Oral Answers to Questions

Katie White Excerpts

Tuesday 13th October 2026 Commons Chamber

[Anna Dixon (Shipley) (Lab)]

10. What recent progress she has made on improving the UK’s resilience to the impacts of climate change.

[The Minister for Climate Transition (Katie White)]

My hon. Friends raise an excellent point. In June this year, I, alongside the Cabinet Office, launched a climate and nature security taskforce to assess our resilience. Its first meeting will take place next week, with external experts to challenge our preparedness. Sadly, this taskforce became even more relevant when this summer’s extremes enabled us to feel what scientists have been telling us for many years. The Prime Minister has also confirmed that he will host a wildfire summit this month.

[Tom Rutland]

Over the summer, my constituents in East Worthing and Shoreham, like many across the country, endured unrelenting and scorching heat. For many years we have focused on cold homes in winter, and now we need to turn our attention to hot homes in the summer. It was good to hear, in an earlier answer, some of what the Government have been doing, but what steps is the Department taking to help people to adapt homes and public buildings to our increasingly hot summers?

[Katie White]

We are indeed living through extremes of climate change, and we felt that so intensely this summer. This should encourage us all to accelerate our efforts to mitigate, but also to expand opportunities to adapt. As my hon. Friend the Member for Inverclyde and Renfrewshire West (Martin McCluskey) has just said, the boiler upgrade scheme already provides for air-to-air heat pumps that can both heat and cool our homes at the same time. However, we want to go further, which is why the warm homes plan set out our intention to introduce passive cooling measures in our capital funded schemes, including solar shading, shutters, reflective window-cooling coatings and cooler building materials.

[Anna Dixon]

As hon. Members have said, we endured one of the hottest summers on record, with 10 days reaching 35°, which is double the previous record. We also saw deaths from extreme heat. When we think about insulating homes, we think about keeping ourselves warm, but home insulation is just as critical in protecting against extreme heat. So can the Minister tell the House a little more about the steps the Government are taking to ensure that the new homes we are building are designed to protect people against extreme heat?

[Katie White]

My hon. Friend is a long-standing champion of retrofitting and of new build. We on this side of the House are proud of the future building standards, which require all new homes to be zero carbon-ready to ensure they are adapted to and can mitigate the impacts of climate change. The building regulations state that new homes must be designed to reduce overheating risk and prioritise passive measures such as limiting exposure to heat from the sun and openable windows to remove excess heat, but a full technical review is under way to ensure that those regulations remain effective and fit for the future.

[Patrick Spencer (Central Suffolk and North Ipswich) (Con)]

The proposers of the Easton-Letheringham solar farm application in my constituency have finally been forced to get an environmental impact assessment. Considering the vast size of the proposed development, which would cover over 200 acres of fertile farmland, it was a complete waste of time to think it would ever get through planning without one. Will the Minister consider requiring an environmental impact assessment for all solar developments on rural land?

[Katie White]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for that question; I am a little unsure how it relates to this question grouping. We are looking at how to ensure we align the—[Interruption.] I am speaking from the Dispatch Box, but thank you. On environmental assessments of solar farms, we want to ensure that our policies are in line with Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs policies. We have worked very closely with DEFRA, and continue to do so, on the land use framework to make sure that we are delivering clean power while improving nature restoration. It was great over the recess to talk to solar providers who looked at biodiversity increase from solar farms.

[Sarah Dyke (Glastonbury and Somerton) (LD)]

British food security is in real jeopardy. Extreme weather is becoming more severe, more frequent and more unpredictable. The Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit warns that 2026 could be the worst UK harvest on record. What discussions has the Minister had with DEFRA colleagues on strengthening British farms’ resilience to extreme weather?

[Katie White]

I thank the hon. Lady for her very important question. This is one of the reasons why, before this summer, we launched the climate and nature security taskforce. As I said, sadly it has become even more relevant after the summer and its impacts on farming and food security. We are working hand in glove with DEFRA to ensure that these matters are considered at the same time, and that cascading climate and nature impacts on food security are considered. That will be a core part of our climate and nature security taskforce.

[John Lamont (Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk) (Con)]

5. What discussions she has had with the Scottish Borders council on the cross-border connection.

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[Josh Fenton-Glynn (Calder Valley) (Lab)]

11. What assessment she has made of the potential impact of constructing energy infrastructure on peatland on the climate.

[The Minister for Climate Transition (Katie White)]

I pay tribute to my hon. Friend, who has been a champion for Yorkshire and for climate change mitigation and adaptation. We recognise that our peatlands are vital habitats for biodiversity, storing carbon and water. We have strong protections in national planning policy that guide developers to avoid peatland and, where that is not possible, to mitigate. We are working with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to strengthen and collaborate on both climate and nature policies.

[Josh Fenton-Glynn]

We cannot strengthen one part of our climate response by weakening another. Peatland stores 50% of the country’s soil carbon—3 billion tonnes of the stuff. That is the equivalent of all the carbon stored by forests in the UK, Germany, and France combined. Building on peatland releases that carbon. That is why there are rules against doing so for development or farming. Will the Minister please look at cases of siting wind farms and other energy projects on peatland, so that there is consistency across the board?

[Katie White]

My hon. Friend is right to highlight the hugely valuable role of peat in storing carbon and water, and in ensuring biodiversity. That is why the Government announced £47 million to restore our peatlands in June. As I said, there is national policy guidance, but we are working with DEFRA and Natural England to improve the interaction that he mentions. I will follow up with the Department to ensure that we are reviewing policy options, so that we deliver clean energy while protecting our natural environment. I am happy to keep him in the loop on that.

[Sir Roger Gale (Herne Bay and Sandwich) (Con)]

We do not have an abundance of peatland in east Kent, but we do have acres of wonderful marshland and sites of special scientific interest. On that land—[Interruption.]

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[Mr Speaker]

It sounds like the marshlands will be pushed on to the peatland.

[Katie White]

Thank you for the clarification, Mr Speaker, and I thank the right hon. Member for his question. Everything we do has an environmental impact, but clearly we want to make sure that we minimise the environmental impact of any infrastructure that we build. I cannot comment on any individual planning application, as the right hon. Member will well know, but I take his wider point on looking to minimise, in all places, the environmental impacts of any of our clean energy infrastructure.

[Sonia Kumar (Dudley) (Lab)]

12. Whether her Department is taking steps to implement a cold homes plan.

[The Minister for Climate Transition (Katie White)]

We all felt the impacts of climate change this summer, whether in our schools and classrooms or in our homes. The warm homes plan and the measures within it to ensure cooling as well as heating are available for the most vulnerable homes. In England and Wales, all eligible households can benefit from the expanded boiler upgrade scheme, which now includes air-to-air heat pumps that can heat and cool our homes.

[Sonia Kumar]

This summer, extreme heat was responsible for thousands of excess deaths across the United Kingdom. Though I commend the Department’s mission to tackle climate change and the root causes of extreme heat, does the Minister recognise that we must go faster and further in adapting and supporting households, especially vulnerable ones, with regard to extreme heat, and does she recognise that we need a cold homes plan across the country?

[Katie White]

I thank my hon. Friend for her excellent question. As we have mentioned a few times today, the intention to introduce some passive cooling measures, whether that be shading, shutters, reflective windows or cooler building materials, in the warm homes plan has already been announced. The delivery of the warm homes plan, which has been devolved to mayors, local government and communities, presents an opportunity to shape that in the most appropriate ways locally. We want to go faster to make sure that new homes are built to resilient standards. That is why we have committed to the net zero standards and why we are reviewing the overheating building regulations to ensure that our homes are fit for the future. I want to make sure that we build together heating and cooling options, so that we are thinking about the integration of climate mitigation and adaptation at the same time.

[Tim Farron (Westmorland and Lonsdale) (LD)]

Twenty-five per cent of the properties in my constituency were built before 1900. They are very hard to retrofit; they are solid-wall properties. It is therefore important that there should be a bespoke scheme to ensure that homes that are hard to retrofit, particularly in rural communities such as mine, can be made cooler or warmer in these times of more extreme temperatures.

[Katie White]

The hon. Member is right that some properties are more challenging to retrofit. That is why we are working with many heritage organisations to determine the best way to do that. We are constantly learning to make sure that there is mitigation and adaptation at the same time. I am happy to keep the hon. Member in the loop on the progress on that.

[Darren Paffey (Southampton Itchen) (Lab)]

13. What recent progress she has made on reforming electricity grid connections.

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[David Burton-Sampson (Southend West and Leigh) (Lab)]

T5. This summer saw the first hosepipe ban imposed by Essex and Suffolk Water on my constituency since 1997. However, some Opposition Members would deny that what we are seeing is a result of climate change. Does the Minister agree that the weather we saw this summer is evidence enough that the work towards net zero must continue as a priority for this Government?

[The Minister for Climate Transition (Katie White)]

The science has been very clear for years, but this summer allowed many people in the UK to really felt it for the first time. He is absolutely correct that net zero remains the goal of this Government. I understand that some people want to weaponise this issue, but ultimately if we want to tackle the climate crisis and to protect the people and places we love, at some point we have to stop releasing polluting gases into the atmosphere.