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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

The Government continues to work towards our obligation to restore water bodies to good ecological status and remains committed to securing continuous improvement for the water environment.

The Government has committed in the White Paper to exploring setting new ambitious overarching targets for the water environment. This would enable consistent national oversight and alignment between government, regional water planning, regulators, the water industry and the private sector to better deliver agreed outcomes while maintaining environmental standards.

The Veterinary Medicines Directorate continues to contribute to its commitments under the Pharmaceuticals in the Environment Roadmap, evidence‑gathering, stakeholder engagement and regulatory review activity relating to fipronil and imidacloprid.

The Government recognise the importance of repowering to maximise the benefits from our existing fleet of turbines. We are working to remove barriers in the planning system to accelerate repowering and undertaking updates to planning policy in England. In addition, the Government have announced changes to enable repowered onshore wind projects that meet eligibility criteria to bid into the contracts for difference scheme from allocation round 7 onwards.

The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) continues to work with Succorfish to resolve the issue of suspended data transmissions to the UK VMS Hub. Data continues to be transmitted from Fulcrum devices. Defra expects to lay the SI once this service issue has been resolved. In the meantime, the MMO continues to take a pragmatic approach to enforcing the existing licence condition, and all fishers who have purchased and installed an MMO type-approved IVMS device should continue to fish as normal. Defra is currently unable to disclose the number of vessels impacted by the service issue due to commercially sensitivity.

When conducting a user risk assessment, before a veterinary medicine is authorised, both the hazards and the likely exposures to humans, including the children in a household, are considered. Data from both acute and chronic toxicology studies using animal models are used to identify the possible negative reactions that may be seen in humans if exposed. Several exposure scenarios are considered, including reasonable worst-case scenarios, leading to a conservative estimate of the actual risks to those that may come into contact with a veterinary medicine. A hazard may be identified, but if the exposure to the medicines is likely to be low, then this leads to minimal risk to the person. If risks are identified, they are listed on the product information database, alongside advice on how to minimise those risks. VMD collects data on adverse reactions reported to them and to pharmaceutical companies, once a product is on the market, and can update the risk profile and user warnings where these data indicate a concern.

The Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) is undertaking a review of the AVM‑GSL status of veterinary medicines containing fipronil and imidacloprid, and further details on the review will be published in the coming weeks. A completion date cannot yet be provided as this is dependent on finalising the process and associated milestones.

The review will include a consultative process, drawing on evidence and input from all stakeholders. All decisions will be based on robust scientific assessment, with animal health and welfare remaining paramount throughout the review.