Asked by: Lord Ashcombe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether funding for the Climate Resilient Water Sector in Grenada project will be provided in the form of loans rather than grants; and, if so, what the terms of the loans will be.
Answered by Baroness Curran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
No. The UK uses a combination of grants and other instruments, including loans, as most appropriate to deliver the intended outcomes and provide the best value for money. The majority of UK ICF will continue to be provided through grants. No existing ICF programmes have been switched from grants to loans linked with the recent announcement of £2 bus fares.
Asked by: Lord Ashcombe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether funding for the Vanuatu community-based climate resilience project will be provided in the form of loans rather than grants; and, if so, what the terms of the loans will be.
Answered by Baroness Curran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
No. The UK uses a combination of grants and other instruments, including loans, as most appropriate to deliver the intended outcomes and provide the best value for money. The majority of UK ICF will continue to be provided through grants. No existing ICF programmes have been switched from grants to loans linked with the recent announcement of £2 bus fares.
Asked by: Lord Ashcombe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether any International Climate Finance funding delivered through UK Export Finance will be affected by the announcement by the Prime Minister's Office of 22 July, Cheaper travel for millions with a third off fares; and, if so, which projects are affected, and what the terms of the loans will be.
Answered by Lord Leong - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)
The capping of bus fares announced on 22 July 2026 will have no impact on financing or insurance support provided by UK Export Finance, including for its loan guarantee supporting Dints International’s contract to supply renewable energy and infrastructure work in Angola.
The Government is reprioritising £454 million from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero’s budget, including by switching £400 million of grant funding set aside for future international climate finance projects into loans. The remaining £54 million savings are expected from underspends in the Department’s budget.
This will provide more flexible ways to meet the Government’s international climate objectives.
The Government remains committed to spending 0.3% of Gross National Income on Official Development Assistance.
Asked by: Lord Ashcombe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the £12.5 million UK Export Finance loan guarantee supporting Dints' renewable energy and infrastructure work in Angola forms part of the changes set out in the announcement by the Prime Minister's office on 22 July, Cheaper travel for millions with a third off fares.
Answered by Lord Leong - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)
The capping of bus fares announced on 22 July 2026 will have no impact on financing or insurance support provided by UK Export Finance, including for its loan guarantee supporting Dints International’s contract to supply renewable energy and infrastructure work in Angola.
The Government is reprioritising £454 million from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero’s budget, including by switching £400 million of grant funding set aside for future international climate finance projects into loans. The remaining £54 million savings are expected from underspends in the Department’s budget.
This will provide more flexible ways to meet the Government’s international climate objectives.
The Government remains committed to spending 0.3% of Gross National Income on Official Development Assistance.
Asked by: Lord Ashcombe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether funding provided through British Climate Partners will be provided in the form of loans rather than grants; and, if so, how much funding is affected, and what the terms of the loans will be.
Answered by Lord Wood of Anfield - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Through its British Climate Partners (BCP) Initiative British International Investment (BII) will principally provide equity and mezzanine finance. BII does not anticipate providing funding through BCP in the form of grants. BII plans to invest over £1 billion through BCP over the next five years, with this in turn expected to unlock an additional £3.5 billion in private capital. The financial return BII targets on its investments depends on a range of factors - particularly the risk profile of the investment. The terms of BII's individual investments are commercially confidential.
Asked by: Lord Ashcombe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether domestic production has a lower lifecycle emissions intensity than imported liquefied natural gas.
Answered by Lord Whitehead
The North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) published analysis in September 2025 comparing the emissions intensity of domestically produced gas with imported liquefied natural gas. This analysis is available on the NSTA’s website. In 2024, domestic gas production made up 43% of gross supply, LNG imports accounted for 14%, with the remainder coming from pipeline imports – principally from Norway.
Asked by: Lord Ashcombe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have modelled the emissions implications of replacing domestic production with imported liquefied natural gas.
Answered by Lord Whitehead
The North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) published analysis in September 2025 comparing the emissions intensity of domestically produced gas with imported liquefied natural gas. This analysis is available on the NSTA’s website. In 2024, domestic gas production made up 43% of gross supply, LNG imports accounted for 14%, with the remainder coming from pipeline imports – principally from Norway.
Asked by: Lord Ashcombe (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 issuing no new oil and gas exploration licences on (1) supply chain capacity, and (2) retention of skilled offshore workers.
Answered by Lord Whitehead
The government aims to ensure our oil and gas workers and supply chain can take advantage of our energy transition, creating a global blueprint for a transition that supports prosperity, jobs, economic growth, communities and energy security.
In the North Sea Future Plan, the government committed to develop support for supply chain businesses, investors, and workers to help them benefit from a pipeline of projects across the North Sea and in the UK’s energy future. We are also developing a world-class North Sea Jobs Service to provide end-to-end support for oil and gas workers to move into growing industries.
Asked by: Lord Ashcombe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Lord Collins of Highbury on 28 October 2025 (HL Deb col 1257), whether they have commenced the review of section 10 of the Employment Relations Act 1999; and if not, when they expect that review to begin.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The government has committed to review the functioning of section 10 of the Employment Relations Act 1999 in its entirety. As part of this review, we will engage with relevant and interested stakeholders and publish our findings in Parliament. The review will start shortly and the government will write to interested parties in due course.
Asked by: Lord Ashcombe (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 on UK energy import dependency of issuing no new oil and gas exploration licences.
Answered by Lord Whitehead
We became a net importer of energy in 2004. Given the maturity of the basin, and the high proportion of future production projected to come from existing developments versus new developments and discoveries, further licensing in the North Sea would not reverse the basin’s natural decline.