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 has he made of the effect of transmission charges on the pricing of contract for difference tenders; and is he will make a statement.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan
National Grid Electricity System Operator collects transmission charges to recover the cost of installing and maintaining the transmission system in Great Britain and the offshore electricity network infrastructure. These include a locational element to reflect network use as part of the requirement for cost reflective network charges.
Individual Contracts for Difference bidders will determine their bid prices based on their own assessment of expected costs and revenues. The price paid to each successful bid is based on the clearing price of a competitive auction.
However, the Department does set the maximum strike price each technology can receive (the Administrative Strike Price), which takes into account a broad range of factors. This incorporates our latest view of transmission charges, estimated for pipeline projects where possible using tariffs and network charging assumptions for each location (provided by National Grid).
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 has been carried out with regards to the need for additional and continuing support for the hospitality sector in 2021.
Answered by Paul Scully
Over the course of the pandemic the Government has worked closely with the hospitality sector to understand the impact of COVID-19 on businesses and has responded with an unprecedented package of business support, which we keep under review.
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 discussions he has had with the Competition and Markets Authority on guidance for nurseries charging full fees from parents while closed during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Paul Scully
Ministers have regular meetings with the CMA leadership, and the CMA issued guidance for nurseries on charging and refunds for parents following closure due to the covid-19 outbreak on 28th July 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, if she will undertake an equality impact assessment of the work of UK Research and Innovation.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
The Government recognises that equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI), of both people and ideas, is crucial to delivering excellence in research and innovation. UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has been developing work on this topic, led by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Executive Chair Jennifer Rubin and an external advisory group that brings together experts from the UK and international bodies. UKRI will be publishing its EDI strategy in February 2020, laying out the challenges and opportunities that the organisation and wider community faces. More information will be available after the anticipated House of Commons Science and Technology Committee inquiry into EDI and the publication of UKRI diversity data in the spring. The department will make decisions on further requirements 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 equality impact assessment she has made of health related funding allocated by her Department in respect of the industrial strategy; and if she will undertake equality impact assessments of health related funding allocated by her Department over the next five years.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
As a public authority, BEIS is required to adhere to the Public Sector Equality Duty in line with the Equality Act. The Department takes its obligations under the Equality Act very seriously, specifically in ensuring that we give due regard to the impacts on people with protected characteristics. We are currently reviewing the assessments made, and are committed to undertaking equality impact analysis of health-related funding allocated by BEIS over the next five years.
Health-related projects funded by BEIS and its delivery partners includes funding in the Life Sciences Sector Deals, the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund Healthy Ageing Programme, and the Artificial Intelligence Sector Deal.
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 merits of establishing a timescale for the information gathering exercise on the public sale of fireworks.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The work to develop a full evidence base is an ongoing exercise which is not time limited. To develop the evidence base officials have reviewed existing literature, research and data sources and are engaging with a wide range of stakeholders including the RSPCA and the British Fireworks Association.
As work has progressed, information gaps have become clear, requiring further investigation and consideration. The evidence base will also consider the findings of the House of Commons Petitions Committee inquiry on fireworks and the Scottish Government consultation on fireworks. The intention is that the work will inform current and future policy in this area and identify trends across fireworks seasons.
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, whether UK (a) firms and (b) universities will continue to receive EU research funding for development of clean and renewable energy technologies after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
The Government’s priority remains agreeing a deal with the EU. A ratified deal based on the provisions set out in the proposed Withdrawal Agreement would ensure that all UK participants can continue to receive EU funding from EU Programmes committed under the 2014-2020 Multiannual Financial Framework for the lifetime of their projects. Horizon 2020, the EU’s research and innovation funding programme, is one such programme. This programme includes support for the development of clean and renewable energy technologies.
If the UK leaves the EU without a deal, the Government’s underwrite guarantee would fund all successful competitive UK bids submitted to Horizon 2020 before exit. In this scenario, the extension to the guarantee, announced in July 2018, would also cover successful bids to Horizon 2020 calls open to third country participation that were submitted after point of exit, until the end of 2020. Both the guarantee and extension apply for the lifetime of projects.
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, whether it is his policy to replicate the Working Time Regulations after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
Employment law which derives from the EU is implemented in the UK, in statute if necessary. This includes the Agency Workers Directive and the Working Time Directive, which have been transposed into UK law. There is therefore no need to replicate them after the UK leaves the EU. We have committed not to roll back workers’ rights and that commitment includes the protections provided for by the Working Time Directive and the Agency Workers Directive. We also recently laid the Agency Workers (Amendment) Regulations 2019 which if passed will increase protections for agency workers on pay between assignment contracts.
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, whether it is his policy to replicate the Agency Workers Directive after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
Employment law which derives from the EU is implemented in the UK, in statute if necessary. This includes the Agency Workers Directive and the Working Time Directive, which have been transposed into UK law. There is therefore no need to replicate them after the UK leaves the EU. We have committed not to roll back workers’ rights and that commitment includes the protections provided for by the Working Time Directive and the Agency Workers Directive. We also recently laid the Agency Workers (Amendment) Regulations 2019 which if passed will increase protections for agency workers on pay between assignment contracts.
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, whether the Government plans to leave the EU’s emissions trading scheme; and what steps the Government is taking to maintain its commitment to cut carbon emissions after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Claire Perry
Under the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement after the UK leaves the EU on 29 March 2019, the UK’s participation in the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) will continue until the end of the Implementation Period. This aligns with the end of Phase III (December 2020) of the EU ETS.
The Political Declaration sets out that the UK and the EU have agreed to consider cooperating on carbon pricing through linking a UK national greenhouse gas emissions trading system with the EU ETS. The details of these arrangements will be a matter for the next phase of the negotiations. The Government will consult on our future approach to carbon pricing in due course.
In the event that the UK leaves without a deal in 2019, the UK would cease to participate in the EU ETS. To ensure stability and to meet the UK’s legally binding carbon reduction commitments under the Climate Change Act, a Carbon Emissions Tax would be introduced from 1 April 2019.
The Government is committed to tackling climate change. We are making strong progress towards our legally binding targets established in the world-leading Climate Change Act. Between 1990 and 2017, the UK reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by over 40% while growing the economy by more than two thirds - the best performance in the G7 on a per person basis.
We recognise the need to go further and the Clean Growth Strategy sets out our plans through to 2032, to build on our successes to date. It includes ambitious proposals on housing, business, transport, the natural environment and green finance.