Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
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 21 March 2024 to Question 18572: Marine Protected Areas, whether she received advice from the (a) Offshore Petroleum Regulator for Environment and Decommissioning and (b) Joint Nature Conservancy Council that any of the first 27 licences from the 33rd Offshore Oil and Gas Licensing Round would result in adverse impacts on marine protected areas.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Offshore Petroleum Regulator for Environment and Decommissioning (OPRED) undertook a screening assessment under the Offshore Petroleum Activities (Conservation of Habitats) Regulations 2001. This assessment included consultation with appropriate nature conservation bodies, including Joint Nature Conservation Committee. OPRED also undertook a Marine Conservation Zone / Marine Protected Area assessment in accordance with the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009.
OPRED’s assessments concluded that award of the first 27 licences would not result in adverse impacts on the relevant protected areas. The SoS received advice from OPRED on the outcome of these assessments throughout the 33rd Round process. Assessment reports were published in July 2023: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/64be43579c2df00012940285/33rd_Round_HRA_Screening_Report.pdf; https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/64c77b5ff92186000d8667b6/33R_Round_MCZ_MPA_Assessment_Report.pdf.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of seismic airgun surveys on cetacean species in the East Faroe Shetland Channel Marine Protected Area.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The UK has a comprehensive legal framework of environmental protection measures for offshore oil and gas activities. This covers the entire oil and gas life cycle, from the initial licence application to decommissioning activities. All exploration activities, including seismic surveys, which could impact the environment are subject to rigorous environmental assessment, and offshore activities are controlled through an environmental permitting process.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill on (a) Marine Protected Areas and (b) the Environment Act target for 70% of the designated features in the Marine Protected Area network to be in favourable condition by 2042.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill will not affect the UK's ability to reach targets for ensuring our Marine Protected Areas are in a good or recovering state.
Nor will it change the robust framework we have in place for licensing oil and gas that ensures this.
Licenses have only ever been awarded once the environmental regulator was satisfied that the activities will not negatively impact protected areas, and their impact is carefully managed by our expert regulators.
There is therefore no reason for the Bill to affect our Environment Act target for maintaining marine protected areas.
Asked by: Lord Rogan (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much the Ministry of Defence has spent in each of the past five years on surveillance operations to protect the network of undersea cables serving the British Isles from sabotage by hostile actors; and what proportion the government of the Republic of Ireland has contributed towards the cost of those operations.
Answered by Earl of Minto - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Government takes the security and resilience of our critical infrastructure very seriously and we focus on the full range of threats and risks. The responsibility for maintaining subsea cables is a commercial one for the owner-operators. However, the Department for Science Innovation and Technology and Department for Energy Security and Net Zero work closely with the operators, regulators and other stakeholders to assess risks and ensure that the appropriate mitigation measures, including the provision of specialist capabilities are in place to enable an effective response to actual or potentially disruptive incidents.
The Ministry of Defence constantly monitors activity within UK waters and its Exclusive Economic Zone to counter and deter detected threats. British warships frequently patrol throughout the UK marine area. We have invested in our under-water capabilities able to monitor and assure the seabed including the Multi-Role Ocean Surveillance (MROS) programme which we do not comment on in detail. These capabilities are used for a variety of purposes and roles meaning that we cannot provide a cost for surveillance.
Questions on critical national infrastructure are for individual nations to answer, therefore any questions on Irish subsea cables should be directed to the Irish Government.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether she plans to approve future sites for offshore wind farms in the North Sea.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Applications for development consent for offshore wind projects under the Planning Act 2008 progress through an Examination process by the Planning Inspectorate and will result in the final decision taken by my Rt Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero. Due to the Secretary of State’s quasi-judicial role in taking such decisions it would not be appropriate to comment further. The Scottish Ministers also have executively devolved powers in relation to applications for consent under s.36 of the Electricity Act 1989 throughout Scotland’s entire marine region (inshore and offshore).
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Government's target of protecting 30% of UK waters for nature by 2030 on her Department's criteria for oil and gas development permissions.
Answered by Graham Stuart
A comprehensive framework of environmental protection measures has been developed in the UK to minimise the impact of offshore oil and gas activities and this is embodied in the relevant legislation. Development proposals for oil and gas are a matter for the relevant regulators - the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) and the Offshore Petroleum Regulator for Environment and Decommissioning (OPRED). As part of the regulatory process, OPRED considers the Environmental Impact Assessment for development proposals to ensure that the impact on the environment, including marine protected areas and relevant targets is taken into account.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to reduce the number of birds of prey (a) injured and (b) killed by wind turbines.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government does not have estimates of the number of birds of prey killed by offshore wind turbines. The majority of evidence held relates to impacts to seabirds from collisions, displacement, and foraging pressures. The British Energy Security Strategy confirmed that the Government will bring forward an Offshore Wind Environmental Improvement Package. This will support the accelerated deployment of offshore wind developments while continuing to protect the marine environment. The package will include new Offshore Wind Environmental Standards which aim to reduce the impact of offshore wind development on the marine environment, including impacts on birds.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the number of birds of prey (a) killed and (b) injured by wind turbines in each of the last five years.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The British Energy Security Strategy confirmed that the Government will bring forward an Offshore Wind Environmental Improvement Package. This will support the accelerated deployment of offshore wind developments while continuing to protect the marine environment. The package will include new Offshore Wind Environmental Standards which aim to reduce the impact of offshore wind development on the marine environment, including impacts on birds.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill on the restoration of marine habitats.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Offshore Petroleum Regulator for Environment and Decommissioning (OPRED) is responsible for regulating the environmental activity for oil and gas operations. Licenses are awarded by the North Sea Transition Authority only after OPRED is satisfied that the oil and gas activities will not have an adverse effect on the integrity of a relevant Special Area of Conservation or Special Protection Area; or significantly hinder the achievement of the conservation objectives of relevant areas. The Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill will not affect this comprehensive legal framework of environmental protection measures.
Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps her Department is taking to support the (a) development of and (b) private investment in marine energy technologies; and whether she has made an assessment of the implications for her policies of the announcement of Horizon Europe Programme funding for the EURO-TIDES multi-turbine tidal energy project.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government continues to support the development of marine energy technologies through research funding. This is on top of the unprecedented 94MW of tidal stream capacity that has been secured through the Contracts for Difference scheme.
The Department continues to engage with the Department for Business and Trade on maximising private investment opportunities for the marine energy sector.
The recent success of UK tidal stream developers in securing Horizon Europe funding will be of great benefit to the UK and is representative of the UK’s strength in the tidal sector.