Lord Whitty Portrait

Lord Whitty

Labour - Life peer

Became Member: 21st October 1996


Environment and Climate Change Committee
14th Apr 2021 - 31st Jan 2024
Procedure and Privileges Committee
17th Sep 2020 - 4th Feb 2021
Food, Poverty, Health and Environment Committee
13th Jun 2019 - 23rd Jun 2020
EU Internal Market Sub-Committee
23rd Jun 2015 - 2nd Jul 2019
European Union Committee
8th Jun 2015 - 1st Jul 2019
Trade Union Political Funds and Political Party Funding Committee
28th Jan 2016 - 29th Feb 2016
Draft Climate Change Bill (Joint Committee)
23rd Apr 2007 - 3rd Aug 2007
Science and Technology: Sub-Committee I
6th Jun 2005 - 8th Nov 2006
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) (Food, Farming and Sustainable Energy)
13th Jun 2003 - 10th May 2005
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
12th Jun 2001 - 13th Jun 2003
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Transport and the Regions)
31st Jul 1998 - 11th Jun 2001


Division Voting information

During the current Parliament, Lord Whitty has voted in 409 divisions, and 5 times against the majority of their Party.

21 Jan 2021 - Covert Human Intelligence Sources (Criminal Conduct) Bill - View Vote Context
Lord Whitty voted Aye - against a party majority and against the House
One of 11 Labour Aye votes vs 116 Labour No votes
Tally: Ayes - 29 Noes - 440
20 Jul 2020 - Business and Planning Bill - View Vote Context
Lord Whitty voted Aye - against a party majority and against the House
One of 4 Labour Aye votes vs 8 Labour No votes
Tally: Ayes - 135 Noes - 267
17 Jan 2022 - Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill - View Vote Context
Lord Whitty voted Aye - against a party majority and against the House
One of 6 Labour Aye votes vs 96 Labour No votes
Tally: Ayes - 163 Noes - 216
17 Jan 2022 - Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill - View Vote Context
Lord Whitty voted Aye - against a party majority and against the House
One of 3 Labour Aye votes vs 93 Labour No votes
Tally: Ayes - 154 Noes - 208
25 Apr 2022 - Elections Bill - View Vote Context
Lord Whitty voted No - against a party majority and against the House
One of 1 Labour No votes vs 103 Labour Aye votes
Tally: Ayes - 265 Noes - 199
View All Lord Whitty Division Votes

Debates during the 2019 Parliament

Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.

Sparring Partners
Lord Callanan (Conservative)
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
(23 debate interactions)
Baroness Vere of Norbiton (Conservative)
Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
(13 debate interactions)
Lord Greenhalgh (Conservative)
(12 debate interactions)
View All Sparring Partners
Legislation Debates
Environment Act 2021
(8,982 words contributed)
Agriculture Act 2020
(7,861 words contributed)
Energy Act 2023
(5,340 words contributed)
View All Legislation Debates
View all Lord Whitty's debates

Lords initiatives

These initiatives were driven by Lord Whitty, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.


Lord Whitty has not introduced any legislation before Parliament

Lord Whitty has not co-sponsored any Bills in the current parliamentary sitting


Latest 5 Written Questions

(View all written questions)
Written Questions can be tabled by MPs and Lords to request specific information information on the work, policy and activities of a Government Department
11th Sep 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government which technologies are most appropriate for gas-based District Heating Schemes (DHS) to adopt in order to contribute to national decarbonisation targets; what estimate they have made of the approximate cost of the transition by DHS to low-carbon heat; and what methods of financing could be used to support this transition.

Heat networks can use a variety of low-carbon heat sources, for example large heat pumps, industrial waste heat and geothermal. No one solution will be appropriate for every DHS - a mix of technologies will support heat decarbonisation.

Whilst the capital cost of many of these low-carbon sources is higher than gas combustion technologies there are a range of private financing options. The Government has itself invested £288m in the decarbonisation of heat networks through the Green Heat Network Fund.

Longer term the Government intends to introduce Heat Networks Zoning by 2025 to further grow the number of low-carbon heat networks across England and in ‘Powering Up Britain’ the Government committed to outlining a clear approach to price rebalancing by the end of 2024, to lower the running costs of these lower-carbon technologies.

Lord Callanan
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
7th Sep 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government, in relation to their targets for decarbonisation by (1) 2030, and (2) 2035, what approximate proportion of homes they estimate are likely to be powered by (a) hydrogen-based gas, (b) air or ground source heat pumps, and (c) by other forms of electrification.

A range of technologies will be required to decarbonise the way we heat our homes. The precise mix of technologies in 2035 is unclear, in part because strategic decisions on the role for hydrogen heating are still to be taken. Heat Pumps and Heat Networks will have an important role to play in all future scenarios with at least 7.1 million homes using heat pumps in 2035.

Lord Callanan
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
7th Sep 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government what additional capacity they forecast is needed on the National Grid to accommodate the level of demand from the anticipated increase in the number of electric vehicles by 2030; and what additional capital costs are required by such increase in capacity for transmission and distribution per annum up to 2030.

The Electricity Networks Strategic Framework sets out the Government’s approach to readying the network for the increase in peak electricity demand anticipated as we electrify transport and other sectors. We expect peak electricity demand to increase to approximately 80 GW in 2030 of which electric vehicle demand makes up approximately 10%, before any demand side response. Due to existing spare distribution network capacity, we do not expect this to lead to any significant rise in distribution network capital costs before 2030. We expect £30 billion of transmission network investment between 2023 and 2030.

Lord Callanan
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
7th Sep 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government what current laws or regulations govern the (1) use, and (2) parking, of electric, and non-electric, bicycles and scooters on pedestrian pavements; and what proposals they are considering for strengthening such laws and regulations, in particular in respect of leaving undocked hire bicycles and scooters on the pavement.

It is an offence to use a carriage (which would include a bicycle or e-bicycle) on a footway under s.72 of the Highways Act 1835. “Carriage” may also include an e-scooter, but it is also an offence under s.34 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 to drive a mechanically propelled vehicle (which would include an e-scooter, though not an e-bicycle) on the footpath. Footway and footpath are defined differently, but generally refer to what is called the pavement.

In London, it is an offence to park a vehicle on a footpath under s.15 of the Greater London Council (General Powers) Act 1974 unless authorised through an administrative resolution. For the purposes of this section “vehicle” means a mechanically propelled vehicle. Outside London, parking on pavements is permitted unless specifically prohibited by a local authority making a Traffic Regulation Order to that effect. The Department for Transport is currently considering consultation responses on proposals to tackle pavement parking outside London.

It is an offence under s.22 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 to leave a vehicle (including bicycles, e-bicycles and e-scooters) on a road (including a pavement) in a position that carries a danger of injury to others and under s.137 of the Highways Act 1980 wilfully to obstruct passage.


Enforcement of these regulations is a matter for the police. All road users have a duty to behave in a safe, responsible manner and to follow the rules in The Highway Code.

When parliamentary time allows, the Department intends to create a new licensing framework for shared mobility operations, including bicycles, e-bicycles and e-scooters, giving local transport authorities the additional powers they need to shape and manage cycle, e-cycle and e-scooter rental schemes. This would include the ability to set rules about the management of rental cycles, e-cycles and e-scooters on the pavement.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton
Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
7th Sep 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of new homes completed in 2022 were for social housing; what is the figure net of social housing demolitions and sales; and what proportion of the net social housing was for social rent.

The most recent figures available are for the financial year 2021-22. In that year, there were 210,070 new build homes completed. Of these, 56,674 were affordable housing, including 6,635 for social rent. This means that 27% of all new build homes was affordable housing. A further 2,682 new affordable homes, including 1,009 for social rent, were delivered through acquisitions of existing stock or had no information available as to whether they were acquisitions or new build.

These data are available in Live Tables 120 and 1000 via the links below:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-net-supply-of-housing

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-affordable-housing-supply

The department has released experimental statistics which estimate a net measure of the supply of affordable housing for rent by summarising the in and outflows to this sector of the housing stock in England. These statistics are still in development and so have a wider degree of uncertainty than more established figures. For 2021-22, the figures show that local authority affordable housing stock for rent decreased by nearly 7,200 while the rental stock owned by private registered providers increased by just over 18,900, an estimated net increase of 11,700 affordable homes for rent for these providers combined. Not all providers of affordable housing are covered, as non-registered providers and units where the provider is unknown are not included. This was published alongside the “Social housing sales and demolitions 2021-22” statistical release. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/social-housing-sales-and-demolitions-2021-22-england/social-housing-sales-and-demolitions-2021-22#net-supply-of-affordable-housing-for-rent

The currently available data do not allow for a breakdown by tenure, including for social rent. Work has been ongoing with local authorities and the Regulator of Social Housing (which collects data from private registered providers) to collect all data necessary to provide a more comprehensive estimate, including by tenure. We hope to present this in future statistical publications.

Baroness Swinburne
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)