Lords
Oral Questions
19 March 2026
11 contributions
UK Energy Sources and Cost of Energy
My Lords, I thank the Minister for his response. Last night’s escalation proved that we should not be dependent on imported oil and gas and that the UK must make use of its domestic energy supplies. Given this and the fact that, by autumn, we could be producing enough gas to heat 1.6 million homes b…
My Lords, I welcome the measures that the Government have already taken, particularly around reducing the cost of heating oil. Does the Minister agree that it is important that we work with allies and partners to encourage all involved to stop targeting energy infrastructure?
+9 more contributions in this session
Lords
Committee Stage
17 March 2026
3 contributions
Electricity Supplier Payments (Amendment) Regulations 2026
My Lords, you have got me again. These draft regulations were laid before the House on 2 February 2026. I trust that since they are very technical in their nature and very modest in their effect, they will be agreed, because they are an essential element of making sure that our supplier payments and…
My Lords, there is a reason why UK energy prices are some of the most expensive in the world. We are starting from a high base and we are increasingly vulnerable. At the moment, our gas prices are six times higher than you might find on an ex-NOLA basis: that is, exported from New Orleans. We are mo…
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Committee Stage
17 March 2026
5 contributions
Renewables Obligation (Amendment) Order 2026
My Lords, the renewables obligation scheme has incentivised UK renewable electricity generation through a system of tradeable certificates called renewable obligation certificates. Three separate but complementary renewables obligation schemes cover the UK: the RO and the renewables obligation Scotl…
My Lords, I thank the Minister for his introduction. I begin by recognising that this draft Renewables Obligation (Amendment) Order 2026 makes a specific and, on the face of it, sensible change in the way the renewables obligation is updated over time. By moving from RPI to CPI calculations for infl…
+3 more contributions in this session
Lords
Statutory Instrument
12 March 2026
5 contributions
Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme (Amendment) (Extension to Maritime Activities) Order 2026
My Lords, I thank the House for its consideration of this draft order, which was laid before the House on 13 January.
The UK Emissions Trading Scheme was established under the Climate Change Act 2008 by the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme Order 2020 as a UK-wide greenhouse gas emissions tra…
I thank the Minister for his remarks and for his kindness in reaching out to me asking for a meeting when I tabled the amendment. Without wanting to in any way ruin his career prospects, I suggest to noble Lords that if this particular Minister had been in charge, this SI would not be going forward—…
+3 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
9 March 2026
10 contributions
Energy Markets
I thank the noble Lords for their contributions this evening and I will attempt to address the questions that they have put to me. I must say, however, to be absolutely frank, that there appears to have been one sensible contribution and one not-very-sensible contribution. I will attempt to answer t…
I very much welcome my noble friend Lord Foulkes back to his place, as it were. Although he was speaking from a place that is slightly remote, I nevertheless have a real feeling that he is, in essence, in the Chamber with us this evening.
I absolutely endorse what my noble friend had to say on this…
+8 more contributions in this session
Lords
Committee Stage
9 March 2026
3 contributions
Electricity and Gas (Energy Company Obligation) (Amendment) (Specified Period) Order 2026
My Lords, this draft order was laid before Parliament on 26 January 2026. This Government remain fully committed to ensuring that households, particularly those on low incomes or at risk of fuel poverty, can live in warmer, more energy-efficient homes that are affordable to heat. At the heart of thi…
My Lords, I will respond on the Electricity and Gas (Energy Company Obligation) (Amendment) (Specified Period) Order. While appearing to be only a minor adjustment today, this SI is important, as it involves the need to protect the most vulnerable in our society from poorly insulated homes and fuel …
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
3 March 2026
7 contributions
Carbon Budget 6
I thank the noble Lord for the Answer. You can imagine this is something that concerns me, because the previous Government lost two court cases about this as they were not going to achieve what they were aiming for. We have just had carbon budget 7. I am quite curious about whether this Government h…
My Lords, if we are going to meet our carbon budgets, clearly, the challenge of getting low-carbon electricity generation as quickly as possible is crucial. The latest figures I have for Q2 2025 suggest that nuclear power was about 15.1% of electricity generation. How do you square that with the Gre…
+5 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
26 February 2026
6 contributions
Fire and Rescue Services: Clean Energy Projects
My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for that Answer, but it is unacceptable, given the fire risk posed by something as highly combustible, flammable and at risk of thermal runaway as these battery energy storage facilities, that fire and rescue services should not be statutory consultees to the …
My Lords, I declare an interest as the chair of the national Building Safety Regulator and the former London Fire Commissioner. I thank my noble friend the Minister for his Answer. Given the comprehensive new guidance that the Government have published with the National Fire Chiefs Council in Decemb…
+4 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
11 February 2026
2 contributions
Local Power Plan
I thank the noble Lords for their thorough and constructive response to this Statement on the local energy plan, and for their general support, particularly for the local power plan itself. I particularly thank the noble Earl, Lord Russell, for his forensic analysis of the detail of the report and f…
I thank my noble friend Lady Gill for her carefully thought-out contribution. These are questions that we need to make sure we have got right as far as a local power plan is concerned.
The first thing I can say is, yes, the local power plan will start saving people substantial amounts of money on t…
Lords
Committee Stage
28 January 2026
8 contributions
Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme (Amendment) Order 2026
My Lords, this order was laid before Parliament on 16 December 2025.
The UK Emissions Trading Scheme, or UK ETS, was established—perhaps I should say “re-established”—under the Climate Change Act 2008 by the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme Order 2020 as a UK-wide greenhouse gas emissions tr…
My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for so comprehensively outlining the contents of the SI. Once again, I welcome him to the House and his position. We knew each other in the other place over a number of years and I was a great admirer of his during that time. I also welcome my noble friend to …
+6 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
27 January 2026
6 contributions
Warm Homes Plan
I thank the noble Lord and the noble Earl for their contributions on this Statement. I think I can say that both of them were pretty supportive, which is nice for something as large as this. I therefore bank that support, as it were, and will address myself to the very pertinent questions that the n…
I thank the noble Lord for his question. It might be helpful if I go into a brief disquisition on perovskite and its qualities, to inform the House about the noble Lord’s question.
Perovskite is, quite simply, a wonder product in terms of solar development. It is a mineral, but largely made synthet…
+4 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
19 January 2026
6 contributions
Offshore Wind
I thank the noble Lords for their contributions this evening. They were deeply contrasting in both tone and content: one I substantially agree with; the other I do not at all. We need no guesses as to which is which. I am particularly disappointed by the contribution from the Opposition Benches and …
I thank the noble Baroness for that intervention. It gives me an opportunity to confirm the two floating offshore wind projects that have been agreed under this auction round. I might add, by the way, that the auction rounds were not a sort of shoo-in for anybody who wanted to come along and invest,…
+4 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
14 January 2026
9 contributions
COP Climate Negotiations: Cities
My Lords, on behalf of my noble friend—and, I assume, with his consent— I beg leave to ask the Question standing in his name on the Order Paper.
My Lords, I endorse the Minister’s tribute to my noble friend Lord Rees. Does he agree that when it comes to countries such as the US, where the Administration have set their face against policies in relation to both mitigation and adaptation, the role of states, local authorities and businesses in …
+7 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
8 January 2026
8 contributions
Net Zero: Civil Society and Faith-based Organisations
My Lords, I thank the Minister for his reply. Gus Speth at Yale said that the real issue in reaching net zero is tackling “selfishness, greed and apathy”. Pope Francis called for an ecological “conversion”. Both civil society and faith-based organisations can provide thought leadership in this spher…
My Lords, does the Minister agree that, as there is no scientific evidence that we can change the climate, the right reverend Prelate’s bishop friends are relying for their scientific information on supernatural powers?
+6 more contributions in this session
Lords
Committee Stage
15 December 2025
3 contributions
Oil and Gas Authority (Carbon Storage and Offshore Petroleum) (Specified Periods for Disclosure of Protected Material) Regulations 2026
My Lords, these technical regulations were laid before the
As set out in the Energy Act 2023, carbon storage licensees are responsible for complying with various obligations, including the reporting of information and samples obtained through the conduct of licensee authorities to the NSTA. We beli…
My Lords, I very much welcome the regulations and totally agree with my noble friend about the importance of CCUS to meeting our net-zero targets. Only a few weeks ago, the Whitehead review made the same point about GGRs: you cannot achieve net zero without this. I look forward to my noble friend re…
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Committee Stage
15 December 2025
4 contributions
Heat Networks (Market Framework) (Great Britain) (Amendment) Regulations 2025
My Lords, these draft regulations were laid before the House on 30 October.
Heat networks have a crucial role to play in our decarbonisation ambitions and energy security mission. As proven internationally, they can provide low-cost, low-carbon energy for all, particularly in high-density areas suc…
My Lords, I thank the Minister for his clear and comprehensive introduction to this SI and I welcome the fact that we are getting this long-overdue regulatory framework for heat networks. I agree with him that they are an important part of our energy future. Based on renewable and low-carbon emissio…
+2 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
10 December 2025
8 contributions
Drax
I thank the Minister for his reply, which goes a bit further than I expected. Drax specifically claims to stop sourcing from old-growth deferral areas and old-growth management areas in British Columbia, but the majority of old-growth forests fall outside those designations. Will the Minister and th…
My Lords, why is Drax sourcing sustainable wood from abroad when we now have a very intensive tree-planting growth policy in this country? Also, Yorkshire farmers would benefit if we were to go back to sourcing fast-growing willow coppice trees and miscanthus and sending them to Drax to use. Why did…
+6 more contributions in this session
Lords
Statutory Instrument
9 December 2025
Motor Fuel Price (Open Data) Regulations 2025
That the draft Regulations laid before the House on 13 October be approved. Relevant document: 39th Report from the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee. Considered in Grand Committee on 4 December.
Lords
Oral Questions
9 December 2025
7 contributions
Tropical Forest Forever Facility
My Lords, I welcome the Minister to his new role. It is deeply disappointing that the Government have let down historic allies such as Brazil, Norway and Germany by not investing in the Tropical Forest Forever Facility at COP 30. It is a desperately needed initiative to end tropical deforestation, a…
My Lords, I appreciate that the Minister may need to write to me too to answer my questions. In the autumn the Joint Intelligence Committee produced a report on the impact on the UK of global biodiversity loss, which the report is believed to say is very significant. Will the Minister please find ou…
+5 more contributions in this session