Growth is the number one mission of this Government, and growing the UK hydrogen sector will help create good jobs, attract investment, strengthen energy security and cut emissions. Through the first Hydrogen Allocation Round, we have already supported 11 projects expected to create over 600 direct jobs and attract over £400 million of private investment. More broadly, hydrogen is backed in the Clean Energy Industries Sector Plan as a frontier technology, with a wider public finance offer designed to crowd private investment into sustainable UK supply chains.

We have published a Cost Challenge Document which advises shortlisted projects in Hydrogen Allocation Round 2 on achieving cost-competitiveness during the due diligence stage. Projects must demonstrate value for money and justify costs across key components, with an aim to achieve lower average hydrogen production costs than seen in Hydrogen Allocation Round 1.

Government is committed to providing a robust funding mechanism for hydrogen production. The Government consulted on the design of the Gas Shipper Obligation between January and April 2025. We are grateful to those who responded to the consultation, and we will publish a response as soon as possible.

My Lords, we welcome the evidence in this report, in particular the inclusion of the voices of children and young people. The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act is a key step towards delivering the Government’s mission to break the link between young people’s background and their future success, and will deliver new measures to support children’s behaviour, well-being and protection. This sits alongside earlier support for children and families through our £2.4 billion families first partnership programme and our Best Start Family Hubs.

As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we will take decisive action on the obesity crisis, easing the strain on our National Health Service and creating the healthiest generation of children ever. The plan committed to, by the end of this Parliament, introduce mandatory healthier food sales reporting for all large companies in the sector. The plan also committed to introduce new targets to increase the healthiness of sales.

We intend to launch a full public consultation soon to gather a wide range of views on our proposals.

Specific implementation dates will be determined following consultation, and the intention is that the policy will be finalised and legislation laid so that reporting comes into force before the end of this Parliament, no later than 2029.

As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we will take decisive action on the obesity crisis, easing the strain on our National Health Service and creating the healthiest generation of children ever. The plan committed to, by the end of this Parliament, introduce mandatory healthier food sales reporting for all large companies in the sector. The plan also committed to introduce new targets to increase the healthiness of sales.

We intend to launch a full public consultation soon to gather a wide range of views on our proposals.

Specific implementation dates will be determined following consultation, and the intention is that the policy will be finalised and legislation laid so that reporting comes into force before the end of this Parliament, no later than 2029.

My Lords, the new VAT relief on business donations of goods to charity came into effect on 1 April this year and it is too soon yet to assess the impacts. We anticipate the relief will incentivise increased food donations to charities eligible for the relief, meaning increased donations reaching those in need. The CBI estimates that the relief will lead to an additional £72.5 million in total donations annually. We are monitoring any possible impacts on social supermarkets.

My Lords, the graduate guarantee creates additional temporary registered midwife roles and enables newly qualified midwives to apply to join the NHS workforce. This supports the transition from education to employment. Since September, over 850 of these roles have been created, backed by £8 million. This includes part-time and full-time jobs. NHS England is working closely with universities and employers to align graduate numbers with vacancies through improved workforce planning, enhanced support for students and co-ordinated local recruitment.

The Government is taking decisive action on obesity, easing the strain on our National Health Service and creating the healthiest generation of children ever.

As part of this, we will fulfil our commitment to ban the sale of high-caffeine energy drinks to children aged under 16 years old, introducing the ban within this Parliament.

We ran a 12-week consultation, which was open from 3 September 2025 to 26 November 2025. The Department is currently reviewing all submissions to the consultation and will set out a formal consultation response, and further information on our timelines, in due course.

The Government continues to learn from the implementation of previous age-restricted sales legislation. We recognise the importance of clear guidance, proportionate enforcement arrangements, and ensuring legislation is responsive to evidence, development in products, sales channels, and consumer behaviour.

Any future age of sale measures for energy drinks will be designed with these considerations in mind. We are reviewing consultation responses and will set out next steps in due course. The consultation specifically asked for views on our proposals for how the age restrictions will be enforced and its impact on local government.

Decisions on resourcing and enforcement will be taken alongside wider policy design and parliamentary scrutiny.

The Government continues to learn from the implementation of previous age-restricted sales legislation. We recognise the importance of clear guidance, proportionate enforcement arrangements, and ensuring legislation is responsive to evidence, development in products, sales channels, and consumer behaviour.

Any future age of sale measures for energy drinks will be designed with these considerations in mind. We are reviewing consultation responses and will set out next steps in due course. The consultation specifically asked for views on our proposals for how the age restrictions will be enforced and its impact on local government.

Decisions on resourcing and enforcement will be taken alongside wider policy design and parliamentary scrutiny.

We are extending free school meals to all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit from September 2026. This means over half a million more disadvantaged children will be receiving the support they need in school to be healthy and get the most out of their education.

These meals must be compliant with the School Food Standards. To ensure they support our work to create the healthiest generation of children in history, we are revising the School Food Standards and are engaging with stakeholders.

The department is revising the School Food Standards and is engaging with stakeholders to ensure they support our work to create the healthiest generation of children in history.

​We want to gather a broad spectrum of perspectives and to achieve this, we intend to consult on these revisions. As we prepare to consult, we are continuing to gather insights from our wider engagement, including a pilot

Further details on timelines for the revisions and the consultation will be available in due course.

The department is revising the School Food Standards and is engaging with stakeholders to ensure they support our work to create the healthiest generation of children in history.

​We want to gather a broad spectrum of perspectives and to achieve this, we intend to consult on these revisions. As we prepare to consult, we are continuing to gather insights from our wider engagement, including a pilot

Further details on timelines for the revisions and the consultation will be available in due course.

The department is revising the School Food Standards and is engaging with stakeholders to ensure they support our work to create the healthiest generation of children in history.

​We want to gather a broad spectrum of perspectives and to achieve this, we intend to consult on these revisions. As we prepare to consult, we are continuing to gather insights from our wider engagement, including a pilot

Further details on timelines for the revisions and the consultation will be available in due course.

The new NHS Quality Strategy will build on the 10-Year Health Plan and Dr Penny Dash’s review of patient safety across the health and care landscape. The 10-Year Health Plan commits to using sharper financial incentives to deliver value and improve outcomes. We expect the NHS Quality Strategy will reference, alongside other interventions, how the Department and NHS England will develop these incentives to ensure they drive high quality care across the National Health Service.

NHS England is delivering a comprehensive programme to improve the diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes of people with kidney disease. In 2023, NHS England published a renal services transformation toolkit to support earlier identification of chronic kidney disease and more joined up services. These changes are intended to make it easier to deliver improvements along the whole patient pathway, including earlier diagnosis and treatment, that can potentially prevent or delay the need for dialysis and transplant further downstream in the pathway.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for providing clinical guidance and quality standards. NICE’s guidance on chronic kidney disease includes guidance on the use of annual urine albumin-creatine ratio tests as the preferred method to detect and monitor kidney disease. The guidance is available on the NICE website.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published a strategy in March 2025 setting out a collective ambition for improving uptake and adoption of NICE guidance by the health and care system over the next three years. The strategy aims to improve the uptake and adoption of NICE guidance in priority areas which align with the National Health Service 10-Year Health Plan by 10% by March 2029. This includes guidance on cardiovascular disease and diabetes, further details on which can be found on the NICE website.

In 2023, NHS England published a renal services transformation toolkit to support earlier identification of chronic kidney disease and more joined up services. Eight commissioned regional renal clinical networks are implementing this toolkit, in collaboration with providers. The regional networks are designed to improve care for kidney patients by standardizing treatment, reducing health inequalities, and promoting best practices, including for medical therapy use, across hospitals, commissioners, and specialists.

My Lords, we are taking decisive action on obesity, easing the strain on our NHS and creating the healthiest generation of children ever. As part of this, we will fulfil our commitment to ban the sale of high-caffeine energy drinks to children aged under 16, introducing the ban within this Parliament. Our consultation has closed. We are analysing the responses and will set out further information on our timelines in due course.

The Clean Energy Industries Sector Plan sets out a clear plan to boost growth in the UK hydrogen industry, including: deployment certainty

for future hydrogen allocation rounds; launching the first transport and storage allocation round in hydrogen to power our business model next year; exploring options to expand the clear industry bonus of hydrogen; delivering events connecting developers with suppliers; and a comprehensive public financial institution offering, including the £1 billion Great British Energy supply chain.