Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent estimate he has made of the number of jobs that will be created by the Step Fusion Project in Nottinghamshire.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
The STEP (Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production) programme is currently expected to create over 3000 jobs during the construction phase in the 2030s at the site in West Burton in Nottinghamshire, as well as support thousands of high-skilled jobs in the UK’s fusion supply chain. These estimates will be refined over the coming years as the programme progresses.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
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 it his policy to resume fracking as a way of extracting shale gas; and if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of such a resumption on (a) energy prices and (b) the extent to which the UK is self-sufficient in meeting its energy requirements.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government will end the pause on extracting shale gas.
It is right that all possible energy generation and production methods are kept on the table following Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine. Having domestic sources of gas makes us less dependent on foreign imports.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
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 (a) vessels and (b) cargoes of Russian coking coal from docking in UK ports.
Answered by Greg Hands
The UK does not currently have sanctions in place on Russian coal. We are continuing to explore options to reduce our energy imports from Russia in response to its aggressive actions in Ukraine.
My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport wrote to all UK ports on 28 Feb 2022 asking them not to provide access to any Russian flagged, registered, owned, controlled, chartered, or operated vessels.
Legislation has followed this and the government made Regulations (The Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) (Amendment) (No.4) Regulations 2022) on 1 March 2022 which restrict any Russian flagged or registered ship, or any ship owned, operated, controlled or chartered by a person connected to Russia, arriving at a UK port. This was a vital measure to take in response to Russia’s actions in Ukraine and the government has acted accordingly.
We will set out full details on our energy supply strategy in the coming weeks.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he plans to take steps to ban ships carrying Russian produced coking coal from UK ports; and what options are available to achieve that.
Answered by Greg Hands
The UK does not currently have sanctions in place on Russian coal. We are continuing to explore options to reduce our energy imports from Russia in response to its aggressive actions in Ukraine.
My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport wrote to all UK ports on 28 Feb 2022 asking them not to provide access to any Russian flagged, registered, owned, controlled, chartered, or operated vessels.
Legislation has followed this and the government made Regulations (The Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) (Amendment) (No.4) Regulations 2022) on 1 March 2022 which restrict any Russian flagged or registered ship, or any ship owned, operated, controlled or chartered by a person connected to Russia, arriving at a UK port. This was a vital measure to take in response to Russia’s actions in Ukraine and the government has acted accordingly.
We will set out full details on our energy supply strategy in the coming weeks.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what his Department's position is on the supply of Russian produced coking coal in the British steel supply chain in the context of the crisis in Ukraine.
Answered by Greg Hands
Coal is widely available and UK steel producers can source these raw materials from around the world. We are in constant contact with UK steel companies and understand that those companies which were sourcing this material from Russia have already identified alternative sources. We are working with them to monitor any impact.
We also understand that as sanctions tighten disruption will increase but we need to rightly hold Russia to account and we know that UK Steel companies will be doing all they can to mitigate supply chain disruption.
The Department for International Trade has expanded its Export Support Service to act as a single point of enquiry for businesses and traders with questions relating to the situation in Ukraine and Russia.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what guidance has been given to British steelmakers on their handling and forward purchase of Russian produced metallurgical coal in light of the crisis in Ukraine.
Answered by Greg Hands
Coal is widely available and UK steel producers can source these raw materials from around the world. We are in constant contact with UK steel companies and understand that those companies which were sourcing this material from Russia have already identified alternative sources. We are working with them to monitor any impact.
We also understand that as sanctions tighten disruption will increase but we need to rightly hold Russia to account and we know that UK Steel companies will be doing all they can to mitigate supply chain disruption.
The Department for International Trade has expanded its Export Support Service to act as a single point of enquiry for businesses and traders with questions relating to the situation in Ukraine and Russia.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
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 plans to support and encourage domestic production of coking coal for the British steel industry to reduce reliance on supplies from Russia.
Answered by Greg Hands
Any proposals for new coal mining projects would be assessed in accordance with the current statutory requirements. To operate a coal mine an operator needs relevant rights and permissions, including planning permission, a licence from the Coal Authority and to notify the Health and Safety Executive; and for projects in Wales, approval of Welsh Government ministers.
There is at least one UK Coal Mine (Aberpergwm, Wales) producing coal suitable for use in the steel industry. A proposal for a new coking coal mine in Cumbria is currently seeking planning approval.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
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 potential merits of introducing an independent watchdog for fuel pump pricing.
Answered by Greg Hands
BEIS monitors the fuel supply market and publishes weekly national average pump prices. BEIS analysis shows that crude oil prices are the main drivers of changes in pump prices and both rises and falls in crude oil prices are passed through to consumers over the course of 6-7 weeks.
A competitive market ensures that road fuel prices stay as low as possible. This framework delivers to the UK pre-tax prices below the average in Europe for both petrol and diesel. Our assessment is that a new regulator is not justified.