Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is the UK's capacity to manufacture E10 unleaded petrol; and how this has changed since July 2024.

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

E10 (petrol containing up to 10% bioethanol) was introduced as the standard petrol grade in September 2021. To manufacture E10, fossil petrol is blended with ethanol either at refineries or downstream in the supply network. Accordingly the UK’s capacity to manufacture and supply E10 is impacted by the availability of bioethanol.

On 15 August 2025 Vivergo announced the closure of its UK bioethanol production plant in Hull, which at full capacity could produce 420 million litres of bioethanol per year from wheat for blending with petrol.

Whilst the UK retains bioethanol production capacity elsewhere, the closure of Vivergo represents a significant loss. However, it is not considered likely to impact the manufacture or supply of E10 petrol in the UK. It is expected that the supply of bioethanol for petrol suppliers will continue to be met by both bioethanol produced at the remaining UK plants and by imports.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to ensure improved transparency and access to information about beneficial ownership of overseas entities since July 2024.

Answered by Lord Leong - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The Government remains committed to increasing knowledge of beneficial ownership of overseas entities. In February 2025, the Government introduced The Register of Overseas Entities (Protection and Trusts) (Amendment) Regulations 2025. This enables the public to apply to access unpublished trust information on the Register of Overseas Entities from 31 August 2025, increasing transparency and empowering stakeholders to scrutinise entities more effectively. The Government will also publish a response to the public consultation on the Transparency of Land Ownership Involving Trusts in due course.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many unexplained wealth orders have been made since July 2024.

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

The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2022 requires that the Home Office publish an annual report that sets out the number of unexplained wealth orders (UWOs) both applied for and obtained in a given period. The Act also sought to strengthen UWOs by enabling UWOs to be sought against property held in trust and other complex ownership structures, increasing the time available to law enforcement to review material provided in response to a UWO and reforming cost rules.

The previous report for the period May 2023-2024 can be found here. It states that two UWOs were applied for with one UWO obtained whilst the other had not received a judicial decision during the reporting period. A UWO applied for in the 2022-2023 reporting period was also obtained. The next report, covering May 2024 to May 2025 will be published shortly and, as per the Act, will set out the number of UWOs applied for in the period by relevant law enforcement agencies, as well as the number of orders made by the High Court.

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

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken since July 2024 to prevent (1) Russia, (2) China and (3) the United States of America, from interfering in future UK general elections.

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

We are committed to ensuring we have robust systems in place to defend the UK from foreign interference in UK democratic processes.

The Government has renewed the mandate of the Defending Democracy Taskforce, which brings together Government Ministers, representatives from law enforcement and the intelligence community, to coordinate work to protect UK political parties, elected officials and electoral infrastructure.

We continue to steer robust implementation of the National Security Act, introduced in 2023 to address evolving state threats to national security, including a new foreign interference offence.

The Government has operationalised the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme, introduced under the National Security Act 2023. The scheme encourages transparency, deters harmful covert state threat activity and increases opportunity for earlier disruptions.

The Government has also published a new strategy for modern, secure and inclusive elections. This will strengthen oversight and safeguards against known and emerging threats, including foreign interference through covert political funding.

Found: Duncan of Springbank; Lord Jay of Ewelme; Lord Layard; The Earl of Leicester; Lord Mancroft; Lord Rooker

Found: Lord Duncan of Springbank; Lord Jay of Ewelme; Lord Layard; Earl of Leicester; Lord Mancroft; Lord Rooker

Found: Chair); Lord Ashcombe; Lord Duncan of Springbank; Lord Jay of Ewelme; Lord Krebs; Lord Mancroft; Lord Rooker

This short inquiry will consider waste crime, with a focus on serious and organised waste crime such as illegal waste sites and illegal dumping that pose a serious environmental risk. The inquiry will seek to understand the avenues for and prevalent forms of waste crime and their impacts. It will also aim to assess the efficacy of current regulatory, monitoring and enforcement regimes and consider the Government's plans to address the problem.