Asked by: Colum Eastwood (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
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 held discussions with representatives of the heating oil sector in Northern Ireland when devising energy bills schemes to help tackle the cost of living crisis.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government has engaged extensively with energy organisations and suppliers in the development of the energy bill support schemes for families and businesses. This has included engaging with representatives of the Northern Ireland Oil Federation and the Consumer Council.
Asked by: Colum Eastwood (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of price increases for home heating oil on consumers in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The matter is devolved to the administration in Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Colum Eastwood (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
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 launch a new round of applications to the Automotive Transformation Fund following the completion of the last round that closed on 24 November 2021.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The Automotive Transformation Fund (ATF) supports late-stage R&D and capital investments across strategically important parts of the electric vehicle supply chain.
On 24 January, we opened Round 18 of the Expression of Interest competition to support capital investments (https://apply-for-innovation-funding.service.gov.uk/competition/1069/overview), along with Round 3 of the competition to support Feasibility Studies (https://apply-for-innovation-funding.service.gov.uk/competition/1094/overview).
Information about open funding competitions and further detail on scope and eligibility can be found on the IFS portal:
https://apply-for-innovation-funding.service.gov.uk/competition/search.
Asked by: Colum Eastwood (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
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's Biomass Supply Feedstock Innovation Programme applies to farmers and processors throughout the UK.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Our programme targets biomass feedstock innovations that will increase the production of sustainable domestic biomass. We will have £4 million of funding available for our feasibility stage and anticipate launching in March 2021. This will support suppliers from right across the UK, including Northern Ireland, to develop project proposals that will deliver innovations in biomass production.
Asked by: Colum Eastwood (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
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 ability of businesses to make the first repayments of the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme due in April 2021.
Answered by Paul Scully
Many businesses have already begun paying off their Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) facility. While the Government covers the interest due on CBILS loans for the first twelve months of the loan, repayments of capital are required during this period unless the lender chooses to grant additional forbearance measures.
CBILS lenders are able extend the repayment period for CBILS facilities where this is needed, to a maximum of 10 years. CBILS term extensions are offered at the discretion of lenders, and for forbearance purposes only.
Asked by: Colum Eastwood (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
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 businesses that will be unable to make their first repayment of the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme due in April 2021.
Answered by Paul Scully
Many businesses have already begun paying off their Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) facility. While the Government covers the interest due on CBILS loans for the first twelve months of the loan, repayments of capital are required during this period unless the lender chooses to grant additional forbearance measures.
CBILS lenders are able extend the repayment period for CBILS facilities where this is needed, to a maximum of 10 years. CBILS term extensions are offered at the discretion of lenders, and for forbearance purposes only.
Asked by: Colum Eastwood (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many loans have been made under Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme to businesses in (a) Foyle constituency and (b) Northern Ireland; and what value of those loans was.
Answered by Paul Scully
A breakdown on the number of loans provided through the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme as of 10 January 2021 is in the table below.
Region | Number of Loans Offered | Value of Loans offered (£) |
Foyle | 64 | 21,789,006 |
Northern Ireland | 1,501 | 496,806,683 |
Asked by: Colum Eastwood (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
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 14 January 2021 to Question 136096, what financial support the Government plans to provide to importers that will become responsible persons for the purpose of cosmetic imports in the event they are subject to associated additional costs.
Answered by Paul Scully
Under the terms of the Protocol, the EU’s Cosmetics Regulations apply in Northern Ireland and set out the requirements that must be met before cosmetic products are placed on the market in Northern Ireland and the EU. The Office for Product Safety and Standards has provided detailed guidance for cosmetics businesses on Gov.uk that sets out the obligations under the relevant cosmetic legislation that applies in Great Britain and in Northern Ireland.
In addition, the UK has put in place arrangements for Northern Ireland businesses to have unfettered access to the rest of the UK market, and this means that the same safe cosmetic products that can be sold in Northern Ireland can also be sold in Great Britain regardless of future changes to the rules in GB. It is essential that a Responsible Person within the UK is identified for all cosmetic products to maintain consumer protection and confidence.
We recognise that some businesses may incur some additional costs and Government has worked closely with the business community to reduce any additional costs by making the notifications process by Responsible Persons for the market in Great Britain as simple as possible, allowing an additional 90 days to notify a product onto the UK database if it had been previously notified, and allowing for an additional two years from 1 January 2021 for businesses to update labelling on cosmetic products to reflect the new Responsible Person.
Asked by: Colum Eastwood (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what additional financial assistance will be provided to the Northern Ireland Executive for the purchase of covid-19 vaccines.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The UK government has secured early access to 355 million vaccines doses through agreements with seven separate vaccine developers, which have been purchased for the whole of the UK.
Asked by: Colum Eastwood (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether covid-19 grants have been allocated to political parties and organisations registered in the UK.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government has put forward a package of support for business in recognition of the disruption caused by Covid-19. In England, this included the Small Business Grants Fund (SBGF), the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grants Fund (RHLGF) and the Local Authority Discretionary Grants Fund (LADGF). The Government published clear guidance on the three grant schemes, and local authorities were responsible for delivering grants to businesses what were in scope: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-on-business-support-grant-funding.
We do not hold grant payment data from local authorities broken down by sector or type of organisation.
On 3 November, the Government published guidance for English local authorities on additional grant funding to support businesses during the November to December national restrictions and periods of local restrictions: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-restrictions-support-grants-lrsg-and-additional-restrictions-grant-arg-guidance-for-local-authorities. Each of the devolved nations has developed their own schemes to support businesses and the Government has provided further funding to ensure they can continue to plan for Covid-19 response in the months ahead. Enquiries relating to grant schemes in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland should be directed to the relevant administration.