Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to recent bankruptcies of energy companies, if his Department will review the current framework of regulation for the consumer energy market.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Ofgem, as indicated in its open letter to energy retail suppliers on 29 October, will shortly be consulting on the regulatory frameworks for the energy retail market to ensure ongoing stability.
Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of (a) regulation of the consumer energy market and (b) performance of Ofgem in the context of recent energy supplier failures.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
There are unprecedented conditions in global energy markets. As a consequence, some suppliers have exited the market. The Government and Ofgem work to ensure that exits are orderly, customers are protected and they have uninterrupted supply. The Government is considering the necessary reforms to retail market regulation to support the UK’s transition to net zero.
Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what guidance and support his Department is providing to the public on (a) heat pumps, (b) electric boilers, (c) hydrogen appliances and (d) other affordable alternatives to gas boilers as part of its policy to phase-out traditional domestic gas boilers.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As set out in last year’s Energy White Paper, the Government will set a clear path that sees the gradual move away from fossil fuel boilers in homes over the next fifteen years as and when individuals decide to replace their appliances. By the mid-2030s we expect all newly installed heating systems to be low carbon or to be appliances that we are confident can be converted to a clean fuel supply. There is no single technology alternative to fossil fuels. Electric heat pumps and hydrogen, green gas and shared heat networks all have their part to play.
In all pathways to net zero, heat pumps will have a major role to play. We are pursuing policies to grow the heat pump market to 600,000 installations a year by 2028 and are providing funding support to deliver these targets through schemes such as the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) and forthcoming Clean Heat Grant.
The Department is also working with industry to assess the feasibility, costs and benefits of using 100% hydrogen for heating, to enable strategic decisions in 2026 on the role of hydrogen in decarbonising heating. We aim to consult later this year on the case for enabling, or requiring, new natural gas boilers to be easily convertible to use hydrogen (‘hydrogen-ready’) by 2026. The public can also find more information in the Hydrogen Strategy which sets out the approach to developing a thriving low carbon hydrogen sector in the UK to meet our ambition for 5GW of low carbon hydrogen production capacity by 2030.
The Government is planning to publish a Heat and Buildings Strategy in due course, which will set out the actions we will take for reducing emissions from buildings.
Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what advice his Department is providing to members of the public deciding on routine replacement of their current gas boilers as part of the Government's policy phase-out traditional domestic gas boilers.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As set out in last year’s Energy White Paper, the Government will set a clear path that sees the gradual move away from fossil fuel boilers in homes over the next fifteen years as and when individuals decide to replace their appliances. By the mid-2030s we expect all newly installed heating systems to be low carbon or to be appliances that we are confident can be converted to a clean fuel supply. There is no single technology alternative to fossil fuels. Electric heat pumps and hydrogen, green gas and shared heat networks all have their part to play.
In all pathways to net zero, heat pumps will have a major role to play. We are pursuing policies to grow the heat pump market to 600,000 installations a year by 2028 and are providing funding support to deliver these targets through schemes such as the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) and forthcoming Clean Heat Grant.
The Department is also working with industry to assess the feasibility, costs and benefits of using 100% hydrogen for heating, to enable strategic decisions in 2026 on the role of hydrogen in decarbonising heating. We aim to consult later this year on the case for enabling, or requiring, new natural gas boilers to be easily convertible to use hydrogen (‘hydrogen-ready’) by 2026. The public can also find more information in the Hydrogen Strategy which sets out the approach to developing a thriving low carbon hydrogen sector in the UK to meet our ambition for 5GW of low carbon hydrogen production capacity by 2030.
The Government is planning to publish a Heat and Buildings Strategy in due course, which will set out the actions we will take for reducing emissions from buildings.
Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)
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 assist the energy and heating sector in moving its customers off traditional domestic gas boilers.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI), provides financial support in installments to homeowners, for the generation of heat through low carbon technologies such as heat pumps. The scheme, which launched in 2014, will remain open to new applicants until March 2022.
The successor scheme to the RHI, the Clean Heat Grant, which is due to launch in Spring 2022, will provide upfront capital grants for the installation of heat pumps and, in limited circumstances, biomass boilers in both domestic and small nondomestic buildings. This support will help grow confidence in these low carbon technologies and supply chains and help address the barrier of upfront costs faced by many consumers. We will publish our Government Response with details of the scheme and scheme eligibility in due course.
Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent representations his Department has received from (a) members of the public and (b) the publishing sector on the save our books campaign; and if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of those representations.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is currently consulting on the UK’s future exhaustion of IP rights regime and has received responses from a variety of respondents.
The consultation on this matter is still ongoing and once the consultation has closed, the Department will assess information arising from that consultation so that a decision may be made.
Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the consultation entitled the UK’s future exhaustion of intellectual property rights regime, published by the Intellectual Property Office on 21 July 2021, what impact assessment his Department has conducted of the potential effect on the (a) UK publishing industry and (b) UK authors of the potential introduction of an international exhaustion framework for copyright.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The consultation on the UK’s future exhaustion of intellectual property rights regime is open and the Government welcomes all interested parties to contribute to the consultation prior to the closing date of 31 August. An impact assessment was published alongside the consultation which will be updated.
Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if his Department will take steps to ensure that the concerns of authors are included in his Department’s work on the UK’s future regime for the exhaustion of intellectual property rights, after the closure of the current open consultation.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Officials at the Intellectual Property Office (an executive agency of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy), which is responsible for policy development on the UK’s IP exhaustion regime have met with representatives of the UK book industry, including authors, to discuss the issues arising from this open consultation.
Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)
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 is providing to the National Security Adviser’s review of the projected takeover of Newport Wafer Fab; and what steps his Department his taking to help ensure that there is appropriate Government scrutiny of similar cases in future.
Answered by Paul Scully
The National Security Adviser’s review is ongoing, drawing on expertise from across Government as necessary.
The Government has recently strengthened its powers to scrutinise investments for their implications for national security through the National Security and Investment Act which will come into force in January 2022.
Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the Government's announcement of 14 June 2021 not to move ahead with Step 4 of the Government's roadmap for the easing of covid-19 restrictions from the 21 June 2021, whether his Department has made an estimate of the value of business that will be lost by the weddings industry as a result of continued limits on capacity for that sector.
Answered by Paul Scully
BEIS Ministers and officials meet with representatives of the sector-led UK Weddings Taskforce on a regular basis to discuss the challenges faced by the sector and how best to support it through the reopening period.
Over the course of the pandemic the Government has provided an unprecedented package of financial support to businesses, including those in the wedding industry, which we keep under regular review.