Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
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 businesses in Dulwich and West Norwood constituency on the potential impacts of the cost of living crisis on those businesses.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Minister without Portfolio
The Government recognises the impact rising prices are having on businesses, including those in Dulwich and West Norwood constituency, and is engaging with businesses across the UK to understand these challenges and explore ways to mitigate them.
The Government has reversed the National Insurance rise, saving SMEs approximately £4,200 on average, the cut to fuel duty for 12 months and raising the Employment Allowance to £5,000. The Energy Bill Relief Scheme will protect SMEs from high energy costs over the winter. In addition, at the Autumn Statement, my Rt Hon Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer announced £13.6 billion of support for businesses over the next five years, reducing the burden of business rates for SMEs.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
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 increase the rate of energy efficiency measure installations in homes in Dulwich and West Norwood constituency.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government is committed to improving the energy performance of homes across the country, including in Dulwich and West Norwood.
The Government is already investing £6.6 billion over this parliament on decarbonising heat and energy efficiency measures.
An additional £6 billion of new Government funding, announced in the Autumn Statement, will be made available from 2025 to 2028. This provides long-term funding certainty, supporting the growth of supply chains, and ensuring the Government can scale up delivery over time.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
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 Dulwich and West Norwood constituency have received Government funding for support with the cost of living crisis.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Minister without Portfolio
The Government recognises the impact rising prices are having on businesses.
Businesses in Dulwich and West Norwood 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 raising the Employment Allowance to £5,000. The Energy Bill Relief Scheme will protect SMEs from high energy costs over the winter. In addition, at the Autumn Statement, my Rt Hon Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer announced £13.6 billion of support for businesses over the next five years, reducing the burden of business rates for SMEs.
Support is also available to SMEs across the UK through the Recovery Loan Scheme and the Start Up loan scheme which has provided 411 SMEs in Dulwich and West Norwood loans to the value of £3,364,909 as of November 2022.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
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 make an estimate of the number of homes that have been retrofitted through the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund in Dulwich and West Norwood constituency.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The 2019 Conservative Manifesto committed to a £3.8bn Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) over a 10-year period. The SHDF Demonstrator and Wave 1 awarded a combined total of around £240m of grant funding to Local Authorities, with data held on local authority-led projects rather than at a constituency level. The SHDF Wave 2.1 competition, which closed on 18th November 2022, will allocate up to £800m of grant funding, with successful projects likely to be notified in March 2023.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has had recent discussions with the Minister for Women and Equalities on improving accessibility to entrepreneurship and business ownership for people with protected characteristics in Dulwich and West Norwood constituency.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Minister without Portfolio
The Government is fully committed to supporting businesses and creating the best conditions for enterprise so that everyone, whatever their background, has the means and know-how to start and grow a business. <br/> We are supporting early-stage entrepreneurs from all backgrounds through the Start-Up Loans Company which provides funding and intensive support to new entrepreneurs. Since 2012, 40% of Start Up Loans have gone to women, worth over £341m and 20% of loans worth 183m have gone to Black, Asian, and Ethnic-minority business (as at October 2022). 411 SMEs in Dulwich and West Norwood have received loans to the value of £3,364,909 as of November 2022.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department is providing support to help pay the electricity costs of carers running medical equipment for those they care for.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government is delivering the Energy Bills Support Scheme, a £400 non-repayable grant to support all families with their energy bills and the Energy Price Guarantee (EPG) which will save a typical household in Great Britain £900 this Winter. In addition, families with disabled children are also entitled to a one-off £150 Disability Cost of Living Payment.
The Government is reviewing the EPG. This consultation will explore the best ways to ensure that vulnerable high energy users, such as those with medical requirements, are not put at risk of having to pay more.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of rising energy costs on unpaid carers.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government has recognised the pressures on households caused by rising energy prices. This is why the Government introduced the Energy Bills Support Scheme, providing £400 off energy bills this winter and the Energy Price Guarantee, ensuring that a typical UK household will pay, on average, around £2,500 a year on their energy bill up till April 2023, when the EPG will be reviewed.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the number of (a) parcels and (b) letters which were not delivered by Royal Mail within its stated timeframes in November and December 2021.
Answered by Paul Scully
Ofcom, the independent regulator, monitors Royal Mail’s performance and has powers to investigate and take enforcement action if Royal Mail fails to achieve its service delivery targets.
Royal Mail is required by Ofcom to publish quality of service reports on a quarterly basis. Royal Mail’s next report, covering the period October-December is expected to be published by March at the latest.