Oral Answers to Questions
Katie White Excerpts(2 weeks, 6 days ago)
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Joe Powell (Kensington and Bayswater) (Lab)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Katie White)
I pay tribute to my hon. Friend on his work before he came to this place; he was an international leader on this matter. This Government have put Britain back into leadership on international climate change. Last week, we welcomed 75,000 people to London, because our city is a leading mix of science, innovation, technology and investment. It was great to see Imperial College London, which is in his constituency, attending many of those events.
Joe Powell
I note the recent data showing that support for renewables in this country is now at 81% of the public. Certainly, in every visit that I make to meet young people, including students at Imperial College London, climate change is one of the first issues they raise; they are concerned about the future that they are going to inherit. Will the Minister comment on the impact of repealing the Climate Change Act 2008—unfortunately, this has become the position of some Opposition parties—on our standing in international negotiations, including our Paris agreement commitments?
Katie White
I agree with my hon. Friend’s comments on public support. Ultimately, pretty much everybody in this House cares about the people and places that we love. This issue comes up time and again at every school I visit, and I know that is the same for people from all corners of this place, because I get letters from people from all corners of this place. The Climate Change Act was campaigned for by David Cameron, introduced by the last Labour Government and championed by every single Conservative Prime Minister, because it is a sensible way of doing grown-up politics and policy. It is a long-term framework with flexibility to meet the moment. Serious leaders support serious policy in politics, and that is what you get from a Labour Government.
Esther McVey (Tatton) (Con)
Has the Minister discussed the Peak Cluster project with her international counterparts? What have they made of the lack of cost-benefit analysis by the British Government? Will carbon dioxide be imported from abroad into the UK if this ludicrous and unpopular proposal goes ahead?
Katie White
My understanding is that the Peak Cluster needs to develop the project itself; it is not a Government-backed project. This Government have made more progress on carbon capture and storage than has been made in the last 20 years. If the right hon. Lady’s colleagues and constituents want to hear more about it, please feel free to write to us, as we will be happy to look at it further.
Bobby Dean (Carshalton and Wallington) (LD)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Katie White)
The Secretary of State will publish an energy resilience strategy later this year. Last week, alongside the Minister for Energy Security and Net Zero, I launched a first-of-its-kind taskforce with external experts from security, the military and academia, to boost preparedness for climate change and nature loss.
Bobby Dean
The Office for Budget Responsibility fiscal report, out today, highlights some of the long-term risks of climate damage to the UK’s finances. Unlike other OBR reports at formal fiscal events, there are no implications for the Government; they do not have to make any adjustments to their current financial planning. If he were to be moved to the Treasury, would the Secretary of State consider changing the fiscal rules to encourage more long-term planning for things like climate change?
Katie White
As I am the one answering the hon. Member’s question, I cannot comment on those decisions. The OBR has put forward various reports to look at the impacts of climate change on our economy, and the value of investment versus the cost of inaction. The OBR has been incredibly helpful, as have various parts of our financial architecture across the City, which is looking at where the risks are. The taskforce that I mentioned will also look at the impact on finances and the economy.
Cat Eccles (Stourbridge) (Lab)
During the heatwave a fortnight ago, I was contacted by the head of Oldswinford primary school in my constituency, who felt that the Government’s advice on keeping the building cool for children did not adequately reflect the challenges. I know that this feeling was shared by other schools around the country and the National Education Union. I was also contacted by bus drivers and office workers. What is the Minister doing to ensure that schools and workplaces are resilient to increased and sustained temperatures in the future?
Katie White
I thank my hon. Friend for her contributions on climate change in the debate last week on carbon budget 7. The recent heatwave showed us for the first time the implications that we face across our country. For parents up and down the country, when many schools closed—not to mention other workplaces and hospitals—it had a catastrophic effect. We are looking at the issue across the board. We have an energy resilience strategy coming forward, as well as a wider taskforce, and I am working across Government with colleagues to ensure that any advice is updated, because this is sadly the new normal.
Seamus Logan (Aberdeenshire North and Moray East) (SNP)
One of the Department’s key planks in tackling climate change is carbon capture. Given the Government’s difficulties around the defence investment plan and the need to find allegedly an extra £5 billion, can the Minister confirm her Department’s continuing support for the Acorn Project at St Fergus in my constituency?
Brian Leishman (Alloa and Grangemouth) (Lab)
What is not helping climate change is transporting fuel from the Stanlow refinery to Scottish airports. This negatively impacts the environment, increases pressure on road infrastructure and will reduce employment and negatively impact Scottish supply chains. Are the Government concerned about the future of fuel distribution in Scotland, and if not, may I respectfully and politely suggest that they should be?
Katie White
I thank my hon. Friend, who contributes to many of these debates. We want to ensure that we have a system that supports reductions in emissions, while also maintaining supply. I do not think that what my hon. Friend says is the case, but we do see a future for Grangemouth, and we look forward to continuing to work with him on that.
Dr Danny Chambers (Winchester) (LD)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Katie White)
I would like to highlight three things that this Government have done to tackle climate change. First, we have brought forward carbon budget 7. I pay tribute to many Members of this House for the excellent discussion we had, with contributions from Members from Darlington to Devon, via Derby. Secondly, we have secured massive investment; since this Government came to power, we have secured more than £100 billion of private investment. Thirdly, we have been looking at where there is friction in the system, and at how to remove that friction, whether through working with communities to energise Britain—I was out in Manchester and Bradford yesterday—or by reordering the queue for our energy projects, to ensure that we are at the forefront of tackling climate change, are managing the risks, and are taking advantage of the opportunities.
Dr Chambers
Will the Minister join me in congratulating Lib Dem-run Winchester city council on its fantastic initiative, Solar Together, which installs solar panels on council houses? So far, it has installed solar panels on 35 properties, reducing energy bills, lifting people out of fuel poverty and reducing carbon output. What support is the Minister giving to ensure that such initiatives can continue, in Winchester and throughout the whole country?
Katie White
I will absolutely congratulate Winchester city council on leading on this. Councils play a hugely important role, and I am looking forward to meeting many of them to discuss this issue when I visit the Local Government Association later this week. We have £1 billion of funding for community energy projects, and we are bringing forward more measures to accelerate progress, because this really is an opportunity to tackle the climate crisis, bring down energy bills and contribute to energy security.
Richard Burgon (Leeds East) (Lab)
I commend the Minister and the team on their approach. Tackling climate change needs to be a national and international effort. We should all be pulling together on this goal. Is it not time to call out some of the Opposition parties and their friends in the right-wing media for engaging in a propaganda wave of climate change denial? That poses a real risk to our future jobs, economy, fuel security and way of life.
Katie White
I thank my hon. Friend, who has raised this issue on many occasions in this House, and who is a friend of mine from across our great city. It is really important that we work at international, national and local level. Across our country, we all have a responsibility for the words and phrases that we use, and a responsibility to tackle misinformation and be honest about the challenges. That is not to say that we cannot disagree, but we could do so far more agreeably.
John Lamont (Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk) (Con)
Peter Swallow (Bracknell) (Lab)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Katie White)
I thank my hon. Friend—another fantastic speaker in the carbon budget debate the week before last—and Ranelagh school students for presenting their ideas. They are not alone; this issue is raised at most schools that we visit, and we have to reassure students that the Government are taking action at international, national and local level. It is important that their voices are heard, which is why we are launching a youth scheme in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.
Gregory Stafford (Farnham and Bordon) (Con)
Climate Change
Katie White Excerpts(1 month ago)
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Katie White)
I beg to move,
That the draft Carbon Budget Order 2026, which was laid before this House on 2 June, be approved.
Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani)
With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:
That the draft Climate Change Act 2008 (International Aviation and International Shipping) Regulations 2026, which were laid before this House on 14 April, in the last Session of Parliament, be approved.
That the draft Climate Change Act 2008 (Credit Limit) Order 2026, which was laid before this House on 14 April, in the last Session of Parliament, be approved.
Katie White
This week has been like no other. At this very moment, people across our country are experiencing another reminder of the world we now live in. If anyone in this Chamber still thinks that climate change is a problem for tomorrow, they should step outside today. Parents will struggle to get their children to sleep through sweltering nights. Farmers will look anxiously at weather forecasts and cloudless skies. Hospitals, schools and care homes will prepare for temperatures that would have seemed extraordinary in Britain just a few decades ago.
Parts of our country are facing temperatures of up to 38° this week, while experts warn that 40° days may arrive far sooner than anyone expected. Today’s debate is not taking place against the backdrop of climate change; it is taking place in the middle of it, and I cannot make it clearer to the House that this is not normal. A Met Office extreme heat warning is in place for parts of the UK today and tomorrow. In fact, it has just confirmed that today is the hottest June day ever.
In recent months the crisis in the middle east has felt like a ghost from the recent past. Once again, the world has found itself staring at a major fossil fuel-producing region and wondering what happens next. Once again, energy markets have been holding their breath. Once again, families, businesses and Governments have been reminded just how fragile the system can be. This is, of course, the second fossil fuel shock in barely half a decade. It is only four years since Putin’s tanks rolled into Ukraine and sent shockwaves through the global economy, four years since family budgets were shredded by soaring energy bills, and four years since Britain was reminded that when our energy system depends on volatile fossil fuel markets, a crisis on the other side of the world can land on our doorstep in a matter of days.
When faced with challenges of this scale, there is always a temptation to focus on the immediate crisis, to become consumed by the pressures of the day, and to postpone difficult decisions for another Parliament, another Government or another generation.
Katie White
I will make some progress.
Postponing difficult decisions has never been how our country has met its greatest challenges. We have always been strongest when we have looked beyond the immediate horizon, recognised the risks ahead and taken practical steps to prepare for them. That is what the carbon budget framework represents: a science-led budget to reduce emissions by around 87% between 2038 and 2042 compared with 1990 levels, including in international aviation and shipping. The framework is in line with the advice from the independent Climate Change Committee and is endorsed by the Environmental Audit Committee, which I thank for its rigorous scrutiny, including in the evidence session that it held with me last week.
Alongside the carbon budget framework, the regulations before the House today will formally include the UK’s share of international aviation and shipping emissions in carbon budgets from carbon budget 6 onwards, while the Climate Change Act 2008 (Credit Limit) Order 2026 will ensure that carbon budget 5 is met through domestic action, allowing the UK economy to capture the full benefits of the transition.
Katie White
I will keep going.
In determining the level of the seventh carbon budget, we assessed different pathways for Britain’s future. What the analysis showed was remarkably clear: whether viewed through the lens of economic growth, national security, public health or long-term prosperity, the benefits of continuing on Britain’s path to net zero significantly outweigh the benefits of abandoning it. Let me explain why.
The first reason is business uncertainty. This framework provides something every successful economy depends on and every serious business asks for: certainty. Investment flows not to the country with the lowest costs or the biggest market, but to the country with a plan. It flows to the country where business investors and entrepreneurs can look 10, 15 or 20 years into the future and have confidence about the direction of travel.
Yesterday, in a career highlight, I was proud to open the London stock exchange to mark London Climate Action Week. It also celebrates a remarkable finding in new analysis by the London stock exchange, which is that the global green economy is now worth more than $10 trillion. Its analysis has found that green revenues grew by 5.3% in 2025, despite energy shocks, market volatility and geopolitical tensions. Here in the UK, I am proud to announce that this Government have officially secured £100 billion of private investment in clean energy since taking office.
The message from investors could not be clearer: the race is on. Capital is flowing towards the countries that are building, planning and backing the industries of the future, and that is one of the great strengths of the Climate Change Act and the carbon budget framework. For almost two decades, that has provided a stable and predictable signal about where Britain is heading, giving businesses the confidence to invest, innovate and grow.
Katie White
I will keep going for a bit if that is okay.
This is a market solution to a generational challenge, providing certainty about the destination while allowing competition, innovation and enterprise to determine the journey, and the results can be seen across the country. On the day we laid this order before Parliament, new analysis showed that Britain’s net zero economy now supports more than 1 million jobs and generated £105 billion for the UK economy alone. We see that opportunity in carbon capture projects in Teesside, in new nuclear at Sizewell C in Suffolk, and in companies across the country building the technologies, supply chains and industries that will power the next chapter of British economic growth.
Indeed, as more than 75,000 people have descended on London for London Climate Action Week this week—taking part in over 1,300 events and helping to broker deals, partnerships and investments that will shape the global economy for years to come—they are doing so in a city that has established itself as the sustainable finance capital of the world. That is why support for this framework extends far beyond Government. The British Chambers of Commerce says these plans provide “greater certainty for…firms”. The CBI describes the green economy as
“a powerhouse of job creation and economic expansion”.
E.ON says that
“the prize is bigger than emissions alone.”
Business leaders, manufacturers and investors are all making the same argument. In a world competing for capital, talent and innovation, long-term certainty is not a burden on growth; it is one of the foundations of it.
Secondly, if the economic case for action is increasingly clear, so is the security case. Climate change has become a central concern not just for scientists and policy makers, but for our country’s military leaders, intelligence chiefs and security experts. On the agenda for the Munich security conference, climate change sits alongside geopolitical conflict and nuclear proliferation as one of the defining risks of our age. That assessment is increasingly shared across Britain’s own security establishment. Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Wigston has said it
“threatens global resilience and our shared security and prosperity.”
Baroness Manningham-Buller, the former director general of MI5, has said it is clear that climate change is the “greatest threat” we face. Lieutenant General Nugee has said:
“Climate change is not an abstract environmental issue. It is now a core national security risk.”
These are not campaigners or commentators; they have served their country and are people who have spent their careers identifying risks before they become crises and preparing our country for threats before they arrive.
Climate change is often discussed as an environmental challenge, yet it is increasingly showing up elsewhere in conversations about food security, energy security, national resilience and the basic responsibility of Government to protect their citizens from foreseeable risks. The framework before the House is not just about reducing emissions; it is part of the long-term work of making Britain safer, stronger and less vulnerable in a more uncertain world.
Thirdly and finally, we should see this transition for what it really is: one of the greatest upgrade projects in our country’s history. Too often, debates about climate change become trapped in the language of targets, regulations and emissions, but when future generations look back on this period, they are unlikely to remember the technical details of carbon budgets or policy frameworks. What they will remember is that this was the moment Britain began upgrading the system that underpins modern life.
Every generation has had its national upgrade. Previous generations built the railways that connected our country, electrified our towns and cities, brought clean water into people’s homes, connected millions of households to the gas grid and transformed the way people travelled, worked and lived. Our generation’s task is no different. We are upgrading an energy system that leaves us exposed to volatile fossil fuel markets and replacing it with one powered increasingly by clean electricity generated here at home. We are upgrading homes and technology that allow families to generate, store and manage their own energy. We are upgrading transport, upgrading industry and upgrading infrastructure that in many cases was designed for a different century and a different economy.
That is not a marginal adjustment to the economy we have today; it is a fundamental upgrade to how Britain powers itself, and the prize is enormous. Our analysis shows that clean power and electrification could save families and businesses £445 billion in fossil fuel spending over the next 25 years. Cleaner air could mean up to 8,000 fewer hospital admissions every year by 2050 and around £80 billion in health benefits, while action to restore nature could deliver a further £50 billion-worth of benefits.
Katie White
No, I will make some progress.
Those benefits include greater protection from flooding, cleaner rivers and greater biodiversity.
But this is not simply about what we avoid; it is about what we build. Across the world, more than $2 trillion is now invested in clean energy every year—roughly twice the amount invested in fossil fuels. It is where global capital is flowing, where industries are being built and where future economic advantage will increasingly be won. I make no apology for Britain competing for that opportunity. I do not want our country watching from the sidelines while others capture the jobs, industries and investment of the future. I want Britain helping to shape that future and benefiting from it.
Let me finish by saying this. Long before I entered this House and long before I became a Minister, I was one of the many people involved in the wider effort that helped to build support for the Climate Change Act, which is one of the most significant and widely supported pieces of cross-party legislation this country has ever passed.
Katie White
Let me just finish.
Back then, it often felt like a cause that sat at the margins of politics, rather than at its centre. Progress felt slow; success felt uncertain. If someone had told me that one day I would stand at this Dispatch Box I might have struggled to believe it, but what that journey reminds me of is that real change is rarely the work of one person, one Government or one political party. It happens because people keep building year after year, Government after Government, Parliament after Parliament. Eighteen years ago, this House came together to pass the world’s first climate change Act. Seven years ago, it came together again to make Britain the first major economy to legislate on net zero emissions. Different Prime Ministers, different Governments and different political traditions have all helped to write that story.
Katie White
I will just finish.
History has many authors. As a result of that shared effort, Britain was the first major economy to cut emissions by more than half, while growing its economy by more than 85% between 1990 and 2025. We have helped to inspire around 60 countries to adopt similar legislation and we have shown it is possible to combine climate action with economic growth, energy security and national prosperity.
At its best, this House has always been capable of looking beyond the pressures of the moment and acting in the interests of future generations. I believe this is one of those moments, so whatever our differences on the detail I hope we can recognise what this debate is really about: the kind of country we leave behind and whether we upgrade it while we have the chance. That is a legacy worth building together. I commend these orders and regulations to the House.
Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani)
I call the shadow Secretary of State.
Katie White
The temperature has certainly gone up outside, and at times it has gone up a little in here. This has been a very passionate debate, which I really welcome. I will probably not have time to go through all of the points that were raised, but I am happy to meet anybody to discuss them. Constructive engagement is really helpful on this issue. I think most of our constituents want us to tackle climate change and bring bills down, and this is an opportunity for us to work together.
I will reply initially to the right hon. Member for East Surrey (Claire Coutinho). As she knows, this issue is about setting the trajectory towards 2050. It is not about 2050; it is about the budget. I listened really carefully and she makes some valid points, but I was a little confused at times. She challenged us on not having enough scrutiny, but this is the first time that we have had proper scrutiny of this budget. Under the previous Government, you never once voted on the carbon budget on the Floor of the House. You discredited, or you tried to discredit, the Committee on Climate Change—
Madam Deputy Speaker (Caroline Nokes)
Order. The Minister is better than that.
Katie White
The right hon. Lady used the Committee on Climate Change to discredit some of the figures and questioned food bills, but she knows that bills have already gone up by £361 as a result of food inflation. She talked about planning and referred to China’s innovation, but I would say that its planning system is a little bit more forthright than ours.
The thing I was most unsure about was this: if the right hon. Lady is so clear, why did she not do that when she was in office and she was in my place? Actually, she did take this through when she was in charge. It is only in Opposition that she has changed her position entirely. I am from Yorkshire and we say things fairly directly. My advice has always been that we want to save carbon and make cash. I think that is a fairly blunt way of saying that this is about growth in the economy.
I pay tribute to and thank my hon. Friends the Members for Chesterfield (Mr Perkins), for Sheffield Hallam (Olivia Blake), for Derbyshire Dales (John Whitby), for Mid Derbyshire (Jonathan Davies), for Brent West (Barry Gardiner), for Ellesmere Port and Bromborough (Justin Madders), for Putney (Fleur Anderson), for Hitchin (Alistair Strathern), for Ashford (Sojan Joseph), for Darlington (Lola McEvoy), for Portsmouth North (Amanda Martin) and for Basingstoke (Luke Murphy).
I would also like to thank the hon. Members for South Cambridgeshire (Pippa Heylings), for Chippenham (Sarah Gibson) and for Horsham (John Milne), my hon. Friends the Members for Exeter (Steve Race) and for North East Hertfordshire (Chris Hinchliff), and the hon. Members for South Devon (Caroline Voaden), for Honiton and Sidmouth (Richard Foord), for Taunton and Wellington (Gideon Amos), for Gordon and Buchan (Harriet Cross), for Broxbourne (Lewis Cocking) and for Boston and Skegness (Richard Tice).
I understand that the hon. Member for Boston and Skegness drives a Tesla, but his party wants to scrap the electric car grant. I understand that he put solar panels on properties owned by his former company, but Reform councillors are cancelling solar projects on public buildings. I understand that his former company invested in EV chargers and solar power, but Reform says Britain should slow down the green energy transition. I understand that he says he backs business, but he threatens to rip up green investment deals and send investors running for the exits. Some 91% of properties in the Boston and Skegness constituency face some level of flood risk. He talks about adapting to climate change, but he will not tackle what is causing it.
I ask the hon. Members who have questioned the motions today: what is the alternative? I am very happy to have those conversations. Should we tell black cab drivers to give up their electric taxis and go back to paying more at the pump? Should we look constituents in flood-risk communities in the eye and tell them, “Sorry, we’re not going to tackle the causes of this?” Should I tell the gentleman I met in Makerfield, whose solar panels have helped to reduce his energy debt by £800, that he was better off without them? Should I tell the investors at the London Stock Exchange that Britain is not interested in its share of a $10 trillion global green economy? Let us be clear: that is the choice.
In the middle of an unprecedented heatwave, perhaps we should all try to take the temperature down. This should not be a partisan issue. At its heart, carbon budget 7 is a pro-business, pro-investment framework. Let us choose resilience over risk, let us choose investment over stagnation, and let us choose the opportunities of the future over the comforts of the status quo. I hope that I have provided the reassurance that Members require. I urge colleagues across the House to support the orders and regulations before us today. I commend them to the House.
Question put.
Draft Nuclear Safeguards (EU Exit and Fees) (Amendment) Regulations 2026
Katie White Excerpts(1 month, 1 week ago)
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Katie White)
I beg to move,
That the Committee has considered the draft Nuclear Safeguards (EU Exit and Fees) (Amendment) Regulations 2026.
The regulations were laid before the House on 23 April. I will set out the purpose of nuclear safeguards and explain the proposed amendments to the Nuclear Safeguards (EU Exit) Regulations 2019. The amendments are about improving how the UK safeguard regime works, making it clearer, more practical to operate and more effective, as well as making our expectations and requirements of nuclear operators clear. They are also about aligning more closely with our international allies, including the United States, on this critical industry.
Nuclear safeguards are vital for non-proliferation. They help to show the International Atomic Energy Agency and the international community that civil nuclear material is being used as intended, and not being diverted into military or weapons programmes. The International Atomic Energy Agency’s international safeguards system has a strong track record of preventing nuclear proliferation. Safeguards are a vital part of the global nuclear energy system, alongside safety and security, and have helped to build confidence in international nuclear trade and co-operation.
For almost 50 years, the UK has been committed to meeting our international obligations and supporting international nuclear safeguards. Having a robust domestic safeguards regime matters not just for the UK, but for the whole international community. It sends a clear message to the world that the UK takes its responsibilities as a nuclear state seriously. It shows that we are acting in line with the implementation of the treaty on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. Nuclear safeguards are vital for a successful civil nuclear industry.
Our domestic safeguards regime, which has been in place since the UK left the European Atomic Energy Community—Euratom—in 2020, has an important role in both operations and trade, helping to deliver growth, jobs and clean energy. Following Brexit, the 2019 regulations set out the legal framework and obligations for us to continue to meet our commitments. They were designed to be equivalent in effectiveness to the previous regime. The regulations set out requirements for operators of nuclear facilities and spell out the role of the Office for Nuclear Regulation as the regulator. The Nuclear Safeguards (Fees) Regulations 2021 enable the ONR to recover safeguard costs from nuclear operators. Since the regime was introduced five years ago, the UK has been steadfast in meeting its international safeguards obligations.
The amendments will strengthen the UK’s ability to uphold its commitments and support the wider international safeguards system, as well as contributing to the nuclear industry’s ability to participate in nuclear trade. The proposed amendments are drawn from a review carried out by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero in 2023. We sought views on the amendments through a public consultation in 2025, and feedback from the industry and the ONR helped to shape our proposals. We wanted to balance operator responsibilities while allowing regulators enough time to do their work. We aim to minimise unnecessary impacts on the UK’s nuclear sector while ensuring that the UK can still meet its commitments.
I will briefly cover the three broad categories of amendments. Amendments in the first category remove provisions that are no longer fit for purpose for the UK. Some of these were transitional measures to manage the move from the previous Euratom system to the new ONR regime. In other cases, the provisions no longer apply in the UK’s nuclear safeguards context. These changes simplify the regulations and make them clearer.
The second and largest set of changes is about improving operability and clarifying requirements. The main change involves using IAEA design information questionnaires rather than Euratom’s basic technical characteristics format for reporting design information. The transition was agreed during the UK’s departure from Euratom. This change will align the UK internationally and support our civil nuclear partnerships, including with the United States.
Another important change involves making a stronger and more direct link between particular safeguards provisions and the UK’s international obligations. We are enabling the ONR to amend or remove these provisions when needed, which will ensure that the system stays up to date and works in practice. We are changing some timelines for submitting information to the ONR, with some being shortened to allow the ONR enough time to carry out checks and engage with operators before information is submitted to the IAEA. However, the changes are being limited, so that operators still have sufficient time to prepare the necessary information. We are also updating certain definitions to align them more closely with the language used by the IAEA.
The final set of changes is important in making sure the regulations are fit for purpose. These rules mean certain actions can be treated as criminal offences as a final point of escalation where needed. The 2021 fees regulations will also be updated due to the NSR19 changes so that the ONR can recover costs where applicable. However, we expect these new costs to be rare and minimal.
The amendments will strengthen nuclear safeguards regulation. The changes will enable us to deliver the civil nuclear safeguards regime in the UK more efficiently and effectively. The proposed amendments will help us to continue to meet international obligations as part of the wider responsible nuclear community and help support our nuclear industry in its trade and operational activities, which are vital to our country’s economic growth and energy security. I look forward to hearing what hon. Members have to say on the detail.
Katie White
I thank hon. Members for their valuable contributions. As many of us have come from the Jo Cox event, I would like to start with what is “more in common”. I think that we are agreed on the global gold standard towards nuclear, both on safeguarding and the opportunity for our international competitiveness, and that is a shared vision. The other shared vision is on nuclear in Scotland; that is a vision that the Government entirely share and will try and deliver.
Jamie Stone
Would the Minister be kind enough to use what influence she can on the Scottish Government to make them see the error of their ways?
Katie White
I have two excellent colleagues who serve in Scotland and who do a lot of work on that, but I will endeavour to take it back and make sure we do everything we can to try and influence those decisions.
As I set out in my opening remarks, these amendments to the nuclear safeguards regulations will strengthen the UK’s ability to continue to meet our international obligations. At the same time, they will support the operations and trade that are central to the nuclear sector’s contribution in the UK’s growth and clean energy space.
In terms of the specific questions raised, I hope that the hon. Member for Mid Buckinghamshire noticed that we gave credit to the previous Government for launching the 2023 review and have built on the changes that they instigated. We have extended further timelines of proposals since and have been in consultation with the industry in terms of transitions. We are also in further consultation with the operators, but they have given us clear feedback. We want to make sure that this is practical, but we have been talking for quite a long time and we feel that we are in a good position to move forward. There is a number of qualified staff to be determined by the operators to meet their obligations, and while we have given an indication, it is up to them to deliver that.
I hope that I have provided the necessary assurances for the Committee to approve the regulations, but I am very happy to continue the conversation at another point. I commend the draft regulations to the House.
Question put and agreed to.
Oral Answers to Questions
Katie White Excerpts(1 month, 3 weeks ago)
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Dr Kieran Mullan (Bexhill and Battle) (Con)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Katie White)
I pay tribute to the hon. Member for championing deep geothermal. This Government recognise the potential that deep geothermal represents, particularly as a source for heat networks. Our priority is building out heat network infrastructure, which can then connect to any heat source. The green heat network fund and contracts for difference offer opportunities for geothermal projects to demonstrate the potential to de-risk both heat and power.
Dr Mullan
Deep geothermal has great potential for left-behind communities in this country, and it is a first-class transition industry for our oil and gas workforce. I welcome the Minister’s comments and the positive engagement with the Minister in the other place, who is a huge champion of deep geothermal, but the message from industry is that that is not enough, and that the funds that the Minister mentions are not doing the job. A deep geothermal strategy, giving the Government’s vote of confidence in deep geothermal, could go a long way, and would not necessarily cost very much. Industry tells us that that in itself would drive growth. Will the Government consider a strategy for deep geothermal?
Katie White
I thank the hon. Gentleman once again for championing this issue. I know he has been calling for it, and I welcome the engagement. It was exciting to see the first deep geothermal project being opened in February, as a result of the contracts for difference, and more projects are coming online as a result. We are prioritising the heat network, but I would welcome more conversations with him to ensure that we are making all the right choices.
Graeme Downie (Dunfermline and Dollar) (Lab)
West Fife has huge potential for geothermal. In particular, the Comrie colliery development, at a former mining site, is now being regenerated to create leisure facilities, housing and other mixed-use development. It has been exploring the possibility of using deep geothermal from the former mine. Will the Minister meet me to discuss this in more detail, and perhaps come to visit the site to see its huge potential?
Katie White
I welcome my hon. Friend’s question. The opportunity to visit sounds fabulous, and I look forward to it.
Steve Witherden (Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr) (Lab)
Sarah Coombes (West Bromwich) (Lab)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Katie White)
I thank my hon. Friend for her leadership in West Bromwich, in this place, and internationally. This Government have consulted on our manifesto commitment to introduce transition plan requirements for UK regulated financial institutions and large companies, and my Department will publish our response to that consultation shortly.
Sarah Coombes
Britain has been overly reliant on oil and gas for decades, and fossil fuel companies have profited hugely from that. I was glad to see the CBI report today, which said that the net-zero economy is now worth more than £100 billion to the UK. Given that electrification is essential to the UK’s energy future, what role will different types of energy company, who will eventually reap the profits of electricity use, have in investing in infrastructure for that transition?
Katie White
Electrification is key—that is something we can agree on across the House and outside. As my hon. Friend rightly says, since July 2024 we have secured £90 billion of investment in the UK within the clean energy sector, and it is fabulous to see the CBI report today that says that that sector is now supporting nearly 1 million jobs in the UK. Those are real jobs and lives across the country.
Graham Stuart (Beverley and Holderness) (Con)
The people of Skidby, Little Weighton and Walkington are not opposed to the clean energy transition, yet 90% of them are opposing the 2,500-acre clean air solar farm that is swamping that area, in conjunction with other such farms. They are against multiple large-scale solar developments industrialising productive farmland, including grade 2 and 3a land, undermining food security, and permanently altering rural communities. Will the Minister give the House an undertaking that, if the Secretary of State will stop chuntering, he will look at the issue with an open mind and listen, properly, to the people of that area?
Katie White
I am glad to see the right hon. Member’s agreement on the direction of travel. We must ensure that we involve local communities in decisions, but choices need to be made. I was honoured to work with one of his colleagues in the other place—they were formerly in this place—who spoke to me as a farmer about the value of solar projects for farmers. We must ensure that we protect that land. That is why my colleagues in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs introduced the “Land Use Framework”, and we must ensure a strategic approach. In all our plans less than 1% of land will be used for solar, but I am keen to continue the conversation and I am glad we agree on the direction of travel.
Kerry McCarthy (Bristol East) (Lab)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Katie White)
May I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for her leadership on this issue? The UK is a global leader on carbon pricing and nature recovery. We are committed to strengthening carbon markets to help us achieve our climate and nature goals. At London Climate Action Week, we will set out our work to centre integrity and build scale in these markets through the coalition to grow carbon markets, and the consultation response will be published later this year.
Kerry McCarthy
I thank the Minister for her response, and I welcome the UK’s leadership. Investors are concerned that the role of nature-based solutions in carbon market frameworks is not being fully recognised. With London Climate Action Week fast approaching, can she reassure investors that the Government see nature-based solutions as crucial to our collective efforts to tackle climate change, and that we will pursue this endeavour during upcoming article 6 negotiations?
Katie White
I assure my hon. Friend and investors that nature-based solutions are central to our response to this issue. London is the centre of carbon markets, and we want to protect that. We have been focusing on the coalition to grow carbon markets, which we will work on at London Climate Action Week, but I would love to work with her to make sure that we give reassurance, act with integrity and come forward with the necessary proposals.
Sir Desmond Swayne (New Forest West) (Con)
Does the Minister plan to allow clean community energy companies to sell power directly to households and businesses?
Katie White
We are pursuing that through the local power plan, and we intend for that to happen.
Adam Dance (Yeovil) (LD)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Katie White)
I thank my hon. Friend for raising this incredibly important issue. We need to make sure, when pushing forward with our planning developments, that they are undertaken with communities, and that the commitments made are delivered. I would very much welcome hearing more about the case that he raises, and I will talk to my colleagues and to him to take this forward.
Katie White
We are grateful for the Severn Estuary Commission’s work, and we recognise the benefits that tidal range can bring to our energy system. For now, the Government remain open to considering well developed proposals for harnessing the tidal range energy in the bays and estuaries around our coastline. I am very happy to meet my hon. Friend to discuss this further.
Jayne Kirkham (Truro and Falmouth) (Lab/Co-op)
I welcome the contracts for difference for geothermal and the fact that the Secretary of State has been down to see deep geothermal in Cornwall. A policy indication from the Government that deep geothermal could form part of our energy mix would be useful to grow confidence in the industry.
Katie White
I thank my hon. Friend for her continued championing of this matter. It was exciting to see the opening of the first project in February. We are focusing on the local heat networks, but we will continue to engage and are glad to see the CfD projects coming to fruition.
Richard Tice (Boston and Skegness) (Reform)
Once again, those on the Government Front Bench have inadvertently misled the House in saying that there is a single price internationally for gas—gas is 80% cheaper in the US than it is here in the UK. When will the Secretary of State grant oil and gas licences in Jackdaw, Rosebank and other fields in the North sea to increase supply and bring down bills?
Climate Change
Katie White Excerpts(4 months, 1 week ago)
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Katie White)
That got a little bit feisty at the end, didn’t it? I start by thanking my hon. Friend the Member for Basingstoke (Luke Murphy) for securing today’s debate. He is a fantastic advocate for climate and nature, both in his constituency and as chair of the APPG on climate change. I know that he has been pushing for this debate for a long time, so I am grateful for the opportunity to set out the Government’s position in detail today.
I also thank the hon. Members for Oxford West and Abingdon (Layla Moran) and for Bristol Central (Carla Denyer) for their contributions. I have enjoyed our collaborative work and feel sure that they welcome our clean jobs plan. I endeavour to work with them on a happier outcome.
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Sefton Central (Bill Esterson) for his typically eloquent overview. He pointed out something that is often missing, as indeed it was in the Opposition’s plan, which is that we have to invest in our energy infrastructure. We have a choice in where we make those investment choices.
I thank, too, the hon. Member for Bath (Wera Hobhouse) for her contribution. We have worked very closely together on oceans, and I am glad that she recognises the crucial progress that this Government have made. I also hope that she recognises that our warm homes plan is the biggest upgrade in British history. We always welcome people with new ideas, but I think recognition of how far we have come is also good.
My hon. Friend the Member for Stafford (Leigh Ingham) outlined the risks as well as the opportunities available in this area. I say to my hon. Friend the Member for Derby North (Catherine Atkinson) that, since taking on this role, I have been to Derby North more times than anywhere else. I also thank the students from Reigate Park primary—I look forward to reading to them. The hon. Member for Thornbury and Yate (Claire Young) must be celebrating our nuclear plans, but I very much recognise her focus on innovation.
Claire Young
I would just like to apologise to the Minister for my over-enthusiasm earlier in extolling the virtues of my area. I would also like to ask her to visit my constituency to see the opportunities for herself and to discuss with me the barriers that we face.
Katie White
I thank the hon. Lady very much for her kind invitation. I will consider it and get back to her.
Finally, I thank the hon. Member for Winchester (Dr Chambers), who raised some important issues around health. He also championed the role of science. I too have always thought that science is crucial, but since entering this role, I have found British scientists to be fabulous. They are at the heart of telling us what the problems are and at the heart of innovation, so I pay tribute to them.
I want to assure the House that this Government remain totally committed to limiting global warming to 1.5°C, and that doing so is at the heart of our agenda. As my hon. Friend the Member for Basingstoke knows, we have been talking about these issues for more than two decades, which means that we can sometimes become desensitised to the urgency of the challenge. But we in this House have a responsibility to be honest about the gravity of what is at stake. The truth is that the world is getting hotter at an alarming rate—the past decade has seen the 10 warmest years ever. The Amazon has seen the worst droughts on record, partly as a result of deforestation, and in the Arctic and Antarctic global warming is driving geopolitical competition over the resources lying beneath the ice.
I recently spoke to Ministers from the Caribbean who told me about the horrific damage caused by Hurricane Melissa. Here in Britain, we are in no way immune, with recent storms such as Goretti flooding homes and cutting off power. Heavy rainfall has cost farmers hundreds of millions of pounds, which was referred to by my hon. Friend the Member for Hitchin (Alistair Strathern). Extreme heatwaves have disrupted almost every aspect of our lives.
The Office for Budget Responsibility is also clear that rising temperatures pose a huge threat to our economy and could wipe billions off our GDP in the years to come if we do not act. That is why, as our national security strategy sets out, tackling climate change and nature loss is vital for both global stability and our national resilience. As the Prime Minister said, there can be no national security without climate security. Let me be clear, though, where we face severe challenges, we are absolutely capable of meeting them. We are the generations with the power and the opportunity to act and build a cleaner, more secure and more prosperous future for our children and grandchildren. That is why we are stepping up on the global stage once again and showing real leadership with our mission to achieve clean power by 2030 and accelerate to net zero across the economy.
Bill Esterson
I know that we are talking about the climate, but the events in Iran are a salutary reminder of the need to take action because of the reliance on global fossil-fuel prices. A new report from Reuters suggests that 17% of Qatar’s next five years of LNG supply has been destroyed by the overnight attacks. Does that not remind us how critical it is, for the energy security reasons that my hon. Friend set out, as well as for the climate reasons, that we get off the roller coaster of fossil fuels as fast as possible?
Katie White
I thank my hon. Friend for raising that. He is exactly right. When it comes to our energy policy, the way that we work at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero is by balancing the trio of emissions and environmental concerns, energy security, and price. It is within that trio that we operate all our policies.
The transition to clean energy is a historic opportunity to improve people’s lives in this country. It is the route not only to lower emissions and climate security—vital though they are—but to lower bills, warmer homes and cleaner air. It is the best way to revive industrial regions and create good jobs and new opportunities for young people.
As the unfolding conflict in the middle east reminds us, home-grown, clean energy is also the way to ensure our energy independence and protect British people from the impacts of events beyond our borders. As we saw four years ago when Russia invaded Ukraine, as long as our energy costs are set by international oil and gas markets, we will always be exposed to price shocks. That is why accelerating the shift to clean, domestic power is a national security imperative, not a “nice to have”.
The Climate Change Committee has been clear on that too. Its recent advice on carbon budget 7 confirmed that delivering the clean energy transition is the most cost-effective path ahead for the UK economy. In fact, its research shows that household bills would rise by nearly 60% from a future fossil-fuel spike if we fail to deliver on our clean power mission. Pursuing this path is therefore not an agenda or activism—and I can assure the shadow Minister that I am not a purist. It is common sense, and it is our patriotic and economic duty.
We have made huge progress in the less than two years that we have been in power. Since July 2024, over £90 billion of investment has been announced for home-grown, clean energy. We have lifted the onshore wind ban in England and approved record amounts of renewable energy. We have launched Great British Energy—our first publicly owned energy company for 70 years—and we have kick-started our new golden age of nuclear with the greatest investment in new nuclear power for half a century, including plans for our first small modular reactors at Wylfa on Anglesey. We also held Europe’s biggest ever offshore wind auction, alongside the largest ever procurement of solar projects in the UK, collectively securing enough clean energy to power the equivalent of 16 million homes. At the heart of this mission is a determination to support communities and create the good clean energy jobs of the future.
Last week I visited the Bridgend Ravens rugby club in Wales, which has just partnered with Electricity Cymru to install solar panels and LED lighting. This has slashed the club’s bills and allowed them to host the country’s first carbon-neutral rugby game. At a nuclear skills academy in Derby, I was lucky enough to meet—and was massively impressed by—Gracie, a 17-year-old apprentice who is the fourth generation in her family, and the first female, to train up to work in the clean energy revolution. She recognised that she is in the right place at the right time: helping to tackle the climate crisis, drive growth and ensure our energy security.
I know that there are those who doubt the impact that Britain can have on global emissions, but they underestimate this country’s potential and forget that we have already made a huge difference. We were the first country to pass a climate change Act and set up our own independent body on climate change—a move since been replicated by over 70 countries.
I would like to take a moment to applaud the Conservatives for their leadership at COP26. It is evident that the choices that we make in Britain influence the course of global action and, in doing so, help to protect future generations here and abroad from the impacts of the climate crisis. Our clean energy mission at home gives us the perfect platform to continue leading by example on the world stage. People want us to show leadership. They see what is happening in the world and they expect us to play our part.
I am pleased to confirm that the UK has delivered on our commitment to spend at least £11.6 billion on international climate finance over five years by the end of this financial year. We are working to ensure that that money makes a genuine difference for those on the frontline of the climate crisis, supporting stability and security across the world. Since 2011, we have helped 137 million people adapt to the effects of climate change, whether it is creating a renewable-powered clean water supply in Mexico or building infrastructure that can withstand extreme weather in the Caribbean. We have also provided 89 million people with improved access to clean energy, including solar-powered cold storage to help prevent food waste in Kenya—[Interruption.] I will speed up a little, as I hear the Whip’s cough. We have made more commitments, including a £6 billion commitment to international climate finance. On top of that, we will generate an additional £6.7 billion of UK-backed climate and nature-positive investments.
To those who still doubt the effectiveness of global climate action, I say this: before the Paris agreement in 2015, the world was on track for 4°C of global warming by 2010, but thanks to the commitments made since, we have brought that down to 2.3° to 2.5°. That is still a terrifying figure, but the difference for millions of people around the world is literally life or death. It is also a source of optimism, because it shows that the ambition is there.
I remind the House that keeping 1.5° in reach is only half the story. The crisis in Iran and the Gulf is yet another wake-up call to the fact that the UK’s energy system does not work. Our critics like to talk about the cost of transition, but the previous Government spent £44 billion on supporting households and businesses after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. We are totally committed to clean energy, to working with partners around the world to keep the Paris goal within reach, and to building a secure, more prosperous Britain for today and for future generations.
Madam Deputy Speaker (Judith Cummins)
I call Luke Murphy to sum up very, very quickly.
Oral Answers to Questions
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Helen Maguire (Epsom and Ewell) (LD)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Katie White)
This Government are absolutely committed to supporting the NHS to be at the heart of our decarbonisation effort in order that, first, it gets to reduce its emissions and that, secondly, it can reduce its dependence on expensive fossil fuels. That is why Great British Energy has already supported over 260 NHS sites with up to £130 million of funding. GPs are not part of NHS sites but under the boiler upgrade scheme they can access £7,500 towards heat pumps and £5,000 towards biomass boilers.
Helen Maguire
Primary care accounts for around 25% of the NHS’s carbon emissions, with many GPs working in ageing, energy-inefficient buildings with high running costs. Research from the Royal College of General Practitioners reveals that only five GP practices in England and Wales have accessed the boiler upgrade grant scheme since May 2022, and most are unable to access the public sector decarbonisation scheme. GP partners across the UK identify a lack of capital funding as the main barrier to decarbonisation, yet 260 NHS trusts are rightly receiving Government funding for new solar panels. Will the Minister meet me and the Royal College of General Practitioners to discuss how GPs can access decarbonisation schemes, and will she expand GB Energy’s investment model to GPs?
Katie White
I thank the hon. Member for raising this really important issue, and for raising the figures. I think she would agree that we have an ambitious plan. Today’s announcement of the local power plan may well meet some of the needs that she raises. I will take this issue away and have a look at it. We recognise that retrofitting commercial buildings can be costly and complex, and we are looking at other levers to do that, including accessing private finance and exploring novel options such as property-linked finance. Today’s announcement will help, and I am very happy to discuss it further with her.
Alistair Strathern (Hitchin) (Lab)
It was fantastic to see GB Energy invest in new, clean, bill-saving technology for the Bedford Road health centre in my constituency last week. That comes on top of the investments already seen at Lister hospital and Bedford hospital, which serve my constituency. Solar is good for the NHS and for the planet, so how can we get it on to more public sector rooftops right across the country? Crucially, I have some fantastic examples in Hitchin where we would love to see further action.
Katie White
I applaud my hon. Friend for all his ambition and championing of the opportunities that are presented in our low-carbon transition plan. Today’s announcement of the local power plan is a real opportunity to turn the dial on this issue, for local communities to become involved, and to make the best of the benefits of the low-carbon transition. I look forward to working with him further on it.
Sarah Olney (Richmond Park) (LD)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Katie White)
As set out in the recent northern growth strategy, the north-east is at the forefront of our clean energy revolution. Our industrial strategy’s clean energy industries sector plan sets out measures which will support investment and growth across the UK. Great British Energy has supported grants to mayoral strategic authorities, which will enable locally led energy projects.
Dame Chi Onwurah
I thank the Minister for that response. For 100 years and more, skilled workers in the north-east have relied on high-paid energy jobs, be they in coal, gas or oil in mines, factories, ports and rigs. Labour’s clean power mission can bring new jobs to existing supply chains, but companies and workers need help to transition. Will the Minister tell me how she plans to future-proof the north-east’s energy supply chain and deliver secure, well-paid and unionised jobs?
Katie White
My hon. Friend is absolutely correct to highlight the huge opportunities for the north-east in the energy transition. We estimate an additional 10,000 jobs by 2030, building on those that are already in place in offshore wind in the Port of Tyne and in nuclear Hartlepool. She is right to point out the importance of the transition for both existing workers and the next generation. That is why we have introduced a clean energy jobs plan to ensure that that transition is as successful as possible. I highlight the work of Mayor Kim McGuinness, who held an excellent green jobs fair in the north-east, which has provided a blueprint for the rest of the country, and the importance of our work, hand in hand with the trade unions, to ensure that we deliver the most effective transition possible.
Mary Kelly Foy (City of Durham) (Lab)
Gregory Stafford (Farnham and Bordon) (Con)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Katie White)
This Government take energy security extremely seriously. We run one of the world’s safest, most reliable energy systems, and we are a top destination for investment. Investment in our energy infrastructure undergoes the highest level of national security scrutiny.
Gregory Stafford
Given reports from Norway and Denmark that Chinese-manufactured electric buses contain remote kill switch technology, and that the recent UK-China engagement appears to have delivered an embassy for the Chinese and little more than a Labubu for the United Kingdom, how can the Minister be confident that Chinese-made energy infrastructure does not pose similar national security risks? What steps is she taking to remove our reliance on Chinese-made infrastructure?
Katie White
That is slightly audacious, given that when we left government in 2010 we had, I think, three of the top solar companies in the world, but when we came back into office we had nothing—there was no supply chain. National security is this Government’s No. 1 overriding priority. We are engaging constructively with every opportunity and all actors but at the same time making sure that every single decision takes into account our national security, which comes first above anything else.
Perran Moon (Camborne and Redruth) (Lab)
Domestic production of clean energy infrastructure technologies insulates us from Chinese security issues. In Cornwall we are on the cusp of significant geothermal baseload energy production. Geothermal Engineering Ltd in my constituency will imminently open the UK’s first ever geothermal electricity plant, producing energy and lithium from beneath our feet. Will the Minister ensure that there will be ministerial representation at this key milestone in the UK’s clean energy transition?
Katie White
From China to Cornwall, Mr Speaker! I thank my hon. Friend for his continued championing of Cornwall, geothermal energy and critical minerals. This Government support geothermal, and we will engage constructively at any key moment.
Olivia Blake (Sheffield Hallam) (Lab)
Peter Prinsley (Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket) (Lab)
The 2025 EU-UK summit set ambitions for the UK to join the single electricity market. Does the Minister agree that close and easier energy interconnection between the EU and the UK constitutes a key strategic component of our continent’s energy security, and reduces costs for UK businesses and customers?
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Katie White)
At the recent North sea summit, we committed to a joint ambition of 100 GW of offshore renewable projects with our European neighbours, including through co-ordinated energy infrastructure planning. We are determined to work closer than ever with our European neighbours to maximise our joint clean energy independence. Strategically planned, interconnected and efficient electricity trading is a key element of that plan.
Tim Farron (Westmorland and Lonsdale) (LD)
Oral Answers to Questions
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Josh Babarinde (Eastbourne) (LD)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Katie White)
Happy new year, Mr Speaker.
The Department works closely with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. Support for councils includes the local net zero hubs—such as the Greater South East net zero hub, which covers the Eastbourne constituency—and Great British Energy, enabling councils and communities to build a pipeline of local clean energy projects, bringing growth and attracting commercial investment.
Josh Babarinde
Happy new year to you, Mr Speaker, and to the Minister.
Eastbournians without driveways—such as Lauren on Winchcombe Road—are committed to acquiring an electric vehicle in order to reduce their emissions, but they are being let down by Conservative-run East Sussex county council, which has failed to invest in pavement gulleys to allow safe cross-street electric vehicle charging. Will the Minister and her colleagues at MHCLG urge the council to follow the lead of Lib Dem-run Oxfordshire county council and pilot a cross-pavement electric vehicle charging scheme?
Katie White
Local councils play a pivotal role. I work closely with the local net zero delivery group and with UK100, and I have been fortunate enough to visit the Labour-run councils in Leeds and Sheffield to see the excellent local work that they have been doing to support net zero. The hon. Gentleman has made an excellent point about the need to ensure that councils help local people to do what they want to do in this regard, and have the necessary EV infrastructure. It sounds as though there are some good leadership opportunities to learn from other councils.
Anna Dixon (Shipley) (Lab)
Happy new year, Mr Speaker.
I hope that the Minister will join me in commending another council, Bradford council, for its ambitious climate action plan 2025-2028. The plan sets out a pathway to net zero for the Bradford district, including really innovative projects such as a district heat network, new investment in a low-carbon hydrogen industry, creating fantastic jobs, and a massive conversion of street lighting to LED. When it comes to pathways to net zero, does the Minister agree that other councils should learn from councils such as Bradford?
Katie White
I thank my hon. Friend for her excellent question, and for her championing of Bradford council and her constituency. District heat presents a massive opportunity, as I have seen at first hand in Sheffield and Leeds, and, as the Secretary of State pointed out, there are some excellent projects in Cornwall as well. It is great to see Bradford council leading the way. UK100 and councils across the country are at the cutting edge of leading our transition, and it is great to learn from them.
Baggy Shanker (Derby South) (Lab/Co-op)
Sarah Olney (Richmond Park) (LD)
Mr Speaker,
“We owe it to future generations not just to have good environmental principles but to act on them. That is why I will be voting against the third runway at Heathrow”—
not my words, but the words of the Secretary of State in 2018. Given that Heathrow is already the biggest single source of carbon emissions in the UK, and that expansion will add an extra 8 to 9 megatonnes of carbon dioxide into our atmosphere, can the Secretary of State confirm that it is still his intention to vote against a third runway at Heathrow?
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Katie White)
The Secretary of State regularly meets Cabinet colleagues about these issues. This Government are absolutely clear that any expansion of Heathrow must be compatible with our legally binding carbon budgets and net zero targets. We are committed to ensuring that the economic benefits of airport expansions are delivered in line with our environmental and climate objectives.
Chris Webb (Blackpool South) (Lab)
Blackpool and The Fylde college has excellent courses that are training young people in the area in use of the vital renewable energy equipment that we need to go forward, but there are no jobs for those young people locally. Will the Secretary of State meet me to discuss how we can create those jobs? He is welcome any time to come to a sunny and slightly chilly Blackpool to see those students and the excellent work that they are doing.
Max Wilkinson (Cheltenham) (LD)
Almost a year ago, the Housing and Planning Minister and I had a wonderful discussion about my sunshine Bill, which would require all new homes to include solar panels on their roof. I understand that the Government are on the cusp of making an announcement about that. Can we be reassured that this will be the year when we finally force all developers to make us have nice, green energy on our roofs?
Katie White
I enjoyed being part of the hon. Gentleman’s sunshine debate. I have been excited to work closely with the Minister of State for Housing and Planning, who is with us in the Chamber, and we look forward to the future homes standards coming shortly.
Darren Paffey (Southampton Itchen) (Lab)
Southampton is Europe’s leading cruise port and the second-biggest container terminal in the country. Our industry stands ready to invest millions in decarbonisation, but that is being held up by grid constraints at the Nursling supply point. Will the Minister meet me and local industry leaders to see how we can unlock the obvious environmental and economic benefits that this change would bring?
Oil Refining Sector
Katie White Excerpts(7 months, 2 weeks ago)
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Katie White)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Western. I have really enjoyed the debate, which has been full of passion and emotion. I heard the anger, including in what my hon. Friend the Member for Alloa and Grangemouth (Brian Leishman) said, but I also heard that there is a lot of commonality in some of our values and on the transition that we are trying to achieve together. I have genuinely enjoyed listening and I have noted lots of points. There were a lot of questions; I will endeavour to get through them, but if I do not, we may need to follow up in writing to hon. Members.
I thank the hon. Member for Brigg and Immingham (Martin Vickers) for securing this important debate, and I am grateful to all hon. Members for their contributions. This is a timely opportunity to discuss a matter of strategic significance for our nation’s energy security: the future of the UK refining sector. The industry has helped to underpin our economy and our resilience for decades, and its future deserves our full attention. The Minister for Energy is in Grangemouth today, and I will say more about that later.
Our refineries play a crucial role in ensuring a stable supply of the essential fuels that keep our transport networks running, our industries operating and consumers supplied with the energy they rely on every day. The sector is more than just a fuel; it drives growth in key sectors, supports thousands of skilled jobs in communities and sustains supply chains for chemicals, plastics and manufacturing. Refineries also play a critical role in the wider downstream oil sector. The Humber refinery in the constituency of the hon. Member for Brigg and Immingham is the UK’s only source of anode-grade petroleum coke, which is essential for electrical vehicle production. The Fawley refinery contributed to the global covid-19 response by supplying the specialist halobutyl rubber used to seal vaccine vials.
Importantly, UK refineries are also investing in their own future through decarbonisation and diversification by deploying carbon capture or producing low-carbon fuels to support our transition to net zero. Demand for refined products will continue, even beyond 2050, and the UK’s refineries will remain essential for hard-to-abate sectors such as heavy industry, aviation and maritime. That is why, as my hon. Friend the Minister for Energy made clear in June, the Government are absolutely committed to securing the long-term viability of the UK’s refining sector, and, as set out in the autumn Budget, we are reviewing critical policies to address the challenges that the sector faces.
Those challenges are real. In the 1970s, the UK operated 18 refineries; today, as has been said many times during the debate, only four remain. Falling demand for traditional fuels, global competition from mega-refineries in the middle east, India and Africa, changing trade dynamics and ageing assets all put pressure on UK operations. But with challenge comes opportunity, and the Government are determined to seize the opportunities by driving innovation, supporting investment and ensuring that the refining sector continues to play a vital role in our economy and for our energy security for decades to come.
The Government have already taken significant steps to support the refining sector and the wider fuel sector, and we are committed to do more. We have driven the shift to low-carbon fuels through the renewable transport fuel obligation, and this year we went further with the sustainable aviation fuel mandate, backing cleaner fuels for aviation. The Humber refinery already produces SAF at commercial scale, while Fawley and Stanlow are among the projects backed by our advanced fuels fund, which provides grants to accelerate the next generation of transport fuels. Refineries are playing a key role in driving the UK SAF industry forward, strengthening energy security with a home-grown supply. We are also de-risking investment in SAF production through the revenue certainty mechanism. We are working with industry to cut emissions through carbon capture and low-carbon hydrogen at major clusters such as Viking and HyNet. We will set out a clear plan for industrial decarbonisation to keep the UK competitive.
Sir Edward Leigh
The hon. Lady is giving a paean of praise for refineries, so why are the Government taxing them out of existence?
Katie White
I am glad that the right hon. Gentleman intervened, as I was going to come on to his points—in particular, his interesting point about the national interest. I say to him gently that I feel we are working in the national interest, but the national interest includes energy security as well as respecting the science of climate change, which is happening. As he is the Father of the House, I genuinely listened to his points, but I was a little disappointed—[Interruption.] He can laugh all he likes, but I listened to his points. He talked about the UK being responsible for less than 1% of emissions. That is the case in terms of nation states, but I think the UK’s impact in the world is so much larger, whether through people following our policy decisions, the impact of our banking sector or our consumption of goods, which has also come up a lot.
We are looking at how we manage the transition, and we want to do it in a way that respects the science, but I am also competitive about where Britain can take advantage of these industries. We want to make sure that we have these industries, including the wind turbines that the right hon. Gentleman mentioned, but we also want to look at how we can make the transition justly and fairly. I will come on to that later in my speech.
Last month, the UK ETS Authority confirmed that current benchmarks will stay in place for the 2027 scheme. That decision gives refineries and other energy-intensive industries the certainty that they need. By maintaining those benchmarks, we are providing stability and breathing space, helping businesses plan, manage costs and prepare for future changes to the scheme.
We are also reviewing compensation for energy-intensive industries. We announced in the autumn Budget that we are assessing the feasibility of including refined products in the carbon border adjustment mechanism, so that imported goods face an equivalent carbon price and the sector’s efforts to decarbonise will not be undermined by carbon leakage. This is the refining sector’s top priority, which the Government are committed to exploring as one of several levers to support the sector’s long-term future. These measures demonstrate our commitment to supporting investment, driving innovation and ensuring that the refining sector remains competitive and resilient as we transition to a low-carbon economy.
Looking ahead, the Government are taking further steps to secure the long-term future of the UK refining sector and to ensure a just transition. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has established a dedicated team to work across Whitehall and with industry. A number of Members asked about working across Whitehall; we will continue to do that, to ensure that we maximise the impact. This will guide how we manage the transition, protect energy security and support jobs and local communities.
We will continue to engage closely with the fuel industry to identify practical measures that can strengthen the sector. That is why, in June, we convened the first ministerial—[Interruption.]
Matt Western (in the Chair)
Order. Can I have a certain decorum from other Members while the Minister is speaking?
Katie White
Thank you, Mr Western.
That is why, in June, we convened the first ministerial roundtable with the refining industry in more than a decade, providing a clear signal of our commitment to partnership and dialogue. As announced in the autumn Budget, we will shortly launch a call for evidence to inform the UK’s long-term strategy for the downstream oil sector. That will seek industry views on the opportunities and barriers to transition, the risks facing the sector and the types of support needed to deliver and manage a competitive transition. These actions underline our determination to work hand in hand with industry. I thank the Scottish Affairs Committee for its recent report, and my hon. Friend the Member for West Dunbartonshire (Douglas McAllister) for sharing it.
The refining sector has faced long-standing challenges, and recent closures underline the scale of change. Petroineos’s decision to end refining at Grangemouth was disappointing. As my hon. Friend said, while the difficulties there were well known, there was no Government plan in place before we took office. Within weeks of doing so, we worked with the Scottish Government to put together a £100 million package to support the community and invest in the local workforce, along with tailored support to secure good alternative jobs. When we came into government, there was no overall plan for Grangemouth from either the SNP or the Tories. We have put one in place.
We are committed to securing Grangemouth’s long-term industrial future. We are working closely with the Scottish Government, the Office for Investment and Scottish Enterprise to attract future investment and transform the area into a clean energy and sustainable technology hub. This effort is already delivering results. We have received over 100 inquiries to date, and the investment pipeline is supported by the £14.5 million in funding announced at the Budget, alongside the National Wealth Fund’s £200 million for co-investment opportunities at Grangemouth.
Today, I can confirm that, along with the Scottish Government, we have made £3 million available for MiAlgae, an innovative biotechnology company that produces sustainable omega-3 rich products, which will create over 130 direct jobs at the site and 310 jobs across Scotland over five years. These steps demonstrate our commitment to a managed transition by supporting communities, attracting investment and ensuring that sites like Grangemouth—
Offshore Wind Supply Chain: Tyneside
Katie White Excerpts(8 months, 4 weeks ago)
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Katie White)
It certainly is!
I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend (Mary Glindon) on securing a debate on this important issue, and on her passion, authenticity and representation of her area. I do not think that any of us are in doubt of those qualities tonight.
I know that this matter is close to the hearts of many Members and their constituents, particularly in our industrial heartlands. This Government are on a mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower, delivering clean power by 2030 and accelerating to net zero. Offshore wind is the beating heart of that mission. The sector is already providing secure clean energy, as well as thousands of skilled jobs, bringing growth and opportunities to communities such as those in Tyneside.
The sector is also an international success story. At the end of June, the UK was generating 16.7 GW from offshore wind. That is the highest amount in Europe, and worldwide we are second only to China—a country with a population roughly 20 times the size of ours. We have consented 4.2 GW since we came into office, and we have 75 GW of capacity in the pipeline, which equates to a 450% increase on our current, world-leading amount. We also have the second most installed floating offshore wind capacity—after Norway—and, at over 25 GW, the largest pipeline of floating offshore wind projects in the world. And yet we are confident that the best is yet to come.
From north-east England to Scotland and the Celtic sea, incredible things are happening across the country in this industry. The Government are determined to do everything we can to help our offshore wind sector to thrive and to deliver for the British people. The contract for difference scheme is vital to our mission to make the UK a clean energy superpower. Allocation rounds 7 to 9 are crucial for the delivery of our goal of clean power by 2030 and for protecting households from volatile fossil fuel prices.
On Monday, we confirmed that a total budget of £900 million is available for fixed-bottom offshore wind in allocation round 7—an increase on the previous allocation round’s initial budget when comparing on a like-for-like basis. That is the initial budget for fixed-bottom offshore wind, but we have the ability to view unsuccessful bids and adjust the budget later if we deem that doing so is good value for consumers. We have fundamentally reformed the offshore wind system to get better value for money. Under the old system, the Government set a budget and had no further control over quantity and price.
We recognise the importance of robust domestic supply chains both in supporting the continued growth of this industry and in ensuring that British workers and communities benefit from the jobs that are created. The Government have therefore set out a package of support, worth up to £1 billion, for offshore wind supply chains. This includes £300 million from Great British Energy to provide upfront public investment, £400 million from the Crown Estate to support new infrastructure, including ports, manufacturing, and research and testing facilities, and £300 million from the offshore wind industry to deliver new investment into supply chains such as advanced turbine technologies and foundations.
Jim Shannon
I welcome the Minister to her place and wish her every success and happiness in her role. I will try not to be too hard with my questions. She referred for the contracts for difference scheme. I know it is something that Northern Ireland has to do itself, but at this early stage will she please engage with the relevant Minister in the Assembly, and perhaps help us to move our scheme forward?
Katie White
I will ensure that the Minister for Energy is aware of his issues and feeds them in. I am sure he will—I believe he is a friend of the hon. Gentleman.
This is a genuinely transformative package of investment, and by providing that support, as well as clarity in our plans, we are giving investors and developers the confidence to invest in the future. It is expected that the £1 billion package of investment will directly and indirectly mobilise billions more, as well as supporting thousands of jobs in our industrial heartlands. We have also introduced a clean industry bonus to reward projects that invest in coastal communities, industrial heartlands and cleaner supply chains.
As my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend said, criteria 2 of the clean industry bonus rewards investments in cleaner supply chains, measured by sign-up to the science-based target initiative for decarbonisation. It so happens that the overwhelming majority of qualifying suppliers are in the UK or the European Union—very few suppliers outside the region qualify under criteria 2. It was great to see the clean industry bonus auction smash bid expectations earlier this year, and we look forward to seeing the investments come in after auction round 7, showing that when the Government lead with ambition, industry is ready to match it.
We also know that we will need even more skilled workers to achieve our mission in the years ahead, and with our analysis suggesting that the offshore wind sector alone could support up to 100,000 jobs by 2030, we are determined to ensure that our industrial communities benefit. That is why we have set up the Office for Clean Energy Jobs, which will provide training and support to the workforce in the clean energy and net zero sectors. Our priority is creating good jobs in Britain’s industrial heartlands, including a just transition for the industries based in the North sea. On 19 October, we published our clean energy jobs plan, which sets out how the Government will work in partnership with industry and trade unions to help workers in all parts of the country to benefit from these opportunities, supporting our existing workforce to find new opportunities, training up the next generation, and supporting our young people to get good, unionised jobs.
Let me turn to our support for the north-east. Tyneside is ideally placed to service the offshore energy sector, including one of the world’s largest offshore wind markets. The Tyne has the capacity to become a major hub for the installation and maintenance of offshore wind farms, and to service the supply chain that will grow from it. In 2023, the UK Infrastructure Bank invested £50 million in the Port of Tyne as part of a debt refinancing package of up to £100 million. That finance was provided to regenerate and redevelop land, building a base for a growing number of clean energy industries in the area, including offshore wind, advanced manufacturing and other renewable activities.
In September, the Port of Tyne announced that it is investing £150 million to transform 23 acres into the Tyne clean energy park, adding 400 metres of deep-water quayside to support offshore renewables, clean energy and advanced manufacturing. According to the Port of Tyne, the redevelopment could create up to 12,000 jobs and deliver £5.6 billion to the economy. I look forward to working with my hon. Friend to help us realise that potential. On the transmission cable over the River Tyne, I confirm that the Government are open to discussing the progress of the proposals to underground the cable with National Grid. The decision for approving the project lies with Ofgem as the independent regulator, which must demonstrate that there are benefits to consumers when approving network projects.
To sum up, our offshore wind sector is a British success story of which we should all be proud. Thanks to the perfect conditions provided by the North sea, as well as our legendary offshore workforce and supply chains, we are perfectly placed to keep leading the way. But this Government are not content with simply winning the race for clean power; we want to build the industries of the future here in Britain and, in so doing, we want to create a new generation of good, skilled jobs for the communities we depend on and to ensure that the economic benefits of the clean power transition are felt in Tyneside and in every corner of our country.
I know that the Minister for Energy had a fantastic visit to the Smulders UK yard in Wallsend in the summer, and he will be happy to meet my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend.
Question put and agreed to.
Oral Answers to Questions
Katie White Excerpts(9 months, 1 week ago)
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Katie White)
Thank you, Mr Speaker. I thank the hon. Lady for her continued advocacy on this agenda. I have enjoyed working with her from the Back Benches and hope to continue to do so in this new post. I am excited to share with her and the whole House the carbon budget growth and delivery plan later this month. What I can say now is that ensuring that low and middle-income families can benefit from the energy transition is absolutely central to our mission. It is why we are rolling out the biggest home upgrade scheme in a generation and why we are moving away from expensive fossil fuels towards cheap, clean British power in homes and communities across our country.
Carla Denyer
I welcome the Minister to her new position and thank her for her answer. I know how much she will want the new carbon budget delivery plan to reflect the scale of ambition required while ensuring that the poorest are not asked to pay the price, and also to signal that it is an absolute priority across Government. Can she assure us that the new plan will not just be slipped out, but will be launched properly and, crucially, with the Prime Minister?
Katie White
It is slightly above my pay grade to determine the Prime Minister’s diary, but I can assure the hon. Lady that we will proudly launch the carbon budget growth and delivery plan later this month.
Tom Hayes (Bournemouth East) (Lab)
Florence Eshalomi (Vauxhall and Camberwell Green) (Lab/Co-op)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Katie White)
I thank my hon. Friend for repeatedly raising these issues in the House—I know that climate change is of huge concern to her and her constituents. I am proud that Britain has led the way with our independent Committee on Climate Change, established under the Climate Change Act 2008, which has worked effectively for nearly two decades, under leadership from Labour and the Conservatives—I sincerely hope that we can re-establish that consensus. We are grateful to the Committee for its scientific recommendations to the Department. Obviously, it is for the Department now to consider them, and we will report back on our decisions at the end of the month.
Florence Eshalomi
I welcome the Minister to her place—it is good to see her among the line of men on the Treasury Bench. I have just finished chairing a meeting of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee. One issue that we discussed was decent home standards. Emissions from homes is another key area that we need to bear down on, given the Government’s priority of improving minimum energy performance certificate standards by 2030. I appreciate that the Minister has been in post for only a few weeks, but what discussions has she had with colleagues in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to ensure that the private rented sector database will contain information on EPC ratings, so that all our residents can live in warm, secure and safe homes?
Katie White
Homes and home standards are absolutely key to decarbonisation for a variety of reasons, including the health benefits for residents. We will consult on the warm homes plan, and the Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, my hon. Friend the Member for Inverclyde and Renfrewshire West (Martin McCluskey), spoke about the warm home discount earlier. We are working with MHCLG on bringing forward the future home standard.
Tim Farron (Westmorland and Lonsdale) (LD)
A major gap in our ability to make progress in reducing emissions is the disconnect—both literally and figuratively—between small renewable energy schemes and the communities in which they are situated. I think in particular of the Coniston hydro scheme, which faces resilience and sustainability issues relating to the removal of rocks. Is the answer to this not the creation of local energy markets to reduce the gap between service users and energy producers? Will the Government back the urgent delivery of P441 to make local energy markets a reality, save Coniston hydro scheme and service the local community?
Katie White
In this role, there are a lot of acronyms. I have to say that I did not know P441 until I sat on this Bench, but I understand from my colleagues that we are looking into that. We support local community projects, and we will be looking at that project and will come back to the hon. Member on P441.
Mr Will Forster (Woking) (LD)
Dr Rupa Huq (Ealing Central and Acton) (Lab)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Katie White)
I share my hon. Friend’s concern regarding those reports. This Government are focused on making transport greener, including by cutting air pollution to improve health and the environment. We also need to ensure that people are abiding by the rules. The responsible body, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency, is pursuing the potential diesel emissions non-compliance using its procedures and the tools available. Officials at the DFT have assured me that the findings from these investigations will be published in a timely and appropriate manner; as an impatient politician, I can assure her that I will continue to press for a prompt and thorough interpretation of “timely”.
Dr Al Pinkerton (Surrey Heath) (LD)