Asked by: Jane Hunt (Conservative - Loughborough)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that training centres have the (a) resources and (b) developed curriculum to train heat network installers.
Answered by Robert Halfon
In the 2021 Heat and Buildings Strategy, the government committed to a range of policies enabling a zero-carbon heating system in the UK. In the strategy, the government committed to investing £338 million into the Heat Network Transformation Programme over 2022/23 to 2024/25.
The Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy’s 2020 Heat Network Skills Review found, among other things that:
Earlier this year, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero ran the Heat Training Grant competition for education providers in England. This funding facilitates the ability to provide training on the designing, building, and maintenance of heat networks. A further round of the scheme will run for training to be delivered in academic year 2024/25.
There are existing courses funded by the department for education that provide the skills needed to build and operate heat networks. These are highlighted in the list below:
Asked by: Jane Hunt (Conservative - Loughborough)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the (a) feasibility and (b) potential merits of extending the retail, hospitality and leisure business rates relief scheme beyond 31 March 2024 for businesses in business improvement districts.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The 2023-2024 Retail, Hospitality and Leisure (RHL) Business Rates Relief scheme provides eligible, occupied, retail, hospitality and leisure properties with a 75 per cent relief, up to a cash cap limit of £110,000 per business. This was an expansion from the 50 per cent rate in 2022-2023. Currently, around 230,000 properties are eligible for this relief, representing a tax cut worth over £2 billion.
Businesses may also benefit from other business rates measures, including the multiplier freeze, and the Supporting Small Business scheme, which caps bill increases at £600 per year for businesses losing some or all of their eligibility for Small Business or Rural Rate Relief due to the recent revaluation.
Any future announcements regarding business rates relief will be made at a fiscal event.
Asked by: Jane Hunt (Conservative - Loughborough)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether a (a) Minister and (b) delegation from her Department will attend the Commonwealth Trade and Investment Forum in September 2023.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
While a formal invitation to the Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council (CWEIC) Summit in Bangladesh has yet to be received, officials from the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) plan to attend while ministerial attendance has yet to be decided. DBT and FCDO and continue to work closely with CWEIC to further strengthen intra-Commonwealth trade and investment – particularly following the Commonwealth Trade Ministers Meeting in June, where members agreed ambitious objectives to boost support for trade digitalisation and inward investment ahead of CHOGM in 2024 in Samoa.
Asked by: Jane Hunt (Conservative - Loughborough)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether a (a) Minister and (b) delegation from his Department will attend the Commonwealth Trade and Investment Forum in September 2023.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are still awaiting a formal invitation for Ministerial attendance. However, on current plans officials from the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) will attend the Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council (CWEIC) Summit in Bangladesh.
The FCDO and DBT continue to work closely with CWEIC to further strengthen intra-Commonwealth trade and investment - particularly following the Commonwealth Trade Ministers Meeting in June, where members agreed ambitious objectives to boost support for trade digitalisation and inward investment ahead of CHOGM (Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting) in 2024 in Samoa.
Asked by: Jane Hunt (Conservative - Loughborough)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when he plans for High Street Rental Auctions to come into effect.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
High Street Rental Auctions policy will come into effect as soon as possible after Royal Assent of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill.
Asked by: Jane Hunt (Conservative - Loughborough)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment his Department has made of the potential financial effect of the £650 million Life Sci for Growth package on (a) the East Midlands, (b) Leicestershire, (c) Loughborough constituency and (d) the Life Sciences Opportunity Zone at Charnwood Campus.
Answered by George Freeman
The call for proposals for the £38m biomanufacturing fund and £250m LIFTS initiative are open UK-wide. Additionally, funding for skills and regulations will benefit companies across the UK and £121 million for clinical trials will support the delivery of clinical trials across England. With 66% of the sector employed outside London and South-East, these UK wide initiatives will benefit all regions. Nottingham has been awarded at least £935k for the Mental Health Mission, including activities at the Midlands Translational Research Centre of Excellence demonstrator site and under the Children and Young People’s Mental Health workstream.
Asked by: Jane Hunt (Conservative - Loughborough)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 24 April 2023 to Question 180257 on Energy: Business, what steps his Department is taking to support business which do not meet the criteria for the Energy Bills Discount Scheme with their energy bills.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Energy Bills Discount Scheme (EBDS) provides a baseline discount to all eligible businesses and non-domestic customers. The discount is subject to a wholesale price threshold of £107/MWh for gas and £302/MWh for electricity. Businesses experiencing energy costs below this level will not receive support. The EBDS discount is comparably lower than the Energy Bill Relief Scheme discount and reflects the significant fall in energy prices since last September whilst striking the right balance by supporting businesses over the next year, ensuring fiscal responsibility and limiting the taxpayer’s exposure to volatile energy markets.
The Government has extended support comparable to the EBDS to non-domestic energy customers who receive gas or electricity delivered over public networks from non-licensed providers.
Asked by: Jane Hunt (Conservative - Loughborough)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make it her policy to increase the level of financial support available to dairy farmers.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We recognise the challenges facing the dairy sector. The Prime Minister set out new support for farmers to strengthen food security and grow the economy at the Farm to Fork Food Summit on 16 May 2023. This includes the creation of a £1 million programme to help dairy businesses, particularly SMEs, to seize export opportunities.
In addition, the Government has acted to support the agricultural sector, including dairy farmers, in a number of ways.
Asked by: Jane Hunt (Conservative - Loughborough)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the time taken to process Access to Work applications; and what steps he is taking to ensure that applications are processed in a timely manner.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
There has been a significant increase in applications for the Access to Work grant scheme over the last year, leading to longer processing times.
Processing times are continually assessed, and the department has reviewed processes to support applications being processed in a timely manner. To deal with the increased demand, we have recruited additional staff and have plans for further recruitment. We are also modernising the Access to Work service through increased digitalisation; this will make the service more efficient, make the application process easier, and improve the time taken from application through to decision.
Customers making a new application for Access to Work and are starting work within the next 4 weeks, or have a current grant award coming to an end requiring a renewal application, are prioritised to ensure they are able to enter and remain in the labour market.
Asked by: Jane Hunt (Conservative - Loughborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he expects University of Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust to receive funding to (a) rebuild at Leicester Royal Infirmary and Glenfield and (b) build new facilities at Leicester General; and if he will take steps to increase funding for building work at these facilities.
Answered by Will Quince
The New Hospital Programme continues to work closely with the Trust on the development of their plans in alignment with our national approach to standardisation for the new hospitals we have committed to build. This ensures value for money is realised in delivering new, cutting-edge facilities for staff and patients. We continue to collaborate with all trusts in the Programme to ensure the funding they receive is reflective of an ongoing assessment of costs.
Up to the end of 2022/23 University Hospitals Leicester NHS Trust scheme received £7.46 million in funding for their new hospital scheme, which includes funding for work to prepare the site for construction of the new hospital. The funding for the full scheme will only be confirmed once its full business case has been reviewed and agreed, including by HM Treasury.