Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove)
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 whether some pensioners are missing out on the Warm Home Discount Scheme as a result of being customers of a supplier with fewer than 250,000 customers.
Answered by Claire Perry
Energy suppliers that are obligated to participate in the Warm Home Discount scheme cover 94% of the market for domestic customers. Suppliers that are not obligated under the scheme can volunteer to provide rebates to the Core Group. Last winter, three suppliers volunteered under the scheme.
We estimate that the number of pensioners beyond those 18 suppliers that would have been automatically eligible for Warm Home Discount last winter under the Core Group is roughly 60,000, of the roughly 1.4 million Pension Credit Guaranteed Credit recipients who would be automatically eligible if they held an account with a participating supplier.
There is a set spending envelope for Warm Home Discount and increasing the number of obligated suppliers would not in itself increase the number of households receiving the rebate. We have recently completed a consultation on the next phase of Warm Home Discount, including the obligation thresholds, and are currently reviewing the responses.
Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the number of people eligible for the Warm Home Discount Scheme who will not receive that discount in 2018-19 because they are customers of an energy supplier with fewer than 250,000 customers.
Answered by Claire Perry
Energy suppliers that are obligated to participate in the Warm Home Discount scheme cover 94% of the market for domestic customers. Suppliers that are not obligated under the scheme can volunteer to provide rebates to the Core Group. Last winter, three suppliers volunteered under the scheme.
We estimate that the number of pensioners beyond those 18 suppliers that would have been automatically eligible for Warm Home Discount last winter under the Core Group is roughly 60,000, of the roughly 1.4 million Pension Credit Guaranteed Credit recipients who would be automatically eligible if they held an account with a participating supplier.
There is a set spending envelope for Warm Home Discount and increasing the number of obligated suppliers would not in itself increase the number of households receiving the rebate. We have recently completed a consultation on the next phase of Warm Home Discount, including the obligation thresholds, and are currently reviewing the responses.
Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove)
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 whether some pensioners are missing out on the Warm Home Discount Scheme as a result of being customers of a supplier with fewer than 250,000 customers.
Answered by Claire Perry
Energy suppliers that are obligated to participate in the Warm Home Discount scheme cover 94% of the market for domestic customers. Suppliers that are not obligated under the scheme can volunteer to provide rebates to the Core Group. Last winter, three suppliers volunteered under the scheme.
We estimate that the number of pensioners beyond those 18 suppliers that would have been automatically eligible for Warm Home Discount last winter under the Core Group is roughly 60,000, of the roughly 1.4 million Pension Credit Guaranteed Credit recipients who would be automatically eligible if they held an account with a participating supplier.
There is a set spending envelope for Warm Home Discount and increasing the number of obligated suppliers would not in itself increase the number of households receiving the rebate. We have recently completed a consultation on the next phase of Warm Home Discount, including the obligation thresholds, and are currently reviewing the responses.
Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when he plans to bring forward the consumer green paper.
Answered by Andrew Griffiths
We will issue a Consumer Green Paper in due course that will tackle areas where markets are not working for consumers.
Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, which sector deals are currently in development; and when he expects those deals to be published.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
The Industrial Strategy White Paper announced Sector Deals covering Artificial Intelligence, Construction, Life Sciences and Automotive, and we are in advanced discussions with the Creative Industries, Nuclear, and Industrial Digitalisation sectors.
We will prioritise further negotiations with sectors that submit proposals that best meet the expectations we set out in the White Paper in the coming weeks.
Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what conditions he plans to impose on the recipients of grants from the recently announced £17 million fund for life sciences to ensure that patients achieve affordable access to the health technologies developed.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
The £17m allocated to life sciences projects in my rt. hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer’s recent speech at the Francis Crick Institute is part of a wider programme of life sciences research driven forward by government and industry partners to ensure that the UK health system, both public and private, has access to cutting-edge health technologies. Standard grant conditions apply and this is part of the UKRI remit.
Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, to whom businesses developing sector deals as part of the industrial strategy should submit their proposals.
Answered by Claire Perry
Sector Deals are an open challenge to industry to come to Government with proposals to transform productivity, earning power and investment in their sector. We are prepared to work with any sector which can organise behind strong leadership to address shared challenges and opportunities. The business community is best placed to identify what firms really need. Government will be there to support them
Since the launch of the Industrial Strategy consultation in January over sixty sectors have expressed interest in a Sector Deal, many of which are working up detailed proposals to submit to Government.
Sectors should work with their sponsor Departments when developing proposals and can submit them directly to the Industrial Strategy Unit at BEIS at sectordeals@beis.gov.uk.
Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many sectors have responded to his open door challenge and are negotiating a sector deal as part of the industrial strategy with his Department.
Answered by Claire Perry
Sector Deals are an open challenge to industry to come to Government with proposals to transform productivity, earning power and investment in their sector. We are prepared to work with any sector which can organise behind strong leadership to address shared challenges and opportunities. The business community is best placed to identify what firms really need. Government will be there to support them
Since the launch of the Industrial Strategy consultation in January over sixty sectors have expressed interest in a Sector Deal, many of which are working up detailed proposals to submit to Government.
Sectors should work with their sponsor Departments when developing proposals and can submit them directly to the Industrial Strategy Unit at BEIS at sectordeals@beis.gov.uk.
Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove)
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 provide guidance to businesses on (a) the process, (b) the expectations and (c) the sign-off procedures for creating sector deals as part of the industrial strategy.
Answered by Claire Perry
Sector Deals are an open challenge to industry to come to Government with proposals to transform productivity, earning power and investment in their sector. We are prepared to work with any sector which can organise behind strong leadership to address shared challenges and opportunities. The business community is best placed to identify what firms really need. Government will be there to support them
Since the launch of the Industrial Strategy consultation in January over sixty sectors have expressed interest in a Sector Deal, many of which are working up detailed proposals to submit to Government.
Sectors should work with their sponsor Departments when developing proposals and can submit them directly to the Industrial Strategy Unit at BEIS at sectordeals@beis.gov.uk.
Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much has been committed to the North East's fund for small and medium-sized enterprises under the Northern Powerhouse Plan; and from which Government programme or agency such funds have been provided.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
The government has not made any decisions on the N8 proposal to create a network of Urban Transformation Centres. The government will continue to work with the N8 universities to explore their proposals.