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 her Department has made of the potential impact of using transport and storage companies for the development of provisional cluster expansion plans for Track-2 carbon capture, usage and storage on the timely roll-out of the projects.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The CCUS Track-2 December 2023 Market Update set out government’s proposed Track-2 approach of an ‘anchor’ and ‘buildout’ phase; this embedded learnings from the CCUS Track-1 process. The Track-2 process aims to establish clusters at pace and provide a platform for flexibility and innovation in future phases, as well as to carry out transport and storage sizing.
At ‘anchor’ phase, Acorn and Viking will be invited to submit plans for initial capture projects, as well as a provisional expansion plan for the ‘buildout’ phase. The format of the buildout rounds will be announced in due course and may be subject to factors including project pool maturity and progress against our Net Zero and Energy Security objectives.
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, whether she has provided recent guidance to (a) transport and (b) storage companies on the development of provisional cluster expansion plans for track-2 carbon capture, usage and storage.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The CCUS Track-2 December 2023 Market Update set out government’s proposed Track-2 approach of an ‘anchor’ and ‘buildout’ phase and high-level timelines.
Government has started initial engagement with the Acorn and Viking Transport and Storage systems. Further guidance on the process, the criteria applicable to any projects in such ‘anchor’ and ‘buildout’ phases and the respective roles of Government and the transport & storage systems will be provided in due course.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to Q25 of the oral evidence given by the Chief Executive of the Environment Agency to the Committee of Public Accounts on 27 November 2023, HC 71, if he will list the 500 schemes that will no longer go forward in the Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management investment programme; and if he will publish details of the modelling system used to make that calculation.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is investing £5.6 billion between 2021 and 2027 to better protect communities across England from flooding and coastal erosion. This investment includes a record £5.2 billion capital investment programme, a £200 million Flood and Coastal Innovation Programme, £170 million for economic recovery from flooding and over £30 million of funding for flood incident management. Since April 2021, over £2.3 billion has been invested in around 300 flood protection schemes, better protecting over 88,000 properties.
The capital investment programme is annually reviewed and updated to accommodate changes, including the introduction of new schemes or urgent works. This means the programme is dynamic and evolves over time. Projects are not typically cancelled but deferred until funding and resources allow them to progress.
Projects are prioritised for the upcoming annual budget according to the following factors:
The programme is reviewed and agreed by Regional Flood and Coastal Committees (RFCCs), who may make adjustments to reflect local priorities.
If a project is not successful in securing funding for the upcoming year, it is rolled over to the longlist for the next year.
Delivery is the Government’s key priority, and we are working with the Environment Agency to review the programme in the light of the impacts of inflation and the pandemic. More information will be available in due course.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether he has made an assessment of the impact of the humanitarian situation in Gaza on the delivery of maternity care.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK Government is closely monitoring the situation in Gaza and collects information from multiple sources, including on the status of healthcare provision. We are also in regular contact with humanitarian partners who operate in Gaza.
The UK is doing everything we can to get more aid in as quickly as possible by land, sea and air. We trebled our aid commitment during the last financial year, including £4.25 million to the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, UNFPA, to provide life-saving support to vulnerable women and girls in Gaza. This support is expected to reach about 111,500 women, around 1 in 5 of the adult women in Gaza. It will support up to 100 community midwives, the distribution of around 20,000 menstrual hygiene management kits and 45,000 clean delivery kits.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether he has had recent discussions with his Israeli counterpart on the importance of upholding international law.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
We have consistently called on all parties to the conflict to respect International Humanitarian Law and ensure the protection of civilians. The Foreign Secretary reiterated this during his visit to Israel on 17 April.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to his Answer of 23 April 2024 to Question 21424 on Property Flood Resilience Scheme, which local authorities were eligible to make a claim under the new property threshold for Storm Babet in October 2023 that would have been unable to do so under the previous threshold.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The below District authorities declared fewer than 25 flooded properties as a result of Storm Babet. Under the criteria applied for the 2019 and 2020 Property Flood Resilience Repair Grant (PFR Grant) they would not have qualified for assistance. As they are within a Lead Local Flood Authority area which overall had more than 50 flooded properties, (the threshold applied for the current schemes), they are included in the Storm Babet PFR Grant Scheme.
Nottinghamshire Charnwood Borough Council, Rushcliffe Borough Council and Mansfield District Council
Leicestershire: Blaby District Council, Harborough District Council, Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council, Melton Borough Council and Oadby and Wigston Borough Council
Norfolk: Broadland District Council, Great Yarmouth Borough Council, King's Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council and Norwich City Council
Worcestershire: Bromsgrove District Council, Wychavon District Council, Wyre Forest District Council, Redditch Borough Council
Lincolnshire: South Kesteven District Council
Derbyshire: High Peak Borough Council, South Derbyshire District Council
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 24 April 2024 to Question 22631 on Flood Control, when the meeting with the Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning and Transport’s Flood and Water Group took place, and if he will publish the letter that Group wrote to his Department after the meeting.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In considering the National Infrastructure Commission’s (NIC) study into surface water flooding, Defra officials met with the Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning and Transport’s (ADEPT) Flood and Water Group on 30 January 2023.
Following the meeting ADEPT officials shared a short note setting out their views on the NIC’s nine recommendations which the government considered in developing the response to the study.
It is not the Department’s policy to publish exchanges between officials.
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 timelines in her Department's policy paper entitled, Carbon capture, usage and storage: a vision to establish a competitive market, published on 20 December 2024, on the deliverability of its target of capturing 20 to 30 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year across the economy by 2030.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government has set out an ambition to establish four CCUS clusters that will capture 20-30 Mtpa of carbon dioxide per year by 2030. In 2023, the Chancellor announced the availability of up to £20 billion for investment in the early development of CCUS. This unprecedented investment will help meet the government’s climate commitments.
The CCUS Vision stated that by the mid 2030s, the amount of CO₂ annually stored may need to increase to at least 50 megatonnes per annum (Mtpa). To achieve this, it is likely that the CCUS sector will need to increase the annual amount of CO₂ stored by at least 6 Mtpa each year from 2031.
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, whether it is still her Department's aim for the UK to be capturing 20–30 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year across the economy by 2030 of which 5 million tonnes would be delivered from Engineered GGRs.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
In October 2021, the government announced in the Net Zero Strategy its ambition to capture and store 20-30 MtCO2 per year by 2030, with 10Mt of this capacity to be delivered by Track-2 clusters.
The Net Zero Strategy outlines an ambition to deploy 5MtCO2/year of engineered removals by 2030. The UK Government remains committed to meeting these ambitions.
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 her Department's timelines are for carbon capture, usage and storage (a) track-1 expansion and (b) track-2 cluster sequencing; whether those processes will run concurrently; and whether the track-2 timeline is contingent on the progress of track-1 processes.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Government has progressed the CCUS cluster sequencing process, selecting the first 4 clusters to meet the 2030 ambition.
Projects submitted applications for HyNet expansion in March. These will be assessed, with shortlisted projects announced from Autumn 2024.
Following agreement of Heads of Terms with the Transport and Storage company in December 2023, Government is considering the best timing for launching an East Coast Cluster expansion process, beginning with assessment of store readiness.
The Track-2 December update set out Government’s proposed ‘anchor’ and ‘buildout’ approach. Government has continued engagement with Acorn and Viking, and will provide further guidance in due course.