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

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to review the (1) performance, (2) remit, and (3) powers, of Ofwat.

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

Companies are being held to strict requirements by the regulators, demanding significantly higher spend on environmental enhancement than in the previous price review.

On 11 July, the Secretary of State met with water company bosses to set out our expectations for the sector, just six days after my Cabinet appointment. Alongside this, this Government announced a series of initial steps towards ending the crisis in the water sector.

The Water (Special Measures) Bill will give Ofwat further powers to hold water companies to account where they do not deliver for customers and the environment.

This Bill is just the start of the fundamental and much broader transformation that this Government will lead for the water industry.

The Government will launch a review to shape further legislation that will fundamentally transform how our water system works and clean up our rivers, lakes and seas for good.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to review the working of the UK–US extradition treaty.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

There is no current intention to review the UK-US Extradition Treaty. The UK-US Extradition Treaty continues to produce tangible results, bringing justice to victims in both the UK and US.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage on 6 August (HL248), what percentage of the 1.5 million homes that the Government is committed to delivering in this Parliament will be social homes.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The Government has committed to delivering 1.5 million homes this Parliament, delivering the biggest increase in social and affordable housing in a generation. We are proposing reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework that are designed to support the delivery of affordable housing, including ensuring that councils can prioritise the types of affordable homes their communities need. We have given councils greater flexibility to use their Right to Buy receipts to deliver replacement affordable housing (these flexibilities will be in place for an initial 24 months, subject to review). Further details will be announced in due course.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to review the ease of use of NHS online apps for making appointments with GP surgeries for flu and other jabs.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

We are currently reviewing how to improve access to general practice (GP) appointments, including vaccination appointments accessed through the NHS App. NHS App teams undertake continual rounds of user testing and data monitoring on how the online booking journeys are performing, making changes when issues are identified.

97.8 million COVID-19 and flu vaccinations have been booked by the public through the National Booking System, with specifically 73% being booked through the website, 18% through the app, and 8% through a call centre, since its launch towards the end of June 2024. Alongside this, GPs directly invite registered patients into vaccination clinics using local booking systems.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether burning biomass at Drax Power Station will be an element of their strategy for achieving their net zero carbon emissions target.

Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

As outlined by groups including the Climate Change Committee (CCC) and the International Energy Agency (IEA), Greenhouse Gas Removal technologies such as Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) technologies can play a role in supporting net zero targets. No decisions on potential future support for this site have been made at this time.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 1 August (HL250), what plans they have for reducing the cost of operating heat pumps in the home below the cost of equivalent heating systems powered by gas or oil.

Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Government is committed to ensuring low carbon heating is affordable. We are doing this by encouraging heat pump efficiency through innovation, installer training and product standards. We are also keen to support the most efficient ways of bringing down running costs of low-carbon alternatives.

The Warm Homes Plan will offer grants and low interest loans to support investment in insulation, low carbon heating and other home improvements. We will be focused on making it economically worthwhile for people to transition to clean sources of heating. We will announce further policy detail in due course.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the findings in Ofgem’s investigation into Drax Power Limited published 29 August; and what steps they will take in response.

Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

Following the conclusion of Ofgem’s investigation, the Government is considering the findings.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will consider the case for not requiring the payment of VAT on compulsory school and boarding fees of full-time cathedral choristers who are required to board at specific schools and to live close to their choir's place of worship in order to fulfil their musical commitments throughout the religious calendar.

Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

Where parents or families are paying fees for their child to attend a private school, they will pay VAT on those fees following this change.

Whilst developing these policies, the government has carefully considered the impact that they will have on pupils and their families across both the state and private sector, as well as the impact they will have on state and private schools. Following scrutiny by the independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), details of the Government’s assessment of the expected impacts of these policy changes will be published at the Budget on 30 October in the usual way.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the compliance of the Drax Group with (1) biomass sustainability rules, and (2) relevant regulatory standards; and what plans, if any, they have to change regulatory standards to improve the sustainability of the power generated at Drax power station.

Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

Ofgem published their conclusions on an investigation into Drax’s compliance with sustainability standards on 29 August 2024. The investigation found that whilst Drax complied with the standards, it failed to report data accurately. Government expects full compliance with all regulatory obligations and the size of Drax’s redress payment, at £25 million, underscores the robustness of the regulatory system.

The 2023 Biomass Strategy contained a commitment to consult on developing and implementing a cross-sector sustainability framework to enable greater consistency across sectors. Next steps on this will be announced in due course.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the challenges posed by the nascency of carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS) technology; and whether they plan to support the piloting of CCUS technology in advance of committing to any full roll-out.

Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

CCUS will be vital to this government’s commitment to create good jobs in Britain’s industrial heartlands, ensuring a just transition for the industries based in the North Sea, and accelerating towards Net Zero.

The historic investment we recently announced in Carbon Capture and Storage in the North-West and North-East is just the start, representing a vote of confidence in this technology and burgeoning industry. We have been engaging with the Track-1 and Track-2 clusters to understand their deployment and expansion plans, and we will have more to say on future projects in the coming months.