Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the total floor area of his departmental estate was in each year from 2010-11 to 2020-21.
Answered by George Freeman
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy was formed in July 2016.
The table below shows the total floor area of the Department’s Estate as published in the State of the Estate reports for 2016-17 and 2017-18.
The Department’s estates assets were transferred to the Government Property Agency in August 2018, and the Agency will report on the period beyond this.
Date | Total floor area (m2) |
31/03/2016 | 1,334,299 |
31/03/2017 | 1,140,145 |
31/03/2018 | 1,052,478 |
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, to ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to help support energy efficiency measures in homes.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
The Government has published the Heat and Buildings Strategy, setting out plans to decarbonise homes in the UK.
This includes £4 billion of new funding at the Spending review to start work.
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)
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 is taking to help ensure that energy companies present energy bills to customers that accurately reflect their energy consumption.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Ofgem regulations require all energy suppliers to bill their customers based on energy usage, taking all reasonable steps to obtain meter readings, at least annually, and reflect these accurately in bills.
Customers with a smart meter can benefit from accurate and timely billing, as energy consumption data is automatically sent to energy suppliers. The In-Home Display (IHD), which households are offered when they have smart meters installed, also provides easily accessible, near real-time information about energy consumption, costs and credit.
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)
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 is taking to decarbonise the UK steel industry in the Net Zero Strategy; and what plans his Department has to direct the Clean Steel Fund towards hydrogen-based steelmaking.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
Decarbonising UK industry is a core part of the Government’s ambitious plan for the green industrial revolution. UK steel plays a critical role in the economy as a foundation industry and the Government remains committed to the UK steel industry and a decarbonised future, supporting local economic growth and our levelling-up agenda. The Industrial Decarbonisation Strategy, published on 17 March, commits to work with the newly constituted Steel Council to consider the implications of the recommendation of the Climate Change Committee to ‘set targets for ore-based steelmaking to reach near-zero emissions by 2035’. Hydrogen-based steelmaking is one of the technological approaches being examined as part of this process.
The Steel Council offers the forum for Government, industry and trade unions to work in partnership on the shared objective of creating an achievable, long-term plan to support the sector’s transition to a competitive, sustainable and low carbon future. In order to support these efforts, the Government has announced a £250 million Clean Steel Fund to support the UK steel sector to transition to lower carbon iron and steel production, through investment in new technologies and processes. The decarbonisation of the steel sector and industry more widely will also be supported through the £1 billion CCUS Infrastructure Fund (CIF) and £240m Net-Zero Hydrogen Fund.
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)
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 page 53 of the Climate Change Committee’s report, The Sixth Carbon Budget Manufacturing and construction, what plan he has to set targets for ore-based steelmaking to reach near zero emissions by 2035 as pledged in the Industrial Decarbonisation Strategy.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
Decarbonising UK industry is a core part of the Government’s ambitious plan for the green industrial revolution. UK steel plays a critical role in the economy as a foundation industry and the Government remains committed to the UK steel industry and a decarbonised future, supporting local economic growth and our levelling-up agenda. The Industrial Decarbonisation Strategy, published on 17 March, commits to work with the newly constituted Steel Council to consider the implications of the recommendation of the Climate Change Committee to ‘set targets for ore-based steelmaking to reach near-zero emissions by 2035’. Hydrogen-based steelmaking is one of the technological approaches being examined as part of this process.
The Steel Council offers the forum for Government, industry and trade unions to work in partnership on the shared objective of creating an achievable, long-term plan to support the sector’s transition to a competitive, sustainable and low carbon future. In order to support these efforts, the Government has announced a £250 million Clean Steel Fund to support the UK steel sector to transition to lower carbon iron and steel production, through investment in new technologies and processes. The decarbonisation of the steel sector and industry more widely will also be supported through the £1 billion CCUS Infrastructure Fund (CIF) and £240m Net-Zero Hydrogen Fund.
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)
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 is taking to secure the future of primary steelmaking in the UK.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
Decarbonising UK industry is a core part of the Government’s ambitious plan for the green industrial revolution. UK steel plays a critical role in the economy as a foundation industry and the Government remains committed to the UK steel industry and a decarbonised future, supporting local economic growth and our levelling-up agenda. The Industrial Decarbonisation Strategy, published on 17 March, commits to work with the newly constituted Steel Council to consider the implications of the recommendation of the Climate Change Committee to ‘set targets for ore-based steelmaking to reach near-zero emissions by 2035’. Hydrogen-based steelmaking is one of the technological approaches being examined as part of this process.
The Steel Council offers the forum for Government, industry and trade unions to work in partnership on the shared objective of creating an achievable, long-term plan to support the sector’s transition to a competitive, sustainable and low carbon future. In order to support these efforts, the Government has announced a £250 million Clean Steel Fund to support the UK steel sector to transition to lower carbon iron and steel production, through investment in new technologies and processes. The decarbonisation of the steel sector and industry more widely will also be supported through the £1 billion CCUS Infrastructure Fund (CIF) and £240m Net-Zero Hydrogen Fund.
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what his Department’s long-term plan is to support jobs in the UK steel industry; and whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of hydrogen-based steelmaking to decarbonise the sector.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
Decarbonising UK industry is a core part of the Government’s ambitious plan for the green industrial revolution. UK steel plays a critical role in the economy as a foundation industry and the Government remains committed to the UK steel industry and a decarbonised future, supporting local economic growth and our levelling-up agenda. The Industrial Decarbonisation Strategy, published on 17 March, commits to work with the newly constituted Steel Council to consider the implications of the recommendation of the Climate Change Committee to ‘set targets for ore-based steelmaking to reach near-zero emissions by 2035’. Hydrogen-based steelmaking is one of the technological approaches being examined as part of this process.
The Steel Council offers the forum for Government, industry and trade unions to work in partnership on the shared objective of creating an achievable, long-term plan to support the sector’s transition to a competitive, sustainable and low carbon future. In order to support these efforts, the Government has announced a £250 million Clean Steel Fund to support the UK steel sector to transition to lower carbon iron and steel production, through investment in new technologies and processes. The decarbonisation of the steel sector and industry more widely will also be supported through the £1 billion CCUS Infrastructure Fund (CIF) and £240m Net-Zero Hydrogen Fund.
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer on 15 May to Question 43779 on Civil Servants, in how many multi-hub locations employees of his Department are working together with employees of another Department or agency in London managed by the Government Property Agency; what the addresses are of those locations; and what other Departments and agencies employ staff at those locations.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
I refer the hon Member to the answer given today to Question UIN 54314.
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what support his Department is providing to construction companies to enable them to meet health and safety guidelines in respect of covid-19.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Government has worked with industry to produce guidance for those who work in or run outdoor working environments, including construction sites. This guidance will help to ensure that workplaces are as safe as possible and give workers the confidence to return to work. The guidance is published at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-coronavirus-covid-19/construction-and-other-outdoor-work.
The Government has also worked with the Construction Leadership Council to develop Site Operating Procedures, which provide practical advice to those seeking to implement Public Health England’s guidance.
Organisations must have effective arrangements in place for monitoring and reviewing their compliance with Government and industry guidance.
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many Luton South based businesses have (a) applied for the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan scheme and (b) had their applications to that scheme rejected.
Answered by Paul Scully
As of 29 April, in total over £4.1 billion worth of loans have been issued under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) to over 25,262 businesses.
In order to minimise administrative burden and therefore facilitate the issuing of as many loans as possible, the British Business Bank’s system only gathers data from lenders when loans are offered and drawn. Decisions on whether to capture information relating to rejected loans are at the discretion of the lender.
We are working with the British Business Bank, HM Treasury and the lenders on regular and transparent data publication going forward.