Asked by: Lord Teverson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what controls they intend to impose to prevent data centres in rural areas from exhausting the availability of electricity grid connections for other local activities and developments.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
At the Budget on 28 October 2026, the Government announced the Data Centre Covenant. The Covenant sets out new tests all data centres are encouraged to meet, and which strategic data centres must meet to qualify for additional government action.
It sets out that data centres should pay their fair share of energy costs and support the electricity system; invest in the communities that host them; meet the highest environmental standards; create British jobs, apprenticeships and support reindustrialisation; and strengthen Britain’s security and resilience.
A Written MInisterial Statement on 28 October 2026 set out further details on our approach to sustainable data centre growth, including energy flexibility. Connections remain decided by network operators under the Ofgem and NESO framework, with reforms prioritising ready projects, with data centres not to be allocated capacity at the expense of other users.
Asked by: Lord Teverson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to place conditions relating to water recycling and usage on the construction of data centres.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government recognises the importance of sustainable water use as digital infrastructure grows. BIST works with Defra, the Environment Agency and others to ensure data centre growth does not compromise public water supply resilience. Water resources are managed through statutory water company and regional plans and the Environment Agency’s National Framework. The Government supports water-efficient cooling technologies, including closed-loop systems, and alternative sources such as rainwater harvesting. National planning policy promotes sustainable water use and resource efficiency.
Asked by: Lord Teverson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the current VAT treatment of heat batteries in light of the different rates applied to other clean heat technologies supported through the Boiler Upgrade Scheme.
Answered by Lord Pitt-Watson - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Decisions on tax policy are taken by the Chancellor at fiscal events in the context of overall public finances.
Installations of qualifying energy-saving materials in residential accommodation, and buildings used solely for a charitable purpose, benefit from a temporary VAT zero rate until March 2027, after which they will revert to the reduced rate of VAT at five per cent.
When evaluating whether to add energy-saving materials to this relief, the Government uses three criteria. The technology must be primarily intended to improve energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions; relieving the technology of VAT must be cost-effective; and it must be practical for HMRC and businesses to operate.
The Government plans to support the installation of heat batteries by making them eligible for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme. This will offer grants of £2,500 for heat battery installation in homes that are not suitable for heat pumps.
Asked by: Lord Teverson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Hayman of Ullock on 18 March (HL15295) and the Marine Management Organisation’s announcement on 16 September that it is preparing to resume enforcement of Inshore Vessel Monitoring Systems (I-VMS) compliance for English fishing vessels under 12 metres, when they expect to lay the statutory instrument to extend the I-VMS requirement to all UK and non-UK fishing vessels under 12 metres operating in English waters.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) has resumed the roll-out of the IVMS programme. This Government intends to lay the SI once the roll-out is complete and the MMO is satisfied devices are operating correctly.
Asked by: Lord Teverson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Hayman of Ullock on 1 August 2025 (HL9721), what was the outcome of Resource Futures' research on the number of vessels reaching end-of-life and the policy options to reduce marine litter from abandoned vessels; and what steps they intend to take in response.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Resource Futures’ research commissioned by Defra assessed the scale of the problem of marine litter from abandoned vessels and policy options to reduce this. The report concluded that, whilst it is clear that recreational vessel abandonment is set to become an increasingly large problem, data gaps make it difficult to assess accurately the number of abandoned or end-of-life vessels across the OSPAR Maritime Area and in the UK. The report is available here: Marine litter from end of life recreational vessels - ME5247) (see attached).
Drawing on this research, the UK has led work with other countries in the North-East Atlantic as part of the OSPAR Convention to develop best practice guidance on the prevention, reporting, and management of end-of-life recreational vessels. The guidance was adopted by the OSPAR Commission in June and has been published on the OSPAR website here (see attached).
Asked by: Lord Teverson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to assist the fishing and aquaculture sectors in appropriately disposing of end-of-life fishing and aquaculture gear to reduce coastal litter.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Fisheries and Seafood Scheme (FaSS) is a grant scheme in England that supports more sustainable fishing and seafood businesses, including potential support for recycling end of life fishing gear. Through FaSS, Defra funded KIMO UK’s Fishing for Litter project, helping fishers bring litter ashore and expanding port storage and disposal facilities to support its safe collection and disposal.
Asked by: Lord Teverson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to monitor the outcomes of the Third Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy for disabled people.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Progress on the delivery of the targets and objectives outlined in the Third Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy will be provided through statutory reports to Parliament including for disabled people.
Asked by: Lord Teverson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they hold data on the proportion of children aged between five and 16 who usually walk or cycle to school in England.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Estimates of the proportion of children who usually walk or cycle to school in England are obtained from the National Travel Survey. In 2024, 43% of children aged between five and 16 usually walked to school, and 3% usually cycled to school.
Further statistics on travel to school are available in table NTS0615, which can be accessed on the gov.uk website.
Asked by: Lord Teverson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure strong competition between bids in the Contracts for Difference Allocation Round 8.
Answered by Lord Whitehead
The Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme allocates contracts through competitive auctions, ensuring that the lowest cost bids are successful.
For Allocation Round 8 (AR8), the Government has introduced refinements following consultation to strengthen competition and improve price discovery. To that end the Secretary of State will now have visibility of anonymised sealed bids across multiple technologies, creating competition across technologies, as well as within technology specific pots.
This change supports a continued focus on securing value for money for billpayers and maintaining robust competition. Final auction parameters will be confirmed in July, and the sealed bid window will open later this year.
Asked by: Lord Teverson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government how they intend to minimise the impact on large renewable projects that are in the planning stage and which are adversely affected by bringing forward the timetable for Allocation Round 8 by one month.
Answered by Lord Whitehead
The Contracts for Difference Scheme (CfD) runs annually. For Allocation Round 8, the Government confirmed in March it would open the round in July (in AR7, the round opened in August). The government does not expect this year's timeline to have a substantial constraining impact on the available pipeline of renewable projects. However, inevitably some projects will not be sufficiently progressed to meet the CfD entry criteria by the opening date and will need to look to future rounds should they wish to secure a CfD.