Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what change there has been in the number of households using pre-payment meters in the last 10 years.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
Ofgem closely monitors domestic energy supplies’ performance and publishes information on prepayment meters customer accounts in Great Britain. Ofgem does not monitor the gas and electricity supply market in Northern Ireland, as it is devolved matter.
The table below shows either the number or proportion of domestic customers paying by prepayment meters in Great Britain in 2006 to 2015. Smart meters operating in pay-as-you-go mode are also classified as PPM for these statistics. Ofgem has changed the way it presents the data on the number of households using pre-payment meters in its Domestic Suppliers Social Obligations annual reports, and this is accounted for in the table below.
| 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | |||
| No. of PPMs customers (millions) | Proportion of PPMs customers | No. of PPMs customers (millions) | Proportion of PPMs customers | No. of PPMs customers (millions) | Proportion of PPMs customers |
Gas | 2.3 | -- | 2.3 | -- | 2.4 | -- |
Electricity | 3.6 | -- | 3.6 | -- | 3.6 | -- |
| 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | |||
| No. of PPMs customers (millions) | Proportion of PPMs customers | No. of PPMs customers (millions) | Proportion of PPMs customers | No. of PPMs customers (millions) | Proportion of PPMs customers |
Gas | 2.6 | -- | 2.7 | -- | 2.91 | -- |
Electricity | 3.8 | -- | 4.0 | -- | 4.09 | -- |
| 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | |||
| No. of PPMs customers (millions) | Proportion of PPMs customers | No. of PPMs customers (millions) | Proportion of PPMs customers | No. of PPMs customers (millions) | Proportion of PPMs customers |
Gas | 3.09 | -- | 3.28 | -- | 3.39 | 15% |
Electricity | 4.25 | -- | 4.42 | -- | 4.49 | 17% |
| 2015 | |
| No. of PPMs customers (millions) | Proportion of PPMs customers |
Gas | -- | 15.3% |
Electricity | -- | 16.6% |
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what access to finance support is available to businesses in Oldham.
Answered by Margot James
The British Business Bank is working to make it easier for businesses across the UK, including Oldham, to access the finance they need to start and grow. British Business Bank programmes are currently supporting almost £3.2 billion of finance to more than 51,000 smaller businesses and are participating in a further £4.6 billion of finance to small mid-cap businesses right across the UK, including Oldham. The Bank’s Business Finance Guide provides a comprehensive overview of the financing options available to businesses, from start-up to growth.
At Autumn Statement 2015, my right hon. Friend the then Chancellor of the Exchequer announced an agreement between the British Business Bank and Local Enterprise Partnerships in the North, which also covers Oldham, to create a Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund of over £400m. This Fund will produce greater levels of investment, increase the focus on the potential opportunities across the Northern Powerhouse regions and provide increased flexibility in the type of funding provided across the North. The Fund is expected to go live in early February 2017.
Businesses in Oldham have access to export finance advice. UK Export Finance (UKEF), the UK’s export credit agency, offers finance and insurance to help UK-based exporters of all sizes and across all sectors win, fulfil and get paid for overseas sales, ensuring that no viable UK export fails for lack of finance or insurance. UKEF’s North West based-Export Finance Advisers can help introduce Oldham businesses with who export or who have export potential to finance providers, credit insurers, insurance brokers, trade support bodies and sources of government support.
Businesses in Oldham also have access to one of thirty nine growth hubs across England that provide local access to business advice, support and sources of finance. The Greater Manchester Growth Hub provides free and impartial advice to help local businesses wanting to raise funds. The GOV.UK website hosts a Business Finance & Support Finder Tool which helps local businesses find sources of finance and the Business Support Helpline also provides help and support to businesses.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what support his Department provides to energy-intensive users in the manufacturing and engineering sectors.
Answered by Nick Hurd
The Government has put in place a range of measures to support energy intensive industries (EIIs). This includes a package of compensation and exemption measures to alleviate the impact of renewable and low carbon policy costs passed through in electricity bills. By 2020, this package will reduce the impact of policies on the most energy intensive businesses’ energy bills by 80%.
Since 2014 the Government has exempted mineralogical and metallurgical processes from the Climate Change Levy (CCL) which is an energy consumption tax and other EIIs receive a significant discount from the CCL in exchange for signing up to energy efficiency or carbon reduction targets through Climate Change Agreements. Energy intensive sectors subject to the EU Emissions Trading System are allocated allowances for free to protect against the risk of carbon leakage. The Government is also working in collaboration with eight energy intensive sectors to develop action plans to support energy efficiency and decarbonisation measures while improving competitiveness.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what support his Department makes available for the establishment of new cooperatives in the UK.
Answered by Margot James
The Department supports the establishment of all businesses including cooperatives. Support for people wanting to start or grow their business is available from our Business Support Helpline, while 39 growth hubs in England bring together local business support so that local people can access it easily. British Business Bank programmes are improving access to finance, including Start-Up Loans which provide start up finance and business advice.