Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what actions his Department has taken to ensure that owners of registered and unregistered community design rights maintain that protection when the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
The Government recognises that owners of existing Community registered and unregistered design rights want clarity over the coverage of those rights when the UK leaves the EU. We are exploring various options and we are discussing these with users of the system to establish the best way forward.
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment the Government has made of the adequacy of the length of maternity and paternity leave of parents who have multiple births.
Answered by Margot James
The UK’s maternity leave arrangements are among the most generous in the world. All employed mothers are entitled to up to 52 weeks of maternity leave and most are entitled to 39 weeks of statutory pay - nearly three times the minimum required by the EU. This provides mothers with sufficient leave to cope with unexpected eventualities including ill health and complications associated with multiple births.
Employers must also allow their pregnant employees paid time off work for all antenatal care. A pregnant woman expecting a multiple birth will therefore be entitled to sufficient time off work to attend additional antenatal appointments as required.
Paternity Leave provisions give the father/partner some flexibility in when to take up to two weeks of leave, subject to eligibility. Fathers/partners also have other employment rights which can support them in adjusting to challenging circumstances such as multiple births. These include the right to emergency leave (time off for dependents), the right to Parental Leave (which extends to all employed parents) and a right to time off work to attend up to two antenatal appointments.
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans the Government has in relation to onshore island wind farms in Scotland; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
As our manifesto commitment states, we support the development of wind projects in the remote islands of Scotland, where they will directly benefit local communities. We will announce our plans regarding this commitment in due course.
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what his Department's policy is on (a) maintaining and (b) increasing financial support for the offshore wind sector in the next five years.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government announced £730m of support for offshore wind and other less established renewable electricity generation technologies in Budget 2016. This funding will go towards projects beginning from 2021 onwards, which will receive a share of this annual budget for the duration of their 15-year contracts.
Allocation of the first tranche of this support, totalling £290m, began in November last year and projects receiving this support will be announced later this year. The remainder of the support is expected to be allocated before 2020.
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
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 benefits to (a) Scotland and (b) the UK of investment in offshore wind capacity.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Investment in offshore wind capacity supports many jobs in both Scotland and the rest of the UK. A BIS report published in 2015, ‘The size and performance of the UK low-carbon economy’, estimated that 13,700 jobs in the UK were supported by offshore wind in 2013.
Recent announcements of supply chain investments and contract awards include CS Wind, 3 Sun Group and Bi-Fab in Scotland, and JDR Cables, Siemens, Granada Material Handling and Harland & Wolff in the rest of the UK.
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
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 effect of excluding onshore wind from the Government's future Contract for Difference procurement strategy on electricity bills.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Department has not made an assessment of the potential effect on electricity bills of future decisions on the deployment of onshore wind.
It is important that, as the costs of generating technologies fall, we move steadily to an operating model in which competitive markets deliver the energy on which our country depends. The Department has requested stakeholders’ views on how we can deploy electricity generation through competitive markets without the requirement for ongoing subsidy as part of our Industrial Strategy consultation.
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
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 Scotland and Ministers of the Scottish Government on the effect on Scotland of the UK ceasing to be a member of Euratom.
Answered by Jesse Norman
I have been in contact with the Scottish Government Cabinet Secretary for the Economy, Jobs and Fair Work to discuss this. Additionally, at official level there has been and will continue to be regular contact with Scottish Government officials throughout the process.
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
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 effect on the (a) Joint European Torus project and (b) Culham Centre for Fusion Energy of the UK's decision to withdraw from Euratom; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Maintaining and building on the UK’s world-leading fusion expertise and securing alternative routes into the international fusion R&D projects such as the Joint European Torus (JET) project will be a priority. Government is working closely with the UK Atomic Energy Authority on ways to achieve this.
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
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 effect of the UK ceasing to be a member of Euratom on the Joint European Torus project's (a) funding, (b) staffing, (c) operational experiments and (d) collaboration with other EU scientist and member states.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Maintaining and building on the UK’s world-leading fusion expertise and securing alternative routes into the international fusion R&D projects such as the Joint European Torus (JET) project will be a priority. Government is working closely with the UK Atomic Energy Authority on ways to achieve this.
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
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 effect of the recommendations in the Hendry Review on the proposed Swansea tidal lagoon and other similar projects; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government is currently considering the Review’s recommendations and the issues which arise from a broader programme. Government will require a period of time to assess those issues and determine what is in the best interest of the UK energy consumer and taxpayer in the long term. The Government will publish its response to the Hendry Review in due course.