Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Adura joint venture, whether HMRC has investigated potential breaches of loss-buying prohibitions under the Corporation Tax Act 2010.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
In 2024-25 HMRC secured £19.7bn in additional tax revenue from the largest and most complex businesses. This is money that would otherwise have gone unpaid.
I cannot comment on specific taxpayers or provide comment on individual businesses.
In reviewing a large business's tax affairs, HMRC will consider all relevant challenges, including loss-buying provisions where appropriate. HMRC is committed to ensuring everyone pays the right tax under the law, regardless of the size of business.
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will conduct and publish a comparative assessment of the (a) fiscal returns from the Energy Profits Levy and (b) value of tax reliefs and investment and capital allowances granted to oil and gas producers since 2022.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) forecast at Autumn Budget 2025 estimates that revenues from the Energy Profits Levy (EPL) will be £8.5 billion between 2025-26 and 2030-31. This is in addition to more than £11 billion in tax revenues already raised through the EPL since its introduction in May 2022.
A full breakdown of revenue projections for all North Sea oil and gas taxes is available in the OBR’s Economic and Fiscal Outlook, published at Autumn Budget 2025 (Economic and fiscal outlook – November 2025 - Office for Budget Responsibility). Information on tax receipts already raised by the EPL is published and regularly updated by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) (https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/governmentpublicsectorandtaxes/publicsectorfinance/datasets/appendixdpublicsectorcurrentreceipts).
Estimates of the cost of tax reliefs available to oil and gas companies under the Ring-Fence Corporation Tax (RFCT) and the Supplementary Charge (SC) are published at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/tax-relief-statistics.
Estimates are not available for every relief due to data collection and estimation challenges but are kept under regular review.
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department's proposed policy on tiebacks in oil and gas drilling allows for the exploitation of new fields via tiebacks to existing infrastructure in fields that have already been licenced.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
On 26 November, the Government published its North Sea Future Plan.
The plan implements the Government’s manifesto commitments to manage existing fields for the entirety of their lifespan, and to not issue new licences to explore new oil and gas fields. As part of this, the government will introduce new Transitional Energy Certificates which will enable limited oil and gas production on or near to existing fields, so long as this additional production does not require new exploration, is already part of or links back to existing fields and infrastructure, and is necessary for a managed, orderly and prosperous transition.
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, pursuant to the Answer of 5 November 2025 to Question 86020 on Business: Codes of Practice, what assessment she has made of whether her expectation was met that the Equality and Human Rights Commission (a) engaged (i) widely and (ii) broadly and (b) listened to diverse voices during its engagement on the Code of Practice for Services, Public Functions and Associations.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is independent of the government. It was for the EHRC to ensure that the consultation process on its Code of Practice for Services, Public Functions and Associations was appropriate and meaningfully engaged with varied stakeholders. The Government expected them to do this widely and broadly, listening to diverse voices.
The EHRC has revised the Code following the consultation and submitted it to the Minister for Women and Equalities. The Government is considering the updated draft Code and, if the decision is taken to approve it, the Code will be laid before Parliament for a 40 day period.
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what discussions she has had with the Equality and Human Rights Commission on the adequacy of the scope of its engagement on the Code of Practice for Services, Public Functions and Associations.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is an independent regulator, and the Government respects its independence and the role it plays as the equalities regulator.
It was for the EHRC to ensure that the consultation process meaningfully engaged with different stakeholders - including a variety of legal and subject matter experts.
The Government made clear that our expectation was for the EHRC to engage widely and broadly, listening to diverse voices.
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of mechanisms to safeguard against a residential address being fraudulently used to register a company without the knowledge of the resident of the address.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 strengthened Companies House’s powers to query or reject inaccurate or suspicious addresses, enabling the Registrar to act swiftly and decisively against misuse of residential addresses.
Many fraudulent or misused registered office addresses have been removed and replaced with default addresses and companies without appropriate addresses are struck off, protecting those whose details were used without permission.
Companies House’s systems improve continuously to detect and prevent unauthorised address use. The Government is considering the Public Accounts Committee’s recommendation for increased powers to verify new and existing company addresses and will respond in November.
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate (a) her Department and (b) HS2 Limited have made of the cost of construction of HS2 in each of the last five years.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Construction of HS2 Phase One started following notice to proceed in April 2020. Since October 2020, the cost to date of delivering HS2 is set out in the 6 monthly Parliamentary Report. Capital expenditure on Phase One is reported in the HS2 Ltd Annual Report and Accounts – expenditure for each of the last 5 years is summarised in the table below:
Year | Capital Expenditure on HS2 Phase One |
2020/21 | £3.1 billion |
2021/22 | £4.8 billion |
2022/23 | £6.6 billion |
2023/24 | £7.2 billion |
2024/25 | £6.8 billion |
The Spending Review settlement has also provided £25.3 billion to progress delivery of HS2 from the West Midlands to London Euston covering financial years 2026-2027 to 2029-2030.
The programme is currently undergoing a fundamental reset under the leadership of CEO of HS2 Ltd, Mark Wild. As part of this reset, a revised cost estimate will be agreed and reported to Parliament in due course.
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of ending the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme after 2028 on (a) commitments to reach 100% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and (b) public sector (i) emissions and (ii) climate resilience.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
By the time the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme concludes in 2028, it will have delivered approximately £3.5 billion in capital funding to over 1,400 projects across England. These investments have supported heat decarbonisation and energy efficiency upgrades in public sector buildings, contributing to emissions reductions and progress toward net zero as well as climate resilience.
The Government will shortly publish its Carbon Budgets and Growth Delivery Plan, which will outline plans for non-domestic buildings, including the public sector. The Warm Homes Plan will also set out plans to support the decarbonisation of buildings.
No estimate has been made of the impacts on public sector climate resilience resulting from not decarbonising the public sector.
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an estimate of the cost to the public purse of the (a) funding required to fully decarbonise the public sector and (b) adaptation costs from not fully decarbonising that sector.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The internal estimate made by the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero in 2022 suggests that fully decarbonising the public sector would cost between £25–30 billion. The Department is currently updating this based on more recent cost assumptions. No estimate has been made regarding the adaptation costs that may arise from not decarbonising the public sector.
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, for what reason he plans to end grant funding for the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme after 2028; and if he will provide funding to support the decarbonisation of the public sector beyond 2028.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The decision not to provide further funding for the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme was taken in the context of wider fiscal pressures and competing priorities which required difficult choices during the 2025 Spending Review.
In addition to the £1bn for public sector decarbonisation between 2025/26 and 2027/28, the Government and Great British Energy Solar programme is investing £255 million to fund around 250 schools, 260 NHS sites and 15 military sites to install solar panels.
Additional detail on the Government’s approach will be set out in the forthcoming Carbon Budgets and Growth Delivery Plan.