
(c) if the company and another person or persons are the Licensee, that other person or those other persons.
(11) For the purposes of this clause, the question of whether a person has control of a company is to be determined in accordance with the test set out in clause 35(3).”
A28(1) Clause 36 (power of revocation) is amended as follows.
(2) In paragraph (2)—
(a) after sub-paragraph (i) insert—
“(j) if the Licensee is a company, any breach of a condition subject to which the Oil and Gas Authority gave its consent to a change in control of the Licensee (see clause 35A);
(k) if the Licensee is a company, any failure to provide full and accurate information in response to a notice given by the Oil and Gas Authority to that company under section 5D of the Act of 1998;”;
(b) in the closing words, after “(g)” insert “or (j) or (k)”.
(3) Omit paragraphs (3) to (5).
A29(1) Clause 36A (power of partial revocation) is amended as follows.
(2) For paragraph (1) substitute—
“(1) This clause applies in a case where two or more persons are the Licensee and—
(a) an event mentioned in clause 36(2)(c), (d), (e) or (g) occurs in relation to one of those persons;
(b) an event mentioned in clause 36(2)(b) occurs which consists of a breach of clause 35A(2) or (4) in relation to a change in control of one of those persons;
(c) an event mentioned in clause 36(2)(j) occurs in relation to a change in control of one of those persons (see clause 35A); or
(d) an event mentioned in clause 36(2)(k) occurs which consists of a failure by one of those persons as mentioned in that provision.”
(3) In paragraph (2), for “or (b)” substitute “, (b), (c) or (d)”.
Part 2 of Schedule 9
A30 Part 2 of Schedule 9 (current model clauses for seaward production licences deriving from Schedule 4 to the 1988 Regulations as they had effect before 16 December 1996) is amended in accordance with paragraphs A31 to A33.
A31 After clause 41 insert—
“41A Change in control of Licensee
(1) This clause applies if—
(a) the Licensee is a company, or
(b) where two or more persons are the Licensee, any of those persons is a company,
and references in this clause to a company are to such a company.
(2) A change in control of a company is not permitted without the consent of the Oil and Gas Authority (“the OGA”).
(3) There is a “change in control” of a company if a person takes control of the company, not having previously been a person who controlled the company.
(4) If a change in control of a company is contemplated, the company must apply in writing to the OGA for consent at least three months before the date on which it is proposed that the change would occur (if consent were given).
(5) The OGA may—
(a) consent to the change in control unconditionally,
(b) consent to the change in control subject to conditions, or
(c) refuse consent to the change in control.
(6) If the OGA proposes to grant consent subject to any condition or to refuse consent, the OGA must, before making a final decision—
(a) give the company an opportunity to make representations, and
(b) consider any representations that are made.
(7) The general rule is that the OGA must decide an application within three months of receiving it, but the OGA may delay its decision by notifying the interested parties in writing.
(8) Conditions as mentioned in paragraph (5)(b) may be imposed on the person taking control of the company (as well as on the company), and may include—
(a) conditions relating to the arrangements for the change in control, including the date by which it must occur,
(b) conditions relating to the performance of activities permitted by this licence, and
(c) financial conditions.
(9) The OGA’s decision on the application, and any conditions as mentioned in paragraph (5)(b), must be notified in writing to the interested parties.
(10) In this clause “the interested parties” means—
(a) the company,
(b) the person who (if consent were granted) would take control of the company, and
(c) if the company and another person or persons are the Licensee, that other person or those other persons.
(11) For the purposes of this clause, the question of whether a person has control of a company is to be determined in accordance with the test set out in clause 41(4).”
A32(1) Clause 42 (power of revocation) is amended as follows.
(2) In paragraph (2)—
(a) after sub-paragraph (i) insert—
“(j) if the Licensee is a company, any breach of a condition subject to which the Oil and Gas Authority gave its consent to a change in control of the Licensee (see clause 41A);
(k) if the Licensee is a company, any failure to provide full and accurate information in response to a notice given by the Oil and Gas Authority to that company under section 5D of the Act of 1998;”;
(b) in the closing words, after “(g)” insert “or (j) or (k)”.
(3) Omit paragraphs (3) to (5).
A33(1) Clause 42A (power of partial revocation) is amended as follows.
(2) For paragraph (1) substitute—
“(1) This clause applies in a case where two or more persons are the Licensee and—
(a) an event mentioned in clause 42(2)(c), (d), (e) or (g) occurs in relation to one of those persons;
(b) an event mentioned in clause 42(2)(b) occurs which consists of a breach of clause 41A(2) or (4) in relation to a change in control of one of those persons;
(c) an event mentioned in clause 42(2)(j) occurs in relation to a change in control of one of those persons (see clause 41A); or
(d) an event mentioned in clause 42(2)(k) occurs which consists of a failure by one of those persons as mentioned in that provision.”
(3) In paragraph (2), for “or (b)” substitute “, (b), (c) or (d)”.
Part 2 of Schedule 10
A34 Part 2 of Schedule 10 (current model clauses for seaward production licences deriving from Schedule 4 to the 1988 Regulations as they had effect on and after 16 December 1996) is amended in accordance with paragraphs A35 to A37.
A35 After clause 41 insert—
“41A Change in control of Licensee
(1) This clause applies if—
(a) the Licensee is a company, or
(b) where two or more persons are the Licensee, any of those persons is a company,
and references in this clause to a company are to such a company.
(2) A change in control of a company is not permitted without the consent of the Oil and Gas Authority (“the OGA”).
(3) There is a “change in control” of a company if a person takes control of the company, not having previously been a person who controlled the company.
(4) If a change in control of a company is contemplated, the company must apply in writing to the OGA for consent at least three months before the date on which it is proposed that the change would occur (if consent were given).
(5) The OGA may—
(a) consent to the change in control unconditionally,
(b) consent to the change in control subject to conditions, or
(c) refuse consent to the change in control.
(6) If the OGA proposes to grant consent subject to any condition or to refuse consent, the OGA must, before making a final decision—
(a) give the company an opportunity to make representations, and
(b) consider any representations that are made.
(7) The general rule is that the OGA must decide an application within three months of receiving it, but the OGA may delay its decision by notifying the interested parties in writing.
(8) Conditions as mentioned in paragraph (5)(b) may be imposed on the person taking control of the company (as well as on the company), and may include—
(a) conditions relating to the arrangements for the change in control, including the date by which it must occur,
(b) conditions relating to the performance of activities permitted by this licence, and
(c) financial conditions.
(9) The OGA’s decision on the application, and any conditions as mentioned in paragraph (5)(b), must be notified in writing to the interested parties.
(10) In this clause “the interested parties” means—
(a) the company,
(b) the person who (if consent were granted) would take control of the company, and
(c) if the company and another person or persons are the Licensee, that other person or those other persons.
(11) For the purposes of this clause, the question of whether a person has control of a company is to be determined in accordance with the test set out in clause 41(4).”
A36(1) Clause 42 (power of revocation) is amended as follows.
(2) In paragraph (2)—
(a) after sub-paragraph (i) insert—
“(j) if the Licensee is a company, any breach of a condition subject to which the Oil and Gas Authority gave its consent to a change in control of the Licensee (see clause 41A);
(k) if the Licensee is a company, any failure to provide full and accurate information in response to a notice given by the Oil and Gas Authority to that company under section 5D of the Act of 1998;”;
(b) in the closing words, after “(g)” insert “or (j) or (k)”.
(3) Omit paragraphs (3) to (5).
A37(1) Clause 42A (power of partial revocation) is amended as follows.
(2) For paragraph (1) substitute—
“(1) This clause applies in a case where two or more persons are the Licensee and—
(a) an event mentioned in clause 42(2)(c), (d), (e) or (g) occurs in relation to one of those persons;
(b) an event mentioned in clause 42(2)(b) occurs which consists of a breach of clause 41A(2) or (4) in relation to a change in control of one of those persons;
(c) an event mentioned in clause 42(2)(j) occurs in relation to a change in control of one of those persons (see clause 41A); or
(d) an event mentioned in clause 42(2)(k) occurs which consists of a failure by one of those persons as mentioned in that provision.”
(3) In paragraph (2), for “or (b)” substitute “, (b), (c) or (d)”.
Part 2 of Schedule 13
A38 Part 2 of Schedule 13 (current model clauses for landward appraisal licences deriving from Schedule 5 to the 1991 Regulations) is amended in accordance with paragraphs A39 to A41.
A39 After clause 32 insert—
“32A Change in control of Licensee
(1) This clause applies if—
(a) the Licensee is a company, or
(b) where two or more persons are the Licensee, any of those persons is a company,
and references in this clause to a company are to such a company.
(2) A change in control of a company is not permitted without the consent of the Oil and Gas Authority (“the OGA”).
(3) There is a “change in control” of a company if a person takes control of the company, not having previously been a person who controlled the company.
(4) If a change in control of a company is contemplated, the company must apply in writing to the OGA for consent at least three months before the date on which it is proposed that the change would occur (if consent were given).
(5) The OGA may—
(a) consent to the change in control unconditionally,
(b) consent to the change in control subject to conditions, or
(c) refuse consent to the change in control.
(6) If the OGA proposes to grant consent subject to any condition or to refuse consent, the OGA must, before making a final decision—
(a) give the company an opportunity to make representations, and
(b) consider any representations that are made.
(7) The general rule is that the OGA must decide an application within three months of receiving it, but the OGA may delay its decision by notifying the interested parties in writing.
(8) Conditions as mentioned in paragraph (5)(b) may be imposed on the person taking control of the company (as well as on the company), and may include—
(a) conditions relating to the arrangements for the change in control, including the date by which it must occur,
(b) conditions relating to the performance of activities permitted by this licence, and
(c) financial conditions.
(9) The OGA’s decision on the application, and any conditions as mentioned in paragraph (5)(b), must be notified in writing to the interested parties.
(10) In this clause “the interested parties” means—
(a) the company,
(b) the person who (if consent were granted) would take control of the company, and
(c) if the company and another person or persons are the Licensee, that other person or those other persons.
(11) For the purposes of this clause, the question of whether a person has control of a company is to be determined in accordance with the test set out in clause 32(3).”
A40(1) Clause 33 (power of revocation) is amended as follows.
(2) In paragraph (2)—
(a) after sub-paragraph (h) insert—
“(i) if the Licensee is a company, any breach of a condition subject to which the Oil and Gas Authority gave its consent to a change in control of the Licensee (see clause 32A);
(j) if the Licensee is a company, any failure to provide full and accurate information in response to a notice given by the Oil and Gas Authority to that company under section 5D of the Petroleum Act 1998;”;
(b) in the closing words, after “(f)” insert “or (i) or (j)”.
(3) Omit paragraphs (3) to (5).
A41(1) Clause 33A (power of partial revocation) is amended as follows.
(2) For paragraph (1) substitute—
“(1) This clause applies in a case where two or more persons are the Licensee and—
(a) an event mentioned in clause 33(2)(c), (d), (e) or (f) occurs in relation to one of those persons;
(b) an event mentioned in clause 33(2)(b) occurs which consists of a breach of clause 32A(2) or (4) in relation to a change in control of one of those persons;
(c) an event mentioned in clause 33(2)(i) occurs in relation to a change in control of one of those persons (see clause 32A); or
(d) an event mentioned in clause 33(2)(j) occurs which consists of a failure by one of those persons as mentioned in that provision.”
(3) In paragraph (2), for “or (b)” substitute “, (b), (c) or (d)”.
Part 2 of Schedule 14
A42 Part 2 of Schedule 14 (current model clauses for landward development licences deriving from Schedule 6 to the 1991 Regulations) is amended in accordance with paragraphs A43 to A45.
A43 After clause 34 insert—
“34A Change in control of Licensee
(1) This clause applies if—
(a) the Licensee is a company, or
(b) where two or more persons are the Licensee, any of those persons is a company,
and references in this clause to a company are to such a company.
(2) A change in control of a company is not permitted without the consent of the Oil and Gas Authority (“the OGA”).
(3) There is a “change in control” of a company if a person takes control of the company, not having previously been a person who controlled the company.
(4) If a change in control of a company is contemplated, the company must apply in writing to the OGA for consent at least three months before the date on which it is proposed that the change would occur (if consent were given).
(5) The OGA may—
(a) consent to the change in control unconditionally,
(b) consent to the change in control subject to conditions, or
(c) refuse consent to the change in control.
(6) If the OGA proposes to grant consent subject to any condition or to refuse consent, the OGA must, before making a final decision—
(a) give the company an opportunity to make representations, and
(b) consider any representations that are made.
(7) The general rule is that the OGA must decide an application within three months of receiving it, but the OGA may delay its decision by notifying the interested parties in writing.
(8) Conditions as mentioned in paragraph (5)(b) may be imposed on the person taking control of the company (as well as on the company), and may include—
(a) conditions relating to the arrangements for the change in control, including the date by which it must occur,
(b) conditions relating to the performance of activities permitted by this licence, and
(c) financial conditions.
(9) The OGA’s decision on the application, and any conditions as mentioned in paragraph (5)(b), must be notified in writing to the interested parties.
(10) In this clause “the interested parties” means—
(a) the company,
(b) the person who (if consent were granted) would take control of the company, and
(c) if the company and another person or persons are the Licensee, that other person or those other persons.
(11) For the purposes of this clause, the question of whether a person has control of a company is to be determined in accordance with the test set out in clause 34(3).”
A44(1) Clause 35 (power of revocation) is amended as follows.
(2) In paragraph (2)—
(a) after sub-paragraph (i) insert—
“(j) if the Licensee is a company, any breach of a condition subject to which the Oil and Gas Authority gave its consent to a change in control of the Licensee (see clause 34A);
(k) if the Licensee is a company, any failure to provide full and accurate information in response to a notice given by the Oil and Gas Authority to that company under section 5D of the Act of 1998;”;
(b) in the closing words, after “(g)” insert “or (j) or (k)”.
(3) Omit paragraphs (3) to (5).
A45(1) Clause 35A (power of partial revocation) is amended as follows.
(2) For paragraph (1) substitute—
“(1) This clause applies in a case where two or more persons are the Licensee and—
(a) an event mentioned in clause 35(2)(c), (d), (e) or (g) occurs in relation to one of those persons;
(b) an event mentioned in clause 35(2)(b) occurs which consists of a breach of clause 34A(2) or (4) in relation to a change in control of one of those persons;
(c) an event mentioned in clause 35(2)(j) occurs in relation to a change in control of one of those persons (see clause 34A); or
(d) an event mentioned in clause 35(2)(k) occurs which consists of a failure by one of those persons as mentioned in that provision.”
(3) In paragraph (2), for “or (b)” substitute “, (b), (c) or (d)”.
PART A3
PETROLEUM LICENSING (EXPLORATION AND PRODUCTION) (SEAWARD AND LANDWARD AREAS) REGULATIONS 2004
Introduction
A46 The Petroleum Licensing (Exploration and Production) (Seaward and Landward Areas) Regulations 2004 (S.I. 2004/352) are amended in accordance with this Part of this Schedule.
Schedule 2
A47 Schedule 2 (model clauses for production licences relating to frontier areas — no break clause) is amended in accordance with paragraphs A48 to A50.
A48 After clause 37 insert—
“37A Change in control of Licensee
(1) This clause applies if—
(a) the Licensee is a company, or
(b) where two or more persons are the Licensee, any of those persons is a company,
and references in this clause to a company are to such a company.
(2) A change in control of a company is not permitted without the consent of the Oil and Gas Authority (“the OGA”).
(3) There is a “change in control” of a company if a person takes control of the company, not having previously been a person who controlled the company.
(4) If a change in control of a company is contemplated, the company must apply in writing to the OGA for consent at least three months before the date on which it is proposed that the change would occur (if consent were given).
(5) The OGA may—
(a) consent to the change in control unconditionally,
(b) consent to the change in control subject to conditions, or
(c) refuse consent to the change in control.
(6) If the OGA proposes to grant consent subject to any condition or to refuse consent, the OGA must, before making a final decision—
(a) give the company an opportunity to make representations, and
(b) consider any representations that are made.
(7) The general rule is that the OGA must decide an application within three months of receiving it, but the OGA may delay its decision by notifying the interested parties in writing.
(8) Conditions as mentioned in paragraph (5)(b) may be imposed on the person taking control of the company (as well as on the company), and may include—
(a) conditions relating to the arrangements for the change in control, including the date by which it must occur,
(b) conditions relating to the performance of activities permitted by this licence, and
(c) financial conditions.
(9) The OGA’s decision on the application, and any conditions as mentioned in paragraph (5)(b), must be notified in writing to the interested parties.
(10) In this clause “the interested parties” means—
(a) the company,
(b) the person who (if consent were granted) would take control of the company, and
(c) if the company and another person or persons are the Licensee, that other person or those other persons.
(11) For the purposes of this clause, the question of whether a person has control of a company is to be determined in accordance with the test set out in clause 37(4).”
A49(1) Clause 38 (power of revocation) is amended as follows.
(2) In paragraph (2)—
(a) after sub-paragraph (i) insert—
“(j) if the Licensee is a company, any breach of a condition subject to which the Oil and Gas Authority gave its consent to a change in control of the Licensee (see clause 37A);
(k) if the Licensee is a company, any failure to provide full and accurate information in response to a notice given by the Oil and Gas Authority to that company under section 5D of the Act;”;
(b) in the closing words, after “(g)” insert “or (j) or (k)”.
(3) Omit paragraphs (3) to (5).
A50(1) Clause 38A (power of partial revocation) is amended as follows.
(2) For paragraph (1) substitute—
“(1) This clause applies in a case where two or more persons are the Licensee and—
(a) an event mentioned in clause 38(2)(c), (d), (e), (ee) or (g) occurs in relation to one of those persons;
(b) an event mentioned in clause 38(2)(b) occurs which consists of a breach of clause 37A(2) or (4) in relation to a change in control of one of those persons;
(c) an event mentioned in clause 38(2)(j) occurs in relation to a change in control of one of those persons (see clause 37A); or
(d) an event mentioned in clause 38(2)(k) occurs which consists of a failure by one of those persons as mentioned in that provision.”
(3) In paragraph (2), for “or (b)” substitute “, (b), (c) or (d)”.
Schedule 3
A51 Schedule 3 (model clauses for production licences relating to frontier areas — including break clause) is amended in accordance with paragraphs A52 to A54.
A52 After clause 38 insert—
“38A Change in control of Licensee
(1) This clause applies if—
(a) the Licensee is a company, or
(b) where two or more persons are the Licensee, any of those persons is a company,
and references in this clause to a company are to such a company.
(2) A change in control of a company is not permitted without the consent of the Oil and Gas Authority (“the OGA”).
(3) There is a “change in control” of a company if a person takes control of the company, not having previously been a person who controlled the company.
(4) If a change in control of a company is contemplated, the company must apply in writing to the OGA for consent at least three months before the date on which it is proposed that the change would occur (if consent were given).
(5) The OGA may—
(a) consent to the change in control unconditionally,
(b) consent to the change in control subject to conditions, or
(c) refuse consent to the change in control.
(6) If the OGA proposes to grant consent subject to any condition or to refuse consent, the OGA must, before making a final decision—
(a) give the company an opportunity to make representations, and
(b) consider any representations that are made.
(7) The general rule is that the OGA must decide an application within three months of receiving it, but the OGA may delay its decision by notifying the interested parties in writing.
(8) Conditions as mentioned in paragraph (5)(b) may be imposed on the person taking control of the company (as well as on the company), and may include—
(a) conditions relating to the arrangements for the change in control, including the date by which it must occur,
(b) conditions relating to the performance of activities permitted by this licence, and
(c) financial conditions.
(9) The OGA’s decision on the application, and any conditions as mentioned in paragraph (5)(b), must be notified in writing to the interested parties.
(10) In this clause “the interested parties” means—
(a) the company,
(b) the person who (if consent were granted) would take control of the company, and
(c) if the company and another person or persons are the Licensee, that other person or those other persons.
(11) For the purposes of this clause, the question of whether a person has control of a company is to be determined in accordance with the test set out in clause 38(4).”
A53(1) Clause 39 (power of revocation) is amended as follows.
(2) In paragraph (2)—
(a) after sub-paragraph (i) insert—
“(j) if the Licensee is a company, any breach of a condition subject to which the Oil and Gas Authority gave its consent to a change in control of the Licensee (see clause 38A);
(k) if the Licensee is a company, any failure to provide full and accurate information in response to a notice given by the Oil and Gas Authority to that company under section 5D of the Act;”;
(b) in the closing words, after “(g)” insert “or (j) or (k)”.
(3) Omit paragraphs (3) to (5).
A54(1) Clause 39A (power of partial revocation) is amended as follows.
(2) For paragraph (1) substitute—
“(1) This clause applies in a case where two or more persons are the Licensee and—
(a) an event mentioned in clause 39(2)(c), (d), (e), (ee) or (g) occurs in relation to one of those persons;
(b) an event mentioned in clause 39(2)(b) occurs which consists of a breach of clause 38A(2) or (4) in relation to a change in control of one of those persons;
(c) an event mentioned in clause 39(2)(j) occurs in relation to a change in control of one of those persons (see clause 38A); or
(d) an event mentioned in clause 39(2)(k) occurs which consists of a failure by one of those persons as mentioned in that provision.”
(3) In paragraph (2), for “or (b)” substitute “, (b), (c) or (d)”.
Schedule 4
A55 Schedule 4 (model clauses for standard production licences) is amended in accordance with paragraphs A56 to A58.
A56 After clause 36 insert—
“36A Change in control of Licensee
(1) This clause applies if—
(a) the Licensee is a company, or
(b) where two or more persons are the Licensee, any of those persons is a company,
and references in this clause to a company are to such a company.
(2) A change in control of a company is not permitted without the consent of the Oil and Gas Authority (“the OGA”).
(3) There is a “change in control” of a company if a person takes control of the company, not having previously been a person who controlled the company.
(4) If a change in control of a company is contemplated, the company must apply in writing to the OGA for consent at least three months before the date on which it is proposed that the change would occur (if consent were given).
(5) The OGA may—
(a) consent to the change in control unconditionally,
(b) consent to the change in control subject to conditions, or
(c) refuse consent to the change in control.
(6) If the OGA proposes to grant consent subject to any condition or to refuse consent, the OGA must, before making a final decision—
(a) give the company an opportunity to make representations, and
(b) consider any representations that are made.
(7) The general rule is that the OGA must decide an application within three months of receiving it, but the OGA may delay its decision by notifying the interested parties in writing.
(8) Conditions as mentioned in paragraph (5)(b) may be imposed on the person taking control of the company (as well as on the company), and may include—
(a) conditions relating to the arrangements for the change in control, including the date by which it must occur,
(b) conditions relating to the performance of activities permitted by this licence, and
(c) financial conditions.
(9) The OGA’s decision on the application, and any conditions as mentioned in paragraph (5)(b), must be notified in writing to the interested parties.
(10) In this clause “the interested parties” means—
(a) the company,
(b) the person who (if consent were granted) would take control of the company, and
(c) if the company and another person or persons are the Licensee, that other person or those other persons.
(11) For the purposes of this clause, the question of whether a person has control of a company is to be determined in accordance with the test set out in clause 36(4).”
A57(1) Clause 37 (power of revocation) is amended as follows.
(2) In paragraph (2)—
(a) after sub-paragraph (i) insert—
“(j) if the Licensee is a company, any breach of a condition subject to which the Oil and Gas Authority gave its consent to a change in control of the Licensee (see clause 36A);
(k) if the Licensee is a company, any failure to provide full and accurate information in response to a notice given by the Oil and Gas Authority to that company under section 5D of the Act;”;
(b) in the closing words, after “(g)” insert “or (j) or (k)”.
(3) Omit paragraphs (3) to (5).
A58(1) Clause 37A (power of partial revocation) is amended as follows.
(2) For paragraph (1) substitute—
“(1) This clause applies in a case where two or more persons are the Licensee and—
(a) an event mentioned in clause 37(2)(c), (d), (e), (ee) or (g) occurs in relation to one of those persons;
(b) an event mentioned in clause 37(2)(b) occurs which consists of a breach of clause 36A(2) or (4) in relation to a change in control of one of those persons;
(c) an event mentioned in clause 37(2)(j) occurs in relation to a change in control of one of those persons (see clause 36A); or
(d) an event mentioned in clause 37(2)(k) occurs which consists of a failure by one of those persons as mentioned in that provision.”
(3) In paragraph (2), for “or (b)” substitute “, (b), (c) or (d)”.
Schedule 6
A59 Schedule 6 (model clauses for petroleum exploration and development licences) is amended in accordance with paragraphs A60 to A62.
A60 After clause 35 insert—
“35A Change in control of Licensee
(1) This clause applies if—
(a) the Licensee is a company, or
(b) where two or more persons are the Licensee, any of those persons is a company,
and references in this clause to a company are to such a company.
(2) A change in control of a company is not permitted without the consent of the Oil and Gas Authority (“the OGA”).
(3) There is a “change in control” of a company if a person takes control of the company, not having previously been a person who controlled the company.
(4) If a change in control of a company is contemplated, the company must apply in writing to the OGA for consent at least three months before the date on which it is proposed that the change would occur (if consent were given).
(5) The OGA may—
(a) consent to the change in control unconditionally,
(b) consent to the change in control subject to conditions, or
(c) refuse consent to the change in control.
(6) If the OGA proposes to grant consent subject to any condition or to refuse consent, the OGA must, before making a final decision—
(a) give the company an opportunity to make representations, and
(b) consider any representations that are made.
(7) The general rule is that the OGA must decide an application within three months of receiving it, but the OGA may delay its decision by notifying the interested parties in writing.
(8) Conditions as mentioned in paragraph (5)(b) may be imposed on the person taking control of the company (as well as on the company), and may include—
(a) conditions relating to the arrangements for the change in control, including the date by which it must occur,
(b) conditions relating to the performance of activities permitted by this licence, and
(c) financial conditions.
(9) The OGA’s decision on the application, and any conditions as mentioned in paragraph (5)(b), must be notified in writing to the interested parties.
(10) In this clause “the interested parties” means—
(a) the company,
(b) the person who (if consent were granted) would take control of the company, and
(c) if the company and another person or persons are the Licensee, that other person or those other persons.
(11) For the purposes of this clause, the question of whether a person has control of a company is to be determined in accordance with the test set out in clause 35(4).”
A61(1) Clause 36 (power of revocation) is amended as follows.
(2) In paragraph (2)—
(a) after sub-paragraph (i) insert—
“(j) if the Licensee is a company, any breach of a condition subject to which the Oil and Gas Authority gave its
consent to a change in control of the Licensee (see clause 35A);
(k) if the Licensee is a company, any failure to provide full and accurate information in response to a notice given by the Oil and Gas Authority to that company under section 5D of the Act;”;
(b) in the closing words, after “(g)” insert “or (j) or (k)”.
(3) Omit paragraphs (3) to (5).
A62(1) Clause 36A (power of partial revocation) is amended as follows.
(2) For paragraph (1) substitute—
“(1) This clause applies in a case where two or more persons are the Licensee and—
(a) an event mentioned in clause 36(2)(c), (d), (e), (ee) or (g) occurs in relation to one of those persons;
(b) an event mentioned in clause 36(2)(b) occurs which consists of a breach of clause 35A(2) or (4) in relation to a change in control of one of those persons;
(c) an event mentioned in clause 36(2)(j) occurs in relation to a change in control of one of those persons (see clause 35A); or
(d) an event mentioned in clause 36(2)(k) occurs which consists of a failure by one of those persons as mentioned in that provision.”
(3) In paragraph (2), for “or (b)” substitute “, (b), (c) or (d)”.”

329: Schedule 20, page 374, line 9, leave out sub-paragraph (4)

330: Schedule 20, page 375, line 7, leave out “, (3BA), (3BB), (3BC), (3BD) or (3BE)” and insert “or, in a case where the relevant reciprocating territory is also a CSC territory (as defined by section 16AA), (3BB)”

331: Schedule 20, page 377, line 4, at end insert—
“(c) a country mentioned in section 26(1B)(b),
(d) an overseas territory mentioned in section 26(1B)(c) or (d), or
(e) a relevant reciprocating territory.”

332: Schedule 20, page 378, line 11, at end insert “(as amended or supplemented from time to time)”

333: Schedule 20, page 379, line 13, leave out “In section 26 of the 1965 Act (interpretation),” and insert—
“(1) Section 26 of the 1965 Act (interpretation) is amended as follows.
(2) +”

334: Schedule 20, page 379, line 27, at end insert—
“(e) after the definition of “overseas territory” insert—
““the Paris Convention” means the Convention on Third Party Liability in the Field of Nuclear Energy of 29 July 1960, as amended by the Additional Protocol of 28 January 1964, by the Protocol of 16 November 1982 and by the Protocol of 12 February 2004;”.”

335: Schedule 20, page 379, line 27, at end insert—
“( ) In subsection (1A)(a)—
(a) in the opening words, for “a relevant international agreement” substitute “the Paris Convention”;
(b) in sub-paragraph (i)—
(i) for “relevant international agreement” (in each place it appears) substitute “Convention”;
(ii) for “agreement” (in the third place it appears) substitute “Convention”;
(iii) for “agreement’s” substitute “Convention’s”;
(c) in sub-paragraph (ii), for “relevant international agreement” substitute “Convention”.”

336: Title, line 3, leave out “industrial”

337: Title, line 4, after “production” insert “and transportation”

338: Title, line 7, after “codes;” insert “about financial support for persons carrying on energy-intensive activities;”

Motion on Amendments 275 to 338 agreed.