Asked by: John McNally (Scottish National Party - Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to reduce regional disparities in Standing Charges for electricity.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The standing charge includes some electricity distribution costs, which vary regionally to reflect the different costs of maintaining and upgrading the distribution network in different regions. Unique geographic factors mean that electricity distribution costs are markedly higher in the North of Scotland than elsewhere in Great Britain. To protect consumers in the North of Scotland from these costs, the government reaffirmed its commitment in January 2023 to the Hydro Benefit Replacement Scheme. This government scheme provides an annual cross subsidy of over £90 million to reduce related charges in the region.
Asked by: John McNally (Scottish National Party - Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent discussions his Department has had with (a) Ofgem, (b) energy companies and (c) consumer groups on reducing daily unit rates.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Ministers have regular engagement with Ofgem, energy suppliers and consumer groups.
Daily unit rates for default electricity and gas tariffs are capped by the price cap, which is set by Ofgem, and further reduced by the Government’s Energy Price Guarantee.
Asked by: John McNally (Scottish National Party - Falkirk)
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 ensure that 10 per cent of the UK's waters within her responsibility are covered by a Highly Protected Marine Area by 2026.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Defra recently announced that it intends to designate the first three Highly Protected Marine Areas in English Waters. These HPMAs would be designated before 6th July 2023. Currently there are no targets set or planned for Highly Protected Marine Areas, however Defra will explore additional sites this year. Any future sites will also be subject to consultation.
Asked by: John McNally (Scottish National Party - Falkirk)
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 take steps to ban industrial fishing vessels from Marine Protected Areas on a whole-site basis.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Crawley, on 16 January 2023, PQ UIN 110660.
Asked by: John McNally (Scottish National Party - Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether compensation from the public purse has been paid to any companies that have tendered unsuccessfully for contracts on the HS2 project.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
HS2 Ltd have not paid compensation to any company who has unsuccessfully tendered for work on the HS2 programme.
Asked by: John McNally (Scottish National Party - Falkirk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 27 February 2023 to Question 147059 on Ukraine: Challenger Tanks, what assessment his Department made when considering the case for sending Challenger 2 Tanks to Ukraine; and for what reason 14 tanks were determined as the quantity to be supplied.
Answered by James Heappey
The decision to send a squadron of 14 tanks delivers a coherent and combat effective capability for Ukraine.
The UK has led the world in announcing and then delivering modern battle tanks for Ukraine, unlocking dozens of additional tanks from international partners in so doing.
The UK will continue to be agile in our support to Ukraine as the conflict evolves.
Asked by: John McNally (Scottish National Party - Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to support sustainable fashion and textiles businesses who export to the EU with meeting the EU's Extended Producer Responsibility commitments.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Commission announced their intention to propose harmonised EU Extended Producer Responsibility rules for textiles as part of the revision of the Waste Framework Directive and we look forward to seeing these final proposals and will consider how they might fit with our own independent regulatory framework.
The Government’s 2018 Resources & Waste Strategy for England identified textiles as a priority sector for action. A key part of this strategy is working with the textiles industry to reduce their environmental impact. We have brought major retailers together to commit to reducing carbon and water footprints through our Textiles 2030 programme and we are currently looking into both near and longer-term policies to reduce textiles waste.
Asked by: John McNally (Scottish National Party - Falkirk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending eligibility for the global talent visa to include (a) designers, (b) fashion photographers, (c) stylists, (d) fashion journalists and (e) other professionals in the fashion industry.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Global Talent visa route utilises the expertise of six endorsing bodies to set criteria for applicants looking to apply as a leading talent or someone with the potential to be a leading talent in their respective fields.
On behalf of Arts Council England, the endorsing body for arts and culture, the British Fashion Council consider applications from individuals looking to be endorsed within the field of fashion design. Any expansion of the criteria to cover a wider range of roles within the fashion industry would be requested via our endorsing bodies – as the experts in their field – to consider and escalate to the Home Office if appropriate.
We continue to work closely with the endorsing bodies to ensure that the route is working for their sectors and that the UK is attracting and retaining highly talented individuals in science, research, digital technology and arts and culture.
There are a range of other visa routes open to applicants, that cater for professions within the fashion design industry.
Asked by: John McNally (Scottish National Party - Falkirk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department made when considering the case for sending Challenger 2 Tanks to Ukraine; for what reason 14 tanks were determined as the quantity to be supplied; and whether he is planning to send further tanks at a future date.
Answered by James Heappey
Sending Challenger 2 main battle tanks to Ukraine represents a step change in our support as a calibrated response to Russia's indiscriminate violence against civilians in Ukraine. The provision of a squadron of Challenger 2 main battle tanks is a very significant contribution from the UK which has made possible the gifting of dozens of tanks from other Western nations. The UK continues to be the leading European donor of equipment to Ukraine and we keep all options for additional future support under review.
Asked by: John McNally (Scottish National Party - Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department has made an estimate of the average number of days that elapse between a direct debit payment being taken from a customer's account by an energy supplier and the issuance of an Energy Bill Support Scheme payment to that customer.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Direct debit (DD) customers are receiving their monthly Energy Bills Support Scheme payments from electricity suppliers either as a reduction to the DD amount collected, or as a refund to the customer’s bank account following the DD collection. The Direction for the scheme requires that any such refunds are issued immediately after taking the usual DD payment from the customer. Suppliers are required to report to government on delivery and data is being published monthly. No data has been collated specifically on the average number of days between a DD payment and the EBSS discount being applied.