Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many small and medium-sized enterprises in Kingston upon Hull North constituency have received Government funding for support during the cost of living crisis in 2022.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government recognises the impact rising prices are having on businesses.
Businesses in Kingston upon Hull North will have benefitted from the Government’s reversal of the National Insurance rise, saving SMEs approximately £4,200 on average; the cut to fuel duty for 12 months; and the Energy Bill Relief Scheme to protect SMEs from high energy costs over the winter. In addition, the Recovery Loan Scheme is available to SMEs across the UK. The Employment Allowance was increased to £5,000 from April and we have continued to provide business rate relief worth over £7bn, freezing the business rates multiplier for a further year.
The Government is also providing financial support through the Start Up loan scheme - 537 SMEs in Kingston upon Hull have received loans to the value of £ 4,042,768 as of November 2022.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much funding his Department has provided for research and development in Kingston upon Hull North constituency in the 2022-23 financial year.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The University of Hull, which has a campus in the constituency received £9,792,327 for the academic year in Quality-related research (QR) funding and Higher Education Innovation Funding (HEIF) delivered through Research England. UK Research and Innovation do not yet have full data for competitive grants in the current financial year 2022/23.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent estimate he has made of the time that would be taken for shale gas extraction to have a significant impact on the level of energy supply; and what recent assessment he has made of the role that can be played by shale gas extraction in supporting the UK's energy needs.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government has confirmed that it is adopting a presumption against issuing any further hydraulic fracturing consents. This position, an effective moratorium, will be maintained until compelling new evidence is provided which addresses concerns around the prediction and management of induced seismicity. The Government is taking other measures to build energy security and affordability.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment he has made of the potential benefits for energy security of implementing an accelerated transition to UK-grown renewable and nuclear power sources.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The British Energy Security Strategy, published in April, builds on the 10 Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution and sets out our ambitions for deployment of low-carbon energy, including nuclear and renewables.
Nuclear is a generator of continuous power which provides stability to the grid, providing a solid foundation for power generation on which renewable technologies can build. The Government has an ambition to deploy up to 24GW of nuclear by 2050. The Government has also announced an increased ambition for offshore wind, to deploy up to 50GW by 2030. More renewables and nuclear will ensure the UK is less reliant on foreign imports of oil and gas.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the Net Zero Strategy: Build Back Greener, published in October 2022 and the High Court judgment on the strategy of 18 July 2022, for what reason the Government did not provide the level of analysis required in that strategy on its plans for reaching net zero.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Net Zero Strategy included a mix of quantified proposals and policies, as well as some additional emerging proposals and policies at earlier stages of development which we were unable to quantify. It is inherently difficult to quantify the emission reductions that a particular proposal or policy will generate over time with certainty. This was especially the case for meeting the sixth carbon budget, given that it was 12-16 years ahead. The Government is seeking permission from the Court of Appeal to appeal the judgment.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if the Government will increase support for (a) the ventilation and insulation of buildings and (b) other climate change mitigation measures following the summer 2022 heatwave.
Answered by Graham Stuart
In the Heat and Buildings Strategy the Government set out plans to decarbonise the UK’s 30 million homes and workplaces and committed to considering current and possible future scenarios including overheating risks and indoor air quality risks when developing future policies. BEIS plans to undertake further research in this area.
The Government has committed £6.6 billion across this Parliament to decarbonise heat and buildings. All measures installed under Government schemes must meet the latest Publicly Available Specification PAS2035/2030:2019 standards. These standards adopt a whole-house approach to home retrofit, requiring adequate ventilation throughout the dwelling and steps to mitigate against overheating risks.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
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 increase the feed-in tariff for people with solar panels.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The FIT tariff rates are adjusted annually in line with the Retail Prices Index (RPI) and there are no current plans to adjust this policy.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
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 small businesses in Hull affected by the covid-19 pandemic.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government delivered a package of support for business including the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, business rates relief, grants and loans. Hull City Council received £120m in grant support, reporting payments worth £99m to their businesses.
Two years on, and thanks to our successful vaccination programme, the immunity built up in the population and antiviral and therapeutics tools, the UK is in the strongest position to learn how to live with COVID-19 and end government regulation.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the role of the UK’s net zero targets in meeting COP26 commitments.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State regularly meets with Cabinet colleagues to discuss net zero targets and progress towards these. The Government’s Net Zero Strategy is a cross-economy strategy which keeps the Government on track for meeting carbon budgets and the UK’s 2030 Nationally Determined Contribution.
The Government’s leadership on climate change at home, including reducing emissions faster than any other G7 economy, means that the Government is well placed not just to meet commitments made at COP26, but also to continue to drive forward international action and encourage others to deliver on their commitments in this critical decade of delivery.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what support his Department made available for hairdressers in response to business disruptions as a result of the omicron variant of covid-19.
Answered by Paul Scully
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Batley and Spen on 27 January 2022 to Question 110644.
While the Omicron Hospitality and Leisure Grant focused on sectors where social mixing was a primary motivation for consumers, Local Authorities were encouraged to support the personal care sector through the Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) scheme. Local Authorities reported that close to 750,000 payments of ARG, worth a total of over £2 billion, had been made to businesses by 31 March 2022, the scheme closure date.
The additional measures announced on 21 December 2021 reinforced the existing package of wider Government support.