Asked by: Kate Hollern (Labour - Blackburn)
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 prevent the outflow of businesses and investment from the UK.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Government is committed to ensuring that the UK remains a great place to do business. Our ambitious Industrial Strategy is comprised of a range of policies designed to build an economy fit for the future, fostering a competitive environment where businesses have the confidence to invest and thrive. This includes building long term strategic partnerships with businesses through Sector Deals and committing £37bn through the National Productivity Investment Fund by 2023/24.
We are ensuring that innovative businesses have access to the finance they need. Through the British Business Bank, we are already supporting finance to over 78,000 SMEs. We are facilitating £20bn investment in high potential businesses, including establishing the £2.5bn British Patient Capital programme to co-invest with the private sector into venture and growth fund commitments.
Asked by: Kate Hollern (Labour - Blackburn)
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 level of fuel poverty in (a) the North West and (b) Blackburn constituency.
Answered by Claire Perry
The latest sub-regional fuel poverty statistics can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/fuel-poverty-sub-regional-statistics
Asked by: Kate Hollern (Labour - Blackburn)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent comparative assessment his Department has made of the level of fuel poverty in each region.
Answered by Claire Perry
Fuel poverty figures by region can be found in Table 6 of the fuel poverty detailed tables: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fuel-poverty-detailed-tables-2018
Asked by: Kate Hollern (Labour - Blackburn)
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 implications for the Government's policies on the regulation of privatised utilities of the report by Ofwat entitled Putting the sector back in balance – summary of Ofwat’s decision on issues for PR19 business plans, published on 3 July 2018; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Andrew Griffiths
Economic regulators are statutorily independent. It is for regulators to decide how to regulate the companies in the sectors for which they are responsible, in line with their duties. The Government is fully committed to a model of private ownership with strong independent economic regulation.
Asked by: Kate Hollern (Labour - Blackburn)
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 regional disparity in energy poverty; and what estimate his Department has made of the number of households living in energy poverty in Blackburn.
Answered by Claire Perry
Fuel poverty figures by region can be found in Table 6 of the fuel poverty detailed tables: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fuel-poverty-detailed-tables-2018
The number of households living in fuel poverty in Blackburn in 2016 is estimated to be 6,400 (15.4 per cent).
Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/sub-regional-fuel-poverty-data-2018, Table 5
Asked by: Kate Hollern (Labour - Blackburn)
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 implication for his policies of 2.5 million people living in energy poverty.
Answered by Claire Perry
This Government is committed to tackling fuel poverty. The latest statistics on fuel poverty in England show the average fuel poverty gap – the amount needed on average to lift households out of fuel poverty – decreased to £326 in 2016, down from £341 in 2015.
The best long-term solution is to improve energy efficiency to bring the cost of heating homes down. That is why we have just consulted on focussing the whole of the £640m per year Energy Company Obligation on low income and vulnerable households from later this year.
We are also introducing a price cap to stop unreasonable price rises for those 11 million households on standard variable and default tariffs and under the Warm Home Discount Scheme, over 2 million low income and vulnerable households are provided with a £140 rebate off their energy bill each winter.
Asked by: Kate Hollern (Labour - Blackburn)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps the Government is taking to support (a) single parents and (b) households in private rented accommodation at risk of energy poverty.
Answered by Claire Perry
The best long-term solution to fuel poverty is to improve energy efficiency to bring the cost of heating homes down. That is what we are doing through the Energy Company Obligation where we have consulted on focussing the whole of the scheme on low income and vulnerable households from later this year. We are also introducing a price cap to stop unreasonable price rises for those 11 million households on standard variable and default tariffs. Under the Warm Home Discount Scheme, over 2 million low income and vulnerable households are provided with a £140 rebate off their energy bill each winter.
Single parents and households in private rented accommodation will benefit from all of these measures. For those in the latter category, new Private Rental Sector Regulations came into force as planned on the 1st April 2018. They mean that all private landlords need to ensure that their properties reach at least a minimum Energy Performance Certificate rating of E before granting a tenancy to new or existing tenants. We also want to use new powers under the Digital Economy Act to help us focus support more accurately towards low income and vulnerable households living in fuel poverty.
Asked by: Kate Hollern (Labour - Blackburn)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department has had discussions with businesses on their concerns on the effect on supply chains of the UK leaving the EU.
Answered by Andrew Griffiths
Since the referendum, the Department has engaged with over 2500 businesses and representative organisations across sectors, both here and in Europe, to deepen our understanding of the key business priorities and opportunities after our withdrawal. This dialogue has included hearing businesses views on supply chain preparedness and on the importance of issues such as the need for an Implementation Period.
The agreement on the Implementation Period gives businesses, particularly SMEs, the clarity and confidence that market access and common regulatory rules will remain in place until the end of 2020, meaning businesses will be able to trade on the same terms as now and that businesses will have the time to respond to one set of changes.
Asked by: Kate Hollern (Labour - Blackburn)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has made an assessment of the potential effect on (a) Blackburn and (b) other regional areas of the UK of a no deal scenario when the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Andrew Griffiths
We are committed to getting the best possible deal for the United Kingdom - a deal that works for all parts of the UK, including the North West. We do not want or expect a no deal outcome. However, a responsible government should prepare for all potential outcomes, including the unlikely scenario in which no mutually satisfactory agreement can be reached.
The Government is undertaking a wide range of continuing analysis and preparatory work, across a range of scenarios, looking at the implications of UK withdrawal from the EU.
Ministers have a specific responsibility, which Parliament has endorsed, not to release information that would reveal our negotiating position and so the Government will not provide an ongoing commentary on internal analytical work.
The Government has confirmed that when we bring forward the vote on the final deal, we will ensure that Parliament is presented with the appropriate analysis to make an informed decision.
Asked by: Kate Hollern (Labour - Blackburn)
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 ensure that Airbus continues its operations in the UK after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
The UK is a strong supporter of Airbus and its UK suppliers and we engage frequently and constructively on their UK investment and activity. Alongside industry we will invest almost £4 billion in aerospace research and technology by 2026 to ensure the UK remains a world leader in civil aerospace.
We are working closely with Airbus and other UK based companies to understand their concerns ahead of leaving the EU. We have been clear that we are determined to secure a deal with the EU that meets the sector’s needs. This includes our ambition to seek continued participation in EASA, maintaining barrier free trade, avoiding disruption to supply chains, and allowing employees to work across sites within Europe.