Asked by: Lord Hutton of Furness (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to stimulate private investment in support of expansion of UK long duration energy storage infrastructure.
Answered by Baroness Curran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The government is supporting private investment in long duration electricity storage (LDES) through the LDES cap and floor policy, which is being delivered by Ofgem. This will deliver the first LDES projects in Great Britain for over four decades.
On 26 June 2026, Ofgem published minded-to decisions for the first LDES application window, supporting 16 projects totalling 7.6GW of power and 137GWh of storage capacity.
The government’s Clean Flexibility Roadmap Update of 13 July 2026 contains further details on steps to deliver LDES, as well as other forms of energy storage such as hydrogen storage and power.
Asked by: Lord Hutton of Furness (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to publish further guidance on how each criterion for Transitional Energy Certificates will be considered when they introduce the Energy Independence Bill to Parliament.
Answered by Baroness Curran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The government published further information on its approach to the criteria for Transitional Energy Certificates on 21 April.
The Energy Independence Bill was announced in the King’s Speech, in which the government committed to manage existing oil and gas fields for their lifetime and show climate leadership by meeting the manifesto commitments.
Following the conclusion of the legislative process, the North Sea Transition Authority will set out further guidance.
Asked by: Lord Hutton of Furness (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to stimulate private investment in support of the expansion of UK onshore and offshore gas storage infrastructure.
Answered by Baroness Curran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Underground gas storage plays an important role in supporting Britain’s energy security.
We recently consulted on whether any government action is needed to maintain gas security of supply across the energy transition, including possible measures to support current and potential new UK gas storage operators.
The government will publish its response to the Gas Security in Transition consultation in due course.
Asked by: Lord Hutton of Furness (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will allow Transitional Energy Certificates to be awarded for the purpose of offshore gas storage development.
Answered by Baroness Curran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Once introduced, Transitional Energy Certificates may be issued to manage incidental production of petroleum from offshore activities including gas storage, hydrogen storage and carbon dioxide storage. Further detail on the application process and eligibility will be set out through legislation and subsequent guidance from the North Sea Transition Authority.
Asked by: Lord Hutton of Furness (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they plan to introduce the Energy Independence Bill to Parliament.
Answered by Baroness Curran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Energy Independence Bill has now been announced in the King’s Speech. The Bill will legislate for the powers the government needs to fight people’s corner and go further and faster on the government’s clean energy mission. The Bill will be introduced as soon as parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Lord Hutton of Furness (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have for the future of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Decisions on funding post March 2025 are a matter for the Budget on October 30th.
We recognise the challenges this brings for some projects. We are working closely with local authorities and key stakeholders to ensure a smooth transition to future funding, so communities continue to benefit from this vital support. In the meantime, officials remain available to discuss any issues impacting delivery.
Asked by: Lord Hutton of Furness (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many home visits were made by NHS out of hours clinicians in each of the last three years.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
This information is not held in the format requested.
Asked by: Lord Hutton of Furness (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of out of hours home visits were made by NHS GPs in each of the last three years.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
This information is not held in the format requested.
Asked by: Lord Hutton of Furness (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the cost savings resulting from the 2014 reforms to the Local Government Pension Scheme.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie
In 2014 and 2015, significant reforms were made to public service pension schemes to address increases in the costs of providing pension benefits to public workers, and to place schemes on a more sustainable and affordable long-term footing. In the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS), reforms were implemented from 1st April 2014 and included moving the scheme from a final salary benefit structure to a career average benefit structure.
In May 2012, the Government published documents (attached)on the planned reforms to the LGPS including a costings analysis from the Government Actuary’s Department (http://data.parliament.uk/DepositedPapers/Files/DEP2012-1614/Buildupofcostsandcostreconciliationtables-Final.pdf). This analysis outlined that the existing final salary scheme design was estimated to cost in total 21.73% of pay (p2) and the planned career average scheme was estimated to cost in total 19.51% of pay (p3), suggesting an overall saving of just over 2.2% of pay.
To ensure consistency with other public service pension schemes, the final design of the reformed LGPS was changed so that scheme members received revaluation of their in-year accrued pension immediately. This increased the costs of the career average scheme by an estimated 0.4% (see table 7.1 at (attached) http://lgpslibrary.org/assets/othergov/2013VRep.pdf
The Government is currently considering the changes to public service pension schemes which will be necessary to comply with the findings of the Courts in the McCloud and Sargeant cases (https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2019-07-15/HCWS1725/) and these will have cost implications for the reformed scheme.
Asked by: Lord Hutton of Furness (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the cost savings resulting from the use of pooled investment funds in the Local Government Pension Scheme.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie
In November 2015, the Government published criteria and guidance for the creation of pooled investment funds in the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) in England and Wales, to be operational by April 2018. Eight LGPS asset pools have been established to manage the investments of the scheme.
Estimates provided by the LGPS pools indicate that across the scheme, total savings of around £155 million have been achieved over the period from 2015 up to March 2019. The pools have estimated total savings by 2033 at between £1 billion and £2 billion, with annual savings of up to £200 million.