Asked by: Baroness Liddell of Coatdyke (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to provide assistance to the?Outward Bound?Trust to ensure it is able to continue to provide (1) financial support to students who wish to attend school residential trips, and (2) tourism services in remote parts of the UK.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
We recognise that COVID-19 has significantly impacted the tourism sector, including organisations providing outdoor educational trips. My Department has engaged with stakeholders throughout the crisis to monitor the impact on tourism services across the UK. We will continue to consult the sector to assess how we can most effectively support businesses, organisations and customers during the recovery period.
We have announced unprecedented support for business and workers, including those in the tourism sector, to protect them against the current economic emergency. This includes employee support through the recently extended Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, plus various loan schemes which offer government backed and guaranteed loans.
The Department for Education is currently advising that professional outdoor education and adventure holiday providers that would usually offer activities for schools and/or summer holiday activities to children should remain closed for the time being. This will be kept under review.
Asked by: Baroness Liddell of Coatdyke (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the cost of achieving their net-zero carbon target (1) with, and (2) without, carbon capture, utilisation and storage.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The independent Committee on Climate Change has estimated that the annual cost of delivering a net zero target is within the same range as the 80% target was at the time that target was set in 2008 – equivalent to 1-2% of GDP in 2050. Our own assessment of costs falls within this range. The CCC also advised that meeting our net zero emissions target by 2050 without carbon capture and storage (CCS) is likely to be more costly to achieve.[1] We believe CCS is therefore likely to play a vital role in meeting our target to reach net zero emissions by 2050.
As well as reducing emissions, CCS can play a vital role in levelling up the economy – supporting the low carbon economic transformation of our industrial regions, creating new high value jobs, providing new economic opportunities for British companies and supply chains and attracting investment from all around the world. For example, the UK could become a global leader and capture up to £10 billion of an estimated £200 billion per year global CCUS market in 2050, which could support up to 48,000 new jobs[2].
[2] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/energy-innovation-needs-assessments
Asked by: Baroness Liddell of Coatdyke (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much funding will be required to develop the infrastructure necessary for carbon capture, utilisation and storage in the 2020s in order to meet their net-zero carbon target.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
We are committed to deploying carbon capture and storage (CCS) this decade as we work towards Net Zero by 2050 and see an opportunity for the UK to become a global leader in CCS.
That’s why we announced a new CCS Infrastructure Fund which will enhance long-term competitiveness of UK’s industrial regions by providing at least £800 million to establish CCS in at least two UK clusters, one by the mid-2020s and another by 2030, contributing to our net zero targets and levelling up the economy.
In parallel, we are investing over £40 million between 2016 and 2021 in CCUS innovation, which includes £4.2 million funding for Tata Chemicals to construct a carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) plant. When operational in early 2021 the plant will capture and use approximately 40,000 tonnes of CO2 each year to produce sodium bicarbonate and soda ash that can be used in high-end products such as haemodialysis equipment. Through the £24 million BEIS Call for CCUS Innovation, we are funding HyNet, project Acorn, OGCI Climate Investments and Drax/C-Capture to develop their CCUS deployment projects.
In addition, UKRI announced the allocation of the first phase of funding for the Industrial Decarbonisation Challenge earlier this month, which we expect CCUS to play an important role in.
Asked by: Baroness Liddell of Coatdyke (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the funding set out in the Conservative Manifesto to support energy intensive industries to use to low carbon technologies is new and additional funding for industrial decarbonisation.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government has committed an overall package of over £2 billion to help industry on the path to Net Zero. Within this, the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund was announced in November 2018 as a £315 million scheme to provide industry, including energy intensive industries, with support for energy efficiency and decarbonisation projects. This scheme is on track to launch in Spring 2020.
The 2020 Budget announced measures that reflect Conservative Manifesto commitments and build on existing policies. For example, it included a new £800m Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Infrastructure Fund to establish CCS in at least two sites, one in the 2020s and another by 2030. Other manifesto commitments to support industrial decarbonisation will be considered in the upcoming Spending Review.
Asked by: Baroness Liddell of Coatdyke (Labour - 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 potential use of (1) carbon capture, (2) carbon storage, and (3) hydrogen, to decarbonise (a) heating, (b) transport, and (c) heavy industry.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage (CCUS) and hydrogen are likely to play an essential role in helping the UK achieve net zero by 2050. For example, our analysis suggests that around 270TWh of hydrogen could be needed across the economy by 2050, which could increase considerably depending on application across heat and transport sectors. Low carbon hydrogen could be produced through gas reformation with CCUS, electrolysis, or biomass gasification. The precise split of this across end uses will depend on a variety of factors including cost, availability and technical application.
Asked by: Baroness Liddell of Coatdyke (Labour - Life peer)
Question
To ask the Leader of the House what will be the timetable for consideration of the Trade Bill in this House.
Answered by Baroness Evans of Bowes Park
The proposed dates for the Committee stage of the Trade Bill were advertised in Forthcoming Business on 3 January, and are as follows: Monday 21 January, Wednesday 23 January, Monday 28 January, and Wednesday 30 January. Dates for further stages will be advertised in Forthcoming Business in the usual way.
Asked by: Baroness Liddell of Coatdyke (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with GCHQ about the security of customers of UK financial institutions.
Answered by Lord O'Neill of Gatley
The government takes the resilience of the financial sector, and the protection of bank customers, very seriously. Making sure that everyone has access to basic banking and financial services is at the heart of the government’s long term economic plan. The government is working with the banking industry, the retail sector, and law enforcement agencies to put in place the right steps to tackle online fraud against the public.
As the Chancellor announced in November, the government is creating a new National Cyber Security Centre, which will open in October. Its recently launched prospectus outlines the Centre’s proposed vision, goals and work. In February, the Home Secretary launched the Joint Fraud Taskforce, which aims to use the collective powers, systems and resources of banks, payment providers, police, wider law enforcement and regulators to tackle fraud, and raise awareness of the risk of fraud among consumers. Further details on both can be found on the GOV.UK website.
Asked by: Baroness Liddell of Coatdyke (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with UK banks about proposals to remove protection from customers whose accounts have been fraudulently accessed.
Answered by Lord O'Neill of Gatley
The government takes the resilience of the financial sector, and the protection of bank customers, very seriously. Making sure that everyone has access to basic banking and financial services is at the heart of the government’s long term economic plan. The government is working with the banking industry, the retail sector, and law enforcement agencies to put in place the right steps to tackle online fraud against the public.
As the Chancellor announced in November, the government is creating a new National Cyber Security Centre, which will open in October. Its recently launched prospectus outlines the Centre’s proposed vision, goals and work. In February, the Home Secretary launched the Joint Fraud Taskforce, which aims to use the collective powers, systems and resources of banks, payment providers, police, wider law enforcement and regulators to tackle fraud, and raise awareness of the risk of fraud among consumers. Further details on both can be found on the GOV.UK website.
Asked by: Baroness Liddell of Coatdyke (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to limit online financial fraud.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
This Government is clear that more must be done not only to disrupt and prosecute criminals but also to protect people and businesses from becoming victims of fraud. In February this year the Government launched the Joint Fraud Taskforce a genuine collaboration of banks, law enforcement and government. It is the first time these organisations have come together to tackle fraud, and particularly to focus on those issues that have been considered too difficult for a single organisation to manage alone. The Taskforce has five work strands which are:
- Understanding the Threat - Bringing together data to agree key threats, vulnerabilities and drivers of fraud;
- The Collective Response - Better targeting to disrupt and catch fraudsters, through increased cooperation between banks and law enforcement;
- Victims & Vulnerability - More efficient identification of victims, including addressing the barriers preventing return of funds to victims;
- Behaviour Change - better targeted messaging on fraud prevention and,
- Tackling systemic vulnerabilities - Designing out vulnerabilities and loopholes in systems and processes which fraudsters exploit.
The Government has also published in March this year "A Guide for Consumers: Staying Safe When You Shop and Bank Online." The report draws on real life, anonymised examples of reported crimes and provides simple but effective advice on how the people can protect themselves from these types of frauds: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/a-guide-for-consumers-staying-safe-when-you-bank-or-shop-online
Asked by: Baroness Liddell of Coatdyke (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of Iran's financial and material support to Hezbollah.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
We remain deeply concerned by Iran’s ongoing support to the military wing of Hizballah including the provision of financial resources, military equipment and training. This support undermines prospects for peace and stability in the Middle East and contravenes UN Security Council Resolution 1747, which prohibits the export of weapons by Iran.