Asked by: Baroness Walmsley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to lower the cost of green hydrogen production.
Answered by Lord Whitehead
We have published a Cost Challenge Document which advises shortlisted projects in Hydrogen Allocation Round 2 on achieving cost-competitiveness during the due diligence stage. Projects must demonstrate value for money and justify costs across key components, with an aim to achieve lower average hydrogen production costs than seen in Hydrogen Allocation Round 1.
Asked by: Baroness Walmsley (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 wider economic return on government funding to support UK hydrogen production.
Answered by Lord Whitehead
Growth is the number one mission of this Government, and growing the UK hydrogen sector will help create good jobs, attract investment, strengthen energy security and cut emissions. Through the first Hydrogen Allocation Round, we have already supported 11 projects expected to create over 600 direct jobs and attract over ÂŁ400 million of private investment. More broadly, hydrogen is backed in the Clean Energy Industries Sector Plan as a frontier technology, with a wider public finance offer designed to crowd private investment into sustainable UK supply chains.
Asked by: Baroness Walmsley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to progress the implementation of the gas shipper obligation.
Answered by Lord Whitehead
Government is committed to providing a robust funding mechanism for hydrogen production. The Government consulted on the design of the Gas Shipper Obligation between January and April 2025. We are grateful to those who responded to the consultation, and we will publish a response as soon as possible.
Asked by: Baroness Walmsley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their timetable for the publication of a consultation regarding the mandatory health reporting requirements and targets for large businesses under the healthy food standard proposed in the 10-year health plan for England.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we will take decisive action on the obesity crisis, easing the strain on our National Health Service and creating the healthiest generation of children ever. The plan committed to, by the end of this Parliament, introduce mandatory healthier food sales reporting for all large companies in the sector. The plan also committed to introduce new targets to increase the healthiness of sales.
We intend to launch a full public consultation soon to gather a wide range of views on our proposals.
Specific implementation dates will be determined following consultation, and the intention is that the policy will be finalised and legislation laid so that reporting comes into force before the end of this Parliament, no later than 2029.