The Government has noted the significance of the Finch judgment, which bears on ‘Scope 3’ downstream emissions. We agree with the Committee’s view that the NPSP should include specific guidance in this regard and are providing further guidance in the final revised text. It is important to bear in mind that the characteristics of port development are, in the great majority of cases, very different from the fossil fuel production case that was the subject-matter of Finch. Ports do not themselves produce such fuels, and any responsibilities for assessing Scope 3 emissions in the case of new energy sources would normally lie with the producers themselves. In most cases, the Scope 3 impacts of new port facilities are likely to be both very complex and uncertain to estimate, and at the same time minimal in terms of global impact. It is therefore appropriate to consider the matter carefully at screening and scoping stages, but without an automatic presumption that a full Scope 3 analysis will necessarily be required. The Department for Transport’s Maritime Decarbonisation Strategy intends the expansion of the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) to encompass offshore shipping by 2027, subject to certain exemptions. In this sense, the downstream emissions impacts resulting from changes to voyage patterns attributable to UK port development will be addressed by measures bearing directly on ship operators, information available to applicants when considering their internal business case. We note that the Nuclear Regulatory Review 2025 has addressed the issue of Finch in the context of nuclear and other low-carbon infrastructure (see recommendation 15). The Government will consider the Review in due course and our response here, and in the revised wording in the NPSP itself, is without prejudice to assessment of that recommendation.