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Written Question
Forests: Conservation
Tuesday 29th March 2022

Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how they intend to spend the £1.5 billion of funding allocated under the Global Forest Finance pledge, including the (1) £350 million for tropical forests in Indonesia, (2) £200 million for the LEAF Coalition, and (3) up to £300 million intended for the Amazon rainforest.

Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Government is continuing to develop proposals for funding to Indonesia, the Amazon and other important regions, building on the UK’s existing partnerships in these areas. The UK’s investment in LEAF has helped bring other public and private funders on board, raising over £750m which will be used for technical assistance and carbon finance for developing countries.


Written Question
Coronavirus: Protective Clothing and Vaccination
Monday 25th January 2021

Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress they have made towards ensuring the secure supply of (1) vaccines, and (2) personal protective equipment.

Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The UK was the first country in the world to start a vaccination programme using the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, followed by the AstraZeneca/Oxford University vaccine.

We have signed deals for substantial future supply of both vaccines to replenish our stocks and to enable swift vaccination across the UK in the months ahead. Our supply and scheduled deliveries of these vaccines will fully support vaccination of priority cohorts 1 to 4, as advised by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, by the middle of February.

The Government has also been working tirelessly to deliver personal protective equipment (PPE) to protect our frontline workers throughout the pandemic. We have significantly strengthened and diversified our supply chains for PPE, looking to new suppliers abroad as well as boosting our domestic manufacturing capability. This has helped to build our resilience into the future. We have ordered almost 32 billion items of PPE (of which the majority has been delivered or is on its way) to provide a continuous supply to the frontline over the coming months. As of December 2020, the Government had built a four-month stockpile of all COVID-critical PPE, with a tremendous contribution from UK manufacturers.


Written Question
Post Offices: Cash Dispensing
Tuesday 22nd October 2019

Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

What steps the Government is taking to maintain universal access to cash throughout the post office network.

Answered by Kelly Tolhurst

We are pleased to see 27 banks have made the decision to sign up to the renegotiated Banking Framework agreement in full.

There is ongoing work across government to safeguard access to cash. The government will ensure communities, particularly the most vulnerable residents and those living in rural areas, will be supported and continue to have the choice over how they manage their finances.


Written Question
Industry
Monday 9th September 2019

Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when the Industrial Policy Council plans to publish its next report assessing progress on the implementation of the Industrial Strategy against success measures.

Answered by Nadhim Zahawi

The Industrial Strategy Council plan to publish its Annual Report at the end of the year.


Written Question
Productivity
Monday 9th September 2019

Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many of the commitments agreed in each sector deal have (a) been met in full, (b) been met in part and (c) not been met.

Answered by Nadhim Zahawi

It has not proved possible to respond to the Rt hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.


Written Question
Vauxhall Motors: Ellesmere Port
Monday 9th September 2019

Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps the Government is taking to secure the long-term future of the Vauxhall plant in Ellesmere Port.

Answered by Nadhim Zahawi

Vauxhall - part of Groupe PSA - is a key part of the UK’s successful automotive industry, with major commercial vehicle manufacturing in Luton, as well as its significant operation at Ellesmere Port. Groupe PSA recently announced that the next generation Astra could be produced at Ellesmere Port. My Officials and I are continuing active dialogue with Vauxhall and others in the Automotive sector, to support investments in new technology, R&D and electrification.


Written Question
Manufacturing Industries: Liverpool
Thursday 5th September 2019

Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if she will allocate long-term funding to the LCR 4.0 programme.

Answered by Nadhim Zahawi

Businesses in the Liverpool City Region are able to access support from the Made Smarter North West Pilot Programme which runs until 2021 and provides support to manufactures wanting to adopt digital technologies. Decisions on the future funding for LCR 4.0 will be made at the next multi-year Spending Review in 2020.


Written Question
Social Services: Conditions of Employment
Tuesday 9th July 2019

Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will provide more details on his plans for dedicated employment rights for care workers.

Answered by Kelly Tolhurst

The Government recognises the challenges of balancing work and care. Improving support for carers to do so is a key part of the action plan that we published in June 2018

The Department is working with colleagues across Government to consider the question of dedicated employment rights for carers alongside existing employment rights (such as the right to request flexible working and the right to time off for family and dependants). We intend to bring forward a consultation in due course.


Written Question
VJ Day: Anniversaries
Thursday 13th June 2019

Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if the Government will make an assessment of the potential merits of allocating an additional bank holiday to commemorate the 75th anniversary of VJ Day.

Answered by Kelly Tolhurst

The Government regularly receives requests for additional bank and public holidays to commemorate a variety of occasions, for example, cultural, historical and military events. However, there are no current plans to create another bank holiday. The cost to the economy of additional bank holiday remains considerable. The estimated cost to the economy for a one-off bank holiday for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee was £1.2bn.

The Government recognises the importance of VJ Day, and celebrations will take place to celebrate the 75th Anniversary which falls on Saturday 15 August 2020.


Written Question
Iron and Steel
Wednesday 29th May 2019

Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the number of tonnes of coal required to produce steel at current levels in the next five years.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Finished steel products are produced in the UK through a mixture of the blast furnace route, which requires coal and iron ore, and through the electric arc furnace route, which does not require coal. We have not estimated the tonnes of coal required for current production of UK finished steel products.

The Government has long supported the UK steel industry to exploit opportunities and plan for future demand with wide-ranging action.

For the first time this year we have published information from departments and their arm’s-length bodies on how much steel they have procured over the last financial year and how they have applied the steel procurement guidance.

The Government has also published details of upcoming steel requirements for national infrastructure projects. The data shows how the Government plans to use over three million tonnes of steel until 2021 on infrastructure projects such as the construction of Hinkley Point, and the maintenance and upgrading of the UK’s motorway network.

We recently as a Department signed up to the UK Steel Charter. We want to acknowledge and support this initiative from industry. We have been encouraging the UK steel sector to strengthen their engagement with all existing and potential domestic steel consumers, maximising opportunities to benefit from the £3.8 billion a year by 2030 high market value opportunities we have identified.

The Government has provided more than £291m in compensation to the steel sector since 2013 to make energy costs more competitive, including over £53 million during 2018. And last year we announced the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund, worth up to £315 million, to support businesses with high energy use to transition to a low carbon future and to cut their bills through increased energy efficiency.