Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff East)
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 Department has made of the performance of Royal Mail in relation to the (a) number of deliveries, (b) number of failed deliveries and (c) number of deliveries taking more than four weeks in the latest period for which information is available.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
Royal Mail is required to publish quarterly Quality of Service reports, against delivery targets set and reviewed by the postal industry regulator Ofcom. These can be found on Royal Mail’s website.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of Government green energy projects in each year since 2015.
Answered by Claire Perry
The costs of renewable energy schemes for electricity are funded through consumer energy bills, rather than from general taxation.
The Renewable Heat Incentive is funded through general taxation:
Cost (£m) | 2015/16 | 2016/17 | 2017/18 |
Committed Renewable Heat Incentive | 366 | 530 | 713 |
Source: RHI budget caps, BEIS: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/795530/RHI_budget_cap_publication_data_to_end_of_February_2019.pdf
The Department has allocated general taxation for energy innovation spend for green energy projects, in the amounts of:
Cost (£m) | 2015/16 | 2016/17 | 2017/18 (est)* |
Energy Innovation spend for green energy projects | 373 | 473 | 531 |
Source: BEIS annual returns to the International Energy Association for UK energy innovation spend.
* Figures for financial year 2017/18 are estimates and figures for 2018/19 are not currently available.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much the Government has invested in green energy projects in each year since 2005.
Answered by Claire Perry
This information can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff East)
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 charge businesses to re-register for intellectual property protection in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
The Government has confirmed we will create comparable UK trade marks and re registered designs free of charge, in respect of all registered EU trade marks and designs.
Businesses with pending EU trade mark and design applications can apply to the UK for the same protections afforded to their EU right, and pay the normal UK fees.
Patents covering the UK are not affected by EU exit; this includes patents granted under the (non-EU) European Patent Convention, which the UK will continue to be party to.
Supplementary protection certificates for patented pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals already take effect as UK national rights under EU law. As the current legal framework will be maintained at exit, these will not need to be re-registered to remain in effect.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the total amount of solar energy captured in the UK is for each of the last five years.
Answered by Claire Perry
Electricity and heat generated in the UK each year from solar technologies are presented below:
| Electricity generated | Solar thermal generation (MTOE) | Total solar energy consumption (MTOE) | |
(GWh) | (MTOE) | |||
2013 | 2,010 | 173 | 49 | 222 |
2014 | 4,054 | 349 | 50 | 399 |
2015 | 7,533 | 648 | 52 | 699 |
2016 | 10,411 | 895 | 52 | 947 |
2017 | 11,525 | 991 | 53 | 1,044 |
The data above excludes unsubsidised solar generation not currently reported to BEIS or Ofgem. This is estimated to be very small.
Data for electricity generation in 2018 will be published on Thursday March 28 at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/766384/ET_6.1.xls
Figures for solar thermal generation in 2018 will be published on Thursday July 25 at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/729372/DUKES_6.1-6.3.xls
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of trends in the size of the UK solar industry since 2010.
Answered by Claire Perry
The Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS) published a report: The Size and Performance of the UK Low Carbon, which contains data on trends in the size of the UK low carbon economy for 2010 to 2013, including the UK solar sector. This report can be viewed online at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/416240/bis-15-206-size-and-performance-of-uk-low-carbon-economy.pdf.
The Department commissioned the Office for National Statistics to collect and publish data on trends in the low carbon and renewable energy sector, which includes the UK solar sector, in the form of their Low Carbon and Renewable Energy Economy Survey (LCREE) covering 2014 to 2017. This can be found online at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/environmentalaccounts/bulletins/finalestimates/previousreleases.
Due to differences in methodology, drawing comparisons between data contained in the report published by BIS and data contained in the LCREE may produce misleading conclusions. Comparing estimates from 2014 with estimates from later years of the LCREE survey may also produce misleading conclusions due to changes in the sample methodology that have taken place since.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff East)
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 has any plans to review its industrial strategy as a result of recent changes in the value of pound sterling.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
The Industrial Strategy is a long term plan to boost productivity by backing businesses to create high-quality, well paid jobs throughout the United Kingdom, with investment in skills, industries and infrastructure. The Government uses a combination of measures to evaluate economic prosperity as a whole, which can effectively inform the delivery of our long term strategy. Furthermore, since the Government published the Strategy in 2017 we have continued to develop our approach and delivered responsive policy, such as those announced in the 2018 Autumn Budget.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to promote the use of solar energy.
Answered by Claire Perry
Solar PV is a UK success story, with rapid deployment over the last 8 years. Over 99% of the UK’s solar PV capacity has been deployed since May 2010.
We are now consulting on new proposals for a Smart Export Guarantee to support future arrangements for small-scale low-carbon generators (including solar power generators) to receive payment for the electricity they export to the grid. The consultation closes on the 5th March 2019 and can be viewed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/the-future-for-small-scale-low-carbon-generation.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of the UK leaving the EU without a withdrawal agreement on the UK (a) automotive and (b) steel industries.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
On 28th November 2018 the Government laid before Parliament the document entitled, “EU Exit: Long-term economic analysis” which was intended to facilitate parliamentary scrutiny ahead of the Meaningful Vote on the final deal. The purpose of this analysis was to illustrate high level impacts on the UK from different EU Exit scenarios. It included associated costs for five broad groups, across the economy as well as for eleven corresponding sectors which together cover the majority of the UK economy and all traded goods and services:
○ Manufactured Goods (including Iron & Steel as well as Motor vehicles and parts);
○ Agri-food;
○ Services (Non-Financial and Non-Networks);
○ Financial Services;
○ Networks;
The sector of “motor vehicles and parts”, being a sub – sector of the wider manufactured goods group, was assessed as one of the 11 corresponding sectors; and therefore, results of the impact of different EU-exit scenarios on motor vehicles have been published.
The macroeconomic modelling tools used for this analysis do not allow for disaggregation of results at individual sector level.
Extensive engagement has also taken place and is continuing between Government and the steel and automotive industries, to better understand the implications of different EU – exit scenarios on the sectors.