Asked by: David Mundell (Conservative - Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how are new providers selected following the collapse of an energy supplier.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government and Ofgem will ensure customers do not experience any disruption to their supply when a company leaves the market. The Supplier of Last Resort (SoLR) process is triggered by Ofgem when a supplier becomes insolvent. Ofgem invites suppliers to bid to be the SoLR and chooses the supplier that will offer the best value for consumers, this includes ensuring the protection of customer credit balances.
Asked by: David Mundell (Conservative - Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the tariff obligations are on energy providers that supply customers who were previously served by a provider that went into administration.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Ofgem runs the Supplier of Last Resort (SoLR) process that ensures customers do not experience any disruption to their supply when a company leaves the market. Ofgem will work with suppliers to appoint the SoLR that provides the best deal for customers. Customers will continue to be protected from unfair prices by the price cap.
Asked by: David Mundell (Conservative - Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale)
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 effectiveness of the Smart Energy Guarantee in encouraging community energy development; and what additional support he plans to provide the community energy development sector in order for it to grow more widely.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Ofgem are to publish their first report on the provisions made by suppliers for smaller scale exports under the Smart Export Guarantee in the summer. We will review this before considering whether there are any further barriers to community energy development that need to be addressed. The Government continues to offer support to communities who want to generate energy locally through the Rural Community Energy Fund.
Asked by: David Mundell (Conservative - Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale)
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 role of the Scotch Whisky industry in supporting (a) hospitality and (b) other businesses in the UK supply chain.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government has made available a substantial package of financial support over the last year for the hospitality sector. My Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer will be making further announcements on the next phase of our economic support package in his Budget on 3rd March.
Asked by: David Mundell (Conservative - Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale)
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 merits of Scotch Whisky distillers producing hand sanitiser for (a) the emergency services and (b) communities.
Answered by Paul Scully
This is a commercial matter for Scotch Whisky distillers. However, the Government would like to thank those distilleries which repurposed their facilities for the production of hand sanitiser for their tremendous contribution to the UK’s response to Covid-19.
Asked by: David Mundell (Conservative - Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale)
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 potential merits of enabling applicants for Bounce Back Loan top-ups to amend errors on their initial application where evidence for that error can be provided.
Answered by Paul Scully
In order to support businesses as quickly as possible, the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) was designed with a streamlined application process, which included an element of self-certification. This allows lenders to process applications at a much quicker pace than would be normally expected in the issuing of a commercial loan.
Whilst there is no mechanism in the scheme’s design to allow the borrower to revise errors made in the initial application once that application has been approved, businesses do have the option to refinance their existing BBLS facility using a Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) loan. The CBILS process is separate and allows businesses to get a Covid-support loan based on a fresh application.
Additionally, from November, 10 businesses have been able to ‘top-up’ their existing BBLS if they originally borrowed less than the maximum amount available to them. A borrower can apply for a top-up that is for the lesser of £50,000 or 25% of the annual turnover the borrower certified in their original successful BBLS application form, minus the value of their original loan.
Asked by: David Mundell (Conservative - Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many Bounce Back Loans have been approved in Scotland to date; and what the total value is of those loans.
Answered by Paul Scully
As of 21 June, 921,229 loans have been issued under the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS), with a total value of £28.09 billion.
Issuing new loans is the priority for lenders and the Government.
At this time, we are unable to provide a breakdown of lending or number of applications by region or devolved region. We are working with the British Business Bank, HM Treasury and the lenders on regular and transparent data publication going forward.