Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
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 help minimise disruption to the wider supply chain during the transition from Energy Company Obligation 3 to Energy Company Obligation 4.
Answered by Greg Hands
The Government introduced ECO3 Interim Delivery to help with the transition between ECO3 and ECO4 and to prevent a supply chain hiatus,. As suppliers and installers are familiar with ECO3 requirements, this has provided greater certainty prior to the regulations and final guidance.
In discussions, energy suppliers have confirmed that they have been using ECO3 Interim Delivery.
In addition, Ofgem has published the Full Project Scores and Partial Project Scores in advance of ECO4. This gives industry certainty on what ECO4 activities will be commercially worthwhile, helping to guide suppliers in planning and contracting.
Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
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 Government policies on achieving net zero on the cost of energy for the poorest households.
Answered by Greg Hands
In the Net Zero Strategy, the Government set out four key principles of Net Zero Fairness including ensuring that the most vulnerable are supported by Government during the energy transition.
In the Sustainable Warmth Competition, published in February 2021, the Government outlined its approach to tackling fuel poverty in England. It also recognised that improving the energy efficiency of homes is the most effective way of permanently reducing consumer energy bills and tackling fuel poverty in the long term. The Government is providing £3 billion of funding over this Parliament for low carbon heating and energy efficiency measures to those who need it most. Examples of these schemes include the Local Authority Delivery scheme, the Home Upgrade Grant and the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund.
The Government is also consulting on expanding the Energy Company Obligation Scheme to £1 billion a year from April 2022. This will help an extra 305,000 families with green measures such as insulation and heating, with average energy bill savings of around £290 a year.
Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
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 will take to ensure that a transition to net zero remains affordable for people on lower incomes.
Answered by Greg Hands
The Government has outlined its plans to transition to net zero. Its plans include growing the economy, benefiting everyone by securing home-grown energy supply, establishing new industries and creating jobs in former industrial heartlands.
Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
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 role of nuclear energy in achieving the Government's net zero emissions targets.
Answered by Greg Hands
Nuclear energy will be essential to achieving net zero.
Analysis published by BEIS with the Energy White Paper[1] in 2020 shows that, alongside significant amounts of wind and solar, a stable, low-cost electricity system to meet net zero will also require other forms of low-carbon power, including nuclear, to complement the intermittency of those technologies. As outlined in the Net Zero Strategy[2], the Government needs to continue to deploy all known low-carbon technologies at scale over the next decade to ensure optionality is maintained, whilst developing new options to mitigate delivery risk and reduce costs.
The Government has confirmed that it aims to reach a Final Investment Decision on at least one large-scale nuclear project this Parliament and recently announced £210m for Rolls-Royce’s Small Modular Reactor design.
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/energy-white-paper-powering-our-net-zero-future.
[2] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/net-zero-strategy.
Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
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 (a) bring forward the review of the UK ETS benchmark for lime production and (b) instruct that the benchmark be based on plants in the UK.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan
As stated in the Government Response to the Consultation on The Future of UK Carbon Pricing, as part of the Free Allocation Review, we will be looking at possible future changes to benchmarks used within the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (UK ETS). The review will consider which benchmarks could be best suited for the UK ETS. A call for evidence was launched on 17 March as part of the review and is currently live.
Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
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 (a) the impact on the UK lime industry of adopting the EU ETS Phase IV benchmark for lime, (b) the applicability and effectiveness of that EU benchmark for the UK lime industry, and (c) whether carbon reduction to meet that benchmark is achievable with currently available technology.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan
As stated in the Government Response to the Consultation on The Future of UK Carbon Pricing, initially the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (UK ETS) will use Phase IV EU ETS benchmarks. This ensures continuity for participants for the 2021 launch, ensures that benchmarks are based on sufficiently broad sets of data, and ensures free allocation is awarded on a comparable basis to EU counterparts.
As part of the Free Allocation Review, we will be looking at possible future changes to benchmarks used within the UK ETS. The Review will consider which benchmarks could be best suited for the UK ETS.
A call for evidence was launched on 17 March as part of the review and is currently live.
Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
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 plans to take against travel companies and airlines refusing to refund customers for cancellations.
Answered by Paul Scully
Package travel agencies are required to comply with The Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018, which protect consumers who have bought package holidays. Consumers are entitled to a refund?if forced to cancel a package holiday due to unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances, which should be issued?within 14 days, depending on the nature of the contract in place. Further information on the rights and responsibilities of consumers and businesses was published on 30 April by the Competition and Markets Authority who have also set up a covid-19 taskforce for consumers to register complaints.
Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
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 ensure that airlines and travel companies provide customers with full refunds for cancelled flights and holidays.
Answered by Paul Scully
Package travel agencies are required to comply with The Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018, which protect consumers who have bought package holidays. Consumers are entitled to a refund?if forced to cancel a package holiday due to unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances, which should be issued?within 14 days, depending on the nature of the contract in place. Further information on the rights and responsibilities of consumers and businesses was published on 30 April by the Competition and Markets Authority who have also set up a covid-19 taskforce for consumers to register complaints.