Asked by: Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party - Dunfermline and West Fife)
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 recent announcement of Government plans to reduce the number of civil servants by 91,000, what estimate he has made of the likely reduction in the number of staff in his Department located in Dunfermline and West Fife constituency as a result of those plans.
Answered by George Freeman
The Department does not have any civil servants with a contractual work location within the Dunfermline and West Fife constituency.
Asked by: Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party - Dunfermline and West Fife)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when he expects the First-tier Tribunals for Green Deal scheme complaints to be concluded.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is unable to anticipate when the appeals currently with the First Tier Tribunal will be completed, as the Tribunal is outside the control of the Secretary of State.
Asked by: Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party - Dunfermline and West Fife)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Secretary of State for Transport on the decarbonisation of the maritime industry.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
The Government recognises the importance of bringing together co-ordinated policy action across all departments, to achieve net zero. Two cabinet committees have been established, chaired by my Rt. Hon. Friends the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. These Committees are turbo-charging the net zero transition and co-ordinating action across government.
In 2019 we published our Clean Maritime Plan, the UK’s pathway to zero emissions shipping. It identifies ways to tackle air pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions while securing growth and placing the UK at the forefront of the global transition to clean shipping. Implementation of the plan is underway. We have funded two competitions for early stage innovation projects in clean maritime, run a study to identify and support potential UK zero emission shipping clusters and supported the establishment of Marine Emissions Regulations advisory Service and the Maritime Research and Innovation UK (MarRI-UK) initative.
Asked by: Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party - Dunfermline and West Fife)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to support research at universities across the UK.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
On 27 June, the Government announced a package of support for UK universities to ensure that the university research base can fully contribute to the UK recovery and our economy in the longer-term. The University Research Stabilisation package will give greater job protection to thousands of researchers, scientists and technicians working at UK universities, and will enable universities facing potential decline in income for research as a result of COVID-19 to continue their research and innovation activities.
Around £280 million of UK government investment will be made immediately available to support researchers’ salaries and other costs such as laboratory equipment and fieldwork. This includes £200m of new funding, together with upto £80 million of existing funding from UK Research & Innovation (which is being freed-up from likely grant underspends for redistribution to support R&D in our universities). From the Autumn, UK Government will provide a package for universities across the UK consisting of low-interest loans with long pay-back periods, supplemented by a small amount of government grants, to cover up to 80% of a university’s income losses from international students for the academic year 2020/21, up to the value of their non-publicly funded research activity. Universities will need to demonstrate how these funds are being utilised to sustain research in areas typically funded by charities and business.
Asked by: Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party - Dunfermline and West Fife)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when a permanent Small Business Commissioner will be appointed.
Answered by Paul Scully
Officials expect to launch an open recruitment campaign in due course to appoint a permanent Small Business Commissioner.
Asked by: Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party - Dunfermline and West Fife)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many late payment cases the Small Business Commissioner has successfully tackled in each year since the office was created; and what the value of recovered payments has been in each year since its creation.
Answered by Paul Scully
Since its creation in December 2017, the Small Business Commissioner has handled a total of 101 cases and recovered a total of £7,353,234.70, broken down as follows:
Asked by: Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party - Dunfermline and West Fife)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when he last met the Secretary of State for Scotland to discuss the safeguarding and promotion of Scottish business.
Answered by Paul Scully
My ministerial colleagues and I are in regular contact with the Office for the Secretary of State for Scotland to discuss the safeguarding and promotion of Scottish business.
In April, my Hon. Friends the Minister for Business and Industry and the then Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Scotland Office jointly held a webinar with Scottish Council for Development and Industry to discuss the Government’s Covid response to safeguard and support busines in Scotland.
In May, the Minister for Business and Industry also attended the joint Scottish Government and UK Government Ministerial-led Scottish Business Growth Group to discuss support for businesses during Covid and future economic recovery.
Asked by: Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party - Dunfermline and West Fife)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many households in (a) Dunfermline and West Fife constituency, (b) Scotland and (c) the UK have prepayment meters; and what assessment he has made of the change in the number of those meters in each of those areas in each of the last five years.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
The latest Ofgem data on Prepayment Meters (PPM) shows that there are 4.3 million customers using PPM meters, which represents around 15% of all customers in Great Britain.
Neither Ofgem nor the Department of Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy routinely collect regional PPM customer numbers However, in 2017 BIES collected a one off local authority area breakdown, which showed there were 460,529 PPM customers in Scotland and 27,413 PPM customers in the Fife Council local authority area. This data does not include customers who pay for their gas using a PPM as this data has not been compiled, however there are fewer gas PPMs as a whole in the market.
The number of Prepayment Meter accounts in the GB energy market over the last five years has remained around 4.5 million. There has, however been an increase in competition in the PPM market over the past five years with PPM specialists providing greater choice for consumers beyond the six large suppliers. A cap on PPM prices was introduced in April 2017 and remains in force.
Asked by: Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party - Dunfermline and West Fife)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the hon. Member for Perth and North Perthshire, representing the House of Commons Commission, what plans the Commission has to safeguard (a) hon. Members, (b) hon. Members' staff, (c) House staff and (d) children attending the Parliament’s nursery facilities during the covid-19 outbreak should the House of Commons agree to returning to a physical Parliament after the Whit recess.
Answered by Pete Wishart
The House Service is currently working in conjunction with Public Health England to ensure we meet the government guidelines to become a ‘Covid-19 secure’ workplace, and to build on our existing measures to ensure Members, Members’ staff and House staff working on the estate can do so safely. These include carrying out a Covid-19 risk assessment, which will also be carried out by the nursery provider. Where Members’ staff and those of the House can continue their work at home they are being encouraged to do so, with appropriate support provided. The Commission will be meeting to ensure that the appropriate level of services and safety measures are in place, should there be a return to physical-only proceedings after the Whitsun recess.
Asked by: Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party - Dunfermline and West Fife)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much of the Plastics and Waste Investment Fund has been allocated to date; and which programmes have received money from that fund.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
This Government is building a globally competitive sustainable plastics industry through research and innovation. We have already allocated 95% of the funding available through the £20m Plastics Research and Innovation Fund. This includes £8m on academic research, £6m on collaborative R&D, £3m on an Investor Partnership with Sky Ocean Ventures and almost £2m on a Circular Plastics flagship programme with WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Plan). WRAP is also administering a number of grant opportunities on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
As confirmed in July, BEIS will also provide up to £60 million, bolstered by an expected £149m investment from the private sector, to establish the UK as the world’s leading innovator in smart sustainable plastic packaging, through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund.