Asked by: Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat - Kingston and Surbiton)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many (a) bed and breakfast, (b) hotel and (c) guest house owners have accessed the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund, by (i) region, (ii) local authority area and (ii) the value of that support.
Answered by Paul Scully
Government is working closely with all local authorities to help them make payments to businesses in scope of the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grants Fund (RHLGF) as quickly and effectively as possible. As of 14 June, £10.36 billion has been paid out to over 844,000 business properties in scope of Small Business Grants Fund and Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grants Fund. We do not hold data from local authorities broken down by sector. We have, however, published a full breakdown of grant funding allocated to and distributed by each local authority here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-grant-funding-local-authority-payments-to-small-and-medium-businesses.
Asked by: Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat - Kingston and Surbiton)
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 place in the Library a list of the workplace benefits that his Department provides to its staff with caring responsibilities.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Department recognises the importance of supporting employees with caring responsibilities.
Our aim is to enable individuals to undertake their caring responsibilities while feeling engaged and productive in the work they do. In order to support this, the Department offers employees benefits and flexibilities. This includes flexible working arrangements, time off/leave, access to supportive programmes and networks, and Coronavirus specific Special Leave with pay. All requests for flexible working arrangements or non-statutory leave are considered in the context of business need.
We are responding to this question in relation to carers, as defined in our Carers Charter, as anyone who cares for a friend or family member who, due to illness, disability, a mental health problem, or an addiction, cannot cope without their support.
Asked by: Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat - Kingston and Surbiton)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much energy his departmental buildings have used in (a) each of the last five years and (b) 2020 to date.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
This table shows the energy consumption of the Department at the 1 Victoria Street building for each of the last five financial years, and for 2020/21 to the end of May 2020.
Year (f/y) | 2015/16 | 2016/17 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 |
Electricity (kWh) | 5,276,261 | 5,120,293 | 5,120,995 | 4,935,780 | 4,765,755 | 484,023 |
Gas (kWh) | 2,048,622 | 2,279,495 | 2,650,640 | 2,374,952 | 2,610,826 | 189,726 |
Electricity - Solar PV (kWh) | 1,433 | 1,377 | 1,894 | 2,106 | 2,406 | 295* |
* Does not include data for May 2020 as this is unavailable
Asked by: Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat - Kingston and Surbiton)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many staff in his Department had caring responsibilities in each of the last five years.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The table below shows the number of staff who responded positively to the question: ‘Do you look after or give help or support to any family members, friends, neighbours or others who have a long-term physical or mental illness or disability, or problems related to old age?’ in the Department’s annual People Survey from 2016 to 2019.
This is based on the number of people (rounded to the nearest 10) responding to the question and may not fully represent the number of carers in the Department.
Caring responsibilities may have changed as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Department’s staff are being encouraged to reflect this in an amended or new Carer’s Passport.
Year | Number |
2016 | 420 |
2017 | 430 |
2018 | 600 |
2019 | 720 |
Asked by: Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat - Kingston and Surbiton)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
What support his Department is providing to self-employed people to begin trading again after the covid-19 lockdown restrictions are eased.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
I thank the Right Hon. Gentleman for raising this important issue. We have introduced an unprecedented package of support for the self-employed to get through this incredibly challenging period.
And our Self-Employment Income Support Scheme has been a success. As of 14 June, a total of 2.6 million claims have been made, worth £7.6 billion.
Asked by: Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat - Kingston and Surbiton)
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 potential merits of using low-order underwater unexploded ordnance disposal technology in preparation for construction of offshore wind farms.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
The Department does not assess or licence the clearance of unexploded ordnance for offshore windfarms. Licenses for the removal of unexploded ordnance are issued by the Marine Management Organisation which sits in Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). As part of their licensing process they assess environmental and other issues related to the proposed clearance.
As part of the Offshore Wind Sector Deal, published on 7 March 2019, the department and Defra are working closely with the sector and wider stakeholders to address strategic deployment issues associated with offshore wind.
Asked by: Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat - Kingston and Surbiton)
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 make an assessment of the (a) economic and (b) environmental effect of using low order underwater unexploded ordnance disposal technology to clear the seabed in preparation for construction of offshore wind farms.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
The Department does not assess or licence the clearance of unexploded ordnance for offshore windfarms. Licenses for the removal of unexploded ordnance are issued by the Marine Management Organisation which sits in Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). As part of their licensing process they assess environmental and other issues related to the proposed clearance.
As part of the Offshore Wind Sector Deal, published on 7 March 2019, the department and Defra are working closely with the sector and wider stakeholders to address strategic deployment issues associated with offshore wind.