Asked by: Gregor Poynton (Labour - Livingston)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Industrial Strategy on Scotland.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Our modern Industrial Strategy will drive growth in Scotland's globally competitive sectors – from advanced manufacturing in Glasgow and the UK’s second-largest financial services sector in Edinburgh, to life sciences in Dundee and Aberdeen’s status as a global energy capital. Investments including up to £750 million in a new supercomputer at the University of Edinburgh and our support for the Acorn Carbon Capture and Storage project will have a major positive impact on Scottish growth.
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to increase the number of trees planted for the purpose of improving carbon capture.
Answered by Kerry McCarthy
Trees and forests are essential to our climate and nature goals. Tree planting rates in England are at their highest in 20 years and in March we launched the Western Forest, the first new national forest in 30 years.
Working together with forest countries, the UK is also playing a leading role in driving international efforts to halt and reverse deforestation and forest degradation by 2030 for people, nature and climate.
Asked by: Luke Myer (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he is taking to ensure that the non-pipeline transport of CO₂ for offshore storage does not cause marine pollution.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The UK has an established environmental regulatory regime in place to protect human health and the environment, with the Environment Agency (EA), and Offshore Petroleum Regulator for Environment and Decommissioning (OPRED), and Natural Resource Wales (NRW) for projects based in Wales, all evaluating the environmental impacts of CCUS projects. The Statutory Nature Conservations Bodies are also consulted as part of this process. The UK ETS Authority has also consulted on proposals to requiring ships transporting CO2 for offshore storage to monitor and report emissions.
Asked by: Frank McNally (Labour - Coatbridge and Bellshill)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Spending Review 2025 on Scotland.
Answered by Darren Jones - Minister for Intergovernmental Relations
This Government has ensured the Spending Review delivers for Scotland. The Scottish Government is receiving an average of £50.9 billion per each year between 2026-27 and 2028-29, the largest real terms funding settlement since devolution. It also delivers on the Government’s Plan for Change in Scotland, with measures including providing development funding to advance the delivery of the Acorn carbon capture and storage project.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero on support for oil and gas workers in Scotland.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
This Government recognises that oil and gas will continue to play a central role in the UK’s energy mix for decades to come. We recently published guidance on Scope 3 emissions in response to the Finch judgment, and soon we will publish our consultation response on the future of North Sea oil and gas licensing. Nonetheless, clean energy is our future, and many oil and gas workers have transferable skills for offshore renewable jobs. The Government’s commitment to investing in clean energy industries will ensure opportunities are created for oil and gas workers to thrive. Recently, we committed development funding to the Acorn carbon capture and storage project in Aberdeenshire, which, subject to business case, will prepare the project for delivery.
Scotland Office Ministers remain in regular contact with DESNZ Ministers regarding this issue. We also continue to engage with a variety of stakeholders from across the energy sector, including oil and gas producers.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department plans to commission an independent review of the (a) carbon capture and storage programme and (b) associated cluster model ahead of the next Carbon Budget Delivery Plan.
Answered by Kerry McCarthy
Currently, we do not plan to commission an independent review into the CCUS programme. The National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority provides oversight of the Programme as a Government’s Major Projects Portfolio, through Gateway Reviews and reporting. In 2024, the Programme was subject to a National Audit Office review and subsequently a Public Accounts Committee hearing. Internally, we continue to evaluate our work and to ensure we are delivering value for money to taxpayers.
We will publish a report setting out our plan to meet carbon budgets in October. This will set out the policies and proposals that will enable the UK to meet Carbon Budgets 4-6 and will reflect the role that CCUS will play in meeting these targets.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential contribution of silvopastoral systems and holistic planned grazing practices to carbon sequestration and biodiversity enhancement.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
All prospective Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme offers were assessed for their potential impact against a range of environmental and cultural services, including carbon sequestration and biodiversity indicators. The assessment was based on a combination of expert opinion and rapid evidence reviews and is now published.
In addition, we have modelled the impact of different densities and tree species suitable for silvo-pastoral systems on carbon sequestration and a limited set of species indicators. These models have given us the capability to assess the potential impact of Environmental Land Management offers.
With over 38,000 live Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) agreements, the SFI offers a wide range of actions for the management of grassland, including herbal leys, legumes in grassland and management of grassland with very low nutrient inputs. The Sustainable Farming Incentive also includes actions for planning soil, nutrient and integrated pest management, which help farmers to choose the most appropriate practices for their farm.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 28 May to Question 53448 on Carbon Capture and Storage, (a) how the levy will be structured and (b) who will be responsible for paying it.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
There is a mixture of funding routes to support carbon capture and storage projects in the UK, including levies placed on energy suppliers and gas shippers.
There are two levies relevant to the CCUS programme. Firstly, the Electricity Supplier Obligation, which is placed on licensed electricity suppliers who may then pass this cost on to their consumers. This levy supports renewable and low carbon electricity production. The second is the Gas Shipper Obligation, which is intended to be an obligation placed on gas shippers to fund certain hydrogen production projects. The Government has recently consulted on the design of the Gas Shipper Obligation and design considerations are ongoing.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he is taking to support (a) scientific innovation and (b) R&D across the hydrogen value chain to (i) drive down costs and (ii) improve efficiency.
Answered by Kerry McCarthy
Since 2021, the £1bn Net Zero Innovation Portfolio has awarded around £170m to hydrogen innovation projects to advance low-carbon technologies across the hydrogen value chain. Hydrogen-specific programmes include: the Low Carbon Hydrogen Supply 2 programme, the Industrial Hydrogen Accelerator, and the Hydrogen from Biomass with Carbon Capture and Storage programme. Demonstrators have been built and tested with the aim of reducing the costs of hydrogen production, or providing evidence towards the cost effectiveness of hydrogen for fuel switching. The Department commissioned the British Geological Survey to conduct a research study on the geological potential for natural hydrogen in the UK.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 28 May to Question to 53448 on Carbon Capture and Storage, how the the funding models will be evaluated to ensure value for money.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Detailed and robust Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Plans have been developed for the various CCUS funding models. The M&E plans map out the evaluation activities, methodology, data sources and resource needed for the various types of evaluations, including value-for-money (VfM) assessments. The VfM assessments across the CCUS programme will assess the extent to which public funds were used in the most cost-effective way possible to deliver results. Robust VfM evaluation methodologies that are relevant and suitable for the CCUS programme will be used, including Cost-benefit analysis (CBA) and the National Audit Office 4Es VfM approach, to allow a rigorous and systematic analysis of the costs and benefits. These methods will demonstrate VfM by evaluating whether the CCUS programme is cost-effective, impactful, and equitable.