Written questions by Coutinho.

With reference to his Department's press release entitled UK and California deepen ties on clean energy to boost investment, published on 16 February 2026, if he will set out each individual agreement, treaty or Memorandum of Understanding signed between his Department and a foreign (a) national government or (b) local, regional, federal or state arms of government since 4 July 2024.

The Department works closely with counterpart ministries to develop and maintain a range of ongoing partnerships that help advance our Clean Power 2030 Mission and wider priorities including the Growth Mission. We have signed a range of non-legally binding partnerships and Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) since July 2024. These are not routinely published or notified to Parliament, in line with HMG policy on non- legally binding instruments.

With reference to his Department's press release entitled UK and California deepen ties on clean energy to boost investment, published on 16 February 2026, if he will set out each agreement, treaty or Memorandum of Understanding signed between his Department and an international or supranational organisation since 4 July 2024.

We have signed a range of non-legally binding partnerships and Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) since July 2024. These are not routinely published or notified to Parliament, in line with HMG policy on non- legally binding instruments.

With reference to his Department's press release entitled UK and California deepen ties on clean energy to boost investment, published on 16 February 2026, whether his Department has formally signed any specific agreements with China since 4 July 2024.

We have signed a range of non-legally binding partnerships and Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) since July 2024. These are not routinely published or notified to Parliament, in line with HMG policy on non- legally binding instruments.

What memoranda of understanding were signed by Ministers in his Department with i) national governments and ii) representatives of national governments in 2025.

Departmental Ministers engage with a range of national governments and representatives to support delivery of the department’s objectives. The Department works closely with counterpart ministries to develop and maintain a range of ongoing partnerships that help advance our Clean Power 2030 Mission and wider priorities including the Growth Mission.

Whether (a) his Department and (b) the arms length bodies sponsored by his Department are compliant with the Supreme Court ruling in the case of For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers [2025].

We have set out our expectation that all duty bearers, including Departments and arm’s-length bodies, follow the law as clarified by the Supreme Court ruling and seek specialist legal advice where necessary. The Prime Minister has underlined this recently. The Equality and Human Rights Commission has submitted a draft Code of Practice on services, public functions and associations to Ministers, and we are reviewing it with the care it deserves. This will provide further guidance to duty bearers.

With reference to his Department's press release entitled New auction delivers unprecedented clean, homegrown power, published on 10 February 2026, if he will publish the internal analysis showing that the renewable generation capacity awarded in Allocation Round 7 will reduce household bills.

The press notice 'Notes to editors' section provides a published summary of the analysis. We are not planning any further publications on AR7.

Whether his Department conducted a cost-benefit analysis to support the decision to link the UK Emissions Trading Scheme with the EU Emissions Trading Scheme.

Government analysis indicates linking could stimulate economic growth, adding billions annually to our economy each year in the long run. Linking the UK and EU ETSs is expected to bring significant economic benefits to the UK. These include for example providing businesses with access to a larger, stable carbon market; and the removal of some of the regulatory barriers in sectors like CO2 storage. Additionally, linking is expected to create the conditions for mutual CBAM exemptions, removing a major barrier to trade and lowering costs for UK firms.

Whether the Government's position that aligning the UK Emissions Trading Scheme to the EU Emissions Trading Scheme will prevent an £800 million impact from the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, refers to savings in a single year or to a cumulative impact over multiple years.

Linking the UK ETS and EU ETS is expected to bring significant economic benefits to the UK. These include providing businesses with access to a larger, stable carbon market; the removal of regulatory barriers in sectors like CO2 storage; supporting UK renewable rollout; and lowering electricity costs in the long run. Additionally, linking is expected to create the conditions for mutual CBAM exemptions, removing a major barrier to trade and lowering costs for UK firms. The £800m estimate is from a Frontier Economics report and refers to cumulative savings between 2026 and 2030.

Whether any cost benefit analysis conducted by his Department on linking the UK Emissions Trading Scheme with the EU Emissions Trading Scheme assessed the potential impact of higher UK Allowance prices on UK industry and consumers as a result of price convergence.

The price of carbon allowances in the UK Emissions Trading Scheme is set by the market.As the conveners of the market the Government is not able to comment on current prices and price movements. Linking the UK ETS and EU ETS is expected to bring significant economic benefits to the UK. These include for example providing businesses with access to a larger, stable carbon market; and the removal of some of the regulatory barriers in sectors like CO2 storage. Additionally, linking is expected to create the conditions for mutual CBAM exemptions, removing a major barrier to trade and lowering costs for UK firms.

What the source is for the Government's claim that aligning the UK Emissions Trading Scheme to the EU Emissions Trading Scheme will save British businesses £800 million.

Linking the UK ETS and EU ETS is expected to bring significant economic benefits to the UK. These include providing businesses with access to a larger, stable carbon market; the removal of regulatory barriers in sectors like CO2 storage; supporting UK renewable rollout; and lowering electricity costs in the long run. Additionally, linking is expected to create the conditions for mutual CBAM exemptions, removing a major barrier to trade and lowering costs for UK firms. The £800m estimate is from a Frontier Economics report and refers to cumulative savings between 2026 and 2030.

What assessment his Department has made of the additional cost to businesses and consumers since the beginning of 2025 arising from increase UK ETS Allowance prices following the announcement of the Government’s intention to link the UK Emissions Trading Scheme with the EU Emissions Trading Scheme.

The price of carbon allowances in the UK Emissions Trading Scheme is set by the market.As the conveners of the market the Government is not able to comment on current prices and price movements. Linking the UK ETS and EU ETS is expected to bring significant economic benefits to the UK. These include for example providing businesses with access to a larger, stable carbon market; and the removal of some of the regulatory barriers in sectors like CO2 storage. Additionally, linking is expected to create the conditions for mutual CBAM exemptions, removing a major barrier to trade and lowering costs for UK firms.

With reference to the oral answer by the Prime Minister of 3 December 2025, Official Report, column 980, what the evidence basis is for the statement that the energy bills package announced in the Budget will cut energy bills for every family by £150.

The recent Budget acts to take an average £150 of costs off household energy bills from April 2026. As a result of this action, people can expect to see a significant saving on their bills.

Pursuant to the Answer on 5 November 2025 to Question 86737 on Energy: Prices, for what reason his intention to cut energy bills by £300 by 2030 was not included in his Department's publication entitled Carbon budget and growth delivery plan, published on 29 October 2025.

The Carbon Budget and Growth Delivery Plan sets out how the UK will continue to reduce emissions in a way that lowers bills and secures good jobs, in line with the landmark 2008 Climate Change Act. In this document and those published alongside it, the government reconfirmed the commitments made in the Clean Power Action Plan to make Britain a clean energy superpower, and to get the UK off the rollercoaster of fossil fuel prices and onto clean, homegrown power that we control. Our plan for clean power by 2030 will bring down wholesale prices and reduce energy bill volatility.

How many (a) Ministers, (b) special advisers and (c) civil servants from his Department will attend the COP30 summit in Belem in November 2025; and whether these figures apply to (i) his Department and (ii) other departments.

The full, confirmed list of delegates who attend COP is published by the UNFCCC each year, after COP has concluded. The UK delegation to COP30 will be significantly smaller than the delegation to COP29 in Baku last year. The UK delegation includes Ministers and negotiators working together to represent the British people on the world stage fighting for investment, jobs, energy security, and action on the climate crisis.

Whether it remains his policy to cut energy bills by £300 by 2030.

It remains our intention to cut energy bills by up to £300 by 2030. The Government believes that our mission to deliver clean power by 2030 is the best way to break our dependence on global fossil fuel markets and protect billpayers permanently. The creation of Great British Energy will help us to harness clean energy and have less reliance on volatile international energy markets and help in our commitment to make Britain a clean energy superpower by 2030. This, combined with our Warm Homes Plan to upgrade millions of homes to make them warmer and cheaper to run is how we will drive down energy bills and make cold homes a thing of the past. A clean power system will also help protect consumers from global gas prices and fluctuations which drove increases of over £1,300 in the electricity price cap for a typical household during winter 22/23.

How many heat pump installations have been directly funded by his Department outside the Boiler Upgrade Scheme since July 2024.

Outside of the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, between July 2024 and March 2025 inclusive, there have been 14,218 heat pumps installed under government schemes, including 11,035 under the Energy Company Obligation, 2,097 under the Home Upgrade Grant, 1,086 under the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund. The statistics are available to access on GOV.UK (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/heat-pump-deployment-statistics). The ECO is not a government-funded grant scheme, but instead a requirement on larger energy supplier to deliver energy efficiency and heating measures to low-income households. Heat pumps are eligible for support under the Warm Homes: Local Grant and Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund. The schemes started delivery in April 2025 and therefore installation figures are not yet available.

If he will make an estimate of (a) the cost to the public purse and (b) the potential impact on energy bills of Hydrogen Allocation Round 2.

In April 2025, the Government announced a shortlist of 27 projects across the UK to progress to the next stage of the Second Hydrogen Allocation Round (HAR2) process. Value for money and the affordability of energy bills will be central to decisions regarding capacity allocation and contract award. We expect final decisions on successful projects to be made in early 2026.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of aligning with the EU Emissions Trading System on the price of carbon in the UK.

The price of carbon allowances in the UK Emissions Trading Scheme is set by the market. Linking the UK and EU ETSs is expected to create a larger, more stable market, which will lower the costs of decarbonisation for UK businesses. Many industry stakeholders, including Make UK, UK steel, and Energy UK, have voiced support for linking the two schemes, citing that linkage would align carbon prices and support business investment and certainty, by creating a larger and more liquid carbon market.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the target for 10GW of hydrogen production capacity on energy bills by 2030.

The Government believes that the only way to guarantee our energy security and protect billpayers permanently is to speed up the transition away from fossil fuels and towards homegrown clean energy. Low carbon hydrogen is a key option for decarbonising hard to electrify industrial processes, heavy transport, and deliver clean power. Government support is a temporary bridge to unlock private investment and reduce costs, with all supported projects having to deliver value for money. As production scales and costs fall, future projects will need less support. Our Hydrogen Strategy, which we intend to publish this Autumn, will set out more on expected hydrogen supply and demand.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the Gas Shippers Obligation on energy bills.

The Department consulted on the design of the Gas Shipper Obligation (GSO) earlier this year and published an analytical annex focusing on its impact on gas users, based on Hydrogen Allocation Round 1 estimated costs. The affordability of energy bills remains a key priority for the government and the design of the GSO will consider energy bill affordability, value for money, and fairness.