Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
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 improve communications on power failures on the low voltage network in the upland and wooded areas of the country with people living in those areas.
Answered by Greg Hands
The Department is leading a review following Storm Arwen in 2021 into electricity network resilience during storm events. This includes identification of improvements to customer communications across Great Britain. Final recommendations will be published by the end of May.
Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when he plans to bring forward legislation to enable a financing mechanism for new nuclear power stations.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan
As we stated in our response to the consultation on a Regulated Asset Base (RAB) for nuclear published on 14th December 2020, we believe that a RAB remains a credible model for funding nuclear projects, as it should reduce the cost of finance and thereby reduce consumer bills. The Government is considering the model in detail and recognises the need for legislation to implement.
Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
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 support investment in science research at universities within West Yorkshire.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
The Government is fully committed to maintaining the UK’s world-leading science, research and higher education base.
As of October 2016, there were a total of 443 active Research Council grants awarded to universities in the West Yorkshire area – as defined by the Leeds City Region LEP. The total value of the grants comes to £279 million split over four organisations: Leeds Metropolitan University; University of Bradford; University of Huddersfield and University of Leeds.
The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) provided £55.5 million in 2016/17 to five universities in West Yorkshire: University of Leeds; University of Huddersfield; University of Bradford; Leeds Beckett University and Leeds Trinity University. This funding was allocated on the basis of the research quality, and the business and charity income of these universities. HEFCE provided a further £6.3 million to these universities in that year to support knowledge exchange activities.
Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
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 support the manufacturing sector in Calderdale.
Answered by Margot James
Government has awarded £56m to Leeds City Region from the Local Growth Fund for a range of capital grants for SMEs. To date 407 grants have been awarded from the Business Growth Programme, with 70% going to businesses in the manufacturing sector. 42 of these grants, totalling £2.4m, have been awarded to SMEs in the manufacturing sector in Calderdale.
In February this year we announced a £400m Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF), aimed at boosting the North of England’s economy and helping the region’s businesses realise their growth potential.