Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Bexhill and Battle)
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 with his Cabinet colleagues to support businesses with energy prices.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government recognises the challenges that businesses are facing and is committed to helping ensure they are able to thrive. The Energy Bill Relief Scheme provides a discount on the wholesale element of gas and electricity bills to ensure that all eligible businesses that receive their energy from licensed suppliers, are protected from high energy costs over the winter period. The new Energy Bill Discount Scheme, will run from April until March 2024, and continue to provide a discount to eligible businesses.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Bexhill and Battle)
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 help support households with their energy bills.
Answered by Graham Stuart
In order to support households with energy bills, the Government has set up the Energy Bills Support Scheme which is delivering a £400 non-repayable government discount this winter.
The Energy Price Guarantee reduces the amount a household is charged per unit of gas or electricity, to an annual equivalent of around £2,500 for a typical household in Great Britain from 1 October 2022 to end of March 2023.
For households that use alternative fuels such as biomass, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) or heating oil, the Alternative Fuel Payment scheme will deliver an additional £200.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Bexhill and Battle)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent steps his Department has taken to help support off-grid consumers with their energy bills.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Alternative Fuel Payment scheme will provide a one-off payment to UK (GB and NI) households that use alternative fuels for heating, such as heating oil or LPG, instead of mains gas. This will ensure that those who do not benefit from the Energy Price Guarantee for fuel they use to heat their homes receive support for the cost of the fuel they do use.
£400 of EBSS Alternative Funding will be made available for those who do not have a direct contract with an electricity supplier or an electricity meter and will therefore not receive the Energy Bills Support Scheme directly.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Bexhill and Battle)
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 support for energy bills is available to rural households that are not on the gas and electricity grids.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Alternative Fuel Payment scheme will provide a one-off payment to UK (GB and NI) households that use alternative fuels for heating, such as heating oil or LPG, instead of mains gas. This will ensure that those who do not benefit from the Energy Price Guarantee for fuel they use to heat their homes receive support for the cost of the fuel they do use.
£400 of EBSS Alternative Funding will be made available for those who do not have a direct contract with an electricity supplier or an electricity meter and will therefore not receive the Energy Bills Support Scheme directly.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Bexhill and Battle)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
If he will make an assessment of the potential contribution of onshore UK critical mineral supply chains to the levelling up agenda.
Answered by George Freeman
A secure supply of critical minerals is fundamental to supporting almost all other UK manufacturing industries – such as automotive, aerospace, defence, energy and electronics. Without a reliable supply of critical minerals, the health of these industries, and the communities in which they operate would be adversely affected.
The Critical Minerals Strategy sets out the Government’s ambition to increase domestic capabilities in critical mineral supply chain, which has the potential to create well-paid jobs and boost productivity, particularly in areas such as Cornwall, Merseyside and Yorkshire.