Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
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 made an assessment of the impact of green levies on the cost of energy to consumers.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
According to Ofgem, environmental and social policy costs have totalled 25.48 percent on electricity bills and 2.46 percent on gas bills in 2020. However, over the past 10 years their net effect has been to reduce consumer energy bills.
These levies fund vital support schemes and energy efficiency measures which benefit low income and vulnerable households, as well as investing in the UK’s home-grown renewable energy sector.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
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 end British reliance on Russian gas.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government has diverse and flexible sources of gas supply which ensures that households, businesses, and heavy industry get the energy they need. The Government meets around half of the UK’s annual gas supply through domestic production and most imports come from reliable suppliers such as Norway. Less than 3% of our gas was sourced from Russia in 2020 through liquified natural gas.
There are no gas pipelines directly linking the UK with Russia. Unlike other countries in Europe, the UK is not dependent on Russian gas supply.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
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 (a) is taking steps and (b) plans to take steps to help reduce weekly road fuel prices for people in the Greater London area.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is conscious of the impact of fuel prices on households across the country and has therefore decided to keep fuel duty frozen for the twelfth consecutive year.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
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 made an assessment of the implications for its policies of the predictions of industry leaders that one third of fish and chip shops will have to close as a result of escalating costs.
Answered by Paul Scully
We recognise the impact rising prices will have on businesses of all sizes and the Government is in regular contact with business groups and suppliers to understand the challenges they face and explore ways to protect businesses.
In response to the pandemic we put in place one of the world’s most comprehensive economic responses worth £400 billion, including business grants, loans, business rates relief, and VAT discounts. In total, over £37 billion has been provided to the tourism, leisure and hospitality sectors in the form of grants, loans and tax breaks. In addition, on 21 December, my Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer announced a further £1 billion support for businesses most impacted by Omicron across the UK, including a more than £100 million boost to the Additional Restrictions Grant for Local Authorities to support other businesses. We are encouraging councils to provide the funding to businesses as quickly as possible.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
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 Levelling Up White Paper’s commitment to fund Research and Development Hot Spots across the country, what plans his Department has to promote research and development in the London Borough of Havering.
Answered by George Freeman
The success of London strengthens our national research and development (R&D) ecosystem, benefitting all UK regions. To this end, the Government is fully committed to the continued success of London’s world-class centres of R&D excellence.
The 2021 Spending Review sees record levels of investment in the UK’s world-leading research base with public spending on R&D increasing by £5 billion per annum to £20 billion in 2024-25.
The substantial uplift to research and science funding will not only allow the UK to build on our existing strengths but will also provide opportunities to grow research and innovation investment across the entire country.
Public R&D funding will continue to be awarded competitively and will be open to universities, businesses and organisations across the whole UK.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
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 buy and promote products from UK industries for the production of green hydrogen.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Prime Minister’s 10 Point Plan set out the UK Government’s ambition for 5GW of hydrogen production capacity by 2030, including both electrolytic (green) and CCUS-enabled (blue) hydrogen.
The Government is clear that in supporting the growth of a hydrogen economy, the government should maximise economic benefits for the UK. The UK’s natural assets, expertise, and innovation ecosystem provide the foundations for a world leading hydrogen sector. The Hydrogen Strategy makes clear the Government expects developers to ensure that competitive UK companies are in a fair position to bid into hydrogen projects, and the Government will actively monitor results. The forthcoming Sector Development Action Plan will set out more detail.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
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 merits of adopting of green ammonia to help promote the Green agenda.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Green ammonia can play an important role in helping the UK to meet its legally binding carbon budget and net zero commitments. As set out in the UK Hydrogen Strategy and the Transport Decarbonisation Plan, green ammonia (such as that created from hydrogen produced from green electricity or with carbon capture, usage and storage) is likely to play an important role in decarbonising UK domestic and international shipping. Ammonia made from low carbon hydrogen will also be important for decarbonising heavy industrial processes such as the production of fertilisers, and ammonia could provide an accessible and cost-effective method for transporting and storing low-carbon hydrogen for use across the economy.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
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 made an assessment of the effect of the Northern Ireland Protocol on the UK Aerospace industry.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The Government continually assesses how UK industry adapts to and makes the most of Brexit and the Northern Ireland Protocol. The Department is fully engaged with the Northern Ireland Executive and aerospace businesses in Northern Ireland on how to strengthen this already world-class industrial sector. It is the Government’s priority to deal with issues arising from the Protocol and work with the EU to agree solutions that make the Protocol work better for business.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
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 impact of harnessing the UK's domestic energy potential for gas on levels of domestic energy production.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK has a robust domestic supply of gas from the UK Continental Shelf. It has been operating at 90% or more of its potential capacity for gas production throughout the current winter. This Government, through the North Sea Transition Deal, is ensuring that there is a strong role for the sector in making sure resilience is maintained.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
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 made an assessment of the potential effect of a national retrofit strategy on the level of the UK's reliance on gas.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Natural gas will have an ongoing role to play as the UK decarbonises, however achieving net zero by 2050 means the Government will need to stop burning unabated natural gas in homes and business for heating purposes.
The Government's recently published retrofit strategy, the Heat and Buildings Strategy, signalled its ambition to phase out new natural gas boilers from 2035, with decisions to be taken in 2026 about the potential role of hydrogen boilers as an alternative.
The Government has also committed £3.9 billion of funding over the next 3 years to retrofit UK homes and buildings and is extending the Energy Company Obligation Scheme until 2026.