Asked by: Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the likely costs of the investor-state arbitration being brought against them by Woodhouse Investment Pte; and what assessment they have made of their exposure to further fossil fuel-linked investor-state dispute settlements in future.
Answered by Lord Stockwood - Minister of State (HM Treasury)
Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) provides an independent means for investors to resolve disputes with states where they believe they have experienced arbitrary, discriminatory, or unfair treatment or expropriation without compensation.
The UK has a longstanding track record of supporting foreign investment, including through fulfilling its obligations in the international investment agreements to which it is a party and has never faced a successful ISDS claim.
The Government maintains that it has acted consistently with domestic and international law obligations in the case of the legal challenges. In view of the ongoing proceedings, it would be inappropriate for the Government to comment further at this stage.
Asked by: Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they are supporting the proposed P441 modification to the Balancing and Settlement Code; and if so, what changes they expect local energy generators and consumers to experience as a result.
Answered by Lord Whitehead - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is hugely ambitious about the role that local energy will play in achieving our mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower.
The Department – with Great British Energy – are looking at the issue of local supply and the options available.
In parallel, Elexon have been progressing the P441 code modification through a series of workgroup roundtables and have recently concluded a consultation to gather wider sector responses on proposed P441 changes. These changes if supported would clarify and simplify balancing and settlement arrangements for complex metering sites, such as those used by some community energy schemes.
The Government will continue to monitor these developments closely.
Asked by: Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of how consumers are influenced to become more aware of their energy consumption patterns; and what assessment they have made of how consumers can be encouraged to change their energy consumption patterns.
Answered by Lord Whitehead - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Smart meters are helping households manage their energy consumption patterns so that they can improve their efficiency and save money on their bills.
The half-hourly consumption information recorded by smart meters unlocks innovative products and services such as smart ‘time of use’ tariffs which allow customers to save money by using energy when demand is low or when there is excess clean electricity available. The In-Home Display (IHD), which households are offered when they have smart meters installed, gives accurate information about energy consumption costs in near-real time.
To promote the benefit of heat pumps and encourage consumers to adopt low carbon heating technologies the government has recently relaunched its ‘Warm and Fuzzy’ campaign.
Asked by: Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of possible actions that could be taken to encourage local energy clubs.
Answered by Lord Whitehead - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is hugely ambitious about the role that local energy will play in achieving our mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower.
The Department – with Great British Energy – are looking at the issue of local supply and the options available.
Under the Local Power Plan, Great British Energy will provide support to local and community energy projects by partnering with community energy groups and providing commercial, technical and project planning assistance.
Asked by: Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the risk of imported seafood into the United Kingdom sourced from illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing; and whether any risk has changed over the last ten years.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK Government is committed to preventing seafood caught from illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing from entering the UK supply chain. Defra works closely with the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) and Port Health Authorities to manage this risk. For example, the UK maintains a strict ban on seafood imports from countries that have been identified as non-cooperative in tackling IUU fishing as well as seafood caught by vessels included in the UK’s IUU vessel list identified as having engaged in IUU fishing. Controls are also in place to prevent foreign vessels accessing UK ports if suspected of engaging in IUU fishing. Furthermore, all wild-caught fish imported into the UK must be accompanied by validated catch certificates to ensure legality and traceability, and we will be updating the information required on catch certificates later next year. These changes will improve the robustness of traceability measures in place and will ensure that UK exporters can continue to re-export seafood originating from other countries to the EU. The MMO has recently launched a campaign called ‘Fish, Trace, Ship’ to highlight to industry the expected changes.
Asked by: Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will update the catch certificate for seafood imports to mirror changes being made by the EU to its catch certificate scheme.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK Government is committed to preventing seafood caught from illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing from entering the UK supply chain. Defra works closely with the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) and Port Health Authorities to manage this risk. For example, the UK maintains a strict ban on seafood imports from countries that have been identified as non-cooperative in tackling IUU fishing as well as seafood caught by vessels included in the UK’s IUU vessel list identified as having engaged in IUU fishing. Controls are also in place to prevent foreign vessels accessing UK ports if suspected of engaging in IUU fishing. Furthermore, all wild-caught fish imported into the UK must be accompanied by validated catch certificates to ensure legality and traceability, and we will be updating the information required on catch certificates later next year. These changes will improve the robustness of traceability measures in place and will ensure that UK exporters can continue to re-export seafood originating from other countries to the EU. The MMO has recently launched a campaign called ‘Fish, Trace, Ship’ to highlight to industry the expected changes.
Asked by: Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to increase scrutiny of seafood imports that are of high risk of coming from illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK Government is committed to preventing seafood caught from illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing from entering the UK supply chain. Defra works closely with the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) and Port Health Authorities to manage this risk. For example, the UK maintains a strict ban on seafood imports from countries that have been identified as non-cooperative in tackling IUU fishing as well as seafood caught by vessels included in the UK’s IUU vessel list identified as having engaged in IUU fishing. Controls are also in place to prevent foreign vessels accessing UK ports if suspected of engaging in IUU fishing. Furthermore, all wild-caught fish imported into the UK must be accompanied by validated catch certificates to ensure legality and traceability, and we will be updating the information required on catch certificates later next year. These changes will improve the robustness of traceability measures in place and will ensure that UK exporters can continue to re-export seafood originating from other countries to the EU. The MMO has recently launched a campaign called ‘Fish, Trace, Ship’ to highlight to industry the expected changes.
Asked by: Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effect of investor state dispute settlements on a country's ability to invest in its Sustainable Development Goals.
Answered by Baroness Gustafsson
The UK is party to 81 Bilateral Investment Treaties and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership that contain Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS).
ISDS provides an independent means to resolve disputes with states where investors believe they have experienced arbitrary, discriminatory or unfair treatment or expropriation without compensation. ISDS does not remove governments’ right to regulate in the public interest, including with respect to implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.
Asked by: Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the government of Columbia on removing the investor state dispute settlement provisions from any renewed bilateral investment strategy.
Answered by Baroness Gustafsson
Following the UK-Colombia Bilateral Investment Treaty’s (BIT) initial ten-year term, in accordance with the treaty’s provisions, it shall remain in force indefinitely unless it is terminated by either Party. The Government has not been formally approached by the Colombian Government regarding proposals to amend the BIT.
The Government regards the UK-Colombia BIT as playing an important role in the investment relationship between our two countries. The stock of total investment between the UK and Colombia was £6.8 billion in 2023.
Asked by: Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what was the outcome of their recent discussions with the government of Columbia on the future of the bilateral investment strategy which has reached the end of its initial ten year term.
Answered by Baroness Gustafsson
Following the UK-Colombia Bilateral Investment Treaty’s (BIT) initial ten-year term, in accordance with the treaty’s provisions, it shall remain in force indefinitely unless it is terminated by either Party. The Government has not been formally approached by the Colombian Government regarding proposals to amend the BIT.
The Government regards the UK-Colombia BIT as playing an important role in the investment relationship between our two countries. The stock of total investment between the UK and Colombia was £6.8 billion in 2023.