Asked by: Baroness Griffin of Princethorpe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what contribution will the British steel sector, including Speciality Steel UK, play in (1) delivering their Industrial Strategy, and (2) supporting growth in key sectors across the UK.
Answered by Lord Leong - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)
A strong British steel sector is fundamental to delivering the Industrial Strategy, strengthening national and economic security, and supporting growth in advanced manufacturing, clean energy, defence, infrastructure and digital technologies. Through the Steel Strategy, backed by up to £2.5 billion, the Government is working to rebuild the sector, attract investment, increase demand for UK-made steel and support clean, modern production. It is a major employer in one of the UK’s most deprived areas, and it occupies a unique place in our steel ecosystem. Working towards public acquisition will preserve strategic control and enable the Government to assess all credible future opportunities, including how SSUK’s specialist capabilities can support growth, skilled employment and resilient domestic supply chains.
Asked by: Baroness Griffin of Princethorpe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of maintaining continuity in specialist steel production in response to the lengthy accreditation and homologation processes required by customers in the (1) automotive, (2) aerospace, and (3) defence sectors.
Answered by Lord Leong - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)
The Government recognises that accreditation and homologation processes in the automotive, aerospace and defence sectors can take time, making the continuity of specialist steel capability important to customers and national resilience. We are working towards the public acquisition of Speciality Steel UK to preserve strategic control and enable all credible options for its future to be assessed. No final decisions have yet been taken. Options will be considered thoroughly, including on their economic and industrial benefits, contribution to regional growth and national resilience, and value for money.
Asked by: Baroness Griffin of Princethorpe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the system benefits created by heat batteries which shift demand away from peak times.
Answered by Baroness Curran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The government recognises that heat batteries can play a role in decarbonising domestic heating, noting their ability to shift demand away from peak times through charging at off-peak times. The government has committed to provide grants through the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, with a value of ÂŁ2,500, that can support the installation of heat batteries, once appropriate standards have been implemented.
Officials within DESNZ are in regular contact with the heat battery industry including through trade bodies.
Asked by: Baroness Griffin of Princethorpe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to prioritise heat batteries as a tool to cut the cost of bills.
Answered by Baroness Curran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The government recognises that heat batteries can play a role in decarbonising domestic heating, noting their ability to take advantage of time-of-use electricity tariffs through charging at off-peak times. The government has committed to provide grants through the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, with a value of ÂŁ2,500, that can support the installation of heat batteries, once appropriate standards have been implemented.
Asked by: Baroness Griffin of Princethorpe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have existing powers to enable them to introduce minimum energy efficiency standards for the social housing sector, and if so, what they are.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Regulator of Social Housing’s (RSH) Safety and Quality Standard currently requires registered providers of social housing to ensure that tenants’ homes meet the Decent Homes Standard (DHS). RSH seeks assurance that all registered providers of social housing are delivering the outcomes set out in their standards. Government will direct the RSH to update their standards to include the new Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Griffin of Princethorpe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hanson of Flint on 27 April (HL16209), what steps they will take to implement the recommendations of the report by Liverpool City Council, A Review of Safety Related Matters: Liverpool Victory Parade: 26th May 2025, published on 6 March, to ensure that, during major events, local authorities have the power to prohibit (1) scaffolding and other equipment posing a height risk to spectators, and (2) the use of flares.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
Under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, event organisers must already conduct their activities in such a way that the public are not exposed to risk. They must also make suitable risk assessment, including assessing risks from crowd dynamics like climbing onto structures. Clients and contractors must ensure that unauthorised access onto scaffolding is prevented. Compliance is enforced by the HSE or local authorities.
Local authorities and the police have powers to tackle anti-social behaviour caused by misuse of pyrotechnics. The Government keeps the effectiveness and proportionality of the pyrotechnics framework under continuous review.
Asked by: Baroness Griffin of Princethorpe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how they plan to improve the safety of large events following the release of the report commissioned by Liverpool City Council, A Review of Safety Related Matters: Liverpool Victory Parade: 26th May 2025, published on 6 March.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
HSE provide guidance on the measures to be taken when organising events “Event safety - HSE” and the Events Industry Forum publishes “The Purple Guide” which provides guidance on health, safety and welfare to those organising events and this document provides guidance on minimising the risk at large events.
Sites and event organisers are encouraged to consider and implement hostile vehicle mitigation (HVM) as part of wider protective security considerations. Comprehensive advice and guidance is available via the National Protective Security Authority (NPSA) and the National Counter Terrorism Security Office (NaCTSO), which includes signposting to a suite of HVM products and counter-measures.
The specialist advice regarding HVM includes up-to-date technical resources and best practice advice regarding their deployment, and is available from the organisations listed above. Additionally, the Home Office, in collaboration with other Government agencies, continuously assesses the threat posed by attacks using vehicles.
The Home Office continuously works with both Counter Terrorism Policing (CTP) and NPSA to support developments, research and innovations for HVM measures. As a result of this ongoing work, a range of sophisticated counter measures are available which venue owners and event organisers can draw on when considering their own protective security measures.
More widely, the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025 (commonly known as Martyn’s Law) will place duties on those responsible for certain premises and events to take reasonably practicable steps to reduce the risk of harm from terrorism, once its requirements come into force. Whether an event falls within scope will depend on its specific circumstances and whether it meets the criteria set out in the legislation. While events such as non‑ticketed public parades would not generally be expected to fall within scope, for major events that do, the Government considers Martyn’s Law an important part of strengthening public safety and preparedness alongside existing guidance and best practice.
Asked by: Baroness Griffin of Princethorpe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they are having discussions with Ofgem about (1) shifting its regulatory focus from gas to heat, and (2) considering cost recovery for heat networks through its upcoming price control framework.
Answered by Lord Whitehead
Ofgem took on responsibility for regulating heat networks in January, and Ministers have been engaging regularly with Ofgem on how their role will develop.
Under current Ofgem rules, heat networks have a requirement to set fair and transparent prices. Whilst Ofgem have consulted on bench marking proposals in relation to these rules, they do not set the prices heat networks charge and heat networks are not governed by the energy price cap or regulated under Ofgem's network price control framework.
Asked by: Baroness Griffin of Princethorpe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential for the heat network sector to drive economic growth and job creation.
Answered by Lord Whitehead
We set out our long-term strategy for heat networks in the Warm Homes Plan, including our target for heat networks to supply 7% of heat demand by 2035, on a path towards meeting a fifth of demand by 2050. We estimate that delivering this ambition will result in 18,000 jobs supported in 2030, and attract ÂŁ60 billion of investment in the UK by 2050.
Asked by: Baroness Griffin of Princethorpe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what levels of finance and support are required through schemes such as the Heat Network Efficiency Scheme to bring legacy networks up to the Heat Network Technical Assurance Scheme standards.
Answered by Lord Whitehead
The Heat Network Efficiency Scheme (HNES), which provides grants to heat networks to carry out performance and efficiency improvement works, has the potential to provide some funding to networks for works that will bring them up to HNTAS standards.
We are currently consulting on the implementation of HNTAS, and are actively encouraging the sector to provide cost data through the consultation, so we can strengthen our evidence base on financial support that may be required and ensure the final policy is proportionate and deliverable.