Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent estimate he has made of the number of loans provided through the Bounce Back Loan scheme to applicants in (a) Stoke-on-Trent, (b) Kidsgrove and (c) Talke.
Answered by Paul Scully
A breakdown on the number of loans provided through the Bounce Back Loan scheme as of 7 August is in the table below.
Constituency | Loans offered | Value of Loans offered (£) |
Stoke-on-Trent North (which includes Kidsgrove, Talke and part of Stoke-on-Trent) | 1040 | 30,573,493 |
Stoke-on-Trent South | 861 | 26,011,673 |
Stoke-on-Trent Central | 1149 | 35,168,237 |
Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
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 support research and development in ceramics.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF), ceramics, along with the other 5 sectors that make up the foundation industries, are eligible for a share of the £66 million Transforming Foundation Industries. This Challenge looks to reduce environmental impact (including carbon emissions) through resource and energy efficiency. It is funding a number of projects relevant to the ceramics industry including hybrid sintering, development of new ceramic fibres for enhanced filtering, heat recovery in furnaces, robotics based optimisation and non-combustible cladding systems.
The Midlands Industrial Ceramics for Industry 4.0 project were recently awarded seedcorn funding of up to £50,000, under wave 2 of the Strength in Places Fund. The investment will build on existing ceramic and manufacturing strengths to help to make the Midlands a global leader in advanced ceramics. .
The Government is implementing its ambitious research and development roadmap to ensure the UK is the best place in the world for scientists, researchers and entrepreneurs to live and work, while helping to power up the UK’s economic and social recovery and level up the UK.
Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
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 support geothermal energy generation.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
Opportunities for geothermal electricity generation in the UK are limited and only likely to be economically feasible in certain locations, such as the far South West of England. The Government is supporting the development of the United Downs Deep Geothermal Project in Cornwall.
The most promising use of geothermal energy in the UK is for low temperature applications such as district heating schemes. BEIS has been providing support to the deployment of district heat networks from geothermal through the Heat Networks Delivery Unit (HNDU) and the Heat Networks Investment Project (HNIP). We also announced a further £270m from 2022 to 2025 in the Green Heat Network Fund at the March budget and we will be consulting on eligibility criteria this Autumn.
Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
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 support ceramic businesses affected by the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Government has taken unprecedented action to support businesses, including the those in the ceramics sector, since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak. Measures include regulatory easements, tax deferrals and changes to Statutory Sick Pay.
The Coronovirus Business Interruption Loan Schemes, alongside the Covid Corporate Financing Facility and Bounce Back Loans, also provide businesses with the opportunity to access Government-backed financing.
In addition to this, the Job Retention Scheme has supported millions of workers since March and has been significant in keeping people in jobs, ensuring that sectors will be able to recover smoothly.
The Government has also launched the Kickstart Scheme, which provides funding to employers to create new, 6-month job placements for young people currently on Universal Credit.
Taken together, these measures as well as others are providing support to businesses across the country and in the ceramics sector.
Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
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 support research and development in the ceramics industry to help reduce carbon emissions.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
At the 2020 Budget, my Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that the Government will at least double the size of the Department’s Energy Innovation Programme to £1 billion. This programme will focus on decarbonising UK power, homes, and industry (including ceramics), to meet the challenge of net zero emissions by 2050.
Ceramics, along with the other 5 sectors that make up the foundation industries, are eligible for a share of the £66 million Transforming Foundation Industries element of the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund. This Challenge looks to reduce environmental impact, including carbon emissions, through resource and energy efficiency. We are funding a number of projects relevant to the ceramics industry, including hybrid sintering, the development of new ceramic fibres for enhanced filtering, heat recovery in furnaces, robotics-based optimisation, and non-combustible cladding systems.
Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will invite the ceramics sector to be part of one of the five Industrial Strategy Taskforces.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The ceramics sector is a valued part of the UK economy. The recovery roundtables that my Hon friend refers to are intensive engagements and it is important they are focused. Inevitably, there is a limit on the number of organisations that can join. Attendees do not encompass the full range of stakeholders that the Department engages with, and we welcome written comments from anyone that wishes to share their views.
We also continue to hold extensive engagement that will feed into this important work with stakeholders from across the economy, outside of the recovery roundtbales. I would value the views of the ceramics sector as part of this process.
Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he plans to provide support to the ceramics industry to help that industry to decarbonise.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Department works closely with the ceramics industry to support its efforts to decarbonise.
Manufacturers of ceramics will soon be able to access the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund, a scheme to help businesses with high energy use to reduce their emissions and energy costs by investing in clean technologies. The first phase will open for applications this summer, supporting industrial energy efficiency projects, as well as feasibility and engineering studies.
Ceramics firms can also access the Industrial Heat Recovery Support Programme. This grant funding programme helps manufacturing businesses to identify and invest in opportunities for recovering and reusing industrial waste heat. A total of £18 million is available to support industrial heat recovery projects across England and Wales.
Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many UK (a) businesses and (b) universities are Investors in People accredited.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Investors in People is responsible for awarding the Investors in People standard. Since 1 February 2017 this has been a Community Interest Company, which is not part of the Government.
Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to support supply chains in the ceramics industry in (a) the UK and (b) Stoke-on-Trent North constituency.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Government is working tirelessly to protect our people and businesses, during and after the COVID-19 outbreak, including those in the ceramics industry.
The Government has taken unprecedented action to support businesses, which may be of benefit to the ceramics industry. Measures include:
- £330 billion worth of Government-backed loans through the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme, the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, and the newly launched Bounce Back Loans Scheme.
- VAT deferment for firms for the next quarter.
- The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, where employers are eligible to apply for a Government grant of 80% of their workers’ salaries, up to £2500 per month.
Locally, the Government has supported and invested in 38 Growth Hubs across England. Growth Hubs provide businesses with free advice, and improve awareness and coordination to increase the take-up of the business support schemes that are available.
In the financial year 2018/19, the Stoke-on-Trent & Staffordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) reached over 5000 business individuals. This included supporting 2231 businesses with face-to-face support, of which 107 received high-intensity support. The LEP has also helped 491 individuals to start a new business.
Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
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 support the ceramics industry during the covid-10 outbreak.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Government has taken unprecedented action to support businesses, including those within the ceramics sector, during the outbreak of COVID-19. This includes changes to Statutory Sick Pay, the opportunity to defer VAT and/or income tax for 3 months, as well as regulatory easements to help businesses manage the impact of the virus.
In addition, the Job Retention Scheme offers a Government grant to enable companies to furlough their staff from 1 March 2020 and will run until the end of June 2020..
The Coronovirus Business Interruption Loan Schemes for businesses of all sizes, alongside the Covid Corporate Financing Facility, also provides businesses with the opportunity to access Government-backed financing.
These measures are providing unprecedented support to businesses across the country, and the Department is in daily contact with the ceramics sector to offer further advice and support.