Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what research is being conducted by the Government on carbon capture technologies.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
Since 2011 the Government has invested over £130 million through innovation support to help develop carbon capture technologies and reduce their costs. This includes spending approximately £11 million since 2015 on a range of carbon capture projects supporting research and development in CO2 storage, carbon capture technologies and CCS feasibility studies. The Government Energy Entrepreneurs Fund has funded approximately £1.6 million in support to innovative carbon capture technologies. Phase 5 of this Fund opened on 30 October 2016. This is an additional £9 million of funding which is open to carbon capture projects and further information can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/energy-entrepreneurs-fund-phase-5
Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
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 Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on the potential effect of the Government's fracking strategy on local communities.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
Both the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy are clear that local communities will have the opportunity to take part in and comment on matters that impact on their local area. Any shale planning application – whether decided by Local Authorities or Government – will continue to require a full consultation with local people.
Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether his Department has undertaken impact assessments for different regions of the UK on developing Sunday trading regulations; and what assessment his Department has made of any particular effects of such devolving of regulations on rural and semi-rural areas.
Answered by Anna Soubry
My Department has carried out an assessment of the impacts of devolving the power to extend Sunday trading hours.
Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the implications for his Department's policies on devolving Sunday trading regulations are of the findings of the report from Oxford Economics, Economics impact of deregulating Sunday trading, published in September 2015, on losses in sales for the convenience store sector.
Answered by Anna Soubry
In formulating its final proposals, the Government has carefully considered all the evidence submitted during the consultation process.
Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of Sunday trading devolution on the premium pay of shop workers in Scotland.
Answered by Anna Soubry
The levels of premium pay in Scotland will be a result of a range of factors and businesses will ultimately be constrained by the need to hire the quality and quantity of shop workers they need in local markets.
Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what (a) number and (b) proportion of those respondents to his Department's consultation, Devolving Sunday trading rules, published on 5 August 2015, answered (i) yes, (ii) no and (iii) otherwise to Question 1 in that consultation.
Answered by Anna Soubry
The Department does not hold full data from this consultation broken down by specific question as a large portion of respondents chose to respond in their own words rather than addressing the consultation questions directly, and/or did not indicate the type of organisation they represented.
Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many (a) business representative bodies, (b) central government bodies, (c) local authorities, (d) trade union or staff associations, (e) charity and social enterprises, (f) large businesses, (g) medium-sized businesses, (h) small businesses, (i) micro businesses, (j) convenience stores, (k) shop workers, (l) legal representatives, (m) religious organisations, (n) individuals and (o) other bodies responded to the consultation on Sunday trading devolution; how many responses of each category (i) supported and (ii) opposed devolution.
Answered by Anna Soubry
The Department does not hold full data from this consultation broken down by specific question as a large portion of respondents chose to respond in their own words rather than addressing the consultation questions directly, and/or did not indicate the type of organisation they represented.
Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how his Department has applied the family test to its proposals for draft legislation to devolve Sunday trading regulations; and what the outcome of the application of that test was.
Answered by Anna Soubry
The Government plans to publish the Impact Assessment, including results of the family test, shortly.
Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment his Department has made of the effects of its proposals to devolve Sunday trading regulations on the displacement of trade from small to large stores.
Answered by Anna Soubry
My Department has carried out an assessment of the impacts of devolving the power to extend Sunday trading hours and this will be published.
Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment the Regulatory Policy Committee has made of the devolution of Sunday trading rules.
Answered by Anna Soubry
The Government’s estimates of the economic impact will be independently scrutinised by the Regulatory Policy Committee and their assessment will be published in due course.