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 many post offices in Scotland have closed since 2010.
Answered by Margot James
The Post Office reported that there were 1,446 post offices in Scotland at March 2010 and 1,410 at March 2016.
Further information on network numbers can be found in the Post Office’s 2015/16 Annual Network Report: http://corporate.postoffice.co.uk/sites/default/files/networkreport2016.pdf; and also in a recently published Briefing Paper by the House of Commons Library:
http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN02585/SN02585.pdf.
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 many post offices are currently operational in Scotland.
Answered by Margot James
The provision of post offices is the responsibility of Post Office Limited.
I have asked Paula Vennells, the Chief Executive of Post Office Limited, to write to the Hon Member on this matter and provide the information requested. A copy of her reply will be placed in the libraries of the House.
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, pursuant to the Answer of 11 January 2017 to Question 58726, on wind power, whether the costs associated with electricity generation that make up each Strike Price comparator in the BEIS Electricity Generation Cost report are based on Frontier Economics' research into whole system impacts; and what plans he has to publish that research.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Electricity Generation Costs report focuses on estimates of the levelised costs of electricity generation. These levelised costs cover the total capital and operating costs accruing to the owner/operator of a generation asset.
To improve the Department’s understanding of the impacts of individual electricity generation technologies, Frontier Economics were commissioned to develop a comprehensive framework to define whole system impacts and their components and drivers, which can be applied to a range of electricity generation technologies. The resulting methodology report and its peer reviews will be published in due course.
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 account was taken of (a) the cost of land, (b) the effect on the transmission system and (c) balancing costs of the strike price for Hinkley Point C.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Strike Price for Hinkley Point C accounts for all charges incurred by the developer in the production of electricity, including the cost of land, the generator’s share of transmission losses and an expectation of Transmission Use of Service Charges. Balancing services are not accounted for as the Strike Price for Hinkley Point C only includes costs that are directly incurred by the project.
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 level of investment in renewable electricity generation in Scotland was in each of the last five years.
Answered by Jesse Norman
In Delivering UK Energy Investment: Low Carbon Energy March 2015 [1], it is estimated that since 2010 £6 billion was invested in renewable electricity technologies across Scotland.
Asked by: Callum McCaig (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to minimise barriers for EU-resident staff and students who plan to come to Scottish universities after the UK has left the EU.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The precise way in which the Government will control the movement of EU nationals to the UK after the UK has left the EU is yet to be determined and will be subject to the wider negotiations on the UK’s exit from the EU. We are committed to getting the best deal for the whole of the United Kingdom.
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 steps he plans to take to protect UK R&D investment that has been made in Scottish universities after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
The Government is committed to ensuring the UK remains a world leader in international research and innovation. As my Rt Hon Friend the Prime Minister has said, we would welcome an agreement to continue to collaborate with our European partners on major science, research, and technology initiatives. The Chancellor announced in August that the Treasury will guarantee all successful competitively-bid-for EU research funding applied for before the UK leaves the EU, so that UK participants, and their international partners, can be confident that they will have the funding necessary throughout the life of their Horizon 2020 funded project.
At the Autumn Statement 2016, the Government committed an extra £2 billion per year to research and development funding by 2020- 21, including for the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund. This funding is additional to the protection of science resource funding that was announced at the spending review in autumn 2015, where science resource funding was protected in real terms, at £4.7 billion per year, for the rest of the Parliament. In the current financial year, total research and innovation funding is over £6bn.
My Rt Hon Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer has also confirmed a further £100m support for collaboration between universities across the range of knowledge exchange activity, and a further £100m for Innovate UK for the Biomedical Catalyst, from 2017/18 to 2020/21. The devolved administrations, including Scotland, will receive funding through the Barnett formula in the usual way in respect of any funding announced for England.
This Government wants the UK to be the go-to place for innovators and investors across the world, and we intend to secure the right outcome for the UK research base as we exit the European Union.
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 many Horizon 2020-funded research projects are underway in (a) Scotland and (b) the UK; and what steps he is taking to ensure that those projects will continue to have access to that funding after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
As of September 2016, there were 5,428 participations in Horizon 2020 across the UK, with 566 participations in Scotland 1.
The Treasury will underwrite all successful bids for Horizon 2020 that are approved by the Commission, even when specific projects continue beyond the departure from the EU. UK businesses and universities should continue to bid for competitive EU funds while we remain a member of the EU, and we will work with the Commission to ensure payment when funds are awarded.
1https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/uks-participation-in-horizon-2020-september-2016
Asked by: Callum McCaig (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with Ministers on the academic funding for Scottish universities after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
University funding is a devolved matter, and Scottish university funding arrangements are therefore a matter for the Scottish Government to decide. However, DfE officials meet regularly with officials from the devolved administrations to discuss a range of issues regarding higher education after the UK leaves the EU, and will continue to do so as these issues progress.
Asked by: Callum McCaig (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with the Home Secretary on universities in (a) England and (b) Scotland being able to recruit academic staff who are EU nationals after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
We recognise that arrangements for EU academic staff coming to the UK after we leave the EU is a key issue for the Higher Education sector, and one that will need to be considered as part of wider discussions about the UK’s relationship with the EU. DfE officials meet regularly with Home Office officials to discuss this and other matters, and the two departments will continue to work closely as these issues progress. DfE officials also meet regularly with officials from the devolved administrations to discuss a range of issues regarding higher education after the UK leaves the EU, and will continue to do so.