Asked by: Rachel Reeves (Labour - Leeds West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the timetable is for setting up the Industrial Strategy Council.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
We are finalising the terms of reference and membership of the council, and further details will be set out in more detail shortly.
Asked by: Rachel Reeves (Labour - Leeds West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the planned first date of meeting is of the Industrial Strategy Council.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
We are finalising the terms of reference and membership of the council, and further details will be set out in more detail shortly.
Asked by: Rachel Reeves (Labour - Leeds West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the terms of reference are for the Industrial Strategy Council.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
We are finalising the terms of reference and membership of the council, and further details will be set out in more detail shortly.
Asked by: Rachel Reeves (Labour - Leeds West)
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) women and (b) men his Department has appointed to each of his Department's non-Departmental Public Bodies in each of the last five years.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has 39 Partner Organisations. We submit our diversity data to the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments in their role to provide independent assurance that appointments by Ministers to the boards of public bodies are made in accordance with the Government’s Principles of Public Appointments and Governance Code.
| 2016-2017 | 2017-2018 |
New appointments per year | 121[1] | 98 |
Men | 67 | 62 |
Women | 46 | 32 |
Undeclared | 8 | 4 |
BEIS was established in July 2016. Therefore we do not hold comparable data for previous years.
[1] Note – data for 3 periods only as the data starts after the introduction of BEIS.
Asked by: Rachel Reeves (Labour - Leeds West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when he plans to receive the security assessment of the takeover bid for GKN by Melrose.
Answered by Andrew Griffiths
The Government will consider whether the takeover of GKN by Melrose raises public interest concerns, based on advice from my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence and other authorities.
Asked by: Rachel Reeves (Labour - Leeds West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the latest date is by which he can (a) call in and (b) block the hostile takeover bid for GKN by Melrose.
Answered by Andrew Griffiths
The Government has a statutory responsibility to consider whether the takeover in its proposed final form gives rise to public interest concerns. This assessment is currently under way.
The Enterprise Act 2002 allows the Secretary of State to intervene up to four months after the completion of the transaction.
Asked by: Rachel Reeves (Labour - Leeds West)
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 oral statement of 27 March 2018 on GKN: Proposed Takeover by Melrose, if he will take steps to ensure that the pensions commitment given to him by Melrose is legally enforceable post-offer undertaking; and what discussions he has had with Melrose on that commitment.
Answered by Andrew Griffiths
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has no statutory role in pensions. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State however recognises their importance to GKN employees and has sought to facilitate discussions between the companies involved, the GKN pension scheme trustees and The Pensions Regulator.
Melrose has reached an agreement with GKN’s pension scheme trustees. This agreement is not a post-offer undertaking under the Takeover Code and its fulfilment is a matter for the pension trustees and The Pensions Regulator.
Asked by: Rachel Reeves (Labour - Leeds West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what comparative estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of (a) purchasing Euratom equipment and (b) decommissioning Euratom-owned equipment and purchasing new equipment to establish a UK safeguards regime.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
The UK Government is committed to having all necessary safeguards equipment in place to ensure continuity of safeguards operations and that the UK continues to comply with its international obligations when the UK leaves the EU and Euratom. As part of this, consideration is being given to the possibility of the UK taking ownership of existing Euratom-owned equipment, as set out in the EU27 and the UK position papers published in July 2017. As the subject of on-going negotiations, it is not possible to share the details or cost estimates of this consideration; but the UK has been clear that the decision will need to be rooted in a common understanding of the fair value and liabilities of the equipment concerned.
Asked by: Rachel Reeves (Labour - Leeds West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when he plans to (a) consult on and (b) publish a draft charging agreement for a future UK State System for Accountability and Control of nuclear material.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
A decision on cost recovery and charging arrangements will be subject to close engagement with industry and other key stakeholders, as well as public consultation. We intend to publish a public consultation and an impact assessment on the regulations later this year.
If the decision is made for the Office for Nuclear Regulation to be able to recover costs from industry, further appropriate consultation and engagement would take place, most likely later this year. If appropriate, that consultation and engagement would include the publishing of a draft charging agreement.
Asked by: Rachel Reeves (Labour - Leeds West)
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 a breakdown of the estimate of the total whole life costs for Hinkley Point C in the major project portfolio data published in September 2016.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
The estimate of the Whole Life Costs for Hinkley Point C in the major project portfolio data is £49,891.2m. The Whole Life Costs are determined by the difference between the Strike Price and the long-term Wholesale Electricity Price forecasts, which are influenced by market prices for fossil fuels, which may vary.
The Whole Life Cycle costs have been calculated in nominal terms and have not been discounted.