Asked by: James McMurdock (Reform UK - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 28 May to Question 53448 on Carbon Capture and Storage, (a) how the levy will be structured and (b) who will be responsible for paying it.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
There is a mixture of funding routes to support carbon capture and storage projects in the UK, including levies placed on energy suppliers and gas shippers.
There are two levies relevant to the CCUS programme. Firstly, the Electricity Supplier Obligation, which is placed on licensed electricity suppliers who may then pass this cost on to their consumers. This levy supports renewable and low carbon electricity production. The second is the Gas Shipper Obligation, which is intended to be an obligation placed on gas shippers to fund certain hydrogen production projects. The Government has recently consulted on the design of the Gas Shipper Obligation and design considerations are ongoing.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Reform UK - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 28 May to Question to 53448 on Carbon Capture and Storage, how the the funding models will be evaluated to ensure value for money.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Detailed and robust Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Plans have been developed for the various CCUS funding models. The M&E plans map out the evaluation activities, methodology, data sources and resource needed for the various types of evaluations, including value-for-money (VfM) assessments. The VfM assessments across the CCUS programme will assess the extent to which public funds were used in the most cost-effective way possible to deliver results. Robust VfM evaluation methodologies that are relevant and suitable for the CCUS programme will be used, including Cost-benefit analysis (CBA) and the National Audit Office 4Es VfM approach, to allow a rigorous and systematic analysis of the costs and benefits. These methods will demonstrate VfM by evaluating whether the CCUS programme is cost-effective, impactful, and equitable.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Reform UK - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 28 May to Question 53448 on Carbon Capture and Storage, what steps his Department is taking to safeguard against over-subsidisation of specific (a) projects and (b) technologies.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The CCUS Cluster Sequencing Process, which is the selection of the initial carbon dioxide transport & storage networks and projects, and the CCUS business models, under which individual awards for projects are made, have been developed to align with the UK subsidy control regime as per the Subsidy Control Act 2022 and are subject to mandatory referral to the Subsidy Advice Unit, part of the Competition Markets Authority. These business models support the development of transport and storage CO2 networks, as well as the deployment of CCUS in the power, industrial and hydrogen sectors.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Reform UK - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how his Department is ensuring the (a) transparency and (b) accountability of carbon capture projects funded by public money.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government has developed a series of models to incentivise behaviour in line with our objectives and deliver value for money for consumers and taxpayers. The Infrastructure and Projects Authority provides oversight of the Programme, as a Government’s Major Projects Portfolio, through Gateway Reviews and reporting, and the programme has been subject to National Audit Office reviews and Public Accounts Committee hearings. Partner organisations, such as OFGEM, Low Carbon Contracts Company, and Central Grants and Loans have a key role in providing accountability through monitoring the performance of the Transport & Storage Companies and emitters. The contracts set out regulations according to which support can be withdrawn where key milestones are not met. The Full Business Cases and associated assessments will be published in due course.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Reform UK - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment his Department has made of the long-term (a) safety and (b) environmental impact of carbon capture facilities.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Carbon capture and the transport and storage of CO2 are safe technologies underpinned by strong regulatory frameworks to mitigate potential risks associated with those activities.
There are several regulators in the UK in place to protect human health and the environment, including: Environment Agency (EA) Offshore Petroleum Regulator for Environment and Decommissioning (OPRED), Health and Safety Executive (HSE), Natural Resources Wales and SEPA (Scottish Environment Protection Agency)
Additionally, the storage permit, regulated by the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA), for a storage site will only be issued when the NSTA are confident that there will be no significant risk of leakage or of harm to the environment and human health from the CO2 storage.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Reform UK - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential risks of carbon capture and storage facilities.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Carbon capture and the transport and storage of CO2 are safe technologies underpinned by strong regulatory frameworks to mitigate potential risks associated with those activities.
There are several regulators in the UK in place to protect human health and the environment, including: Environment Agency (EA) Offshore Petroleum Regulator for Environment and Decommissioning (OPRED), Health and Safety Executive (HSE), Natural Resources Wales and SEPA (Scottish Environment Protection Agency)
Additionally, the storage permit, regulated by the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA), for a storage site will only be issued when the NSTA are confident that there will be no significant risk of leakage or of harm to the environment and human health from the CO2 storage.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Reform UK - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that carbon capture and storage does not disproportionately impact energy bills for consumers.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is committed to ensuring that the costs of the UK’s transition to Net Zero are fair and affordable for all energy consumers.
The CCUS programme will be funded through a mixture of levy and government funding. We have created several business models to fund CCUS projects based on the technology they are using, designed to support this nascent industry whilst ensuring value for money.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Reform UK - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what his planned timeline is for the carbon capture sites in Merseyside and Teesside.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Having reached financial close with East Coast Cluster in December 2024, and with the HyNet Transport and Storage Company, operated by Liverpool Bay CCS, in April 2025, construction is already underway, and we expect the Transport & Storage Companies to be operational from 2028. We continue to negotiate with other Track-1 projects and hope to conclude these negotiations as soon as possible subject to several assessments, including value for money.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Reform UK - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing a requirement for consultation response feedback to be made publicly available.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department publishes the government’s responses to consultations on GOV.UK. In line with the Cabinet Office consultation principles, these documents explain the responses that have been received from consultees and how they have informed the policy.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Reform UK - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to support (a) primary and (b) secondary schools with high energy costs.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government believes that our mission to deliver clean power by 2030 is the best way to break our dependence on global fossil fuel markets and protect billpayers permanently.
The creation of Great British Energy will help us to harness clean energy with less reliance on volatile international energy markets and help in our commitment to make Britain a clean energy superpower by 2030.