Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Independent - Runcorn and Helsby)
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 environmental impact of shale gas extraction on communities in (a) Weaver Vale constituency and (b) Cheshire.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Exploration or development of shale gas will need to meet rigorous safety and environmental standards, including those set by the Environment Agency and the Health and Safety Executive.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Independent - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what support the Government plans to provide to people who rely on domestic heating oil as their main heating source for their homes.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Households not on standard gas or electricity contracts, such as those in rural areas, will receive equivalent support to that provided through the Energy Bills Support Scheme, and the Energy Price Guarantee. The Government is working at pace to determine the most practical and tested routes to deliver this support. As part of this, for households who do not use gas for domestic heating, the Government has committed to provide an additional payment of £100 to compensate for the rising costs of other fuels such as heating oil.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Independent - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment he has made of the impact of the rise in energy costs on energy-intensive industries; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government remains determined to secure a competitive future for our energy intensive industries (EIIs), providing them with extensive support, including over £2 billion to help with the costs of energy and to protect jobs. The British Energy Security Strategy recently announced an extension of the EII Compensation Scheme for a further three years and its budget will be more than doubled.
The Government announced a new six-month scheme – the Energy Price Guarantee for Businesses (EPGB) – to protect all businesses and other non-domestic energy users from soaring energy costs. It will offer comparable support to that being provided for consumers and more details will follow shortly. After this initial six-month scheme, the Government will provide focused support for vulnerable sectors, targeted to make sure those most in need get support.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Independent - Runcorn and Helsby)
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 merits of providing industry-specific support for energy-intensive industries over autumn 2022.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government remains determined to secure a competitive future for our energy intensive industries (EIIs), providing them with extensive support, including over £2 billion to help with the costs of energy and to protect jobs. As part of our British Energy Security Strategy, we recently announced an extension of the EII Compensation Scheme for a further three years and its budget will be more than doubled.
The Government announced a new six-month scheme – the Energy Price Guarantee for Businesses (EPGB) – to protect all businesses and other non-domestic energy users from soaring energy costs. It will offer comparable support to that being provided for consumers and we expect the scheme to be available in the autumn.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Independent - Runcorn and Helsby)
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 provide additional targeted support for all disabled people with high energy usage needs.
Answered by Greg Hands
The Government understands that some households with a disability or medical condition will have higher energy costs than average. Certain specialised NHS England services do provide rebates on energy costs for patients using medical equipment at home, such as home oxygen concentrators or adult home dialysis. These arrangements are unique to the contracts or service specifications of these conditions. Clinical Commissioning Groups are best placed to support their local populace.
On 26 May, as part of an additional £15 billion package of cost-of-living support, it was announced that the six million people who receive disability allowance will get a payment of £150 to assist with rising energy prices. Additionally, households will get £400 of support with their energy bills through an expansion of the Energy Bills Support Scheme.