Asked by: Andrew Bowie (Conservative - West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he is taking to expand hydrogen storage and transport facilities in the North Sea region following the 3rd North Sea Summit.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Government is designing the Hydrogen Transport and Storage Business Models to establish the UK’s first regional hydrogen network to be in operation from 2031. To enable delivery, government has confirmed over £500m of support for hydrogen infrastructure following the June 2025 Spending Review The location of this network will be carefully chosen to maximise the benefits to UK industrial sectors and create a pathway for hydrogen as a clean power source.
We recognise that offshore technologies have the potential to provide large-scale hydrogen storage and will continue to assess how different storage technologies may meet our strategic objectives.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 2 February 2026 to Question 108800, what projects undertaken by the Competition and Markets Authority in 2024–25 related to net zero, sustainability and climate policy.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The following projects undertaken by the Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”) in 2024 to 2025 related to net zero, sustainability and climate policy, carried out consistently with its statutory duty and functions:
Sustainability Taskforce – supporting businesses to comply with competition law when engaging in collaboration to achieve outcomes related to sustainability.
An investigation into anti-competitive conduct in the advertising of recycling-related features of new cars, and in the recycling of old or written-off (or ‘end-of-life’) cars and vans.
Guidance to help fashion businesses comply with consumer protection law when making environmental claims.
An investigation into environmental claims made about products in the consumer goods sector.
An investigation into Worcester Bosch over concerns it may have been misleading consumers in its marketing of boilers as ‘hydrogen-blend ready’.
Other work has included a review and report on the impact of restrictions on the sale of single use plastics on the UK Internal Market, and 13 reports on referrals of subsidies under the UK Subsidy Control Regime.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what percentage weighting is given to social value in the evaluation of bids under each Government-funded scheme supporting the procurement of new buses, including zero-emission, electric, hydrogen and hybrid buses.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Social value, through community benefits, was one of the criteria considered when assessing the Zero Emission Bus Regional Area (ZEBRA) 2 funding announced in March 2024. The strategic case, including community benefits, had a 10% weighting. The published criteria can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apply-for-zero-emission-bus-funding-zebra-2/apply-for-zero-emission-bus-funding-zebra-2 . Previous rounds of ZEBRA funding did not explicitly assess social value.
Through the UK Bus Manufacturing Expert Panel, which this Government launched in March 2025, my department is working with the sector to explore how best to consider social value in future bus procurement.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he is taking to ensure (a) the UK is establishing a resilient clean energy supply chain and (b) strengthen cooperation with European partners.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Our Clean Energy Industries Sector Plan set out HMG’s approach to creating investment, growth and jobs in clean energy industries, including supply chains.
In addition, Great British Energy has launched its £1bn supply chain programme, Energy Engineered in the UK, to boost clean energy industries. We’ve empowered the National Wealth Fund with £5.8bn for carbon capture, low carbon hydrogen, gigafactories, ports, and green steel. The British Business Bank £4bn scale up fund will deploy capital to target both the scale-up gap for climate tech and the expansion of new specialist investors. UK Export Finance will deploy £13bn of direct lending to stimulate overseas demand in the industrial strategy priority sectors.
The UK continues to work closely with European partners to strengthen security of supply and accelerate the deployment of clean energy. We are deepening both bilateral and multilateral cooperation, including through established UK-EU structures and agreements, cooperation in the North Seas, and through our broader network of energy partnerships across Europe.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what schemes and programmes her Department has in place to help support zero-emission in (a) shipping and (b) aviation.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government recognises the potential decarbonisation and growth benefits that new forms of zero-emission maritime vessels and aircraft could provide.
The Maritime Decarbonisation Strategy, published in March 2025, sets out our policies and commitments to decarbonise the sector. We are already meeting these commitments through the expansion of the UK Emissions Trading Scheme to domestic maritime from July 2026, and we will consult on maritime fuel regulations later this year.
We have announced a further £448 million of funding of the UK SHORE programme, the biggest government investment ever in the UK’s commercial maritime sector, which will unlock innovation and investment potential in UK technologies, ports and shipyards.
We will continue to work closely with maritime industry partners to help the sector unlock the investment it needs to transition to zero, and near-zero, emission fuels and technologies.
We have already made significant progress on aviation decarbonisation, with considerable support for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), airspace modernisation and development of new technologies.
Alongside other measures, zero emission flight has a role to play in decarbonising the sector. In January, we announced up to £43m of R&D funding for aviation decarbonisation, including confirming our continued support of the Civil Aviation Authority’s (CAA) Hydrogen in Aviation Regulatory Challenge. This is informing the development of a regulatory framework for zero-emission hydrogen aircraft. Also, the Department for Transport (DfT) will publish shortly a report into the barriers and opportunities to commercialising hydrogen in aviation, completed by a Jet Zero Taskforce Task and Finish Group.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reason (a) the number of staff and (b) and staff costs have increased at the Civil Aviation Authority since April 2017.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Since 2016, the CAA’s regulatory perimeter has expanded significantly. Following EU Exit, the CAA developed new rulemaking and regulatory oversight functions to replace those delivered by the European Aviation Safety Agency until 2020, including the creation of a UK state of design function. As a result of the Space Industry Act 2018, the CAA became the UK Space Regulator in 2021. At the same time, the CAA has grown to respond to the development of novel aviation technology (including drones, air taxis and future propulsion such as hydrogen), setting regulatory frameworks and standards to enable tomorrow’s aerospace to innovate and grow. The Future of Flight technologies have the potential to contribute up to £103 billion to the UK economy over the next 25 years.
Reflecting its strategic objectives and the government’s priorities, the CAA has created additional capacity in five areas; in economic regulation and consumer enforcement to manage increased ambition and expectations; to fulfil CAA’s expanded remit in relation to airspace modernisation; to deliver new cyber security oversight responsibilities for the aviation sector; and to deliver the CAA’s sustainability roles, including those it took on from the Independent Commission for Civil Aviation Noise; together with increases in back-office areas supporting these teams. All of this has been delivered with a focus on efficiency and efficacy, enabling increased investment in CAA services to its customers.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he is taking to support British manufacturing businesses in the production of new energy projects.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The government’s mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower and deliver clean power by 2030 will accelerate deployment of wind, hydrogen, nuclear, CCUS, heat pumps, and related technologies across the UK.
The government’s Clean Energy Industries Sector Plan targets at least double current investment levels across our Clean Energy Industries to over £30 billion per year by 2035. These are the industries of the future that can create hundreds of thousands of jobs for engineers, technicians, mechanics, electricians, and welders in every corner of the country.
Additionally, the government will provided targeted support to businesses through The National Wealth Fund (NWF) and Great British Energy (GBE). The NWF will deploy £27.8 billion by 2030/31, including £5.8 billion for key clean industry sectors. Energy, Engineered in the UK (EEUK) is GBE’s flagship supply chain investment programme. It will deliver £1 billion of funding to increase UK manufacturing capacity, drive down technology costs, and create and support jobs across the UK.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Mid Buckinghamshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which local authorities have received funding from Government-funded schemes supporting the procurement of new buses, including zero-emission, electric, hydrogen and hybrid buses, in each of the last five years.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
My department has published which local authorities have received funding from Government-funded schemes to procure new buses through the Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas programme on gov.uk.1
The West Midlands Combined Authority also received £50m in 2021 for the Coventry All Electric Bus City.
In addition, various local authorities have used devolved funding schemes to procure new zero emission buses.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to support investment into research and development across the hydrogen technology manufacturing sector.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Since 2020, Innovate UK, which is part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), has awarded more than £405 million in hydrogen related R&D funding to support technology development, strengthen supply chains, advance hydrogen production, and to enable its use across the transport, energy, and industrial sectors.
The Industrial Strategy set out the government’s approach to attract private investment into clean energy industries, including our hydrogen economy (including the £1 billion Clean Energy supply chain fund), £5.8 billion for the National Wealth Fund to invest in clean industries, and a £4 billion British Business Bank Growth Capital scale and start-up financing package. The proposed British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme will also reduce electricity costs for manufacturing supply chains in priority clean energy sectors such as hydrogen.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he is taking to help ensure that UK hydrogen and fuel cell technology manufacturers benefit from the comprehensive Public Financial Institution offer set out in the Clean Energy Industries Sector Plan.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The UK is well placed to be a global leader in hydrogen deployment and supply chains, with significant export market potential for UK manufacturers. The Clean Energy Industries Plan (CEI) sets out a comprehensive Public Finance Institution offer to crowd private investment into sustainable supply chains in the UK and we will ensure hydrogen benefits from this. The offer includes:
DESNZ is collaborating with the public finance institutions to align these offers with the needs of hydrogen and fuel cell manufacturers.