Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how his Department will (a) calculate and (b) apply an economic charge for an indemnity to cover increased personal injury liabilities for the 10-to-30-year period of liability under the Paris Convention on Third Party Liability in the Field of Nuclear Energy.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government has agreed to provide a targeted and limited indemnity, for an economic charge to cover a current gap in the insurance market. The economic charge is calculated by considering a number of factors including risk, claims cost, type of nuclear site and the number of sites. The charge is applied directly from the Department to those nuclear operators who utilise the indemnity. The indemnity will be reviewed annually to ensure that it remains the best value for money option and remains necessary whilst the insurance market works towards filling the cover gap.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what insurance the Government holds for potential incidents arising from the movement of nuclear convoys travelling through Midlothian constituency.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The safety and security of nuclear and radioactive material will always be of paramount importance to Government. Transport arrangements must meet strict regulatory requirements to protect workers, the environment and the public, enforced by the UK's independent regulator - the Office for Nuclear Regulation. Civil nuclear operators who engage in transport of nuclear material are required to have appropriate nuclear third party liability insurance in place. The insurance level is dependent on the type and risk of the material being transported.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
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 ensure that all regions of the UK benefit from hydrogen investment.
Answered by Graham Stuart
In the Energy Security Strategy, the Government doubled its ambition from 5GW to up to 10GW of low carbon production capacity by 2030, including a commitment to host yearly electrolytic allocation funding rounds for projects across the UK. Together with a clear policy and regulatory environment, the Government expects to mobilise over £9 billion of private investment in hydrogen production alone across all regions of the UK by 2030.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
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 role of hydrogen blending in supporting (a) investment in and (b) the scaling up of the hydrogen sector.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government intends to reach a decision in 2023 on whether to allow blending of up to 20% hydrogen (by volume) into gas distribution networks. Blending may help to bring forward investment and support early growth of the hydrogen economy. BEIS recently considered the potential value of blending through a consultation on hydrogen transport and storage infrastructure business models and regulation, and is currently reviewing the submitted responses. The Government is working with industry and regulators to assess the associated costs and risks of blending, which will need to be carefully managed if permitted.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
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 ensure that the low-carbon hydrogen production pipeline develops outside of the UK’s industrial clusters.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government is aware of a potential pipeline of almost 20GW of projects across the UK in every corner of the Union. The Government launched the first joint Hydrogen Production Business Model and Net Zero Hydrogen Fund allocation round to support electrolytic projects across the UK this year, with the aim to award contracts in 2023. Transport and storage (T&S) will also be essential to grow the hydrogen economy, including outside of industrial clusters. Government will publish a response to its consultation on T&S business models next year.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department plans to take to help ensure that locally owned and co-operative wind farms are exempted from revenue caps.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government recognises the role community and locally owned renewable energy schemes can, and do, play in supporting the UK’s national net zero targets. The Government will continue to ensure that policies will support the success of these schemes.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps the Government is taking to help ensure that Russian oil does not enter the UK after 5 December 2022 by being incorrectly marked as oil from elsewhere.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Enforcement of trade sanctions is achieved through a combination of awareness, export and import licencing, intelligence, electronic targeting measures and enforcement activity.
Commercial goods such as oil are required to be presented and declared to Customs on import before they enter the domestic market.
Information collected by Customs, together with Border Force intelligence, is used to risk assess movements for checks and clearance. Customs checks can be performed on the accompanying commercial and other documentation the importer may have to prove the origin of the goods.
The Government recently published guidance on the ban which sets out further detail.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
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 made an assessment of the potential economic impact of the reduction in funding from Horizon 2020 since the UK's withdrawal from the EU.
Answered by George Freeman
Association to Horizon Europe remains the UK’s preference and the Government continues to do everything we can to secure this. The Government’s priority remains to support the UK’s research and development sector through this period.
In order to mitigate the impact of the EU’s refusal to finalise the UK’s , on 21st November we announced an immediate package of investments (totalling up to £484 million). This immediate investment will help our excellent research sector to shore up their talent pools, invest confidently in infrastructure and protect the UK’s reputation as a science superpower
This additional package builds on the Horizon Europe guarantee scheme, extended in September, which continues to provide funding for eligible, successful UK winners of Horizon Europe calls to ensure UK researchers and businesses can continue to collaborate internationally.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
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 factors that have contributed to the trend in the level of business start-ups in Scotland since 2016.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Many factors influence the business start-up rate, for instance the ease of setting up a business, the availability of finance and the provision of business support. The level of business start-ups in Scotland has been broadly stable over the past five years, with the exception of 2020 where business activity was significantly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. The UK business start-up rate is one of the highest in the OECD, reflecting the UK’s position as one of the best countries in the world in which to start a business.
UK and Scotland births of business enterprises 2016-2021[1]
| 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
UK | 397,540 | 356,895 | 348,630 | 363,825 | 333,020 | 363,995 |
Scotland | 21,440 | 19,845 | 19,620 | 20,680 | 16,850 | 18,910 |
Scotland % of UK | 5.4% | 5.6% | 5.6% | 5.7% | 5.1% | 5.2% |
[1] ONS, Business Demography, UK, November 2022
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment has he made of the adequacy of the investment environment in the construction sector.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
Investing in high quality infrastructure is crucial for boosting economic growth and productivity. The Autumn Statement re-affirmed the Government’s commitment to protecting capital investment budgets, meaning government will invest over £600 billion across the next five years, including in the HS2 link to Manchester, Northern Powerhouse Rail and Sizewell C. The Government will also accelerate delivery of infrastructure projects, including through reforms to the planning system, and place the UK Infrastructure Bank on a statutory footing. These measures will ensure businesses have the confidence to invest.