Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many tonnes of wood pellets were burnt at the Drax Power station in (a) 2020 and (b) 2021; and what the maximum quantity of wood pellets burnt permitted is under the contract which runs to 2027.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Data on tonnes of wood burned at Drax power station under the Renewable Obligation (RO) can be found here https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/biomass-sustainability-dataset-2020-21. Figures for the Contract for Difference (CfD) are as follows:
Drax’s support under the RO and their CfD contract sets no limits on the quantity of wood pellets that the generator may burn.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
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 had discussions with relevant stakeholders on the removal of Maternity Action from the Pregnancy and Maternity Discrimination Advisory Board.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy engages regularly with the Government Equalities Office on a range of issues. The Government Equalities Office is a member of the Pregnancy and Maternity Discrimination Advisory Board.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
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 ensure that consumer protections under Part 3 of the Consumer Rights Act, which establishes a 14 day right to cancel, apply to contracts for an extension with a double glazing company in the same manner as they would apply to a building company.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 provide a 14 day right to cancel in respect of certain categories of contract between a consumer and a trader where the contract is entered into away from business premises (e.g. online or by phone). The Regulations generally apply in respect of extensions to existing buildings but not to the construction of new buildings or the sale of immovable property.
Further information on this can be found at: https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/getting-home-improvements-done/cancelling-building-or-decorating-work/.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
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 consultation response, Good Work Plan: Pregnancy and Maternity Discrimination, published in July 2019, what progress his Department has made on tackling pregnancy and maternity discrimination in the workplace.
Answered by Paul Scully
Following the Government’s response to the consultation on redundancy protection and pregnancy and maternity discrimination the country entered a period of unprecedented challenge as it tackled the pandemic. The Government took extensive measures to support and protect the people most affected, including pregnant women and new mothers.
As the country emerged from the pandemic, the Government established a Pregnancy and Maternity Discrimination Advisory Board. The Board has met three times, has reviewed Health and Safety Executive guidance on pregnant women and risk assessments and has considered the issues raised through Members’ helplines - which will be used to inform future work.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
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 Answer of 3 November 2021 to Question 64728; which meetings his Department has held over the last decade to discuss the burning of wood pellets with (a) Drax lobbyists and (b) scientists.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
UK Government officials meet frequently with businesses and stakeholders involved in renewable electricity generation. As a major renewable electricity generator in the UK, officials meet regularly with Drax Group. A list of ministerial meetings is available online and can be found here, https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/beis-ministerial-gifts-hospitality-travel-and-meetings.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
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 Answer of 21 December 2021 to Question 93001, what methodology his Department uses to assess the impact on climate change of burning trees at the Drax power station if it does not collect data on replantation of trees.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Biomass operators are only subsidised for feedstocks from forests that are managed sustainably and whose carbon stock is constant or increasing. In order to mitigate the risk of underestimating carbon emissions, forest carbon stock changes are set to zero in the Government’s assessment of the climate change impact of unabated biomass combustion, even though forest carbon stock can increase when sustainable forestry practices are utilised.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 8 April 2022 to Question 145958 on Maternity Action, which organisations have been invited to attend the second meeting of the Pregnancy and Maternity Discrimination Advisory Board.
Answered by Paul Scully
The members of the Pregnancy and Maternity Discrimination Advisory Board are listed below. All members are invited to each meeting.
British Chambers of Commerce;
Confederation of British Industry;
Federation of Small Businesses;
Institute of Directors;
MAKE UK;
TUC;
Fawcett Society;
Pregnant then Screwed;
Working Families;
Equalities and Human Rights Commission;
Government Equalities Office;
Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 30 March 2022 to Question 144990 on Ofgem, whether his Department has taken account of the time taken to publish the Strategy and Policy Statement to Ofgem, outlined in the Energy White Paper, on potential grid investment to support renewable energy and low carbon technologies.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Strategy and Policy Statement is intended to give a strategic steer to the regulator on the Government’s priorities. This will give further weight to Ofgem’s statutory objectives including achieving Net Zero by supporting low carbon technologies. Ahead of this, Government welcomed Ofgem’s regulatory response to the Net Zero target, including publication of its Decarbonisation Action Plan, asking network companies to show how their price control business plans could adapt to support Net Zero and consideration of how to set price controls to advance decarbonisation goals.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, for what reason Maternity Action has been removed from his Department's Pregnancy and Maternity Discrimination Advisory Board.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Pregnancy and Maternity Discrimination Advisory Board’s purpose is to consider non-legislative improvements to reduce pregnancy and maternity discrimination in the workplace. It is a collaboration between Government, employer and family representative groups and the membership needs the right balance between those different groups in order for the Board to do its job.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the average age of trees used to produce wood pellets for the Drax power station is; and what estimate he has made of how long it takes before the replacement trees will sequester carbon at the same rate as those felled.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
BEIS does not hold this information. The UK only supports sustainable biomass and generators only receive subsidies for biomass that complies with strict sustainability criteria. Suppliers must demonstrate to the regulators (Ofgem) that they meet the criteria, and their evidence is independently audited. Ofgem make sustainability information publicly available on their website, with the latest dataset accessible here: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/biomass-sustainability-dataset-2019-20.