Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether plant-based alternative foods are eligible for higher level support under the Energy Discount Scheme; and what standard industrial classification of economic activities code applies to this area of food production.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Organisations that have a contract with a licensed energy supplier and are exposed to volatile energy prices will see a discount applied to their gas and electricity bill through the new Energy Bill Discount Scheme from April 2023.
Some sectors are particularly vulnerable to high energy prices due to their energy intensive nature and trade exposure. Organisations with primary operations in the list of eligible Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) sectors for the scheme, as published on gov.uk, will be eligible for a substantially higher level of support. If organisations are unsure of that code, they can find out online through Companies House, by using their company name or registration number. Further information is available from Companies House on SIC code classification.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether plant-based foods are included under Standard industrial classification of economic activities code 10.89 manufacture of other food products n.e.c. under the Energy Discount Scheme.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Organisations with primary operations in the list of eligible Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) sectors for the Energy Bill Discount Scheme, as published on gov.uk, will be eligible for the higher level of support through the scheme. If organisations are unsure of that code, they can find out online through Companies House, by using their company name or registration number. Further information is available from Companies House on SIC code classification:
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
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 support (a) households and (b) businesses with fuel costs in winter 2022-23.
Answered by Graham Stuart
For households, the Energy Price Guarantee limits the amount that can be charged for gas and electricity and will save a typical British household around £900 this winter. The Energy Bills Support Scheme provides households with a non-repayable £400 discount off energy bills, delivered automatically via electricity suppliers. Support is also available for households using alternative fuels and households not on standard electricity contracts.
For businesses the Energy Bill Relief scheme provides a reduction in energy prices automatically applied to eligible bills. Equivalent support will be provided for non-domestic consumers who use alternative fuels instead of gas. There will be further details to follow as soon as possible.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
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 assessment of the potential merits of providing funding to support Helpathon initiatives consisting of collaborative workshops to support biomedical researchers identify animal-free research methods.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
The Government actively supports and funds the development and dissemination of techniques that replace, reduce, and refine the use of animals in research (the 3Rs). This is achieved primarily through funding from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) for the National Centre for the 3Rs (NC3Rs), which works nationally and internationally to drive the uptake of 3Rs technologies and ensure that advances in the 3Rs are reflected in policy, practice, and regulations on animal research. Since the NC3Rs was launched in 2004, it has committed £100 million in research to develop 3Rs technologies and its scientific staff have led research projects, in collaboration with academic and industry partners, that have been used to inform changes in policy and regulations on the use of animals in research.