Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Batley and Spen)
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 with Cabinet colleagues of the potential impact of replacing the Energy Bill Relief Scheme with the Energy Bill Discount Scheme on the hospice sector.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The new Energy Bill Discount Scheme (EBDS) will run from April until March 2024 and continue to provide a discount to eligible non-domestic customers including hospices. An HMT-led review into the operation of the current Energy Bill Relief Schemes was conducted with the objective of significantly reducing the overall burden on the taxpayer and public finances, and ensuring support is targeted at those most in need and unable to adjust to recent energy price rises. The review considered a range of qualitative and quantitative evidence, including input from businesses and stakeholders. The new scheme strikes a balance between supporting non-domestic customers and limiting taxpayer’s exposure to volatile energy markets, with a cap set at £5.5 billion.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Batley and Spen)
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 make an assessment with Cabinet colleagues of the impact of increases in the cost of energy on hospices.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Energy Bill Relief Scheme (EBRS) provides discount on the wholesale element of gas and electricity bills to ensure that all eligible businesses, including hospices, who receive their energy from licensed suppliers, are protected from high energy costs over the winter period. The Government recognises that organisations such as hospices may continue to experience high energy bills which is why the Government will continue to provide support to eligible non-domestic customers including hospices through the new Energy Bill Discount Scheme which will run from April until March 2024. The Government has also made up to £14.1 billion available for health and social care over the next two years.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Batley and Spen)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he is taking steps with Cabinet colleagues to support hospices with their energy bills after March 2023.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The new Energy Bill Discount Scheme (EBDS) will run from April until March 2024 and continue to provide a discount on energy bills to eligible non-domestic customers including hospices.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Batley and Spen)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 16 January 2023 to Question 121110 on Energy Bill Relief Scheme: Leisure and Swimming Pools, in what percentile is the (a) swimming pools and (b) leisure centre sector's trade and energy intensity assessment for (i) energy and (ii) trade intensity.
Answered by Graham Stuart
While swimming pools consume large amounts of energy, they are not trade intensive based on the best available ONS data.
The firms eligible for the Energy and Trade Intensive Industries scheme are those operating within sectors that fall above the 80th percentile for energy intensity and 60th percentile for trade intensity, and those within sectors eligible for the existing Energy Intensive Industries schemes.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Batley and Spen)
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 held recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on the inclusion of (a) swimming pools and (b) leisure centres in the Energy and Trade Intensive Industries scheme.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government has taken a consistent approach to identifying the most energy and trade intensive sectors, with all sectors that meet agreed thresholds for energy and trade intensity eligible for Energy and Trade Intensive Industries support. These thresholds have been set at sectors falling above the 80th percentile for energy intensity, and 60th percentile for trade intensity, plus any sectors eligible for the existing energy compensation and exemption schemes. BEIS has worked closely with key Whitehall Departments, including DCMS, and will engage with them in the design and implementation of the scheme.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Batley and Spen)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 16 January 2023 to Question 121110 on Energy Bill Relief Scheme: Leisure and Swimming Pools, for what reason libraries and museums were included in the Energy and Trade Intensive Industries.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government has taken a consistent approach to identifying the most energy and trade intensive sectors, with all sectors that meet agreed thresholds for energy and trade intensity eligible for ETII support. These thresholds have been set at sectors falling above the 80th percentile for energy intensity and 60th percentile for trade intensity, plus any sectors eligible for the existing energy compensation and exemption schemes. These thresholds were set to balance the UK's goals of delivering targeted support at lower overall cost, while capturing a broad enough share of affected companies.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Batley and Spen)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 16 January 2023 to Question 121110 on Energy Bill Relief Scheme: Leisure and Swimming Pools, if he will publish the exact calculations which were undertaken by his Department, including what data sources were used, when establishing the Energy and Trade Intensive Industries scheme; and if he will publish the data which contributed to the decision to not include swimming pools and leisure centres in that scheme.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Trade and energy intensity assessments were based on ONS and BEIS data.
The firms eligible for the Energy and Trade Intensive Industries scheme are those operating within sectors that fall above the 80th percentile for energy intensity and 60th percentile for trade intensity, and those within sectors eligible for the existing Energy Intensive Industries schemes. The full list can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1128033/230104_ETII_List_for_gov.uk.pdf
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Batley and Spen)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, for what reason (a) sports and leisure centres and (b) swimming pools were not included in the list of sectors eligible for the Energy and Trade Intensive Industries scheme.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government recognises that some businesses are particularly exposed to energy cost increases and are less able to pass these costs through to their customers. The Government has there therefore decided to provide a more generous level of support to certain businesses for a further year starting from April 2023. The firms eligible for the Energy and Trade Intensive Industries scheme are those operating within sectors that fall above the 80th percentile for energy intensity and 60th percentile for trade intensity, and those within sectors eligible for the existing Energy Intensive Industries schemes. These sectors have been published on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Batley and Spen)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with the laundry business sector regarding the increases in cost of living and potential Government support for that sector; and what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on the stability of that sector and the ancillary support it provides to hospitals.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
We have not engaged directly with representatives from the laundry sector but continue to work with a range of business sectors including organisations representing small businesses facing increasing costs driven by global factors, including high energy and cost of living pressures.
The Energy Bill Relief Scheme ensures that businesses are protected from excessively high energy bills over the winter period. My Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer recently announced in his Autumn Statement that there will be an extended and increased business rates relief for retail and hospitality businesses worth almost £13.6 billion. This is the most generous in year business rates relief in over 30 years, outside of Covid-19 support.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Batley and Spen)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many homes in Batley and Spen constituency had loft insulation installed as of 31 October 2022.
Answered by Graham Stuart
BEIS estimates that under the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) and Green Homes Grant (GHG) Government schemes, there have been around 800 loft insulation measures installed in Batley and Spen constituency. Data for ECO covers January 2013 to September 2022. Data for the GHG schemes cover October 2020 to September 2022.