Asked by: Michelle Donelan (Conservative - Chippenham)
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 is taking steps to (a) prepare for reductions in the supply of Russian gas to Europe and (b) support German industries to become less reliant on Russian gas.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK has a resilient energy market with diverse supply. The Government is committed to phasing out Russian coal and oil by the end of the year and LNG as soon as possible thereafter.
The Government is working to maximise the effectiveness of European gas networks, including the UK’s LNG terminals and interconnectors, which are playing a role in reducing in European reliance on Russian gas.
The Government is working closely with partners across the G7, including Germany, Italy, France and the European Commission, IEA, OPEC+ and others to stabilise energy prices and to reduce dependence on Russian fossil fuels to starve Putin’s war machine.
Asked by: Michelle Donelan (Conservative - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has in place to monitor and review the benefits of the minimum energy standards post-implementation in 2018; and what assessment his Department has made of the scope for strengthening those plans.
Answered by Claire Perry
The Energy Efficiency (Private Rented Property)(England and Wales) Regulations 2015 require that all landlords of domestic (and non-domestic) privately rented properties in England and Wales ensure that, from 1 April 2018, their properties reach at least an energy performance rating of E before granting a tenancy to new or existing tenants, unless a prescribed exemption applies.
The regulations require Government to carry out a review of the operation and effect of these Regulations at intervals of no more than 5 years, and we are currently putting in place a programme of qualitative and quantitative research to inform this. Evidence collected will be used to determine the scope and timing of an assessment of the benefits from the regulations, and to help ensure they are implemented as effectively as possible.
Asked by: Michelle Donelan (Conservative - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the Government has researched the use of stable salt reactor technology as part of the UK's energy mix.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government has considered the potential for molten salt reactor technology to contribute to the UK’s energy mix. In 2014 Innovate UK funded a study examining the feasibility of developing a pilot scale reactor for six molten salt reactor designs. In 2015 the Government commissioned the Techno-Economic Assessment of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), to which a molten salt reactor developer contributed evidence. There are currently a number of molten salt reactor vendors participating in the UK SMR Competition and Government officials have met with them to discuss their proposals.
Asked by: Michelle Donelan (Conservative - Chippenham)
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 implications for his policy on the award of Innovate UK Smart funding for Type 1 diabetes research of the outcome of the EU referendum.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
Innovate UK has simplified the way it provides support to innovative businesses - through a new sector focus with two broad competitions in each sector per year. It also runs open programmes available to all businesses irrespective of the technology or sector in which they operate. Innovate UK’s first such competition opened in June 2016 and applications are now being processed. In the last 5 years, through the former Smart programme, Innovate UK committed around £553,000 into research for Type 1 diabetes, although technologies have also been supported which relate to the management and prevention of Type 2 diabetes. The outcome of the EU referendum is not expected to impact on the delivery of these programmes.
Asked by: Michelle Donelan (Conservative - Chippenham)
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 potential benefit to (a) consumers, (b) the economy and (c) the environment of tidal stream technologies.
Answered by Jesse Norman
In the development of all its policies, including tidal stream, Government routinely considers the potential benefits and costs to the consumer, the economy and the environment as part of the overall energy mix.
Asked by: Michelle Donelan (Conservative - Chippenham)
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 effect of the national living wage on sleep-in shifts in the learning disabilities sector.
Answered by Margot James
The Low Pay Commission (LPC) independently advises the Government on the trajectory of the National Living Wage (NLW).As part of their remit, the LPC continues to consult a broad range of stakeholders within the social care sector on the impact of the NLW.
Furthermore, from April 2017, the Spending Review makes available social care funds for local government, rising to £1.5 billion by 2019/20, to be included in the Better Care Fund.
From 2016/17, local councils have also been able to introduce a Social Care Precept, allowing them to increase council tax by 2% above the existing threshold. This could raise nearly £2bn a year for social care by 2019/20. Taken together, these measures mean that local government has access to £3.5 billion of support by 2019/20 - the funding it needs to increase social care spending in real terms by the end of the Parliament.
Asked by: Michelle Donelan (Conservative - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether he plans for the provision of charging points for electric cars at multiple locations in the UK.
Answered by Anna Soubry
Plug-in vehicles are generally charged at home and overnight, and so the Government provides grants of up to £500 for the installation of domestic chargepoints. More than 60,000 have been installed to date. The UK also has over 11,000 publicly accessible chargepoints; in streets, car parks and motorway service areas. This includes almost 900 rapid chargepoints that can charge a car in 20-30 minutes – the largest network in Europe.
The Department for Transport’s Road Investment Strategy includes funding of £15m to improve the network of chargepoints on the strategic road network, and the Go Ultra Low city scheme is expected to deliver around 750 more publicly accessible chargepoints in UK towns and cities by 2020. We will announce further targeted support for plug-in vehicle chargepoints in due course.
Asked by: Michelle Donelan (Conservative - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to support the electric car industry.
Answered by Anna Soubry
The UK offers one of the most comprehensive packages of support for ultra low emission vehicles in the world, and has committed funding of more than £600m by 2020. This includes plug-in car and van grants, support for recharging infrastructure, a joint government-industry communications campaign, as well as substantial investment in R&D. In addition, the Government and industry are investing around £1bn over 10 years in the Advanced Propulsion Centre to develop, commercialise and enable the manufacture of advanced propulsion technologies in the UK. The UK manufacturers around one in five of the pure electric cars sold in the European Union.
Asked by: Michelle Donelan (Conservative - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing incentives to encourage householders to have outdoor charging points provided at their premises to encourage the uptake of electric cars.
Answered by Anna Soubry
The Government already offers grants of up to £500 towards the cost of installing a chargepoint at home, through the Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme. All available evidence suggests that electric vehicle drivers prefer to charge at home and at work. Reducing the cost of homecharging removes a potential barrier to uptake and allows owners to charge conveniently and at low cost. Dedicated home chargepoints will also play an important role in the smarter, more dynamic charging and electricity grid.
Asked by: Michelle Donelan (Conservative - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to the Government's guidance entitled Apprenticeship levy: how it will work, published on 21 April 2016, whether levy-paying employers wishing to recruit above their levy amount and 10 per cent top-up will be required to make a cash contribution towards the cost of training rather than an in-kind contribution.
Answered by Nick Boles
Where an employer has spent all of their levy contributions and 10% top-up, and wishes to spend more on additional apprenticeship training, they will be required to make a cash contribution towards the cost. The Government will provide generous support to help meet the additional training costs. Further detail on funding rates will be published shortly.