Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
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) non-disclosure and (b) other confidentiality agreements relating to (i) employment, (ii) bullying, (iii) misconduct and (iii) harassment cases have been agreed by their Department in each year since 1 January 2010; and how much money from the public purse has been spent on (A) legal costs and (B) financial settlements for such agreements in each year since 1 January 2010.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy was created in July 2016. Since our creation we have not agreed any non-disclosure or other confidentiality agreements relating to employment, bullying, misconduct and harassment cases.
As we have not agreed any such agreements, there have been no associated legal costs or financial settlements.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate his Department has made of the cost to consumers in (a) Oxfordshire and (b) England of gas transmission costs as a proportion of total energy costs.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Gas transmission charges for the South East region under the Ofgem price cap for October 2022 are £14.20 per domestic customer per year based on typical gas consumption levels (excluding VAT). This compares to an average of £15.75 across Great Britain. Gas transmission charges represent less than 1% of a typical domestic dual fuel energy bill.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
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 (a) the number of officials in his Department involved in recording retained EU legislation for the purposes of the Retained EU Law Dashboard in the latest period for which figures are available and (b) the cost to the public purse of recording that information.
Answered by Paul Scully
There has been no additional non-pay cost to the public purse by creating the dashboard for the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
The creation of the dashboard was led by the Cabinet Office, who commissioned Government Departments to find REUL within their legislation and compile an authoritative account of where REUL sits on the UK statute book.
The dashboard itself is made by the Government Strategic Management Office and is hosted on Tableau Public, which is a free platform for hosting public dashboards. The dashboard will continue to be updated at no additional cost.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
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 the Government's plans to invest £9.2 billion in the energy efficiency of homes, schools and hospitals, what proportion of the intended investment is to be funded by Government spending in relation to (a) homes, (b) schools and (c) hospitals; what proportion of the intended amount has (i) already been invested and (ii) been allocated in relation to (A) homes, (B) schools and (C) hospitals; and what plans he has in the next two years to spend the remaining amount which has not yet been invested or allocated in relation to (1) homes, (2) schools and (3) hospitals.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is investing £6.6 billion across this parliament to support building decarbonisation. For low-income, domestic households, £787 million has been allocated to the Local Authority Delivery scheme, in delivery since 2020, alongside an initial £219 million for the Home Upgrade Grant (HUG) in 2021, which focuses on off-gas grid homes. c.£880 million more funding has been allocated to HUG by 2025. For the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund, a further £800m has been committed for Wave 2. To date, c.£60m has been awarded through the Demonstrator, and c.£179m through Wave 1.
The Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme provides grants for public sector bodies to fund decarbonisation. £2.5 billion has been allocated to date, and £1.075 billion has been spent in years 2020/21 and 2021/22.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy,, what steps he has taken to ensure that the UK’s associate membership of the Horizon Europe programme is ratified to prevent the European Research Council (ERC) from withdrawing funding for scientists and academics.
Answered by George Freeman
The UK stands ready to formalise our association to EU programmes at the earliest opportunity but the EU are not honouring commitments made when the TCA was agreed. My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State and I have raised delays with our counterparts in Europe, including through the EU-UK Specialised Committee meeting in December 2021.
Delays from the EU have led to uncertainty for researchers, businesses and innovators in the UK, including ERC applicants. In order to provide reassurance, the Government has guaranteed funding for eligible successful applicants to Horizon Europe who are expected to sign grant agreements by December 2022. The guarantee means that eligible ERC applicants will receive the full value of their funding at a UK host institution and do not need to leave the UK.
If the UK is unable to associate to Horizon soon, and in good time to make full use of the opportunities it offers, we will be ready to introduce a comprehensive global science, research and innovation programme for the benefit of the UK research community.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
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 impact of business failures in the energy sector on the amount of standing charge paid by consumers.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Costs incurred when customers are moved to a new supplier from a failed supplier are split between the receiving supplier and a levy on industry as a whole. The levy compensates suppliers for the unrecoverable costs of taking on customers, such as purchasing additional wholesale energy.
The standing charge element of consumer bills reflects some of the fixed costs of supplying energy, including gas and electricity system costs. In the April-October calculation of the price cap, Ofgem increased the distribution cost allowance due to the increased industry levy caused by exceptional global wholesale energy prices.