Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the feasibility of introducing a rigs-to-reefs programme in the UK sector of the North Sea, and what legal or regulatory barriers exist to such a programme under domestic and international law.

The OSPAR (Oslo and Paris convention for the Protection of the Marine environment of the North-East Atlantic) Convention prohibits the dumping or leaving in place of any disused offshore Oil and Gas installation in the marine environment. To re-purpose an installation, for example as a strategic compensation measure, installations would need to be re-classified and regulated by the relevant competent authority.