Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans his Department has to support travel agencies after (a) covid-19 restrictions are eased and (b) coronavirus support grants have ceased in the context of travel agents being obliged to refund holidays as a result of changing covid-19 restrictions.
Answered by Paul Scully
We recognise that these are very challenging conditions for businesses in the travel sector, including travel agents, which is why we have provided a range of measures to support the sector.
Most of our support schemes do not end until September or after, to provide continuity and certainty for businesses and families.
Additionally, on 6 April, we introduced a new Recovery Loan Scheme, providing loans from £25,000 up to £10 million, with an 80% government guarantee, to replace existing loan schemes coming to an end.
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has to help people eligible for the Green Homes Grant to find qualified installers.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
The Government is working closely with industry to ensure there are enough installers to meet demand for the Green Homes Grant (GHG) scheme:
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many people have applied for the Green Homes Grant scheme to date.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
As of 15:00 on 14 October, the Green Homes Grant voucher scheme had received 17,218 grant applications.
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he plans to publish a review of the Green Homes Grant scheme after that scheme has ended.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
There will be an evaluation of the processes and outcomes of the Green Homes Grant voucher scheme, with an independent research organisation due to commence work later this year.
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans his Department has to increase the number of local contractors participating in the Green Homes Grant scheme.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
The Green Homes Grant scheme will support tens of thousands of jobs, and we are working closely with industry to ensure there are enough installers to meet demand. More than 1,000 companies have signed up so far with more registering every day, including many businesses that operate nationally with substantial capacity to carry out work across the country.
We have also made £6.9m available via the Green Homes Grant Skills Training competition to fund training to increase the number of installers available.
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the number of people eligible for the Green Homes Grant scheme who will be unable to use that scheme due to inadequate numbers of qualified installers in their area.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
The Government is working closely with industry to ensure there are enough installers to meet demand. More than 1,000 companies are registered with TrustMark and are able to carry out measures under the Green Homes Grant Scheme, with more registering every day. We have changed the way the Simple Energy Advice website displays installers so that consumers can find increased numbers of registered tradespeople that can deliver work in their area.
Officials are working actively with TrustMark scheme providers and certification bodies to support installers to get certified as quickly as possible. The Department also recently launched a £6.9m skills competition to provide training opportunities for the energy efficiency and low carbon heating supply chains to deliver works and scale up to meet additional consumer demand.
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he plans to extend the deadline of the Green Homes Grant scheme after 31 March 2021.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
The time-limited nature of the scheme is determined by the nature of the funding. Any potential funding allocations for future years will be determined in the next Government spending review.
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, for what reasons people eligible for the Green Homes Grant scheme have not been able to receive their vouchers before the start of November 2020.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
Applications for Green Homes Grant scheme vouchers are subject to thorough checks, to help protect against malpractice. These checks may take some time to complete but are vital to ensuring value for money and consumer protection. The first vouchers will be approved and issued shortly.
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
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 electricity supply is adequate to match the increase in demand for electric vehicles.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
The Government is working with the energy industry to plan for electric vehicle uptake, and the market is already set up to bring forward investment in new generation capacity; for example the Contracts for Difference scheme supports investment in new low carbon generation, and additional demand can be managed through adjustments to the amount of capacity secured through the Capacity Market auctions.
Electric vehicles also present an opportunity for consumers to contribute to the efficient management of electricity supply and demand, and share the benefits of doing so through smart technologies.
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the number of electric vehicles produced in the UK in 2030.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Faraday Institution, which supports UK battery development, estimates that the UK will be producing nearly 1.6 million electric vehicles (EVs) per year by 2040. The report ‘UK electric vehicle and battery production potential to 2040’ can be downloaded from the Faraday Institution’s website at: https://faraday.ac.uk/publications/.
The Government continues to create the right environment to support an increase in the production of EVs in the UK. We have announced up to £1 billion through the Automotive Transformation Fund to develop UK supply chains for the large-scale production of EVs and for further research and development (R&D). £10 million of funding will enable the first wave of innovative R&D projects to scale-up manufacturing of the latest technology in batteries, motors, electronics, and fuel cells. The Government is also encouraging industry to put forward investment proposals for gigafactories and to support supply chains to mass manufacture cutting-edge batteries for the next generation of EVs, as well as for other strategic electric vehicle technologies.