Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)
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 is taking to reduce energy costs for energy-intensive businesses.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government recognises the importance of securing a competitive future for Its energy intensive industries (EIIs), and in recent years has provided them with extensive support, including more than £2 billion to help with energy costs and to protect jobs. As part of the its British Energy Security Strategy, the Government recently announced to extended the EII Compensation Scheme for a further three years. The scheme’s budget will be more than doubled. That strategy also announced plans to consider increasing support offered by the EII Exemption Scheme.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)
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 is taking to support UK manufacturers when developing government infrastructure projects.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK Energy Supply Chain Taskforce will focus on ensuring UK supply chain companies can take advantage of clean growth opportunities in the UK and overseas. The Government will put UK at the forefront of manufacturing as opportunities grow from wind turbines to heat pumps as the Government set out the opportunity to develop the manufacturing base and expand supply chains for building efficiency.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)
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 potential merits of extending the National Manufacturing Competitiveness Levels Automotive programme, which is due to expire in March 2022, to 2024.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The pandemic led to a slowdown in the delivery of the industry-managed National Manufacturing Competitiveness Levels programme, with participating businesses pausing or limiting their planned business improvement activity. There has been a positive uplift in the programme’s activity in the last six months.
Following the recent conclusion of the Comprehensive Spending Review, the Department is determining its future spending priorities. A decision on continued funding for the National Manufacturing Competitiveness Levels programme will be made alongside other Departmental programmes in the coming months.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)
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 the covid-19 outbreak on the rate of deployment of the National Manufacturing Competitiveness Levels Automotive programme.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The pandemic led to a slowdown in the delivery of the industry-managed National Manufacturing Competitiveness Levels programme, with participating businesses pausing or limiting their planned business improvement activity. There has been a positive uplift in the programme’s activity in the last six months.
Following the recent conclusion of the Comprehensive Spending Review, the Department is determining its future spending priorities. A decision on continued funding for the National Manufacturing Competitiveness Levels programme will be made alongside other Departmental programmes in the coming months.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department plans to bring forward the payment date for recipients of the Warm Home Discount who are not in receipt of Pension Credit, to account for increased utility costs arising as a result of the coivd-19 outbreak.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
Participating energy suppliers are obligated to pay their customers by the end of March 2021, however they are encouraged to make these payments as soon as the relevant checks on eligible customers have been completed.
Administering the Warm Home Discount is a large undertaking. We estimate that around 2.2 million households will receive a rebate this winter with around 1.2 million applying via the Broader Group. Due to the volume of rebates and the time needed for the implementation process outlined above, it would not be possible to bring forward the delivery timetable for this scheme year.
In addition, the Voluntary Agreement that BEIS negotiated in March with energy suppliers remains in force, where suppliers agreed to a set of principles to support customers impacted by Covid-19 who may be struggling with energy bills and help to keep them on supply.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has made an assessment of the potential effect on the level of jobs in the aerospace sector of establishing a long-term supply chain investment fund to recapitalise suppliers that are unable to take on new debt.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Government is providing various support measures to safeguard jobs in the aerospace sector from the impact of Covid-19, including the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme and the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme. The British Business Bank has also created an online Finance Hub, which details sources of business finance that may be available, as well as useful guidance.
The aerospace sector and its aviation customers are being assisted with around £9 billion of funding made available through loans, research and development grants, loan guarantees, and support for exporters. The Government continues to support the long-term competitiveness of the UK’s aerospace supply chain through the Aerospace Growth Partnership.
The Government will continue to work closely with local authorities, businesses, and business representative organisations to understand the impact of Covid-19 on the aerospace sector.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland 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 take steps to introduce neonatal (a) leave and (b) pay for families affected by covid-19.
Answered by Paul Scully
We recognise that parents of sick and premature babies are in an extremely difficult and distressing position and that Covid-19 has made it difficult for some parents to spend time with their children. The social distancing measures that we put in place have, however, been necessary to save lives – including those of new parents and their babies – and protect the NHS.
As announced in the Queen’s Speech, we intend to bring forward an Employment Bill which will include measures to allow parents of children who have spent time in neonatal care to take additional paid leave (subject to qualifying criteria). We intend to legislate as soon as Parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland 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 increase the funding available for National Trading Standards investigations into secondary ticket abuse.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government is committed to tackling fraudulent practices in secondary ticketing. The department works closely with National Trading Standards to ensure they have adequate funding to tackle consumer detriment in the secondary ticketing market.
As a result of this work, earlier this month two individuals from London were found guilty of fraudulently and dishonestly buying and reselling tickets for high-profile music and entertainment events. They have now been sentenced to a combined six and a half years in jail. This landmark case marks the first successful prosecution against the fraudulent reselling of tickets on a large scale. This is directly a result of the work of National Trading Standards, North Yorkshire County Council, and City of York Council.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)
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 plans to take to support the automotive industry in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal and exports of UK produced cars become subject to a 10 per cent tariff in line with WTO rules.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
We are working closely with businesses across the country to help ensure they are prepared for the UK leaving the EU on the 31st October, whatever the circumstances. This includes regular engagement with the automotive industry by both BEIS ministers and officials to discuss plans for no-deal.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when the Consumer White Paper will be published, and whether that paper will include improved protections for online ticket purchases.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
We intend to bring forward a comprehensive package for consumers as soon as possible. This will ensure consumers continue to enjoy competitive prices, quality products and services and that vulnerable consumers are treated fairly.
There is statutory protection for online ticket purchases and enforcement action is being taken where necessary.