Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - North Tyneside)
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 the Government is selling the Vaccine Manufacturing and Innovation Centre.
Answered by George Freeman
VMIC was a project set up in the 2017 Life Sciences Sector Deal to support UK leadership in next generation vaccine manufacturing technology. The pandemic has dramatically accelerated both the demand and the technology of vaccine production since VMIC was established. The Government has invested over £380 million to secure and scale-up the UK’s manufacturing capabilities to be able to respond to this pandemic, as well as any future pandemics, and in support of vaccine innovation at numerous facilities across the UK. Our positive engagement with industry and the UK’s strong science base and international reputation has also seen a number of private investments across the whole of the UK announced over the past year. These include Serum Institute of India’s £50m investment into Oxford Biomedica, Thermo Fisher Scientific’s £70m expansion of its Swindon site and Fujifilm’s £400m investment into its Billingham, Teesside facility.
One such facility that the Government provided support to is the Vaccine Manufacturing Innovation Centre (VMIC) which has the potential to be a significant part of the UK vaccine manufacturing ecosystem. VMIC is a private company, limited by guarantee, and as such the UK Government does not exercise any ownership rights.
Officials are working closely with VMIC and other third parties to ensure that the UK retains a strong domestic vaccine manufacturing capability to contribute to our response to COVID-19 and resilience to other future health emergencies. We will ensure that the UK’s vaccine capabilities continue to benefit from the public investment. Discussions are commercially sensitive between VMIC and private potential acquirers.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - North Tyneside)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the value is of covid-19 related loans (a) from the public purse and (b) via the British Business Bank to duty holders in the UK sector of the offshore oil and gas industry, broken down by support for (a) revenue streams, (b) capital investment and (c) employment costs.
Answered by Paul Scully
The three Coronavirus Business Interruption loan schemes are administered by the British Business Bank and delivered by accredited lenders. The Loans are designed to ensure that businesses have access to capital to help them through this difficult time, with the temporary cashflow impacts of Covid-19.
The British Business bank does not keep data on (a) revenue streams, (b) capital investment and (c) employment costs.
The British Business Bank publishes lending figures under the BBLs and CBILS schemes, including by sector as follows:
BBLS by Sector | Number of BBLS facilities | Volume of Finance under BBLS (£) | % of BBLS facilities | % of business population |
Mining and Quarrying; Electricity, Gas and Air Conditioning Supply; Water Supply; Sewerage, Waste Management and Remediation Activities | 9518 | 303,000,000 | 1% | 0.6% |
CBILS by Sector | Number of facilities | Volume of Finance under CBILS (£) | % of CBILS facilities | % of business population |
Mining and Quarrying; Electricity, Gas and Air Conditioning Supply; Water Supply; Sewerage, Waste Management and Remediation Activities | 709 | 196,000,000 | 1% | 0.6% |
The Covid Corporate Financing Facility provides debt finance to support fundamentally strong companies through the market disruption brought about through Covid-19. The scheme is funded by central bank reserves – in line with other Bank of England market operations - and is indemnified by HM Treasury. Details of outstanding lending through the scheme are published weekly on the Bank of England website.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - North Tyneside)
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 allow small independent retailers to sell homeware and clothes during future covid-19 lockdown periods, in line with the rules for supermarkets.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government recognises this will be a challenging time for any business which has been asked to close.
All shops can continue to offer home delivery to customers and click and collect services during the current restrictions.
The current restrictions will expire on 2 December, and our intention is to return to?a system of?local and regional restrictions. We will set out what this means for retailers and other businesses as soon as possible.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - North Tyneside)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent discussions he has had with (a) trades unions and (b) the oil and gas authority on employment standards in the offshore decommissioning industry.
Answered by Claire Perry
The majority of companies and people undertaking work on offshore decommissioning are those who also work in the new build and ongoing production phases of the oil and gas industry and as such there are well established employment standards and conditions.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - North Tyneside)
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 the UKCS Decommissioning 2018 Cost Estimate Report by the Oil and Gas Authority, what assessment he has made of trends in the cost of labour associated with decommissioning projects.
Answered by Claire Perry
The Department does not have details on the cost of labour associated with decommissioning projects nor trends in the cost. However, the recent report by the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) indicates that operators are making progress to reduce costs, with some reporting significant cost reductions in platform running costs, platform well plugging and abandonment costs and removal costs. The OGA is working with industry to support further cost reductions to achieve delivery of the £39bn target cost for decommissioning and is developing cost benchmarks that will enable trend analysis of decommissioning costs over time.
https://www.ogauthority.co.uk/media/4925/decommissioning-cost-report-2018.pdf
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - North Tyneside)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the time-frame is for the Government to respond to its consultation entitled Good work: The Taylor Review of modern working practices on the recommendations relating to agency workers.
Answered by Andrew Griffiths
The consultation closed on 9 May and the Government thanks all respondents for their valuable input on these important and complex issues. The Government is currently analysing the responses received and will be responding in due course.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - North Tyneside)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy,what representations he has received on the use of child labour in the production of batteries; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Andrew Griffiths
I confirm I have not received any representations on the use of child labour in the production of batteries.
The UK is a signatory to the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises; which are voluntary standards intended to promote responsible business conduct by enterprises in all sectors, based in the signatory countries.
The Guidelines include a standard on the abolition of child labour. The UK maintains a National Contact Point to promote the Guidelines.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - North Tyneside)
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 take steps to encourage companies manufacturing batteries to ban the use of child labour in their supply chains; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Andrew Griffiths
The UK is a signatory to the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises; which are voluntary standards intended to promote responsible business conduct by enterprises in all sectors, based in the signatory countries. The Guidelines include a standard on the abolition of child labour. The UK maintains a National Contact Point to promote the Guidelines.
Tackling Modern Slavery and other labour abuses is also a top priority for this Government. The Modern Slavery Act 2015 requires all large businesses to produce an annual statement setting out the steps they have taken to prevent modern slavery in their business and supply chains. Guidance for business on this is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/transparency-in-supply-chains-a-practical-guide
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - North Tyneside)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what his policy is on the development of new domestic coal mines and reducing fossil fuel usage; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
Domestic coal production fell to a record low of 4 million tonnes in 2016. The development of any new domestic coal mines is subject to the relevant planning consents, which include appropriate environmental impact and public safety assessments.
Around two-thirds of demand for coal in 2016 was for electricity generation, which has also fallen to record lows. The Government has made firm its commitment ending unabated coal power generation by 2025 and to target an effective carbon price ahead of then, to drive investment in cleaner, more flexible forms of generation.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - North Tyneside)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many (a) replacement boilers were installed and (b) gas boilers were repaired in North Tyneside under the Energy Company Obligation scheme in the last year for which figures are available.
Answered by Claire Perry
Between July 2016 and June 2017, a total of 362 heating and insulation measures were installed in the North Tyneside constituency under the Energy Company Obligation (ECO). Of those measures, 105 were new boilers. There were no gas boiler repairs, reflecting ECO’s primary focus on the installation of new measures rather than being a repair scheme.