Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking, as part of the development and delivery of the Seventh Carbon Budget, to ensure UK industry remains internationally competitive.
Answered by Lord Whitehead
The Government is committed to supporting UK industry to decarbonise while ensuring that this does not mean deindustrialisation.
Last year, the government set out the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy, which will drive forward ambition for UK business operating in the clean energy space. Clean energy is one of our fastest growing sectors, bringing jobs in areas like nuclear, offshore wind, and electricity networks.
Free allowances in the UK Emission Trading Scheme and the forthcoming UK Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism protect UK industry from being undercut as it decarbonises. In addition, this year, 500 of our most energy intensive businesses will see a cut to their bills, with thousands more getting discounts in 2027.
A cross-economy delivery plan setting out how Carbon Budget 7 will be met will be published as soon as is reasonably practicable, in line with the Climate Change Act 2008.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - 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 any delays in publishing the update to the UK Hydrogen Strategy on the hydrogen technology supply chain.
Answered by Lord Whitehead
We understand the importance of providing clarity to businesses across the hydrogen sector, including those in the supply chain. Hydrogen is backed in the Industrial Strategy Clean Energy Industries Sector Plan as a frontier technology, with a public finance offer designed to crowd private investment into UK supply chains.
We plan to publish the Hydrogen Strategy, alongside a package of other hydrogen policy documents, as soon as possible this year. The renewed strategy will set out Government’s vision and objectives for hydrogen, and how we intend to work with industry to continue to transform ambition into action.
In the meantime, we remain focused on delivery, with projects that were successful in HAR1 now moving to the final investment decision and our recent investment in UK electrolyser manufacturing with ITM Power in South Yorkshire.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will confirm the scheduled start date for the second Hydrogen Allocation Round; and what is their target date to move projects shortlisted under it to the "Invite to Offer" stage.
Answered by Lord Whitehead
Hydrogen Allocation Round (HAR) 2 is currently a live round. We are working hard across government to start the Invite to Offer stage of HAR2 as soon as possible and will be in touch with projects when this commences. We understand that many projects are at critical stages, and that certainty is important to support business planning, resource management and engagement with third parties.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps are being taken to finalise the second Hydrogen Allocation Round.
Answered by Lord Whitehead
We understand that many projects are at critical stages, and that certainty is very important to help businesses plan and manage resourcing and expectations of third parties. We are working hard across government to start the Invite to Offer stage of HAR2 as soon as possible and will be in touch with projects when this commences. We are aiming to announce successful HAR2 projects in 2026.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what urgent measures are being taken to address gaps in necessary training within the clean energy workforce.
Answered by Lord Whitehead
In October 2025, we published the Clean Energy Jobs Plan. We have already made significant progress since publishing our Plan. In April, we announced 5 Clean Energy Technical Excellence Colleges delivering training for clean energy jobs in Liverpool, the Tees Valley, Somerset, London and Colchester.
To support skilled oil and gas workers to move into clean energy jobs, the Plan also announced the provision of up to £20 million of funding from the UK and Scottish Governments to the Oil and Gas Transition Training Fund. In the North Sea Future Plan, we announced a new North Sea Jobs Service, which will offer end-to-end career transition support for oil and gas workers looking to move into secure jobs in growing industries.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - 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 job creation of the hydrogen sector by 2050.
Answered by Lord Whitehead
The Industrial Strategy’s Clean Energy Industries Sector Plan (CEI) backs hydrogen as a frontier technology, with potential to drive economic growth, create high-quality jobs, and build industries of the future.
In the UK, hydrogen could support 6,500 – 11,500 jobs by 2035 with opportunities across the graduate and technically trained workforce. We expect these figures to scale with hydrogen sector growth out to 2050.
As part of our Industrial Strategy, we published the Clean Energy Jobs Plan which confirms the workforce needed to deliver our clean energy ambitions and how government will work with industry and trade unions to deliver it.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government when the update to the UK Hydrogen Strategy will be published.
Answered by Lord Whitehead
The Government intends to publish a renewed Hydrogen Strategy, alongside a package of other hydrogen policy documents, as soon as possible this year.
The renewed Hydrogen Strategy will set out Government’s vision and objectives for hydrogen, and how the Government intends to work together with industry to continue to transform ambition into action.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to lower electricity prices in the UK following the uplift of the Network Charging Compensation Scheme.
Answered by Lord Whitehead
In February the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero published a response to consultations on proposals to amend the inflation indexation of the Renewables Obligation and Feed-in Tariff schemes. Lowering levy costs through reforms such as these forms part of the work that government is doing to bear down on costs across the energy system to ensure that consumers do not see a net increase in their electricity bills as a result of this measure. More widely, at the last Budget government took an average of £150 of costs off household energy bills from this coming April.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what measures they are taking to adopt a fair system of allocation regarding the rolling out of (1) the electric vehicle charging network and (2) the upgrading of electricity grid infrastructure to ensure that urban areas are not prioritised over rural areas.
Answered by Lord Whitehead
Government’s £381m Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Fund allocated capital and resource funding across all higher tier local authorities (LAs) in England, to ensure equitable chargepoint rollout across the country. Funding allocations were determined through an assessment of LA need, including the level of rurality, which meant LAs in rural areas were allocated additional funding compared to urban ones. This builds on rollout to date, with the number of publicly available charging devices in rural areas of England increasing by 45% in 2024.
The Government works with Ofgem to ensure grid investment supports all communities, including remote rural areas. Ofgem has allocated £22 billion for network upgrades under the current electricity distribution price control (2023–2028). The next distribution price control (ED3 for 2028–2033) will require distribution network operators to produce long-term regional network plans, informed by Regional Energy Strategic Plans (RESPs).
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to introducing a two-way contract for difference to provide competitive wholesale electricity prices to the steel industry.
Answered by Lord Wilson of Sedgefield - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
We recognise the importance of competitive electricity prices in enabling the UK steel sector to thrive.
We are developing a comprehensive steel strategy, to be published this year, which will set out the conditions needed to create a competitive business environment in the UK. This strategy aims to attract new private investment and expand UK steelmaking capability in alignment with our Net Zero goals. As part of this, we launched the Plan for Steel Consultation in March to examine long-term challenges facing the industry, including how domestic producers can meet more UK demand.
To support decarbonisation and growth, the Government will renew the Industrial Decarbonisation Strategy, providing long-term confidence for industry to invest in low-carbon technologies. We remain committed to our manifesto pledge to invest up to £2.5 billion in steel through the National Wealth Fund and other routes.
The UK steel industry has a long-term future under this Government. We are determined to work towards a bright future for steel—protecting jobs, driving growth, and ensuring our industrial heartlands remain at the forefront of a competitive, low-carbon economy.