Asked by: Baroness Pidgeon (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the expansion of the Emissions Trading Scheme to maritime on cruise operations in the UK.
Answered by Lord Whitehead - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The UK Emissions Trading Scheme will only include emissions from domestic voyages and emissions within UK ports.
Emissions from voyages within the European Economic Area (EEA) and emissions within EEA ports are already in scope of the EU Emissions Trading System, which also applies to 50% of international voyage emissions.
The Government therefore expects no net loss of competitiveness for cruise visits to UK ports relative to EEA ports as a result of the inclusion in the UK ETS of the domestic maritime sector.
On this basis, the Government considers the impact on the cruise sector to be minimal.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what the regional organisation of the proposed Warm Homes Agency will be.
Answered by Lord Whitehead - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Warm Homes Agency will seek to operate and optimise delivery at a local level, across the whole of the UK, subject to agreement with Devolved Governments. The Agency will work closely with local partners, supporting and bolstering excellent work already being delivered by many strategic and local authorities. The specifics of the scope of the Agency, including where it will operate and how it will be organised, are being finalised.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what progress his Department has made towards phasing out gas boilers by 2035; and what assessment he has made of the adequacy of that timeframe in meeting the UK’s carbon reduction targets.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Carbon Budget and Growth Delivery Plan sets out the government's proposals and policies to enable carbon budgets to be met. In doing so, it provides an assessment of the impact of the government’s expectation that the vast majority of heating system replacements will be low-carbon by 2035.
We are making significant progress towards this objective. Demand for heat pumps and other clean technologies is soaring, while our Warm Homes Plan sets out ?15 billion of investment and a range of interventions to ensure that clean heating technologies are the most attractive and natural option for consumers.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether local authorities will be able to access the £2 billion fund to support zero and low-interest loans for solar panels, batteries, and other technologies proposed in the Warm Homes Plan, published 21 January.
Answered by Lord Whitehead - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
We will look to use our new Warm Homes Fund to help local authorities accelerate their existing consumer offers for low carbon technologies. In addition, Crown Commercial Services and Great British Energy are testing approaches to aggregating demand for these technologies to drive down unit costs for both social housing landlords and the public sector estate.
The Government will also provide support to local government, enabling successful delivery at the local level, including through the new Warm Homes Agency which will play a pivotal role in supporting local partnerships, convening, facilitating and supporting where necessary to build capacity within local government. Government is also funding five Local Net Zero Hubs which support local authorities to develop decarbonisation projects and attract commercial interest.
Asked by: Andrew Bowie (Conservative - West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how the commitments to workforce training in the Hamburg Declaration will be implemented to ensure a skilled workforce for Scotland's offshore renewables sector.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
In the Hamburg Declaration, the North Sea countries have committed to deepen collaboration on enhanced availability of skilled workers, knowledge and expertise transfer, and upskilling.
Although skills is devolved to the Scottish Government, the UK Government is investing in programmes to support those workers transitioning from oil and gas into renewables.
As set out in the Clean Energy Jobs Plan, up to £20m in joint UK and Scottish Government funding is being provided to the Oil and Gas Transition Training Fund, supporting North Sea workers to retrain into renewable roles. This builds on the successful pilot launched in July 2025 in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire.
The Government is also supporting the expansion of the industry-led Energy Skills Passport and introducing a North Sea Jobs Service.
Asked by: Lord Strathcarron (Non-affiliated - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government how they arrived at the estimate in the Clean Energy Campaign that it costs approximately £2,000 a year to heat a typical three-bedroom house with a gas boiler; and what assessment they have made of the accuracy of Ofgem’s estimate of the cost of heating a typical three-bedroom house with a gas boiler.
Answered by Lord Whitehead - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The cost estimates used in the Clean Energy Campaign are based on the total energy for a home with a gas boiler including both gas and electricity costs (e.g. for lighting and appliances). Details for the assumptions behind the analysis are provided in the section marked “*How we calculated heat pump savings” on the campaign web page https://cleanenergy.campaign.gov.uk/heat-pump/. The analysis in the campaign assumed an annual gas demand of 12,200kWh, which is well aligned to OFGEM’s ‘Medium’ typical domestic consumption value of 11,500kWh.
Asked by: Andrew Bowie (Conservative - West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he is taking to accelerate planning and permitting processes for offshore wind developments in Scotland.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Scottish consenting reforms taken forward by the Planning and Infrastructure Act will make the electricity infrastructure consenting system more efficient, more predictable, and look to reduce overall consenting timescales. The Government also aims to adopt reforms to environmental legislation for offshore wind in Spring 2026. Collectively these measures will enable the rapid deployment of clean power which is vital for our energy security. Ultimately planning decisions in Scotland are the responsibility of the Scottish Government.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what the relationship will be between the proposed Warm Homes Agency and Combined Authorities.
Answered by Lord Whitehead - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Warm Homes Agency will play a critical role in place-based delivery and work closely with local partners, including combined authorities. The Agency will seek to build on their good practice in local delivery, convening and supporting where necessary to build capacity to enable delivery to be led at a local level. The full scope of the Agency, including how it will work with combined authorities, is being finalised and will be confirmed in due course.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the proposed Warm Homes Agency will allocate funding to Combined Authorities.
Answered by Lord Whitehead - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The full scope of the Warm Homes Agency, including any role in funding allocation, is being finalised and will be confirmed in due course.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of (a) oversight, (b) accountability and (c) redress mechanisms with home energy efficiency schemes; what steps he is taking to help reduce the number of errors; and what assessment he has made of the adequacy of processes for households to (i) challenge and (ii) seek review of decisions.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government recognises that the system of quality assurance and consumer redress that we inherited needs reform.
We have improved the quality assurance and consumer protection systems since identifying the issues with solid wall insulation under ECO4 and GBIS, including but not limited to enhanced checks by energy suppliers and greater oversight of TrustMark and certification body operations.
We are committed to reforming the consumer protection system, as set out in the Warm Homes Plan, to one that can command public confidence.