Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Amanda Solloway and Mark Pawsey

Tuesday 4th July 2023 Commons Chamber

[Amanda Solloway]

Speaking for myself, I would be delighted to have a meeting on that subject.

[Mark Pawsey (Rugby) (Con)]

At a time when the cost of generating electricity is falling thanks to the increasing use of renewables, my constituents do not understand why the price of electricity remains linked to the price of gas. I know that the Government are undertaking a review of electricity market arrangements. When might they expect to see a change?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Amanda Solloway and Mark Pawsey

Tuesday 23rd May 2023 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Amanda Solloway)]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for bringing the matter to our attention. I would be very happy to meet him to discuss it.

[Mark Pawsey (Rugby) (Con)]

T5. There is no point reducing our emissions in the UK if we simply cause them to be produced elsewhere in the world by importing manufactured goods, often from countries where higher emissions may be embodied. A carbon border adjustment mechanism can allow for that, although here in the UK we are behind Europe, which already has a CBAM in place. What progress is being made to develop and implement a CBAM to address the risks of carbon leakage?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Amanda Solloway and Mark Pawsey

Tuesday 18th April 2023 Commons Chamber

[Amanda Solloway]

It is incredibly important to this Government that we support vulnerable people. We are looking at all of the issues around prepayment meters, but we have provided £400 of support through vouchers and I encourage all Members to ask their constituents to come forward to get those if they have not already collected them.

[Mark Pawsey (Rugby) (Con)]

In Rugby, we are proud of the rate at which we provide new homes. I recently visited Barratt Homes’ Ashlawn Gardens development, where I heard that intending purchasers of new homes now place an enormous priority on the size of their energy bills. Does the Minister agree that it is important for house builders to promote the thermal efficiency of their products?

Financial Assistance to Industry

Debate between Amanda Solloway and Mark Pawsey

Monday 7th December 2020 General Committees

[Amanda Solloway]

I thank hon. Members for their contributions to the debate. The discussions we have had highlight the value of energy-intensive industries such as steel, chemicals, plastic and cement to the UK.

In response to my hon. Friend the Member for Thirsk and Malton, we do recognise that the UK’s industrial electricity costs are currently higher than those of our competitors. That partly reflects how the costs of electricity systems are distributed across household and industrial customers. For example, German industrial users pay lower electricity prices than UK industrial users, but German households pay higher electricity prices than UK households.

In response to the hon. Member for Greenwich and Woolwich, the operations are under negotiation. Of course we have a long-term commitment to climate change, as indicated in our 10-point plan. The Government are determined to continue to minimise the risk of carbon leakage to help businesses improve their productivity and competitiveness as part of our industrial strategy. Furthermore, we will work with our partners in industry to start deploying hydrogen and carbon capture usage and storage technologies.

At the same time, it is important that we continue to mitigate the cumulative impact of energy and climate change policy costs on energy prices for energy-intensive industries as we make the transition to the low-carbon economy. The Government have taken steps to reduce the impact of energy and climate change policies on industrial electricity prices for key energy-intensive industries in sectors such as steel, chemicals, cement, paper and glass. Between 2013 and 2019, total relief to energy-intensive industries for electrical policy costs was around £1.5 billion to over 220 businesses across the UK. We therefore seek approval to pay sums exceeding £30 million and up to a total of £300 million in respect of compensation for indirect costs of the UK emissions trading system, or the carbon emissions tax and carbon price support mechanism, in each case to 13 companies. I commend the motion to the Committee.

[Mark Pawsey (Rugby) (Con)]

Will the Minister give way?