Asked by: Anna Turley (Labour (Co-op) - Redcar)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment the Government has made of the potential merits of providing support to to steel companies for the construction of electric arc furnaces on Teesside; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
The Government continues to work with Mayor Ben Houchen and the Tees Valley Combined Authority to promote new investment in the Tees Valley, including in the materials sector. Discussions with potential investors are at various stages of maturity and remain commercially sensitive. Any proposals that request public funding will be assessed for their robustness and the value for money it would represent.
Asked by: Anna Turley (Labour (Co-op) - Redcar)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what support the Government plans to provide to Ineos for choosing the South Tees Development Corporation site as the manufacturing location of that company’s Projekt Grenadier 4x4 vehicles.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
Government has a long-standing programme of support to maintain the competitiveness of the UK automotive sector. This includes the Automotive Sector Deal. This is a joint strategic vision for how government and industry will work together to respond to the Grand Challenges of the Industrial Strategy, such as Clean Growth and the Future of Mobility.
The Department has maintained close engagement with INEOS throughout their process and has met with the company and members of the South Tees Development Corporation on several occasions. We continue to promote UK options with INEOS, and stand ready to support in any way we can.
Asked by: Anna Turley (Labour (Co-op) - Redcar)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has with Ineos on that company choosing the South Tees Development Corporation site as the manufacturing location for its Projekt Grenadier 4x4 vehicles.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
Government has a long-standing programme of support to maintain the competitiveness of the UK automotive sector. This includes the Automotive Sector Deal. This is a joint strategic vision for how government and industry will work together to respond to the Grand Challenges of the Industrial Strategy, such as Clean Growth and the Future of Mobility.
I am delighted that Sir Jim Ratcliffe is considering the UK as a place for large-scale investment into the automotive sector. The Department has maintained close engagement with INEOS throughout their process and has met with the company and members of the South Tees Development Corporation on several occasions. We continue to promote UK options with INEOS, and stand ready to support in any way we can.
Asked by: Anna Turley (Labour (Co-op) - Redcar)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions the Government has had with steel companies on the construction of electric arc furnaces on Teesside.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
The Government continues to work with Mayor Ben Houchen and the Tees Valley Combined Authority to promote new investment in the Tees Valley, including in the materials sector. Such discussions are commercially sensitive. Any proposals that request public funding are assessed for their robustness, strategic fit and value for money.
Asked by: Anna Turley (Labour (Co-op) - Redcar)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps is he taking to support research and development for large-scale hydrogen conversion projects.
Answered by Claire Perry
The Government is currently undertaking work to strengthen and assess the evidence on the range of potential approaches to decarbonising heat in the long-term. This work includes examining the possibility of large scale conversion of the gas network to hydrogen, as well as looking at the potential of other low carbon gases, heat networks, and large-scale electrification of heating.
In support of this work we are investing in hydrogen innovation, with up to £65 million supporting projects addressing the fundamental challenges of large-scale hydrogen conversion, such as establishing the safety case and reducing production costs.
Asked by: Anna Turley (Labour (Co-op) - Redcar)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential for large-scale hydrogen conversion projects to support the UK to meet its de-carbonisation targets.
Answered by Claire Perry
The Government recognises the significant potential of hydrogen in meeting our long-term decarbonisation targets.
We are currently undertaking work to strengthen and assess the evidence on the range of potential approaches to decarbonising heat, including the possibility of large scale conversion of the gas network to hydrogen, and will set out further detail on this work later this year.
In support of this work we are investing in hydrogen innovation, with up to £65 million supporting projects addressing the fundamental challenges of large-scale hydrogen conversion, such as establishing the safety case and reducing production costs.
Asked by: Anna Turley (Labour (Co-op) - Redcar)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many households in (a) Redcar constituency (b) Redcar and Cleveland and (c) the North East spend more than 10 per cent of their income on fuel bills.
Answered by Claire Perry
In the North East, approximately 0.15 million households (13.3 per cent), spent more than 10 per cent of their full income on fuel bills. Data is only available at the regional level and is not broken down further to Local Authority or Parliamentary Constituency level.
Asked by: Anna Turley (Labour (Co-op) - Redcar)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to ensure that unspent funds allocated to the SSI taskforce remain available to that taskforce.
Answered by Claire Perry
The Government provided a comprehensive funding package to support the affected workforce and promote the economic recovery of the Tees Valley in response to the SSI liquidation. Of this funding, £50 million was allocated specifically to the SSI Task Force to deliver a range of tailored support initiatives. All of this funding has already been paid to the accountable bodies. Task Force members continue to work closely with officials in the Department to deliver this support package.
Asked by: Anna Turley (Labour (Co-op) - Redcar)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how his Department monitors the effect on existing commercial innovation facilities after an award of public funding has been made for new innovation facilities.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave on 20 October 2016 to Questions UIN 49036, 49037 and 49038.
Asked by: Anna Turley (Labour (Co-op) - Redcar)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the risk and potential effect of new government-funded assets on commercial innovation activity in existing commercial innovation facilities.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
All potential major capital projects are assessed against the additional value they add, including an evaluation of whether the research or innovation activity is already being undertaken elsewhere. The majority of decisions about which research investments to undertake are taken directly by Research Councils, based on rigorous criteria including peer review.
In respect of the establishment of Innovate UK’s 11 Catapult Centres, all candidate areas have undergone a robust evaluation by Innovate UK’s Senior Innovation Leads who have relevant domain expertise. In addition, facilitated workshops, with leading figures in the relevant industries - including business, academic and representatives from the public sector, are held to ascertain whether Innovate UK’s analysis of the market opportunities in this area is correct. Each candidate area is evaluated according to an agreed process to assess the size of the global market opportunity and the demand for a Catapult to help business build on their capabilities to commercialise innovation and realise this potential in the UK.
In setting up new Catapult centres Innovate UK take into account the option of working within or alongside existing physical centres in the UK either to avoid duplication or to achieve quicker delivery.
At a local level, Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) are responsible for identifying, assessing and approving Local Growth Funded projects. They do this in accordance with their strategic economic objectives and Local Assurance Frameworks which have to comply with the LEP National Assurance Framework. The National Assurance Framework covers value for money and states that methodology should be proportionate to the funding allocated and in line with established Government guidance including the HM Treasury Green Book.