Asked by: Lord Cameron of Dillington (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they expect to publish the update to the UK Hydrogen Strategy.
Answered by Lord Whitehead
We plan to publish a renewed Hydrogen Strategy, alongside a package of other hydrogen policy documents, as soon as possible.
The renewed Hydrogen Strategy will set out Government’s vision and objectives for hydrogen, and how we intend to work together with industry to continue to transform ambition into action. Our understanding of where hydrogen can deliver the greatest value in our energy system has matured and our strategy will sharpen our priorities, deepen industry collaboration, and unlock the potential of hydrogen over the next decade.
Asked by: Lord Cameron of Dillington (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the job creation potential in the UK hydrogen sector by 2050.
Answered by Lord Whitehead
The Industrial Strategy’s Clean Energy Industries Sector Plan (CEI) backs hydrogen as a frontier technology, with potential to drive economic growth, create high-quality jobs, and build industries of the future.
In the UK, hydrogen could support 6,500 – 11,500 jobs by 2035 with opportunities across the graduate and technically trained workforce. We expect these figures to scale with hydrogen sector growth out to 2050.
As part of our Industrial Strategy, we published the Clean Energy Jobs Plan which confirms the workforce needed to deliver our clean energy ambitions and how government will work with industry and trade unions to deliver it.
Asked by: Lord Cameron of Dillington (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to finalise the second Hydrogen Allocation Round.
Answered by Lord Whitehead
We have finished due diligence and cost assurance on shortlisted HAR2 projects.
We recognise the need for clarity to help businesses manage resources and expectations of third parties. We are working hard across government to start the Invite to Offer stage of HAR2 as soon as possible and will be in touch with the projects when this commences.
Asked by: Lord Cameron of Dillington (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they intend to publish the criteria for '30 by 30' at sea for the purposes of their commitment to protect and conserve a minimum of 30 per cent of land and sea for biodiversity by 2030.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra announced last week that we will undertake a review of the English MPA network to consider how it can better address biodiversity loss and be more resilient to climate change. We will update on the results of that review in due course.
Asked by: Lord Cameron of Dillington (Crossbench - 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 timeline for implementing their 'marine net gain' policy.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government is committed to nature recovery. Work is underway to develop options for the role marine net gain may play including consideration of timescales for operation of the policy.
Asked by: Lord Cameron of Dillington (Crossbench - 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 merits of ending operator self-monitoring of sewage overflows.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Since 01 January 2025, water companies are required to publish data related to discharges from all storm overflows within one hour of the discharge beginning (under section 141DA of the Water Industry Act 1991 as inserted by section 81 of the Environment Act 2021).
Data must be published in a way that is accessible to the public and in a form that allows the public readily to understand it. To support this, Water UK have launched a central hub that provides discharge data of every storm overflow in England on a single website.
To further support understanding of the impact that sewage discharges have on the receiving watercourse, a programme to rollout Continuous Water Quality Monitors near storm overflows and sewage treatment works is beginning in Price Review period (PR24), which runs from 2025-2030. Monitors will be installed at 25% of assets in scope for the continuous water quality monitoring programme in the next Price Review 24. Sites prioritised for monitoring will be based on Defra’s priority areas, such as those that impact designated bathing and shellfish waters.
Combined, these measures are creating an unprecedented level of transparency, enabling the public and regulators to see where, and how often, overflows are discharging, and to hold water companies to account. Where breaches of legal requirements are identified as a result of this data, regulators won't hesitate to take action.
Asked by: Lord Cameron of Dillington (Crossbench - 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 use of visual sensors to monitor storm overflows.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Since 01 January 2025, water companies are required to publish data related to discharges from all storm overflows within one hour of the discharge beginning (under section 141DA of the Water Industry Act 1991 as inserted by section 81 of the Environment Act 2021).
Data must be published in a way that is accessible to the public and in a form that allows the public readily to understand it. To support this, Water UK have launched a central hub that provides discharge data of every storm overflow in England on a single website.
To further support understanding of the impact that sewage discharges have on the receiving watercourse, a programme to rollout Continuous Water Quality Monitors near storm overflows and sewage treatment works is beginning in Price Review period (PR24), which runs from 2025-2030. Monitors will be installed at 25% of assets in scope for the continuous water quality monitoring programme in the next Price Review 24. Sites prioritised for monitoring will be based on Defra’s priority areas, such as those that impact designated bathing and shellfish waters.
Combined, these measures are creating an unprecedented level of transparency, enabling the public and regulators to see where, and how often, overflows are discharging, and to hold water companies to account. Where breaches of legal requirements are identified as a result of this data, regulators won't hesitate to take action.
Asked by: Lord Cameron of Dillington (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to improve the monitoring of storm overflows.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Since 01 January 2025, water companies are required to publish data related to discharges from all storm overflows within one hour of the discharge beginning (under section 141DA of the Water Industry Act 1991 as inserted by section 81 of the Environment Act 2021).
Data must be published in a way that is accessible to the public and in a form that allows the public readily to understand it. To support this, Water UK have launched a central hub that provides discharge data of every storm overflow in England on a single website.
To further support understanding of the impact that sewage discharges have on the receiving watercourse, a programme to rollout Continuous Water Quality Monitors near storm overflows and sewage treatment works is beginning in Price Review period (PR24), which runs from 2025-2030. Monitors will be installed at 25% of assets in scope for the continuous water quality monitoring programme in the next Price Review 24. Sites prioritised for monitoring will be based on Defra’s priority areas, such as those that impact designated bathing and shellfish waters.
Combined, these measures are creating an unprecedented level of transparency, enabling the public and regulators to see where, and how often, overflows are discharging, and to hold water companies to account. Where breaches of legal requirements are identified as a result of this data, regulators won't hesitate to take action.
Asked by: Lord Cameron of Dillington (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to tackle the harmful impact of commercial fishing in South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (SGSSI) Marine Protected Area (MPA), designated by the SGSSI Government in 2012 and strengthened in 2013 and 2019, aims to conserve the rich marine diversity and provide the framework for management and research. The zone covers 1.24 million km2. Fishing is highly regulated and carried out in a way that protects the marine ecosystem.
Bottom trawling is prohibited throughout. Longline fishing is limited to depths of between 700 and 2,250 metres, restricted to 6 per cent of the MPA. Toothfish and krill fishing is only permitted during four winter months to reduce the impact on seabirds, penguins, seals and whales. No take zones, where all fishing activity is prohibited, cover 283,000km2 and include the most biodiverse regions of the seabed.
Asked by: Lord Cameron of Dillington (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether existing management measures in place for South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands are sufficient to protect that marine ecosystem.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Lord Chamberlain (HM Household)
The Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (GSGSSI) is currently undertaking the second 5-year review of its Marine Protected Area (MPA). The review is considering the effectiveness of the current MPA measures, including whether the underpinning scientific research and monitoring is sufficient, particularly in light of climate change, and whether effective monitoring and surveillance capacity is in place. The review will determine whether additional measures are required to achieve the stated MPA objectives. GSGSSI is committed to reporting on its review by early next year.