Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has had recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero on the transport of carbon dioxide by ship.

Answered by Mike Kane

Officials within the department have engaged with their counterparts in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero on non-pipeline transport of carbon dioxide, including via rail and ship. This includes inputting into the Call for Evidence on Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage on Non-Pipeline Transport and Cross border CO2 networks that ran between 7 May 2024 and 16 July 2024.

They are now working with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero on their upcoming consultation on Non-Pipeline Transport of CO2, which is due for publication by the second half of this year [2025].

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he is taking to help ensure that levels of (a) oil and (b) gas production from existing fields are maintained.

Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Government has committed to maintaining existing fields for their lifetime. Earlier this year, the Government consulted on ‘Building the North Sea’s energy future’, including proposals not to issue new licences to explore new fields and to partner with business and workers to manage existing fields for their lifespan. A Government response to the consultation will be published in due course.

Oil and gas production efficiency is monitored by the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA). The NSTA publishes a UK Continental Shelf Production Efficiency dashboard on its website

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what his Department's planned timetable is for (a) making and (b) announcing its decision on whether Mingyang Smart Energy will be permitted to supply turbines for (i) Green Volt and (ii) other wind projects.

Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The suppliers that offshore wind projects use are a commercial decision for the company involved. As an open economy, we welcome foreign trade and investment, including from China, where it supports growth and jobs in the UK, meets our stringent legal and regulatory requirements, and does not compromise our national security.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent discussions he has had with the North Sea Transition Authority on its statutory duty to maximise the economic recovery of oil and gas in the UK Continental shelf.

Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

Details of Ministers’ meetings with external individuals and organisations are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he is taking to future-proof the carbon capture and storage industry.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Government is working to create a CCUS industry and has provided increased support to UK CCUS by allocating £9.4 billion in capital budgets over the Spending Review period.

The Government has announced its support for the Acorn (Scotland) and Viking (Humber) clusters and is providing the development funding to advance their delivery. A final investment decision (FID) will be taken later this Parliament, subject to project readiness and affordability.

The Government is actively engaging industry on key enabling CCUS policies to ensure we can build the longer-term pipeline of projects that in turn will grow the economy, contribute to the Clean Power Mission and is done at lowest cost to reach Net Zero.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department plans to allow captured carbon to be delivered by ship to its final storage location.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Government recognises that non-pipeline methods of CO₂ transportation (for example, road, rail, barge and ship) will play an integral role in achieving decarbonisation across multiple regions and sectors of the economy, to meet our carbon budget targets and net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Non-pipeline transport (NPT) will be required where it is not technically or economically feasible to connect to a CO₂ storage sites via a pipeline.

The Government intends to publish an NPT consultation later this year which will include seeking views on support for NPT costs, risk allocation and economic licensing.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the £8.3 billion allocated to Great British Energy and its nuclear body will be classified separately from defence expenditure in meeting the Government's commitment to spend 2.5 per cent of GDP on defence by 2027.

Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

The £8.3bn allocated to Great British Energy and its nuclear body is not included in the Government's commitment announced in February to spend 2.6% of GDP on NATO qualifying defence expenditure by 2027.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department's assessment of what constitutes NATO qualifying defence expenditure includes investment in (a) energy infrastructure and (b) energy security projects such as Great British Energy.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

Spend on energy infrastructure and energy security projects does not constitute NATO qualifying core defence spend.

The Government has long argued that investment in things like energy security is vital to national security and this will be considered for inclusion under NATO's new 1.5% definition on resilience.

Question to the Scotland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what discussions he has had with the Scottish Government on mitigating potential risks to (a) food production and (b) the internal market posed by water scarcity in North East Scotland.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

As you will be aware, I speak regularly with the Deputy First Minister, and my officials frequently engage with their Scottish Government counterparts.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) are keeping the weather situation under close review, including through the UK Agriculture Market Monitoring Group (UKAMMG), which was set up by DEFRA and the Devolved Governments to monitor the UK market situation across all key agricultural commodities.

Question to the Scotland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what discussions he has had with representatives of the (a) food, (b) drink and (c) retail sectors on potential measures to help secure supply chains in the context of summer water scarcity in North East Scotland.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

I regularly engage with stakeholders across the food, drink and retail sectors.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) are keeping the weather situation under close review, including through the UK Agriculture Market Monitoring Group (UKAMMG), which was set up by DEFRA and the Devolved Governments to monitor the UK market situation across all key agricultural commodities.

Question to the Scotland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Agri-Environment Climate Scheme on (a) supporting water resilience in Scotland and (b) posing risks to the internal market.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Agri-Environment Climate Scheme is administered by the Scottish Government which could provide a more accurate assessment. However, I support any measures that protect our natural environment in Scotland.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what comparative assessment he has made of the level of investment on farms in (a) England, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland between (i) 1 November 2024 and 1 July 2025 and (ii) the same periods in the last five years.

Answered by Daniel Zeichner

No comparative assessments have been made on the level of investment on farms between the 4 UK nations as agriculture is a devolved policy.

Data on farm investment income is available in the table 5 series of Farm Accounts in England – but these tables only show data for 2022/23 and 2023/24.

Defra are currently collecting the 2024/25 data; data on farm investment income for 2024/25 will be published in January 2026.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether he has had recent discussions with his Norwegian counterpart on (a) the Northern Lights project and (b) the viability of emulating their non-pipeline transport of carbon dioxide in the UK.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

On 7^th May 2025, the Secretary of State met with Minister Aasland, his Norwegian counterpart, on the occasion of signing a Green Industrial Partnership with the Norwegian Government. This recognised the importance of continued collaboration on Carbon Capture Usage and Storage (CCUS), including a commitment to initiate work to identify gaps and challenges to the development of our common North Sea as a hub for carbon storage. Sharing knowledge from current projects, including the Northern Lights CCS project, will play an important role.

Our recently published Industrial Strategy: Clean Energy Industries Sector Plan emphasised how the UK’s favourable geology offers capacity to safely store up to 78 billion tonnes of CO₂ and the potential to offer international CO₂ storage services. Non-pipeline transport, especially the transport of CO₂ via ship, will help maximise this geological potential.

Found: membership Patricia Ferguson (Labour; Glasgow West) (Chair) Maureen Burke (Labour; Glasgow North East) Harriet Cross

Found: membership Patricia Ferguson (Labour; Glasgow West) (Chair) Maureen Burke (Labour; Glasgow North East) Harriet Cross

Found: (90.0%) Maureen Burke (Labour, Glasgow North East) (added 28 Oct 2024) 21 of 30 (70.0%) Harriet Cross