Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask His Majesty's Government what proposals they have to encourage combined cadet force units in state schools.

Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

I refer the noble Lord to the reply I gave him on 27 October 2024, to Question HL10931.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask His Majesty's Government, in the light of the report by the North Sea Transition Authority Reserves and Resources as at end 2024 published 17 October, whether they plan to review their policy not to issue any new drilling licences.

Answered by Lord Wilson of Sedgefield - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The Government has committed not to issue new oil and gas licences to explore new fields. In the ‘Building the North Sea’s Energy Future’ consultation, it sought views on how to implement that commitment.

The Government is considering evidence from a wide range of sources as part of that process, including the latest evidence from the North Sea Transition Authority.

The Government will issue a response to the consultation in due course.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to restricting the supply of Motability vehicles to good-quality second-hand vehicles only.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Motability Foundation is independent of government and regulated by the Charity Commission so is wholly responsible for the terms and the administration of the Scheme.

The department does however work closely with Motability Foundation and is responsible for the disability benefits that provide a passport to the Motability scheme. We will continue to work with Motability Foundation to ensure the scheme provides value for money and meets the needs of disabled people.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask His Majesty's Government what was the cost of subsidies for the installation of heat pumps in the UK in the financial year 2024–25.

Answered by Lord Wilson of Sedgefield - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

Between April 2024 – March 2025, the Boiler Upgrade Scheme paid out 25,144 vouchers for heat pumps (air source and ground source), to the cost of ~£189 million.

Other schemes delivered by the department such as the Home Upgrade Grant and Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund, do not provide a breakdown of funding costs specific to heat pump subsidies alone, as these schemes support a range of retrofit energy efficiency measures. The Government does publish data showing the average contribution costs for measures under these schemes, including for heat pumps.

This data is available at: Heat pump deployment statistics: June 2025, Home Upgrade Grant statistics: August 2025 and Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund statistics: September 2025

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what incentives are available for UK businesses to produce net-zero air fuel.

Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is one of the key measures required to achieve net zero emissions from aviation by 2050. SAF reduces greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across its lifecycle production and use when compared to conventional kerosene.

We are encouraging the production, development, and use of SAF in the UK in three main ways:

1) We are building demand through the SAF Mandate, which came into place in January this year and sets targets for the supply of an increasing amount of SAF in the overall UK aviation fuel mix. Under the SAF Mandate, eligible SAF is required to meet a reduction of 40% GHG savings and fuels are rewarded in proportion to their GHG savings.

2) The Advanced Fuels Fund aims to grow the UK supply of SAF by supporting first-of-a-kind SAF production plants through the project pipeline to reach investment ready stage and achieve commercial scale. £63m has been allocated across 17 UK projects for this financial year. The Spending Review 2025 will continue support for the production of SAF in the UK to 2029/30. DfT will provide details on the parameters of this support in due course.

3) We are helping to derisk SAF projects and support investment by legislating to introduce a revenue certainty mechanism. The SAF Bill was introduced at the House of Commons on 14 May 2025 and passed Report Stage and Third Reading on 15 October.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to place an order for UK companies to supply first-person view drones.

Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

It is vital we invest our defence spending in the UK wherever possible to grow our economy and industrial base. Noting the role drones play in modern warfighting, the Strategic Defence Review announced a total of £2 billion investment in autonomy in this Parliament, taking our total investment in Defence autonomy to £4 billion. How we will spend this autonomy fund, including drones of all forms, will be decided as part of the Defence Investment Plan.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether speech and language therapy is consistently available from NHS hospitals to pupils attending independent schools, and what steps they are taking to ensure that it is.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The National Health Service is free at the point of use and provides care to anyone who needs it based on clinical need. A parent or carer can speak to their general practitioner who can refer a child to local NHS children’s occupational therapy services if there is a clinical need, for instance if there are difficulties with motor skills, sensory issues, handwriting, etc. The fact that a child attends private school does not disqualify them from NHS healthcare services, as NHS services are based on clinical need, not type of school. In some cases, there have been errors in a local service offer that have led to this being corrected before.

In circumstances where the difficulty would be considered a disability, then equality duties would apply, and reasonable adjustments would be expected.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the capacity of the National Wealth Fund to finance (1) new manufacturing facilities, and (2) the hydrogen and fuel cell technology manufacturing sector.

Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

The NWF is the government’s principal investor and policy bank, with £27.8 billion of capital to mobilise investment in the growth and clean energy missions

The NWF prioritises clean energy, digital and technologies, advanced manufacturing, and transport sectors. The NWF will commit at least £5.8 billion over this Parliament to green hydrogen, carbon capture, ports, gigafactories and green steel sub-sectors.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the levels of UK-made content in the supply chains of Hydrogen Allocation Rounds 1 and 2; and what measures they will take to ensure higher levels are used in future rounds.

Answered by Lord Whitehead - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

Developing domestic supply chains is a government priority, as demonstrated through our Industrial Strategy and comprehensive public financial institution offer which will provide direct support to UK hydrogen supply chains.

DESNZ collects supply chain data through the Hydrogen Allocation Rounds and welcomes the industry’s voluntary 50% local content ambition.

We are developing options to strengthen our approach to domestic supply chains in future allocation rounds and will be launching our HAR3 market engagement exercise setting out our proposals in due course.

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 and fuel cell technology manufacturing sector by 2050.

Answered by Lord Whitehead - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The sector is nascent but is expected to grow significantly; the global hydrogen market could exceed $1 trillion by 2050, with the UK well positioned to capture a substantial share.

We intend to publish a revised Hydrogen Strategy which will include the latest hydrogen jobs estimates and set out plans to optimise the job creation and economic benefits delivered by the UK hydrogen economy.

We will continue to engage with stakeholders across the hydrogen value chain; working together with industry and unions to identify actions that support the skills and workforce needs of the UK’s low carbon hydrogen economy.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure National Wealth Fund investment benefits increase research and development in the UK hydrogen and fuel cell technology manufacturing sector.

Answered by Lord Whitehead - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The NWF is the Government’s principal investor and policy bank with operational independence and a total £27.8bn to catalyse private investment in capital intensive projects. The NWF will commit at least £5.8bn over this Parliament to green hydrogen, carbon capture, ports, gigafactories and green steel sub-sectors.

To crowd investment into supply chains, the Government has announced a £1bn Clean Energy Supply chain fund aligned with the Clean Energy Industries Sector Plan and a £4bn British Business Bank Industrial Strategy Growth Capital initiative. DESNZ has also spent around £160m from the now complete £1bn Net Zero Innovation Portfolio on hydrogen R&D.

Found: , including Sally Ann-Hart, Chris Clarkson, Bob Blackman MP, Lord Naseby and Graeme Nuttall — author