Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
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 of the UK’s historic carbon emissions.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
BEIS publishes estimates of greenhouse gas emissions in the UK each year, with historical data on a consistent basis. The latest estimates going back to 1990 and including a provisional 2019 estimate can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/provisional-uk-greenhouse-gas-emissions-national-statistics-2019. They show that an estimated 435 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2e) were emitted in 2019 in the UK, down from 794 MtCO2e in 1990.
In addition, estimates of carbon dioxide emissions in the UK since 1970 are available in table 4 in the data tables accompanying the final 2018 greenhouse gas estimates: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/final-uk-greenhouse-gas-emissions-national-statistics-1990-to-2018. The estimates for 1970 to 1989 do not include all of the sources of carbon dioxide emission included for 1990 onwards and estimates for other greenhouse gases are not available before 1990.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
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 account for carbon emissions in the UK’s overseas infrastructure projects.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
The Department spends overseas development assistance (ODA) on infrastructure programmes through its International Climate Finance (ICF).
The aim of the ICF is to support developing countries to respond to the challenges and opportunities of climate change, including reducing greenhouse gas emissions through initiatives such as the UK Sustainable Infrastructure Programme. All ICF programmes are assessed against an analytical framework which includes taking account of the impact on emissions in developing countries. The latest ICF results publication estimates that across HMG, ICF programmes have reduced or avoided 31 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions between 2011/12 and 2019/20, and will deliver much greater savings over their lifetimes (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-climate-finance-results).
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
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 plans to ensure that employees can not be lawfully dismissed from their job as a result of long term covid-19 symptoms.
Answered by Paul Scully
Employees with the necessary qualifying service who consider that they have been dismissed unfairly may complain to an employment tribunal. The case of an employee who has been dismissed as a result of health issues clearly demands special consideration. For example, a tribunal will expect the employer to have considered whether there was suitable alternative work available. Employees may also be able to seek redress through the civil courts or employment tribunals if their dismissal breaches the terms of their contracts, for instance, because the employer has failed to comply with provisions relating to sickness absence.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
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 7 July 2020 to Question 65917 on Renewable energy, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of spending on solar PV energy by his Department compared to conventional energy sources.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
The annual maintenance cost for the solar PV array for 2020 at the Department’s headquarters building at 1 Victoria Street, London is £955.00. Costs dating back earlier than this are unavailable as maintenance of the solar PV array formed part of a wider maintenance package.
The Department has spent the following amounts on electricity at 1 Victoria Street in the past two years and in 2020/21 to date. Data earlier than this is currently inaccessible.
Year | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 |
Electricity cost | £564,336.89 | £613,067.94 | £112,779.51* |
*Data for 2020/21 is for April – June inclusive
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
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 25 June 2020 to Question 60652 on Renewable energy, what plans his Department has to install more solar panels and wind turbines on its buildings in the next five years.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
At present, the Department has no plans to install additional solar panels or wind turbines at its headquarters building at 1 Victoria Street in the next five years. As part of the Department’s drive to reduce its impact on the environment and achieve net zero by 2050 at the latest, we are working with our contractors to identify the best route to sustainable energy supply.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many business owners from BAME backgrounds have received loans under the Bounce Back Loans Scheme.
Answered by Paul Scully
As of 7 June, 782,246 loans have been approved under the BBLS, with a total value of £23.78 billion.
Capturing information relating to business ownership by ethnicity is at the discretion of the lender and will also be up to the business owner.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many air miles were accumulated by (a) Ministers, (b) special advisers and (c) civil servants in his Department in (i) the last six months and (ii) each calendar year since 2015.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
All air flights for the Department must be booked through the Crown Commercial travel management system and do not provide personal rewards. The Departmental expenses policy, which applies to special advisers as well as civil servants, sets out that air miles and similar benefits earned through official travel should not be used for private purposes.
Similar arrangements for Ministers are set out in the Ministerial Code; if it is impractical to use benefits for Government travel, Ministers may donate air miles to charity if permissible under the terms of the airline’s scheme and the charity is chosen by the airline.
Information on accumulated air miles is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate her Department has made of the cost to the public purse of the Government's proposal to develop and build a commercially viable fusion power plant by 2040.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
As announced over the weekend, the government has just approved a ground-breaking commitment to fund the first five-year phase of the STEP programme costing £220m. This phase will complete detailed design and development work will allow the UK to maintain its world-leading status in fusion and enable cost estimates for the full programme to be made in detail. The Government’s expectation is that later phases will involve significant private sector involvement and investment which will maximise the value for money for the public purse.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of leaving Euratom on the (a) cost to the public purse of developing and (b) ability of the UK to develop commercially viable fusion power plants.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
As announced over the weekend, the government has just approved a ground-breaking commitment to fund the first five-year phase of the STEP programme costing £220m. This phase will complete detailed design and development work will allow the UK to maintain its world-leading status in fusion and enable cost estimates for the full programme to be made in detail. This will take into account any cost or programme changes that may or may not need to be made as a result of the U.K. leaving the Euratom treaty. The Government acknowledges the value of international collaboration in this and other scientific fields and is exploring all options for maintaining that collaboration after we leave the EU and Euratom.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether her Department plans to include the aviation and shipping sectors in the net zero emissions target.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
Domestic aviation and shipping emissions are already within our legislated targets. International aviation and shipping emissions are not currently included within the UK’s legislative targets under the Climate Change Act. However, the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) have, to date, taken account of emissions from international aviation and shipping when providing their advice on setting carbon budgets, enabling us to leave ‘headroom’ for these emissions in our plans.
The CCC recently provided advice on international aviation and shipping, and the Government will now consider that advice carefully. The Department for Transport is committed to setting a clear ambition for the aviation sector and will shortly be publishing its position on aviation and climate change for consultation.
The Government recognises that international aviation emissions are a global problem that require a global solution. It is vital that we find an answer that does not simply displace emissions elsewhere across the world. The UK will therefore continue to lead the way. . For example, we are committed to the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s (ICAO) Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA), which was agreed in 2016 and is the first worldwide scheme to address CO2 emissions in any single sector. The UK is also negotiating for ICAO to agree a long-term emissions reduction goal by its 41st Assembly in 2022.