Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have received specific proposals from (1) the Sustainable Energy Association, and (2) the Green Building Council, about ways to promote and fund domestic energy efficiency; and if so, what consideration they have given to those proposals.
Answered by Lord Whitehead - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
As part of the development of the Warm Homes Plan, the Department has engaged with a broad range of stakeholders through a variety of different fora to ensure a wide range of views were considered.
On 8 December 2025 Minister McCluskey met with the Chief Executive of the Sustainable Energy Association Dave Sowden to listen to their proposals for decarbonising homes. The Department has also corresponded with a number of other industry groups, academics, think-tanks and other representatives, including the UK Green Building Council. These proposals have been considered as part of the policy development process.
The recently published Warm Homes Plan is the biggest investment in home upgrades ever, with £15 billion of investment to cut energy bills, bring households out of fuel poverty, increase our energy security and make our homes warmer and more efficient.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many residential properties have had energy efficiency measures installed under the Government policies then in place for each year from 2015 to 2024; and how many are projected to have such measures installed under current policies for each year from 2025 to 2030.
Answered by Lord Whitehead - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government publishes monthly delivery data on Gov.UK. The information sought regarding delivery of the ECO4 scheme can be found in the attached pdf and at
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/household-energy-efficiency-national-statistics.
To the end of September 2025 there were around 101,500 meaures installed in 49,400 households under the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund. A summary of the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund statistic can be found in the below table:
Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund:
Wave and Period (to end September 2025) | Wave 1 (2021-23) | Wave 2.1 (2023-26) | Wave 2.2 (2024-2026) |
Properties Upgraded | Up to 20,000 properties upgraded | 62,800 measures in 30,000 households | 7,100 measures in 3,300 households |
More information is available at: www.gov.uk/government/statistics/social-housing-decarbonisation-fund-statistics-november-2025/summary-of-the-social-housing-decarbonisation-fund-statistics-november-2025.
Green Homes Grant Local Authority Delivery (LAD) and Home Upgrade Grant (HUG) was released in November 2025 and can be found in the second attached file. Delivery under the current Warm Homes: Local Grant and Social Housing Fund is currently ongoing and in progress.
Over this parliament the government plans to upgrade up to 5 million homes and cut energy bills for good.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 7 January (HL3653), whether they considered the impact of (1) the removal of the ban on onshore wind generation, (2) the increase in offshore wind generation, (3) the increase in solar power generation, and (4) Great British Energy, in their assessments of the carbon dioxide equivalent emissions in 2030.
Answered by Lord Wilson of Sedgefield - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
We will deliver an updated plan that sets out the policy package out to the end of Carbon Budget 6 in 2037 for all sectors of the economy by October 2025. This will outline the policies and proposals needed to deliver Carbon Budgets 4-6 and our Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) on a pathway to net zero, including for onshore wind, offshore wind and solar power generation, and describing Great British Energy’s potential role in supporting these sectors.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment has been made of (1) number of trees felled, and (2) metres of hedgerow removed, on all sites related to the building of Sizewell C and the associated infrastructure.
Answered by Lord Wilson of Sedgefield - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Sizewell C was granted development consent following the Planning Inspectorate’s examination of Sizewell C’s Development Consent Order (DCO) application and all works are fully in line with DCO permissions.
Sizewell C report that the project has carried out advanced planting of 4,000 more trees than it has removed, and when the power station is complete, 42 hectares of woodland will have been created, amounting to between 50,000 and 100,000 trees and shrubs, plus additional hedgerows. Sizewell C has also created three nature reserves around the site – and three further nature reserves are being created locally to further mitigate for any land take.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to replace trees and hedgerows removed during the construction of Sizewell C and the associated infrastructure.
Answered by Lord Wilson of Sedgefield - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Sizewell C was granted development consent following the Planning Inspectorate’s examination of Sizewell C’s Development Consent Order (DCO) application and all works are fully in line with DCO permissions.
Sizewell C report that the project has carried out advanced planting of 4,000 more trees than it has removed, and when the power station is complete, 42 hectares of woodland will have been created, amounting to between 50,000 and 100,000 trees and shrubs, plus additional hedgerows. Sizewell C has also created three nature reserves around the site – and three further nature reserves are being created locally to further mitigate for any land take.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 7 January (HL3653), what estimate they have made of the carbon dioxide equivalent emissions that will be saved through the ‘future policies or those currently under development’ referred to in that Answer.
Answered by Lord Wilson of Sedgefield - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
We will publish estimates of the emissions savings from future and developing policies by October 2025. These will cover all sectors of the economy out to the end of Carbon Budget 6 in 2037.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the carbon dioxide equivalent emissions that will have been saved by 2030 by (1) the removal of the ban on onshore wind turbines, (2) the increase in offshore wind generation, (3) the increase in solar power generation, and (4) Great British Energy.
Answered by Lord Wilson of Sedgefield - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
According to the National Energy System Operator's independent analysis, plans to achieve Clean Power by 2030 will reduce emissions by over 31MtCO2 per year by 2030, compared to 2023 levels. It is not possible to disaggregate emissions savings by technology or policy as their impacts are interconnected. As such, figures tend to cover the power sector as a whole, in line with the reporting approach taken by the Climate Change Committee.
Source: https://www.neso.energy/document/346806/download
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have received any advice from the Climate Change Committee regarding making the United Kingdom's nationally determined contribution binding in law; and, if so, what was that advice.
Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
The UK’s Climate Change Committee (CCC) has no statutory responsibilities in relation to the NDC. However, to benefit from its independent expertise, the Secretary of State wrote to the CCC to request guidance on the UK’s 2035 nationally determined contribution (NDC). The CCC's guidance was published in October 2024 and included the recommendation that the UK’s NDC commit to a reduction in territorial greenhouse emissions of 81% from 1990 to 2035. The CCC advised that this target would be consistent with the emissions reductions required to meet the UK’s legally binding Sixth Carbon Budget (2033-2037). This guidance did not include any advice on making the 2035 NDC binding in law.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 29 January (HL4088), where the Climate Change Committee has advised that "it did not consider it necessary for Government to reset existing targets".
Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
In December 2020, the UK’s Committee on Climate Change (CCC) presented a report to the Secretary of State entitled “The Sixth Carbon Budget: The UK’s Path to Net Zero.” This report, a statutory obligation under Section 34 of the Climate Change Act, included recommendations for the UK’s Sixth Carbon Budget, set to run from 2033 to 2037. In the report, the CCC noted that “it is for the Government to decide whether the currently legislated budgets [the fourth and fifth, covering 2023-2027 and 2028-32] should be amended to bring them in line with the Net Zero 2050 target, however the Committee does not consider it necessary to change the budget level in law – the focus should be on developing policy to deliver the new Sixth Carbon Budget and the UK’s NDC for 2030.” We will deliver an updated plan that sets out the policy package out to the end of Carbon Budget 6 in 2037 for all the sectors in due course.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 24 December 2024 (HL3494), what assessment they have made of the alignment between the United Kingdom’s Nationally Determined Contribution for 2030, which requires that emissions do not exceed around 260 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, and the existing legally binding framework set by the fifth carbon budget, which limits emissions for the period 2028 to 2032 to around 345 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per year.
Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
The UK’s 2030 nationally determined contribution - to reduce economy-wide greenhouse gas emissions by at least 68% on 1990 levels – represents an increase in ambition on the UK’s fifth carbon budget, which covers the period 2028-2032. The UK will need to overachieve on the fifth carbon budget to meet the 2030 NDC and stay on track for the sixth carbon budget. In its advice to Government on the setting of the UK’s sixth carbon budget, the Climate Change Committee advised that it did not consider it necessary for Government to reset existing targets, and instead advised that once the 2030 NDC and sixth carbon budget were set on the path to net zero, that these would provide a clear target for UK emissions reductions.