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.

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.

The noble Lord is right to point out the early statement. Within hours of the American announcement, we published a joint statement expressing our strong disagreement with the sanctions imposed upon the court, co-signed by the Foreign Ministers of Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the Netherlands. The noble Lord is also right to point to the need for practical support of the ICC in this period. We are offering that practical support through various things, including witness protection, sentence enforcement and commitment to internal reform processes. On UK staff, something like 50 or so staff are employed at the ICC. We are in close contact with the court and with British nationals impacted by events and these sanctions.

My Lords, support for international criminal justice and accountability is a fundamental

element of the UK’s foreign policy. The International Criminal Court is the primary international institution for investigating and prosecuting the most serious crimes of international concern, holding perpetrators to account and achieving justice for victims. The ICC, as everyone knows, is going through a particularly challenging period, and the UK stands alongside our fellow ICC states parties in supporting and vending the independence, impartiality and integrity of the court.

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.

This Government will always take opportunities to improve our grid connections and reduce costs. We see partnership as part of that. It makes sense that we negotiate with countries with which we have interconnectors, so we will continue to do that. Membership of specific organisations, such as the North Seas Energy Cooperation that the noble Lord suggested, will be part of these negotiations. These negotiations will be discussed in Parliament. We hope to develop partnerships and to participate in the relevant bodies as per the agreement.

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.

One of the things the Government are doing is working to promote more sustainable farming, because sustainable farming will turn this around and make the difference. We must support our pollinators by looking at how we farm and what we spray on our farms. That is why I am very pleased to have recently been given the pesticides brief, and I will be working to see what we can do in that space.

Also, we have threats from non-native invasive species—the yellow-legged hornet is causing all sorts of problems. We are working very hard to tackle that as well, because there are threats from all sides, as the noble Lord says.

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).

Of course, we remain committed to co-operating where it is in the national interest to do so, as I said. The noble Lord is right to point out that it is in all our interests for Europe to co-operate on industry and defence to generate the interoperability that we need to cope with any threat from Russia. That takes place within the overall umbrella of NATO. As he and all noble Lords know, the defence industry is a vital component of any means by which we deter any adversary; for them to believe that we can arm and supply the troops we put on the front line is crucial.

My Lords, the Government entered SAFE negotiations in good faith, but will only enter into agreements that are in the national interest. While no SAFE agreement was reached, we remain committed to EU co-operation under “NATO first”, whether through SAFE or other initiatives. It makes sense for Europe to work more closely together. In this context, we welcome the UK’s participation in the EU’s €90 billion Ukraine support loan, announced last week.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The noble Lord is absolutely right to raise the issue of noise, and we are learning more and more about that as time goes on—I do not think it was taken seriously for quite a long time. I do not have an update at my fingertips today, but I am more than happy to keep the noble Lord informed as we make progress in this area.

Defra is working towards making Remote Electronic Monitoring a requirement for large pelagic trawlers in English waters. The department will make an announcement in due course.

I am pleased to confirm that the United Kingdom formally acceded to the IMO Cape Town Agreement for the Safety of Fishing Vessels on 14 May 2026.

The Government welcomes the research from Resource Futures and recognises the importance of reducing marine litter from abandoned vessels.

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. This will now be discussed by OSPAR contracting parties and, if it is agreed, will be published this summer and made available for use by practitioners and policymakers globally.

The Government will consider next steps for how this guidance is implemented nationally.