Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask His Majesty's Government, following the publication of the British energy security strategy policy paper on 7 April 2022, what progress they are making in their ambition for the UK to achieve up to 10 gigawatts of low carbon hydrogen production capacity by 2030, with at least half of this coming from electrolytic hydrogen.

Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

Since the British Energy Security Strategy we have made rapid progress, establishing an investable business model to bring forward new hydrogen production facilities and delivering a £240m capital fund to support early deployment. In December 2023, we announced the largest number of commercial scale green hydrogen production projects at once anywhere in Europe, supporting 11 electrolytic projects through the first hydrogen allocation round. The second allocation round is currently underway with annual allocation planned from 2025. This, alongside the cluster sequencing process bringing forward carbon capture and storage-enabled hydrogen, will ensure we remain on track to meet our 2030 ambition.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask His Majesty's Government what funding assistance they are providing for market structures and mechanisms for supporting increased hydrogen production.

Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The UK’s strong policy framework – including the Hydrogen Production Business Model, Net Zero Hydrogen Fund and Low Carbon Hydrogen Standard – has created an investable model which has leveraged private investment to kick start the UK’s hydrogen economy.

Government is supporting projects to move the UK closer to our hydrogen ambitions.

In December 2023 we announced 125MW of successful projects from Hydrogen Allocation Round (HAR) 1, and have since launched HAR2, aiming to allocate up to a further 875MW in 2025, subject to affordability and value for money.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they are making in establishing a hydrogen certification scheme for imported and exported hydrogen.

Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

In the British Energy Security Strategy, the Government committed to setting up a low carbon hydrogen certification scheme from 2025 and is now working at pace to put it in place.

While the scheme will initially be domestically focused, the Government is taking steps to ensure that it can facilitate international trade in future. This includes participating in international fora on certification and signing a Declaration of Intent at COP28 on cross-border recognition of hydrogen certification.

The Government will set out a pathway to international alignment ahead of launch of the scheme.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask His Majesty's Government what support, if any, they will provide to Anglia Ruskin University in their ambition to establish a Global Innovation Centre for Energy Transition in Peterborough.

Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Government runs a significant range of research and innovation programmes to support the transition of the energy system. This includes through UK Research and Innovation, the UK’s agency investing in science and research and interested parties such as Anglia Ruskin University are welcome to apply for these as opportunities arise. More information can be found on UKRI’s online Funding Finder Tool, where all funding opportunities are published (https://www.ukri.org/opportunity/).

In addition, recent investments are set out in the Government’s UK Net Zero Research and Innovation Delivery Plan 2022-2025.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to respond to the findings of the Inclusion at Work Panel report, published by the Cabinet Office, especially as it relates to diversity and inclusion interventions in Government departments.

Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

Following the publication of this report on 20th March, the Civil Service will consider the recommendations as part of our strategic focus as outlined in the Civil Service Diversity & Inclusion Strategy, Civil Service People Plan and commitments to Government Reform.

The Civil Service Diversity & Inclusion Strategy, published in February 2022, places a focus on being data-driven, evidence-led and delivery focussed emphasising the need to take an evaluative approach.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is their strategy for ensuring public safety and efficacious offender management in respect of hyper-prolific offenders.

Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

For the most persistent and problematic offenders in the community, Integrated Offender Management has received a 3-year investment of up to £30 million to ensure those that commit burglary, robbery and theft offences receive robust cross-agency supervision by Police and Probation, and to commission services that will seek to support and address risks and needs of this cohort. We are also piloting three Intensive Supervision Courts which aim to target the root cause of offending behaviour through supervision and interventions delivered by a multi-agency team, overseen by a single judge who will regularly review each participant’s progress.

The courts have a wide range of options to deal with this group of offenders and relevant previous convictions are a statutory aggravating factor which the courts must consider at the point of sentencing. While custody will often be appropriate for these offenders, and in fact is the most common sentence given to prolific offenders, it is right that our courts have the ability to pass an appropriate sentence based on the case in front of them. Robust research has shown lower reoffending rates for sentences served in the community when compared to short custodial sentences.

Through the Better Outcomes through Linked Data (BOLD) programme, we are also taking steps to understand better which factors are most important in leading to reduced reoffending for prolific offenders, in order to help us target our approach for this cohort.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the early release of prisoners with a custodial sentence of less than 12 months, in order to alleviate overcrowding in the prison estate, on (1) reoffending rates, (2) public safety and (3) the operational effectiveness of the Probation Service.

Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

Delivering public protection and reducing reoffending is not just about custody. The Probation Service plays a vital role in protecting the public and reducing reoffending. For some less serious offenders, suspended and community sentences are more effective for rehabilitation.

Community requirements can help to deter reoffending, drive swift consequences for non-compliance, protect the public, and ensure offenders feel the weight of crime. Probation assess an offender’s risk prior to, and throughout sentences, to ensure that offenders are appropriately monitored and supervised, following robust risk assessment measures to ensure public safety.

Evidence shows that 55% of people given a custodial sentence of less than 12 months are convicted of further offences. For offenders punished with Suspended Sentence Orders with requirements that are served in the community, the reoffending rate is significantly lower at 24%. That is why we are introducing a presumption to suspend sentences of under 12 months, however judges will still be able to exercise their discretion to impose custody in exceptional circumstances. We have also included exemptions to the presumption where there is a significant risk of harm to an individual or where the offender has breached an order of the court, as is the case for many repeat and prolific offenders.

We know there are existing challenges and will be additional demands on the Probation Service as a result of the presumption to suspend short sentences. That is why we have increased funding for the Probation Service by an additional £155 million a year to recruit record levels of staff so that we can bring down caseloads and deliver better and more consistent supervision of offenders in the community. We continue to accelerate recruitment of Probation Officers, with over 4,000 trainees joining the service since 2020 and an overall increase in staffing levels across the board. We are also resetting probation to prioritise early engagement and supervision in the first two-thirds of an offender’s sentence, a critical period during which probation staff can have the greatest impact on public protection and reducing reoffending.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to expand the built prison estate to account for the estimated population increases to 2035 and beyond.

Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

We are delivering 20,000 additional, modern prison places, the largest prison build programme since the Victorian era, ensuring the right conditions are in place to rehabilitate prisoners, helping to cut crime and protect the public. These places are being delivered through the construction of six new prisons, as well as the expansion and refurbishment of the existing estate and temporary accommodation. To date, we have delivered c.5,900 of these places and are on track to have delivered c.10,000 by the end of 2025.

In October 2023, the Lord Chancellor announced funding of up to £30 million to start acquiring land that will be required for future prison capacity.

The Department has taken a number of steps to identify land for potential prison sites. We have commissioned a property agent to search the market for land in the North West and South East, our areas of greatest forecast demand for prison places; officials have started discussions with significant private and public sector landowners and continue to assess a shortlist of sites for planning risk and strategic and operational fit. In parallel, officials are engaged in strategic conversations with local and regional leaders to identify areas where communities would welcome the economic and employment benefits of a new prison.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have commissioned any research on a causal link between (1) an expansion of prison places and more custodial sentences, and (2) a reduction in violent and other serious crime episodes in a given period of time.

Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has not commissioned research looking directly at any causal link of the kind mentioned in the question. However, the MoJ continues to carefully monitor the use of the prison estate and the sentencing framework to ensure that the most serious offenders are appropriately punished, and that the public are kept safe.

That is why we are embarking on the largest expansion of our prison estate since the Victorian era, investing £4 billion toward the delivery of 20,000 additional, modern places. By the end of 2025, we are on track to have delivered around 10,000 places in total.

Reducing crime and protecting the public, however, is not only about increased custody. Evidence shows that 55% of people given a custodial sentence of less than 12 months go on to be convicted of further proven offences in the following 12 months. For offenders punished with Suspended Sentence Orders with requirements that are served in the community, the reoffending rate is significantly lower at 24%. That is why we are introducing a presumption to suspend sentences of under 12 months. However, judges will still be able to exercise their discretion to impose custody in exceptional circumstances. We have also included exemptions to the presumption where there is a significant risk of harm to an individual or where the offender has breached an order of the court, as is the case for many repeat and prolific offenders.

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