Asked by: Richard Foord (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Honiton)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many high street businesses are currently at risk of financial insolvency in each region of England.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
While there is no established definition of a business at risk of financial insolvency, the most recent Monthly Insolvency Statistics produced by the Insolvency Service show that in September 2022 there were 143 registered companies operating in the retail industry in England and Wales that became insolvent. This represents 8 per cent of all insolvencies in September. The equivalent figures for September 2021 were 94 registered companies representing 6 per cent of insolvencies in that month. The Insolvency Service does not provide insolvency data for each region of England.
Source: Insolvency Service, Monthly Insolvency Statistics (October 2022).
Asked by: Richard Foord (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Honiton)
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 will take to ensure the energy bill discount reaches rural households off the gas and electricity grids.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Alternative Fuel Payment will provide a one-off payment to UK households that use alternative fuels for heating. This will come in addition to the £400 provided by the Energy Bills Support Scheme, and a further £800 of one-off support provided to eight million of the most vulnerable households to help with the cost of living.
Asked by: Richard Foord (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Honiton)
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 is taking steps to provide financial support to (a) community organisations and (b) self-funding charities to help them become more energy efficient.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Charities and non-profit organisations may be entitled to a reduction in VAT, and exclusion from the main rates of the Climate Change Levy on the energy they use for non-business purposes. Government is also bringing forward an exemption on business rates for green technology.
These organisations can also search for local schemes that provide both advice and grants on gov.uk.
In addition, the Government has announced the Energy Bill Relief Scheme, to protect all businesses, voluntary sector, and public sector organisations against rising gas and electricity bills.
The Government is developing options to deliver additional energy efficiency support to businesses.
Asked by: Richard Foord (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Honiton)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what financial support his Department provides to help (a) community organisations, (b) community projects and (c) self-funded charities that are not in receipt of funding from local government to deal with rising energy costs in winter 2022.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The details of the Energy Bill Relief Scheme were announced on 21 September 2022, initially running for 6 months, covering energy use from 1 October 2022 until 31 March 2023. The Government will provide a discount on energy bills for all eligible non-domestic customers, including businesses, the voluntary sector and public sector, whose current gas and electricity prices have been significantly inflated in light of global energy prices.
Asked by: Richard Foord (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Honiton)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what progress his Department has made on providing support to households that will not be reached through the £400 energy bills discount.
Answered by Graham Stuart
On 29th July, the Government set out further details of the Energy Bills Support Scheme (EBSS) following the technical consultation which ran from April to May.
As part of this package, the Government confirmed that further funding will be available to provide equivalent support of £400 for energy bills for the households which will not be reached through the EBSS. This includes those who do not have a domestic electricity meter or a direct relationship with an energy supplier.
The Government will be announcing details in the autumn on eligibility and how additional households will receive the £400 of support.