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 - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
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 - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
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 - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
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 - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
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 - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
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 - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
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.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to classify onshore wind farms as critical infrastructure to combat the theft of copper cabling from wind turbines.
Answered by Lord Wilson of Sedgefield - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
On 9 June 2025, the Government made legislation to reintroduce onshore wind into the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIP) regime. Government has concluded that low carbon infrastructure entering the NSIP regime, including renewables such as onshore wind, should be deemed as critical national priority infrastructure. Security arrangements for onshore wind farms are a matter for individual developers.
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 preserve productive farmland by encouraging the installation of solar panels on buildings and car parks rather than such farmland.
Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
The deployment of rooftop solar is a top priority. Permitted development rights mean most rooftop projects do not require an application for planning permission, including non-domestic arrays of any size, and solar canopies on car parks. New buildings standards will ensure that all newly built houses and commercial buildings are fit for a net zero future. We expect these standards to encourage the installation of solar panels.
Ground mount solar is also needed to meet our 2030 clean power ambitions. Planning guidance makes clear that, wherever possible, projects should utilise previously developed land. Where the development of farmland is judged necessary, lower-quality land should be preferred.
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 promote the development of green jobs; and what is their assessment of the consequences for delivery of a low-carbon built environment.
Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
The Office for Clean Energy Jobs (OCEJ) has been created to ensure that clean energy jobs are abundant, high quality, paid fairly, and have favourable terms and good working conditions.
The OCEJ is engaging widely with industry, experts, and trade unions for a clear assessment of the skills opportunities and challenges. It is working closely with Skills England to ensure that skills systems reforms support the clean energy transition.