Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 18 July 2022 to Question 33677 on Greenhouse Gas Emissions, what recent progress his Department has made on preparing the Net Zero progress report.
Answered by Graham Stuart
I have laid a statutory instrument to extend the deadline for my Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State’s response to the CCC’s annual report to 31 March 2023.
The extension will give the Government sufficient time to consider its response to the findings of the Net Zero review, reporting at the end of December 2022, and reflect this in the Government response. It will also avoid pre-empting or undermining the outcome of the review. This response will include an update on progress of the Net Zero Strategy.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
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 conducted a recent cost-benefit analysis of energy from waste facilities.
Answered by Graham Stuart
BEIS has assessed that energy from waste for electricity generation is economically viable without Government support, and therefore only energy from waste with combined heat and power is supported under the Contracts for Difference scheme.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment he has made of the extent to which consumers are able to access adequate information on the country of origin of flowers and plants they purchase in supermarkets.
Answered by Dean Russell
No specific assessment has been made. Aside from certain products (e.g. food), there is no mandatory requirement to label goods with an indication of their country of origin for the majority of consumer products.
The government encourages traders to include helpful labelling on a voluntary basis, particularly where this may be in the best interests of the consumer or represents a unique selling point for the business, so long as the additional information is true and not misleading as required by the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPRs).
If consumers believe that the trader is not being truthful, they should report the matter in the first instance to the Citizens Advice consumer service on 0808 223 1133 (www.citizensadvice.org.uk/).
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he take steps to reduce the standard charge on energy bills to alleviate financial pressure for consumers.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Energy suppliers use standing charges to recover the on-going costs to provide a live supply, regardless of a consumer’s usage.
The largest element of the standing charge is the cost of the electricity and gas transmission and distribution networks, which vary depending on different geographical area. Reducing or removing the standing charge would likely see the system costs being added to the unit price of energy. This could result in increased bills for high energy users, such as those with medical equipment used at home.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
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 that (a) reducing or (b) removing the standing charge on energy bills will have on alleviating cost pressures on consumers.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Energy suppliers use standing charges to recover the on-going costs to provide a live supply, regardless of a consumer’s usage.
The largest element of the standing charge is the cost of the electricity and gas transmission and distribution networks, which vary depending on different geographical area. Reducing or removing the standing charge would likely see the system costs being added to the unit price of energy. This could result in increased bills for high energy users, such as those with medical equipment used at home.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to support businesses with investing in carbon capture and storage initiatives for energy from waste.
Answered by Greg Hands
In November 2021, the Government set out that waste sector CCUS projects that meet the eligibility criteria will be eligible for business model support through Phase-2 of the CCUS Cluster Sequencing process. In March 2022, applications were received from twelve eligible waste sector projects.
On 25th March 2022, the UK Emissions Trading Scheme Authority published a Call for Evidence to explore whether the UK ETS should be expanded to cover waste incineration and Energy from Waste. Including energy from waste facilities, the UK ETS would provide a market-based carbon price with a long-term trajectory that could incentivise improvements in the efficiency of existing incineration plants, stimulate investment in decarbonisation technologies or practices, and support business investment in carbon capture and storage in the future.