Asked by: Gary Streeter (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what progress his Department has made in developing hydrogen since the publication of the UK Hydrogen Strategy in August 2021, CP 475; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Since publishing the UK Hydrogen Strategy, the Government has doubled its ambition from 5GW to 10GW of low carbon hydrogen production capacity by 2030 - subject to affordability and value for money.
The first electrolytic allocation round opened in July, offering support from our Net Zero Hydrogen Fund and the Hydrogen Business Model. In August, four CCUS-enabled hydrogen projects were selected to proceed to due diligence as part of the Government’s plan for industrial clusters.
The “Hydrogen Strategy Update to the Market” was published in July and summarises government policy development and delivery since the publication of the strategy.
Asked by: Gary Streeter (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will take steps to promote the production of green hydrogen by using (a) sailing ships to harness the power of the wind and (b) other innovative methods of production.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The UK Hydrogen Strategy sets out government’s ambition to support a variety of low carbon hydrogen production methods, including electrolytic and CCUS-enabled hydrogen, alongside innovative hydrogen production methods.
The Government welcomes UK innovation towards this ambition. As part of the £1bn Net Zero Innovation Portfolio, the Government is providing £60m in funding for innovation work on the supply of hydrogen and £55m for fuel switching which includes switching processes to hydrogen power. The Government is committed to working with industry to identify, support and then develop credible innovative hydrogen production technologies.
Asked by: Gary Streeter (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the Government plans to provide specific support on the cost of energy to schools which use heating oil to heat their buildings.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Support will be provided for non-domestic customers, including schools, that use alternative fuels, such as heating oil, instead of gas for heating. Further details will be announced shortly.
Asked by: Gary Streeter (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department plans to require the mandatory installation of solar panels on new housing developments.
Answered by Paul Scully
Renewable energy, such as that generated from solar panels, is a key part of our strategy to get to net zero via a decarbonised electricity grid. We must therefore take the opportunity, where appropriate, to fit solar panels.
However, some homes may not be suitable for solar panels. For instance, due to shading, building orientation, roof shape/size, or visual amenity.
In December 2021 the Government introduced an uplift in energy efficiency standards, which came into force in June 2022. The uplift delivers a meaningful reduction in carbon emissions, with new homes now expected to produce around 30% less CO2 emissions compared to those built to the previous standards.
Our approach to achieving higher standards remains technology-neutral, to provide developers with the flexibility to choose the most appropriate and cost-effective solutions for their site. We expect, however, that in order to comply with the uplift, most developers will choose to install solar panels on new homes or use other low-carbon technology such as a heat pump.
As well as improving the energy efficiency of new buildings in the short term, the uplift will act as a stepping-stone to the Future Homes Standard, which will be implemented in 2025. The Future Homes Standard will ensure all new homes are net zero ready, meaning they will become zero carbon when the electricity grid decarbonises without the need for any retrofit work.
Asked by: Gary Streeter (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what comparative assessment he has made of the potential merits of PWR nuclear reactors and molten salt reactors in the context of the Government's plans for new nuclear power stations in the UK.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government has commissioned several comparative assessments of nuclear energy technologies over the last decade, many of which have included consideration of Molten Salt technologies.
The outputs of these assessments were considered, alongside other evidence sources, in the development of the “Advanced modular reactors (AMRs): technical assessment” published in July 2021 as part of the decision on the technology choice for the Advanced Modular Reactor (AMR) Research, Development & Demonstration (RD&D) programme. This can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/advanced-modular-reactors-amrs-technical-assessment.
Asked by: Gary Streeter (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether public support for a regeneration project is required in order for a local authority to be eligible for a loan from the Public Works Loan Board to help fund that project.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
Under the current system, local authorities are responsible for their borrowing and investment decisions as they are best able to understand local needs. Where an authority borrows from the Public Works Loan Board, they must satisfy themselves that all borrowing is affordable and is compliant with HM Treasury’s lending terms and conditions, which do not permit borrowing if the authority intends to make investments primarily for yield. The authority remains accountable to their electorate for individual investment decisions, including those for the purposes of regeneration.
Authorities may borrow without prior government consent, except for smaller authorities such as parish and town councils which require the government’s approval to borrow for capital purposes. The government reviews all applications before issuing approval. As part of this process, applicants must satisfy the Department’s assessment criteria, which includes providing evidence that the council has considered local support for the capital plans.
Asked by: Gary Streeter (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what conditions are typically linked to a loan issued by the Public Works Loan Board to a local authority to carry out regeneration works.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
Under the current system, local authorities are responsible for their borrowing and investment decisions as they are best able to understand local needs. Where an authority borrows from the Public Works Loan Board, they must satisfy themselves that all borrowing is affordable and is compliant with HM Treasury’s lending terms and conditions, which do not permit borrowing if the authority intends to make investments primarily for yield. The authority remains accountable to their electorate for individual investment decisions, including those for the purposes of regeneration.
Authorities may borrow without prior government consent, except for smaller authorities such as parish and town councils which require the government’s approval to borrow for capital purposes. The government reviews all applications before issuing approval. As part of this process, applicants must satisfy the Department’s assessment criteria, which includes providing evidence that the council has considered local support for the capital plans.
Asked by: Gary Streeter (Conservative - South West Devon)
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 ensure that there is sufficient capacity in the National Grid to allow micro producers of electricity to feed their energy supplies into the Grid.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Electricity network capacity and accommodating new connections are both the responsibility of the licensed electricity network companies overseen by Ofgem, as the independent energy regulator. Generation up to 3.68kW per phase may connect to the network without prior approval. For larger microgeneration projects a connection application would need to be made to the relevant distribution network operator (DNO). The DNO assesses the impact on its network and issues a connection offer, including any necessary network capacity requirements.
Asked by: Gary Streeter (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of current levels of absence from work of NHS staff; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
NHS England and NHS Improvement’s data shows that to 3 November 2021 the average number of staff in National Health Service trusts absent due to sickness or self-isolation in the preceding week was 72,355 per day, of which 14,316 staff were absent for COVID-19 related reasons. This compares to a peak of over 155,000 absences per day in April 2020 and almost 100,000 absences per day in January 2021.
Asked by: Gary Streeter (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to require UK manufacturers of single use wet wipes to ensure that their products are fully biodegradable.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are considering a range of options to tackle the drain blockages and fatbergs caused by wet wipes and are working to assess the effects of wet wipes containing plastic on sewers to identify possible solutions. In general, we prefer to help people and companies make the right choice, rather than banning items outright. Alongside our upcoming consultation on single-use plastic items, we will be asking some questions about wet wipes to help us build our evidence base, inform our policy approach and take appropriate action.
The Defra guidance on making an environmental claim has been updated recently to include the Competition Markets Authority’s published guidance available here: Make an environmental claim for your product, service or organisation - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). This guidance aims to help businesses understand and comply with their existing obligations under consumer protection law when making any environmental claims.
We will continue to encourage the water industry and wet wipe manufacturers to work together to raise consumer awareness about the appropriate disposal of wet wipes and other non-flushable products, and to ensure that the labelling is clear. This will be crucial for generating meaningful behavioural change with consumers.