Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to his oral statement of 15 September 2016 on Hinkley Point C, how the measures proposed in that statement will affect the Contract for Difference for that project.
Answered by Jesse Norman
As announced on 15 September, following the comprehensive review of the Hinkley Point C project, my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced new safeguards for future foreign investment in critical infrastructure.
In respect of Hinkley Point C, the relevant Contract for Difference has not changed.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)
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 implications for his policies of the recommendations of the report, Lowest Cost Decarbonisation for the UK: the critical role of carbon capture and storage, published in September 2016.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government is considering closely the findings and recommendations made in the report ‘Lowest Cost Decarbonisation for the UK: the critical role of carbon capture and storage’, published by the Lord Oxburgh- led Parliamentary Advisory Group on CCS.
Government will be setting out its future approach to CCS in due course.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)
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 effectiveness of the Financial Reporting Council's operating and enforcement procedures for reviewing corporate disclosures in deterring companies from breaking the law on such disclosures.
Answered by Margot James
The government consulted on its plans to reform the structure and content of the non-financial (narrative) section of the annual report and accounts in 2011. As part of this consultation, the government asked about the remit of the Financial Reporting Council, especially the Financial Reporting Review Panel, now known as the Conduct Committee.
As part of their work to monitor compliance with the legal requirements concerning disclosure, the Conduct Committee publishes an annual report summarising the activity and findings of their review function. This annual activity report can be viewed from the FRC website:
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)
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 take steps to ensure that the Financial Reporting Council has in place adequate processes to monitor disclosure on climate-related risk.
Answered by Margot James
Companies are required to prepare an annual report. As part of this, companies are required to make disclosure on environmental matters containing information necessary for their shareholders to gain a proper understanding of the company’s business, including the principal risks faced by the company during the company’s previous financial year.
With their knowledge of the company, it is the directors who are best placed to assess the quality of any disclosure relating to climate change. In addition, shareholders can challenge any disclosure or its absence, including those relating to climate change, either at a meeting with the board or at the company’s Annual General Meeting, should they feel this is a key risk that needs to be addressed.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many officials of the Department for Energy and Climate Change have not transferred to work at his Department; and what the cost has been to date of redundancy payments to such staff resulting from the changes to the machinery of government.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
Following the appointment of my rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on 14 July 2016 all employees of the Department of Energy and Climate Change became part of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on that date.
There have been no redundancies made since the 14 July as a result of the machinery of government change.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what comparative assessment he has made of the potential risk of a cyber attack at the Hinkley C nuclear facility and other such nuclear facilities.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The security of existing and proposed nuclear facilities is a priority for the Government. The UK Civil Nuclear Sector is subject to a thorough safety and security regulatory regime, including cyber security, overseen by the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR). The entire new build nuclear programme, including Hinkley Point C, is subject to an ONR-led Generic Design Assessment process for new reactor designs. This will be supported by the National Cyber Security Centre’s design reviews with the relevant organisations, with the purpose of ensuring all new plants are cyber-secure by design and implementation.
In the interest of security, we do not disclose details of security risks to specific facilities
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to his oral statement of 15 September, how the measures announced in that statement will increase security at the Hinkley C project.
Answered by Jesse Norman
As announced on 15 September, following the comprehensive review of the Hinkley Point C project, my Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State announced new safeguards for future foreign investment in critical infrastructure.
In respect of Hinkley Point C, the Government is able to prevent the sale of EDF’s controlling stake prior to the completion of construction. This agreement has been confirmed in an exchange of letters between the Government and EDF.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether EDF will incur a penalty in the event that Hinkley Point C starts to generate electricity by 2025.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Under the contract for difference, if Hinkley Point C does not start generating electricity four years after 2025 then there will be reductions to the contract term. This means that for every day that Hinkley is late, the period of time where EDF is getting increased certainty on the price of electricity generated from Hinkley is reduced. If neither reactor at Hinkley is generating electricity by 2033, there is an option to cancel the contract.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)
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 Financial Reporting Council's ability to work with other financial regulators in the UK to address the systematic financial risk of climate change.
Answered by Margot James
Although the Financial Reporting Council’s remit does not extend to the systemic financial risks of climate change, I am confident of its ability to collaborate effectively with any financial regulators, as required, within whose remit such risks fall.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the company annual turnover threshold is for government intervention to block any sale or transfer of the ownership of critical infrastructure; on what occasions that threshold has been crossed; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Margot James
My Rt hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is able to intervene on public interest grounds in transactions which are subject to merger control either within the UK or at the EU level. The turnover thresholds for such public interest interventions depend upon which of the two relevant competition bodies has jurisdiction.
The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has jurisdiction to review mergers and takeovers when:
- the annual UK turnover of the target business exceeds £70 million, or
- the merger creates a 25%, or greater, share in a market in the UK.
The European Commission has jurisdiction to review mergers and takeovers when:
- the combined aggregate worldwide turnover (in the preceding financial year) of all the undertakings concerned exceeds EUR5,000 million; and
- the aggregate EU-wide turnover of each of at least two of the undertakings concerned exceeds EUR 250 million; or
- the aggregate worldwide turnover of all the undertakings concerned is more than EUR 2,500 million; and
- the aggregate turnover of all the undertakings in each of at least three member states is more than EUR 100 million;
- in each of the same three member states, the aggregate turnover of each of at least two of the undertakings involved is more than EUR 25 million; and
- the aggregate EU-wide turnover of each of at least two of the undertakings involved is more than EUR 100 million.
Unless each of the undertakings concerned achieves more than two-thirds of its aggregate EU-wide turnover within a single Member State (then the Commission does not have jurisdiction).
If none of these jurisdictional thresholds is met, the Secretary of State can still intervene in defence industry mergers, if at least one of the enterprises concerned is a relevant government contractor; or where the merger involves a supplier or suppliers of at least 25% of any description of newspapers or broadcasting in the UK.
In all cases, public interest interventions can only be made on the grounds of national security, financial stability (or prudential rules in an EU case) or media plurality.
The number of times the CMA’s jurisdiction thresholds are met is not recorded. The European Commission does not record merger notifications by country of transaction.