Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many meetings he has held or attended to discuss the potential merits of introducing a scheme to replace the Green Homes Grant scheme since applications to that scheme have closed; and with whom those meetings were with.
Answered by Greg Hands
Details of meetings held by Ministers in the Department are published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/beis-ministerial-gifts-hospitality-travel-and-meetings.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
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 threats posed by the climate emergency following the extreme weather events in (a) the UK, (b) Germany and (c) China.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan
Recent global weather and climate extremes observed in the UK, Germany and China are consistent with expectations from climate research that we will see increases in the frequency and intensity of heavy rainfall events. This is being borne out by observations; the recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change on the Physical Science Basis of Climate Change says, “the frequency and intensity of heavy precipitation events have increased since the 1950s over most land area for which observational data are sufficient for trend analysis (high confidence), and human-induced climate change is likely the main driver.”
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
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 effectiveness of the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research.
Answered by Amanda Solloway
The National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) receives its core funding from the MRC and BBSRC which are part of UK Research and Innovation. Core funding is reviewed every five years as part of the assessment of the impact of the NC3Rs and the quality of its work. The review includes robust international peer review and assessment by an independent expert committee.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether she plans to (a) review and (b) decrease the use of (i) rats and (ii) other live animals in testing procedures.
Answered by Amanda Solloway
In the UK, the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 regulates the use of animals in science and the regulator only authorises the use of animals in science where there are no alternatives and only to the minimum degree needed to meet the scientific research objectives and gain the benefit from the research.
The Government is committed to supporting the development of new approaches and technologies such as computer models and complex cell cultures that reduce the use of laboratory animals. This is primarily delivered by the NC3Rs which has made awards of over £100M for research and innovation to find alternatives which either replace or reduce the use of animals or improve their welfare.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent steps she has taken to reduce the use of dogs for research purposes.
Answered by Amanda Solloway
The NC3Rs has recently launched a £2.6 million call for the development of a virtual dog for assessing the safety of new medicines during drug development. The call is part of the NC3Rs CRACK IT Challenges competition and aims to build virtual canine tissues and organs using advanced computational and mathematical modelling approaches, ultimately to help replace the use of dogs. The Challenge builds on an international project led by the NC3Rs that has demonstrated that there are opportunities to use one rather than the standard two species for some studies in drug development.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
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 national shortage of building materials reported by the Construction Leadership Council in May 2021, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of that shortage on the Government’s ability to fulfil its commitment to upgrade as many homes as possible to EPC Band C by 2035.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan
The Government is aware that a range of building materials are in short supply nationally. This is driven by demand and increased global competition to secure supplies.
In light of this, and in view of more local disruptions in the supply of some products, the Construction Leadership Council’s Coronavirus Task Force has established a Product Availability Working Group, comprised of product manufacturers, builders’ merchants and suppliers, contractors of all sizes, and housebuilders. The Task Force continues to monitor the supply and demand of products, and identify those in short supply.
The Task Force also issues regular statements on product availability. The Task Force has set out that where products are in short supply, any allocation systems should be as transparent as possible so that all customers can be seen to be treated fairly. Additionally, the Task Force has emphasised the importance of good forward-planning and clear communication within the industry. The Task Force has also recommended that where relevant, production for major projects should not be seen to adversely affect volumes available for smaller, regular customers.
The product availability statements also include detailed updates on the availability of specific products in affected material areas in order to keep the market informed. These can be accessed at: https://www.constructionleadershipcouncil.co.uk/.
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has not made an assessment of the potential effect of the current shortage of building materials on the Government’s ability to fulfil its commitment to upgrade as many homes as possible to EPC Band C by 2035.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
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 national shortages of building materials reported by the Construction Leadership Council in May 2021, what steps he is taking to help ensure that (a) micro, (b) small and (c) medium-sized construction firms continue to have access to building materials.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan
The Government is aware that a range of building materials are in short supply nationally. This is driven by demand and increased global competition to secure supplies.
In light of this, and in view of more local disruptions in the supply of some products, the Construction Leadership Council’s Coronavirus Task Force has established a Product Availability Working Group, comprised of product manufacturers, builders’ merchants and suppliers, contractors of all sizes, and housebuilders. The Task Force continues to monitor the supply and demand of products, and identify those in short supply.
The Task Force also issues regular statements on product availability. The Task Force has set out that where products are in short supply, any allocation systems should be as transparent as possible so that all customers can be seen to be treated fairly. Additionally, the Task Force has emphasised the importance of good forward-planning and clear communication within the industry. The Task Force has also recommended that where relevant, production for major projects should not be seen to adversely affect volumes available for smaller, regular customers.
The product availability statements also include detailed updates on the availability of specific products in affected material areas in order to keep the market informed. These can be accessed at: https://www.constructionleadershipcouncil.co.uk/.
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has not made an assessment of the potential effect of the current shortage of building materials on the Government’s ability to fulfil its commitment to upgrade as many homes as possible to EPC Band C by 2035.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
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 (a) phase out the subsidies for electricity companies that burn wood from cutting down forests and (b) increase subsidies for the production of electricity from solar and wind power.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan
This Government has a long tradition of supporting clean electricity, and we have announced ambitious plans to support up to 12GW capacity of renewable electricity in the next allocation round of the Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme, which would be double what was secured in the previous round.
The Government announced in March 2020 that solar projects, onshore wind, floating wind and remote island wind will be able to bid for contracts in the next CfD allocation round, which is planned to open in December this year. The scheme has already awarded contracts to around 800MW of onshore wind and solar capacity combined, alongside 13GW of offshore wind.
We recently announced that coal-to-biomass conversions will be excluded from future CfD allocation rounds. This means there will be no new coal-to-biomass conversions under the scheme. We have no plans to remove support for biomass conversions prior to 2027 for generating stations that are already supported under the Renewables Obligation and CfD schemes.
In the Government’s response to the Climate Change Committee’s annual progress report to Parliament, we announced that we will publish a new Biomass Strategy in 2022. This strategy will review what amount of sustainable biomass could be available to the UK and how this resource could be best utilised across the economy to help eliminate the UK’s contribution to climate change by 2050.
Sustainable Biomass is a renewable organic material, such as food waste, wood residues or other plant material which has a wide array of applications including as a substitute for fossil-fuel based energy production, but with lower associated carbon emissions because the carbon that is released from the organic material was sequestered recently from the atmosphere, compared to fossil fuels where the carbon was sequestered millions of years ago.
The UK only supports biomass which complies with strict sustainability criteria which take into account a range of social, economic, and environmental issues including protecting biodiversity, land use rights, sustainable harvesting, and regeneration rates. They ensure that the carbon stock of the forest from which the pellets are derived is not decreased, by requiring that biomass fuels are from forest waste wood and residues and the forest owner adheres to the relevant legal requirements, to protect biodiversity and the environment.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what will replace the Green Homes Grant scheme.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan
Following a review, the Green Homes Grant Vouchers scheme closed to new applications on 31 March 2021. We will refocus efforts and funding on alternative approaches which will maximise delivery of home retrofits for consumers who are most in need.
The Government will be expanding its funding commitment in financial year 21/22 for both the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund and the Local Authority Delivery element of the Green Homes Grant scheme with £300 million of new funding and up to £100 million of recycled funding from the Green Homes Grant Vouchers, depending on take up.
All valid applications made to the voucher scheme up to 31st March 2021 will be processed, and all vouchers issued will be honoured.