Anna Turley

The closure of SSI in Redcar will undoubtedly have a significant impact on individuals, the supply chain and local economy more broadly. That is why we have announced a support package, worth up to £80 million, to support the future of the Tees Valley economy and we are working closely with a local Task Force, chaired by Amanda Skelton, to deliver this support.

In total we have agreed over £40 million of support aimed at skills and jobs creation:

• £3m has been made available to four Further Education colleges in the region to support re-training activity, as well as a further £2.65m skills funding to plug any gaps in skills provision not available via the Further Education Offer;
• £1.7m to ensure that the fifty apprentices who were with SSI can continue their apprenticeships with alternative employers;

• A £16.5m Jobs and Skills Fund to help local firms employ former SSI workers or their spouses in full-time or part-time jobs for a minimum of three years;
• £16m support for firms in the SSI supply chain and wider Tees Valley impacted by the Redcar steelworks closure, to safeguard jobs, provide the stimulus to create new posts and provide expert assistance to help them expand their business
• £750,000 to fund advice and grants to start up a new business.

A Member State may purchase or invest in an asset on purely commercial terms, as commercial investment is not subject to state aid rules. However, any subsequent injection of funds would be subject to the rules, unless it too was on commercial terms. It should be noted that the state aid rules apply equally to nationalised and privatised companies. With losses of over £600 million in just over three years and hundreds of millions in debts, commercial terms for SSI UK would have been impossible to meet.

More generally, it is possible to give a variety of types of aid under the rules including aid for research and development, and environmental protection. Restructuring and rescue of steel however is prohibited.

SSI UK had been in financial difficulties ever since it reopened the Redcar plant in 2012. This is a company that unfortunately made significant losses. In 2012, it lost £275million. In 2013, it lost £193.5million. In 2014, it lost £81million. And up to the end of June in 2015, it had lost £92.5m

There is a statutory process in place for the reporting of missing pension contributions. Managers of pension schemes are required to report any material non-payment of contributions to The Pensions Regulator within 90 days of those contributions falling due. There is no role for my department in this process.

In insolvency situations, such as SSI’s liquidation, unpaid pension contributions can be claimed from the Redundancy Payments Service within specified legal limits. If there are unpaid contributions, then the manager of the pension scheme will submit a claim to the Redundancy Payments Service on behalf of employees.

As part of his role as liquidator of SSI UK, the Official Receiver will look into all aspects leading to the company’s failure, including the directors’ conduct.

The purchase of the Redcar coke ovens and blast furnace was a commercial transaction between SSI and Tata Steel, both privately owned companies.

It is up to companies to run their own financial affairs and to submit annual returns and accounts. My Department was aware of the serious financial difficulties facing SSI UK prior to its closure and made every effort within the bounds of the law to provide assistance where we could, including ensuring workers could be paid their monthly salaries.

The package, worth up to £80 million, announced to support former SSI workers and the Tees Valley economy more broadly was based on an initial assessment of what could make an immediate and lasting difference to the people affected and the local economy.

We are looking closely Task Force to deliver proposals which they have identified will help recover from this closure, including funding to support apprentices complete their training, support for workers to retrain, and help for local businesses to grow. As the Prime Minister and Secretary of State have said, should more funding be needed, we will consider that.

There are a number of different elements of support for people affected by the closure of the SSI steelworks in Redcar. These include:

• Redundancy-related payments paid by the Redundancy Payments Service. 1988 payments are currently being or have been processed and the majority of payments made to individuals.

• A Jobs Fair, which was attended by over 1800 people

• A Jobcentre Plus helpline, which has dealt with around 4000 calls

• A support Hub, which has provided a wide range of advice and guidance to over 2000 individuals

The Government will not impose solutions from Whitehall and will continue to work closely with the local taskforce to deliver the proposals it has identified as having a real and lasting impact. This includes:

- a £1.7m support fund to enable SSI’s 50 apprentices complete their training

- a £16.5m Jobs and Skills Fund to help local firms employ former SSI workers or their spouses in full-time or part-time jobs for a minimum of three years

- £16m support for firms in the SSI supply chain and wider Tees Valley impacted by the Redcar steelworks closure, to safeguard jobs, provide the stimulus to create new posts and provide expert assistance to help them expand their business

The package, worth up to £80 million, announced to support former SSI workers and the Tees Valley economy more broadly was agreed across Government.

It is not part of the Secretary of State’s functions to assess the performance of the Official Receiver when acting as liquidator. The Secretary of State cannot interfere in the administration of the liquidation.

Strong competition in the energy supply market is the best way to keep prices down. The Government is committed to ensuring that the market works effectively for consumers, including through implementing the final recommendations of the Competition and Markets Authority following their investigation. In the meantime we will continue our focus on keeping bills down through promoting competition, making switching quicker and easier, and providing direct help to the most vulnerable.

Energy bill data are only produced at regional level. The tables below show the average annual domestic energy bill for the North East public electricity supply area, which includes Redcar constituency, and the UK. Bill estimates are shown for the years 2010 and 2014, the most recent data available, and are based on fixed consumption levels of 3,800kWh/year for electricity and 15,000 kWh/year for gas. The bills provided are averaged across all methods of payment and expressed in cash terms.

Estimates of average domestic energy bills by region are derived from data in tables 2.2 and 2.3 of DECC’s Quarterly Energy Prices publication.

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/annual-domestic-energy-price-statistics.

The Government is committed to supporting the growth of public service mutuals and delivering the manifesto commitment to guarantee the right to mutualise within the public sector. The Government will set out its plan in more detail in due course.

The Government will continue to support the Commissioning Academy. We are looking at a variety of funding options to put it on a sustainable footing.

The National Living Wage will benefit low paid workers across all sectors, including charity workers delivering public services on behalf of the state.

Government is taking steps to support employers with the transition. For example, the employer National Insurance Bill for businesses and charities will be cut by £1000 from April 2016.

The Department has not made a formal assessment of the progress that that Local Authorities have made in supporting the development and implementation of hydrogen conversion technology. However, in the course of work to understand how the UK can move to low carbon heating and the potential role of hydrogen in the wider energy system, my officials and I have met with a range of national, regional and local stakeholders.

Our engagement has taken a number of forms - bilateral engagement, roundtables, conferences and workshops - and has included engagement with, among others: Scottish Government, Welsh Government, the Tees Valley Combined Authority, Liverpool City Region, Swindon Council, Swindon and Wiltshire LEP, Cheshire and Warrington LEP, and Greater London Authority.

The Department has not made a formal assessment of the progress that that Local Authorities have made in supporting the development and implementation of hydrogen conversion technology. However, in the course of work to understand how the UK can move to low carbon heating and the potential role of hydrogen in the wider energy system, my officials and I have met with a range of national, regional and local stakeholders.

Our engagement has taken a number of forms - bilateral engagement, roundtables, conferences and workshops - and has included engagement with, among others: Scottish Government, Welsh Government, the Tees Valley Combined Authority, Liverpool City Region, Swindon Council, Swindon and Wiltshire LEP, Cheshire and Warrington LEP, and Greater London Authority.

The Department has not made a formal assessment of the progress that that Local Authorities have made in supporting the development and implementation of hydrogen conversion technology. However, in the course of work to understand how the UK can move to low carbon heating and the potential role of hydrogen in the wider energy system, my officials and I have met with a range of national, regional and local stakeholders.

Our engagement has taken a number of forms - bilateral engagement, roundtables, conferences and workshops - and has included engagement with, among others: Scottish Government, Welsh Government, the Tees Valley Combined Authority, Liverpool City Region, Swindon Council, Swindon and Wiltshire LEP, Cheshire and Warrington LEP, and Greater London Authority.

The Department continues to publish findings from externally commissioned studies in support of work to strengthen the evidence of potential approaches to decarbonising heat. We plan to publish a report on our review of the evidence in due course.

The Government continues to work with Mayor Ben Houchen and the Tees Valley Combined Authority to promote new investment in the Tees Valley, including in the materials sector. Discussions with potential investors are at various stages of maturity and remain commercially sensitive. Any proposals that request public funding will be assessed for their robustness and the value for money it would represent.

Government has a long-standing programme of support to maintain the competitiveness of the UK automotive sector. This includes the Automotive Sector Deal. This is a joint strategic vision for how government and industry will work together to respond to the Grand Challenges of the Industrial Strategy, such as Clean Growth and the Future of Mobility.

The Department has maintained close engagement with INEOS throughout their process and has met with the company and members of the South Tees Development Corporation on several occasions. We continue to promote UK options with INEOS, and stand ready to support in any way we can.

Government has a long-standing programme of support to maintain the competitiveness of the UK automotive sector. This includes the Automotive Sector Deal. This is a joint strategic vision for how government and industry will work together to respond to the Grand Challenges of the Industrial Strategy, such as Clean Growth and the Future of Mobility.

I am delighted that Sir Jim Ratcliffe is considering the UK as a place for large-scale investment into the automotive sector. The Department has maintained close engagement with INEOS throughout their process and has met with the company and members of the South Tees Development Corporation on several occasions. We continue to promote UK options with INEOS, and stand ready to support in any way we can.

The Government continues to work with Mayor Ben Houchen and the Tees Valley Combined Authority to promote new investment in the Tees Valley, including in the materials sector. Such discussions are commercially sensitive. Any proposals that request public funding are assessed for their robustness, strategic fit and value for money.

The Government recognises the significant potential of hydrogen in meeting our long-term decarbonisation targets.

We are currently undertaking work to strengthen and assess the evidence on the range of potential approaches to decarbonising heat, including the possibility of large scale conversion of the gas network to hydrogen, and will set out further detail on this work later this year.

In support of this work we are investing in hydrogen innovation, with up to £65 million supporting projects addressing the fundamental challenges of large-scale hydrogen conversion, such as establishing the safety case and reducing production costs.

The Government is currently undertaking work to strengthen and assess the evidence on the range of potential approaches to decarbonising heat in the long-term. This work includes examining the possibility of large scale conversion of the gas network to hydrogen, as well as looking at the potential of other low carbon gases, heat networks, and large-scale electrification of heating.

In support of this work we are investing in hydrogen innovation, with up to £65 million supporting projects addressing the fundamental challenges of large-scale hydrogen conversion, such as establishing the safety case and reducing production costs.

In the North East, approximately 0.15 million households (13.3 per cent), spent more than 10 per cent of their full income on fuel bills. Data is only available at the regional level and is not broken down further to Local Authority or Parliamentary Constituency level.

The Government provided a comprehensive funding package to support the affected workforce and promote the economic recovery of the Tees Valley in response to the SSI liquidation. Of this funding, £50 million was allocated specifically to the SSI Task Force to deliver a range of tailored support initiatives. All of this funding has already been paid to the accountable bodies. Task Force members continue to work closely with officials in the Department to deliver this support package.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave on 20 October 2016 to Questions UIN 49036, 49037 and 49038.

All potential major capital projects are assessed against the additional value they add, including an evaluation of whether the research or innovation activity is already being undertaken elsewhere. The majority of decisions about which research investments to undertake are taken directly by Research Councils, based on rigorous criteria including peer review.

In respect of the establishment of Innovate UK’s 11 Catapult Centres, all candidate areas have undergone a robust evaluation by Innovate UK’s Senior Innovation Leads who have relevant domain expertise. In addition, facilitated workshops, with leading figures in the relevant industries - including business, academic and representatives from the public sector, are held to ascertain whether Innovate UK’s analysis of the market opportunities in this area is correct. Each candidate area is evaluated according to an agreed process to assess the size of the global market opportunity and the demand for a Catapult to help business build on their capabilities to commercialise innovation and realise this potential in the UK.

In setting up new Catapult centres Innovate UK take into account the option of working within or alongside existing physical centres in the UK either to avoid duplication or to achieve quicker delivery.

At a local level, Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) are responsible for identifying, assessing and approving Local Growth Funded projects. They do this in accordance with their strategic economic objectives and Local Assurance Frameworks which have to comply with the LEP National Assurance Framework. The National Assurance Framework covers value for money and states that methodology should be proportionate to the funding allocated and in line with established Government guidance including the HM Treasury Green Book.

All potential major capital projects are assessed against the additional value they add, including an evaluation of whether the research or innovation activity is already being undertaken elsewhere. The majority of decisions about which research investments to undertake are taken directly by Research Councils, based on rigorous criteria including peer review.

In respect of the establishment of Innovate UK’s 11 Catapult Centres, all candidate areas have undergone a robust evaluation by Innovate UK’s Senior Innovation Leads who have relevant domain expertise. In addition, facilitated workshops, with leading figures in the relevant industries - including business, academic and representatives from the public sector, are held to ascertain whether Innovate UK’s analysis of the market opportunities in this area is correct. Each candidate area is evaluated according to an agreed process to assess the size of the global market opportunity and the demand for a Catapult to help business build on their capabilities to commercialise innovation and realise this potential in the UK.

In setting up new Catapult centres Innovate UK take into account the option of working within or alongside existing physical centres in the UK either to avoid duplication or to achieve quicker delivery.

At a local level, Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) are responsible for identifying, assessing and approving Local Growth Funded projects. They do this in accordance with their strategic economic objectives and Local Assurance Frameworks which have to comply with the LEP National Assurance Framework. The National Assurance Framework covers value for money and states that methodology should be proportionate to the funding allocated and in line with established Government guidance including the HM Treasury Green Book.