Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent progress his Department has made on reducing levels of Russian oil and gas imported into the UK.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The UK is ending all imports of Russian fossil fuels in response to Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine. The UK ended coal imports from Russia from 10 August, oil and oil products from 5 December, and imports of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) will be banned from 1 January 2023.
Provisional data shows the UK imported no Russian LNG in the three months to October 2022. This data also shows that the UK imported 0.3% of gross oil supply (production & imports) from Russia, down from 4.3% in the same period in 2021.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - 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 support and develop energy self-sufficiency in the Crown Dependencies.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Crown Dependencies are self-governing jurisdictions that are not part of the UK. These jurisdictions are members of the British-Irish Council through which the Government engages with Crown Dependencies on energy matters, including energy security, two to three times a year. These meetings are designed to share experiences on energy matters and to work together on practical and mutual issues where appropriate, in line with the tenth report of the Justice Select Committee regarding the relationship between the UK and the Crown Dependencies.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
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 (a) improve the energy efficiency of (b) implement energy-saving measures in public buildings.
Answered by Graham Stuart
As set out in the Net Zero Strategy, the Government aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from public sector buildings by 75% by 2037. To support this, £2.5 billion is being invested through the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme over the financial years 2020/21 to 2024/25 to provide grants for public sector bodies in England to fund heat decarbonisation and energy efficiency measures.
The Government Property Function on 15 November published its Government Property Strategy, which commits to delivering a range of measures designed to create a smaller, better, and greener public estate.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
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 potential impact of the Memorandum of Understanding on science and innovation signed between the UK and Switzerland on an agreement with the EU on the UK's participation in Horizon Europe; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by George Freeman
Being a science superpower means deepening our international relationships with leading research and innovation economies like Switzerland.
Association to EU programmes would not change this strong bilateral relationship: the Government’s preference remains association to Horizon Europe and the Government continues to do everything to secure this. But the UK cannot wait forever. The priority is to support international collaboration in science and R&I – Government want to strengthen the valuable and long-standing partnerships between UK and European researchers whilst expanding the UK’s global partnerships regardless of whether we associate to Horizon Europe.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what measures the Government plans to introduce to encourage consumers to reduce energy consumption.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government is investing over £6.6 billion over this parliament to improve energy efficiency and decarbonise heating. In the summer the Government launched a GOV.UK digital service (‘Find ways to save energy in your home’) providing impartial, tailored advice to homeowners on ways to improve the energy performance of their homes. The service provides high-level trusted advice and information on retrofit recommendations suitable for their home.
National Grid, working alongside energy suppliers and Ofgem, have also launched a voluntary service to reward users who reduce their electricity demand at peak times.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent steps his Department has taken to help support start-up businesses.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Minister without Portfolio
The Start Up Loans Company, part of the Government-owned British Business Bank, provides loans and pre- and post-application support to new entrepreneurs, including a year of free business mentoring for successful applicants.
Our network of 38 Growth Hubs across England provides access to information and advice to all businesses, regardless of size or sector.
The BEIS-funded Business Support Helpline provides free advice and support for all businesses in England – including start-ups.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - 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 diversify rare earth mineral supply chains away from China.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
The Government published the Critical Minerals Strategy in July, which sets out plans to improve the resilience of critical minerals supply chains by boosting domestic capability, enhancing global markets, and playing a leading role in solving global challenges with our international partners.
The Government is committed to building domestic critical mineral supply chains, for example, by supporting UK-based rare earths developer Pensana’s new rare earth magnet materials refinery in Yorkshire. Earlier this year, the UK signed up to the Minerals Security Partnership alongside ten other likeminded partners to support the development of diverse supply chains.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent steps his Department has taken to help increase investment in the science manufacturing sector.
Answered by George Freeman
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) supports businesses to innovate and grow. For example, through the Made Smarter Innovation Challenge which helps manufacturers capitalise on new digital technologies. The Catapult Network receives some funding through Innovate UK, part of UKRI, and over half of the £1.2 billion funding for 2018/2023 is allocated to the High-Value Manufacturing Catapult which supports industry to develop new manufacturing technologies.
The Life Sciences Innovative Manufacturing Fund, announced in March 2022, will provide £60 million in capital grants for investment in the manufacture of human medicines, medical diagnostics and MedTech products, building on its predecessor, the Medicines & Diagnostics Manufacturing Transformation Fund
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - 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 promote investment in the UK life sciences sector.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
The Life Sciences Vision, published in July 2021, sets out our ten-year strategy on how we would make the UK a Life Sciences superpower. The Vision made a number of commitments to develop a globally competitive Life Sciences investment ecosystem. These included the Life Sciences Innovative Manufacturing Fund, which will provide £60million in capital grants for investment in the manufacturing of human medicines, medical diagnostics and MedTech products in the UK; a new “Long-Term Investment For Technology and Science (LIFTS)” competition, providing up to £500million to support new funds to catalyse investment into the UK’s pioneering science and technology businesses; and eight Healthcare Missions, which will draw in significant private investment. Since the Vision was published, the UK has also attracted over £1billion in private sector investment.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - 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 is taking steps to provide all households with information on the Energy Price Guarantee.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government has announced unprecedented support within its Growth Plan to protect households and businesses from high energy prices. The Energy Price Guarantee will save a typical British household around £700 this winter. This is on top of existing Government plans to give all households a £400 reduction in their energy bills through the Energy Bill Support Scheme. The Chancellor has made clear they will continue to do so from now until end of March next year.
A review will be launched to consider more targeted measures to support households with their energy bills after this period.