Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen 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 has met with representatives of the (a) Scottish Government and (b) Welsh Government to discuss floating offshore wind.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department has regular discussions with the Devolved Administrations on matters of mutual interest. The Government will work with the Scottish Government, the Welsh Government, and industry to build a sustainable, competitive UK based floating wind supply chain.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
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 floating offshore wind industry on the potential economic benefits of setting a target of 15GW of floating wind by 2035.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department holds regular discussions with representatives of the offshore wind industry. The Government has a world-leading target of 40GW by 2030 including 1GW of floating wind and anticipates further rapid expansion of both fixed and floating offshore wind through the 2030s and beyond.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen 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 ensure grid infrastructure is developed to support further deployment of floating offshore wind.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Network regulation, including ensuring security of supply, is a matter for Ofgem, the independent energy regulator. Ofgem uses the RIIO price control framework to incentivise electricity network companies to invest efficiently in the grid – providing a safe, secure and reliable network for all consumers at the lowest possible cost.
As part of the BEIS-led Offshore Transmission Network Review, National Grid Electricity System Operator will shortly publish a Holistic Network Design (HND) which brings together the coordinated planning of wider onshore network reinforcements and the connections for around 23GW of offshore wind, including over 3GW of floating wind.
The objective of the OTNR is to ensure that the transmission connections for offshore wind generation are delivered in the most appropriate way, considering the increased ambition for offshore wind to help achieve net zero. This will be done with a view to finding the appropriate balance between environmental, social and economic costs.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen 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 post legislative reviews (a) their Department or (b) their predecessor Department has undertaken on (i) primary and (ii) secondary legislation in each of the last five years.
Answered by George Freeman
In the last five years, the Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy have undertaken the following Post Implementation Reviews (PIR) on primary and secondary legislation.
Year | Total PIRs | Primary PIRs | Secondary PIRs |
2017 | 5 | 0 | 5 |
2018 | 10 | 2 | 8 |
2019 | 6 | 1 | 5 |
2020 | 20 | 3 | 17 |
2021 | 16 | 0 | 16 |
Totals | 57 | 6 | 51 |
Notes:
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen 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 and what proportion of the (a) primary and (b) secondary legislation sponsored by (i) their Department or (ii) their predecessor Department has undergone a post legislative review in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by George Freeman
The number, and proportion, of post legislative reviews the Department has undertaken on primary and secondary legislation in each of the last ten years is not held within the Department. However, the number of PIRs undertaken in the last five years is available as follows.
The Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy have undertaken the following Post Implementation Reviews (PIR) on primary and secondary legislation.
Year | Total PIRs | Primary PIRs | Secondary PIRs |
2017 | 5 | 0 | 5 |
2018 | 10 | 2 | 8 |
2019 | 6 | 1 | 5 |
2020 | 20 | 3 | 17 |
2021 | 16 | 0 | 16 |
Totals | 57 | 6 | 51 |
Notes:
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen 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 pieces of (a) primary and (b) secondary legislation their Department has sponsored in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by George Freeman
The information on primary legislation is only held for internal administrative reasons and may not be exhaustive, for example, due to machinery of government changes to departmental structure in the past decade.
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) was founded in 2016, through a merger between the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC). The information for primary legislation therefore includes predecessor departments. Due to the nature of primary legislation spanning calendar years, information has been provided per Parliamentary Session.
Parliamentary Session | Departmental sponsored Government Bills |
2021 - 2022 Session | 6 |
2019 - 2021 Session | 4 |
2017 - 2019 Session | 4 |
2016 - 2017 Session | 1 |
2015 - 2016 Session | 3 |
2014 - 2015 Session | 2 |
2013 - 2014 Session | 2 |
2012 - 2013 Session | 2 |
2010 - 2012 Session | 2 |
The number of pieces of secondary legislation sponsored by Government departments could be calculated utilising publicly available information. This information is not held within the Department.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the reasons are for the delay in publication of the Hydrogen Strategy; and when that strategy will be published.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The first ever UK Hydrogen Strategy will be published shortly and will set out the key steps needed in the 2020s to deliver our 5GW production ambition and set the context for further scale up on the way to net zero.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when his Department plans to publish a Biomass Strategy.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
In the Energy White Paper we outlined our plans to publish a Biomass Strategy in 2022. On 20th April this year, we launched a Call for Evidence to inform the strategy. The Call for Evidence is now closed, and we are reviewing the responses received.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
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 page seven of the Government's response to the paper entitled, Creating a responsible payment culture: a call for evidence on tackling late payment, what the evidential basis is for the statement there was no real consensus, either with regard to the extent of the issue itself or what the best solution to the problem is.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
We received 283 responses and respondents expressed a wide range of views in relation to payment practices and experiences. From the wide-ranging evidence provided it is clear there is no ‘magic bullet’ solution. That is why are taking action with a broad package of policy measures to tackle late payments and continue to change culture.
Government has worked closely with trade bodies and businesses to develop this. Mike Cherry, FSB National Chairman, said of the recent announcement: “Small businesses will be delighted with today’s announcement” and “the measures today could finally see an end to poor payment practice. Changing our business culture will boost the small business community, productivity and growth.”
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
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 potential effect of the £1 million technology fund for businesses on the issue of late payments.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
Technology adoption can boost productivity in the UK. The £9 million Business Basics Programme was announced in the Industrial Strategy, to test innovative ways of encouraging SMEs to take up the proven technology and business practices that can boost productivity.
Government believes there is also a role for the Commissioner to run a campaign to promote technological solutions to SMEs to reduce late payment, improve cash flow and encourage better credit management. This fits with the Commissioner’s role in offering advice and guidance on payment matters to SMEs.
It is envisaged that this combined approach will improve awareness of the use of technology and begin to make inroads to improve administrative processes that underpin business operations such as streamlining invoicing, payment and credit management, ultimately making payment practices more efficient and businesses more productive.
Government has worked closely with trade bodies and businesses to develop this. Mike Cherry, FSB National Chairman, said of the recent announcement: “Small businesses will be delighted with today’s announcement” and “the measures today could finally see an end to poor payment practice. Changing our business culture will boost the small business community, productivity and growth.”