Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many civil servants in his Department are currently working on planning for the UK leaving the EU without a deal; and how many have been moved from other projects to work on those plans.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
BEIS has c.950 staff working exclusively across all elements related to delivering the UK’s exit from the EU, including no deal planning. That number includes staff recently moved from other projects and those recruited. Further moves will follow as the remaining elements of the Department’s plans are enacted with numbers subject to that planning.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many post offices are categorised as suspended.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Government recognises the critical role that post offices play in communities and for small businesses across the UK. This is why the Government committed to safeguard the post office network and protect existing rural services. The overall number of post offices across the UK remains at its most stable in decades with over 11,500 branches thanks to significant Government investment of over £2 billion since 2010.
While the Government sets the strategic direction for the Post Office, it allows the company the commercial freedom to deliver this strategy as an independent business. The distribution of branches is an operational matter of commercial judgement for Post Office management team. I have therefore asked Paula Vennells, the Group Chief Executive of Post Office Limited, to write to the hon Member on this matter. A copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of the House.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment his Department has made of the viability of removing fossil fuels from the UK's energy generation mix.
Answered by Claire Perry
Our Clean Growth Strategy set out the Government’s ambition for a diverse electricity system that supplies our homes and businesses with secure, affordable and clean power.[1]
We have already committed to phasing out generating power from coal by 2025[2] and recognise that reducing emissions in the power sector means developing low carbon sources of electricity that are both cheap and clean.
There is a number of decarbonisation pathways that balance the role of clean power sources with the use of fossil fuel generation such as from gas. These include those outlined in our Clean Growth Strategy[3], and the latest BEIS Energy and Emissions Projections.[4]
[1] See: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/clean-growth-strategy
[3] See: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/clean-growth-strategy
[4] See: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/updated-energy-and-emissions-projections-2017
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
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 has received applications to undertake fracking in (a) Ealing, Southall constituency, (b) Ealing local authority area and (c) Greater London.
Answered by Claire Perry
Before an operator can apply for planning permission from a local authority for any proposed oil or gas development, they need to apply for a Petroleum Exploration and Development Licence (PEDL) from the Oil and Gas Authority. There are no current PEDLs within the Greater London area.
In addition, under Section 50 of the Infrastructure Act 2015, the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy must grant Hydraulic Fracturing Consent (HFC) before hydraulic fracturing can take place in the UK. The Department has not received any HFC applications relating to shale gas exploration in a) Ealing Southall constituency, b) Ealing local authority area or c) Greater London.
The British Geological Survey has identified the main areas of shale prosperity in the UK, none of which lie underneath the Greater London area.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
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 effect of climate change on GDP in the next four decades.
Answered by Claire Perry
The 2007 Stern Review concluded that the impacts of unmitigated climate change could be equivalent to losing 5-20% of global GDP, with the higher range accounting for a wide range of impacts and risks. A range of scientific evidence also makes clear that the risks and impacts could be severe, with some potentially catastrophic. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) 5th Assessment Report and 1.5°C Special Report show that human-caused climate change has had widespread impacts on human and natural systems, for example, heatwaves are longer, hotter, and more frequent, and the sea-level is rising at a rate of 2.6 – 2.9 millimetres per year.
The UK’s 2017 Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA) finds that climate change poses multiple risks to the UK. Communities, businesses and infrastructure will be affected by flooding and coastal change, domestic and international food production and trade could be impacted, and our natural capital (including ecosystems, soils and biodiversity) will be at risk. People’s health, wellbeing and productivity will be at risk from high temperatures, and people, animals and plants will be at risk from new and emerging pests and diseases. The CCRA also identified that there may be economic opportunities for UK business from an increase in global demand for adaptation-related goods and services like engineering and insurance.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what representations he has received from the Big Four accountancy firms on their potential break-up.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has regular meetings with representatives from major professional services firms in the UK industry, including accounting firms.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what change there was in the level of UK emissions in March 2018 compared with March in each of the last five years.
Answered by Claire Perry
The Department does not estimate greenhouse gas emission changes on a monthly basis. Our latest annual emissions estimates, published in March, show estimates of total UK greenhouse gas emissions for years 1990-2017. From 2012-2017 these were as follows:
Year | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 (p) |
UK GHG emissions (MtCO2e) | 568 | 552 | 511 | 492 | 468 | 456 |
Note:
Final 2017 emissions will be published in February 2019
Provisional 2018 emissions will be published in March 2019.
Source: Provisional UK greenhouse gas emissions national statistics 2017
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what records his Department made of emission changes in UK energy generation in each of the last 12 months.
Answered by Claire Perry
The Department does not estimate emission changes on a monthly basis. Provisional carbon dioxide emissions estimates, published in March, show quarterly estimates of emissions from energy supply for 2017 as follows:
2017 quarter: | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 |
Carbon dioxide emissions from energy supply (Mt) | 110.6 | 107.6 | 106.2 | 105.0 |
Source: Provisional UK greenhouse gas emissions national statistics 2017
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to measure the carbon dioxide emissions of biomass energy generation plants.
Answered by Claire Perry
The Department does not estimate emission changes on a differential basis between technologies. The latest provisional carbon dioxide emissions estimates were published in March 2017. “Provisional UK greenhouse gas emissions national statistics 2017” https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/provisional-uk-greenhouse-gas-emissions-national-statistics-2017
However, the UK has among the most stringent biomass sustainability provisions in Europe. Generators only receive subsidies for the electricity output which complies with our sustainability criteria which ensure biomass reduces carbon emissions (including a requirement to demonstrate a minimum 60% lifecycle greenhouse gas saving) and is sourced sustainably.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for BEIS, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential role for (a) carbon capture, utilisation and storage and (b) other cleaner coal technologies in facilitating the end of unabated coal power.
Answered by Claire Perry
We are leading the world by ending unabated coal generation in Great Britain by 2025 and the Department set out how we intend to put the 2025 closure into effect and the reasoning behind the preferred option. This is available on the website at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/coal-generation-in-great-britain-the-pathway-to-a-low-carbon-future.
With regard to the potential role for carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS), Government has been clear that new CCUS coal plants could have a role to play, stipulating in 2010 that all new coal power stations must be fitted with carbon capture and storage technology. No such assessment has been made against other cleaner coal technologies.