Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of households that will receive the £200 energy bill rebate but repay the sum in future bills; and what estimate they have made of the demographic profile such households will have, particularly (1) age, and (2) income.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
As announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 3 February, the £200 assistance for energy bills will be provided through all energy bills from October 2022. This will be recouped through all energy bills from April 2023. The details for this process are currently being established.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Callanan on 7 December (HL4251), whether they have ever asked the relevant companies to release them from their confidentiality agreement; if so, (1) when they did so, and (2) what were the results; and if not, what plans they have to (a) do so now, and (b) publish the correspondence as proof.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The reference made to protecting commercial confidentiality in the previous reply was not specific to any contractual obligation but to the duty of care the Government is under to protect commercially sensitive information shared with it. This duty is recognised, for example, in section 43 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Callanan on 7 December (HL4251), whether the licences and contracts they have signed conform to international best practice regarding (1) confidentiality clauses, and (2) exceptions being allowed and written into contract under a range of pre-defined circumstances; and whether they can elaborate on what such allowed exceptions are in the case of the UK licenses.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The reference made to protecting commercial confidentiality in the previous reply was not specific to any contractual obligation but to the duty of care the Government is under to protect commercially sensitive information shared with it. This duty is recognised, for example, in section 43 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Callanan on 7 December (HL4251), which data sets are confidential according to precise contractual obligations.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The reference made to protecting commercial confidentiality in the previous reply was not specific to any contractual obligation but to the duty of care the Government is under to protect commercially sensitive information shared with it. This duty is recognised, for example, in section 43 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of community energy schemes being used to increase public involvement in the drive towards Net Zero.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government recognises that community energy projects can play a role in raising awareness of both the energy system and wider environmental issues, and in the promotion of behaviour change.
In order to support community energy projects, the Government’s £10m Rural Community Energy Fund supports rural communities in England to develop renewable energy projects.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they will introduce support for community energy schemes.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government recognises that community energy projects can play a role in raising awareness of both the energy system and wider environmental issues, and in the promotion of behaviour change.
In order to support community energy projects, the Government’s £10m Rural Community Energy Fund supports rural communities in England to develop renewable energy projects.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to account for the embodied carbon of existing buildings; and the (1) climate, (2) wider environmental, and (3) public health, costs of their demolition.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
On 1st June 2021, a coalition of governments and organizations, led by the United Kingdom (UK) and India, launched the new Industrial Deep Decarbonisation Initiative (IDDI). The IDDI will work on the harmonisation of embodied emissions reporting, public construction practices and standard setting.
At COP26, the IDDI launched three working groups on embodied carbon data collection, standards and green public procurement. These working groups will deliver guidelines, comparison mechanisms and digital tool solutions agreed among member governments no later than 2024.
The methodology for the construction stage, in-use and end of life embodied carbon emissions is the subject of the cross Whitehall working group on Government Construction Metrics run by the IPA. This working group is aiming to propose a consistent whole life carbon assessment (WLCA) for public projects by 2023. Many infrastructure projects already use the PAS2080 standard when assessing the carbon impact of these projects.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to (1) co-operate with, (2) promote, and (3) encourage, the development of the Global Registry of Fossil Fuels.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Transparency has an essential role to play in supporting competition and sustainability in global energy markets. We welcome what the Global Registry may be able to add to existing sources of information and will consider how we can contribute to this initiative. There are, however, constraints on what information we can release – in particular around protecting commercial confidentiality.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they gave to signing up to the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance at COP26; what were the reasons for not signing; and what plans they have to consider signing in the future.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government’s policy on the future of Oil and Gas is set out in this year’s landmark North Sea Transition Deal. At the centre of this deal are jobs and a transition towards a net zero economy. As the Climate Change Committee has recognised, the UK will unavoidably continue to rely on oil and gas in its energy mix for some years to come. Although the Government will remain a net importer, domestic production of these fuels will continue to play an important role, as the Government achieves its Net Zero ambitions.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how their obligations under Article 7 of the Aarhus Convention 1998 are discharged regarding Local Enterprise Partnership (1) plans, and (2) programs.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government requires each LEP to set out in their local assurance framework their arrangements for governance and transparent decision making in regard to LEP plans and programs. In relation to Article 7 of the Aarhus Convention 1998, these assurance requirements include:
1. Board membership, including an identified board member to represent and engage with the SME business community.
2. Collective engagement with local authority leaders in decision-making on growth priorities.
3. A dedicated website through which local partners and the public can check progress on the delivery of Growth Deals and access key documents such as the Strategic Economic Plan, ensuring that this information can be found easily and is accessible to all
4. Through their accountable body, ensure that Freedom of Information and Environmental Information Regulation requests are dealt with in line with relevant legislation
5. Ensure that there is ongoing local engagement with public and private sector stakeholders to inform key decisions and set out how they will evidence effective engagement
6. Ensure that there is local engagement with and feedback to the general public about future Local Enterprise Partnership strategy development and progress against delivery of the SEP, including key projects and spend against those projects and that this can be evidenced