Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is the budget for payments to Scunthorpe steelmaking in 2026–27.

Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

Budgets for British Steel are subject to the usual government approvals processes and ministerial decisions. The need for HMG support is kept under constant review and all efforts are being made to secure a viable future for the company. All support for British Steel has been drawn from existing HMG budgets, with no additional borrowing required.

To date, we have provided approximately £504 million for working capital, covering items such as raw materials and salaries. This will be reflected in the Department for Business and Trade’s accounts for both 2025-26 and 2026-27.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the annual capacity of the UK vehicle industry to produce battery electric cars.

Answered by Lord Stockwood - Minister of State (HM Treasury)

The Government has not made a single estimate of annual battery electric vehicle production capacity, however the latest forecasts from the Advanced Propulsion Centre estimate the UK will produce 200k battery electric vehicles (passenger cars and commercial vehicles) in 2027, rising to 600k in 2030. We are supporting UK battery manufacturing via DRIVE35, which helped strategic investments like the Agratas gigafactory in Somerset, and have already committed £47 million for key R&D battery projects across the UK through the Battery Innovation Programme, helping to create skilled jobs, a stronger supply chain and position the UK as a globally competitive destination for battery manufacturing.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government when the first scheduled train service on the HS2 line will start from (1) Old Oak Common to Birmingham, and (2) Euston to Birmingham.

Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

The first HS2 trains are now expected to start between Old Oak Common in West London and Birmingham Curzon Street between May 2036 and October 2039. We estimate that the full scheme, including both Euston to the south and Handsacre Junction to the north, will open between May 2040 and December 2043.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government what change there has been to the acreage of cereal plantings on English farms in 2026 compared to 2025.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Defra publishes official estimates of crop areas in England relating to 1 June each year. 2026 crop areas will be collected throughout June/July and cereal area estimates are due to be published here [https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/cereal-and-oilseed-rape-areas-in-england] on 27 August 2026. Areas for previous years are available via the same link.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what latest estimate they have made of the of revenue and losses in the first operational year of HS2.

Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

DfT worked with HS2 Ltd to provide high level assessment of the changes to the operational costs as part of the Accounting Officer Assessment for the Reset. However, as the Reset Ranges focus on the capital cost of delivery, an Operational Expenditure Baseline is currently being produced as part of Baseline 8.0, and DfT and HS2 Ltd are continuing to work together on the updated Business Case to be published in 2027.