Asked by: Callum McCaig (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the average price of electricity imported into the UK through interconnectors was in the last 12 months.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government does not hold prices on electricity imports over interconnectors. This is commercial information held by market participants.
Asked by: Callum McCaig (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the average price of electricity exported from the UK through interconnectors was in the last 12 months.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government does not hold prices on electricity exports over interconnectors. This is commercial information held by market participants.
Asked by: Callum McCaig (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the average wholesale price of electricity was in 2016.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The average base load wholesale price of electricity in the day-ahead market for the period January to November 2016 was £42 per megawatt-hour*.
*Source: Ofgem electricity prices, https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/chart/electricity-prices-day-ahead-baseload-contracts-monthly-average-gb
Asked by: Callum McCaig (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much electricity was exported from the UK through interconnectors in the last 12 months.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government routinely publishes total export figures from interconnectors in the annual Digest of UK Energy Statistics (DUKES), and the quarterly National Statistics Energy Trends data. The next Digest is due to be published on 27 July 2017, and provisional 2016 data will feature in the next Energy Trends report due for publication on 30 March.
The latest available 12 month period of data spans Q4 2015 to Q3 2016 and shows a total export of 1,255GWh.
Asked by: Callum McCaig (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much electricity was imported into the UK through interconnectors in the last 12 months.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government routinely publishes total import figures from interconnectors in the annual Digest of UK Energy Statistics (DUKES), and the quarterly National Statistics Energy Trends data. The next Digest is due to be published on 27 July 2017, and provisional 2016 data will feature in the next Energy Trends report due for publication on 30 March.
The latest available 12 month period of data spans Q4 2015 to Q3 2016 shows a total import of 21,986GWh.
Asked by: Callum McCaig (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the number of people paying Class 4 National Insurance Contributions in (a) Aberdeen South and (b) Scotland.
Answered by Jane Ellison
In Scotland, we estimate there are 55,000 individuals paying class 4 National Insurance contributions. 2,100 are in Aberdeen South.
These estimates are based on the 2014-15 Survey of Personal Incomes.
Asked by: Callum McCaig (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen South)
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 potential to increase exports of electricity through new and existing interconnectors.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government stated in the 2016 Budget that it supports at least 9 gigawatts of additional interconnection, and noted that there is likely to be merit in more depending on the market being connected to. We have three projects under construction and three more with regulatory approval, which together could add 7.7 gigawatts of interconnection capacity by 2022. In addition to this, there are a number of new projects coming forward seeking regulatory approval. Ofgem is currently assessing whether these projects are in the interests of British consumers.
Asked by: Callum McCaig (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen South)
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 effect on electricity prices of the (a) UK leaving the EU and (b) developing Energy Union.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The UK’s future relationship with EU electricity markets following its exit from the EU will be determined by negotiations between the UK and the EU. The future of the EU Internal Electricity Market will be determined by negotiations on the Commission’s proposals for market design. In both these negotiations the Government remains committed to getting the best deal for consumers.
Asked by: Callum McCaig (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen South)
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 effect of the UK leaving the EU on the import of natural gas from the European Single Market.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Gas is an important fuel for homes and businesses across Great Britain. Great Britain benefits from highly diverse and flexible sources of gas supply. Analysis shows GB supplies can meet gas demand even under severe weather conditions for an extended period of time, and this has always happened.
This diverse range of sources for natural gas including indigenous production, six international gas pipelines to Norway and the EU and four Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminals which import gas from a wide and growing range of global sources. We recognise the importance of having access to an affordable, secure and sustainable supply of energy for business and domestic use.
Asked by: Callum McCaig (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether Post Office Ltd includes a count of temporarily closed post offices in meeting the Government's criteria for ensuring fair and reasonable access to post offices.
Answered by Margot James
The Post Office takes into account temporarily closed branches before reporting on its performance against the access criteria. The Post Office’s 2015/16 Annual Network Report was laid in Parliament on Monday 20 February and can be accessed from the Post Office’s website - http://corporate.postoffice.co.uk/sites/default/files/networkreport2016.pdf.