Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Labour - Canterbury)
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 impact of the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill on public workers in Canterbury.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department is conducting an economic impact assessment of the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill, which takes the most recent industrial action, as well as other instances of industrial action, into consideration. This will be published shortly.
Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Labour - Canterbury)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, by what date he expects the Energy Bill Relief Scheme payment to be made, in relation to residents of Park Homes.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Energy Bill Support Scheme alternative funding portal on gov.uk will open on or by Monday 27th February.
Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Labour - Canterbury)
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 liquidity loans to the charitable trust sector to help support employment and services in that sector.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
I agree with the Hon. Member’s assessment of the importance of the charitable trust sector. Charities make an important social and economic contribution to the UK economy. Loans and other types of finance can be an important enabler of growth and investment in the services that charities provide, increasing their economic and social impact, providing increased employment, and delivering superb services to the communities they serve.
Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Labour - Canterbury)
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 merits of including homes in Council Tax Band E in the ECO+ scheme.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government has consulted on the ECO+ scheme being open to households in the lower council tax bands (A-E in Scotland, A-D in England and A-C in Wales) with an EPC rating of D or below, as well as low-income households.
This Government is currently analysing feedback received through its consultation, which closed on 23 December 2022, and will publish a response in due course.
Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Labour - Canterbury)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential ecological impacts of the Space Based Solar Power Innovation Competition.
Answered by George Freeman
Before launching the space-based solar power innovation competition, the Government funded the Frazer-Nash consultancy to produce an independent report looking at the feasibility of the technology, including the potential environmental and safety impacts. The report can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/space-based-solar-power-de-risking-the-pathway-to-net-zero. The main ecological impacts identified were related to the large potential size of the ground receiving station and the innovation competition is looking at developing concepts that will minimise these issues.
Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Labour - Canterbury)
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 impact of rising electricity costs on the price of gas.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government works closely with Ofgem, National Grid and other key industry organisations to monitor electricity and gas supply and the impacts on UK energy prices. As an internationally traded commodity, natural gas prices are primarily driven by the underlying price in the global market. Many of the factors affecting the spikes seen recently in wholesale gas prices are attributable to international activity extending beyond the UK's domestic energy market.
Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Labour - Canterbury)
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 pro-rata splitting of covid-19-related business grants when the business has passed between owners during the covid-19 lockdown period.
Answered by Paul Scully
This point has been considered and is covered by the guidance issued to Local Authorities. In respect of the Local Restrictions Support Grant (Closed) Addendum payments from 5 January onwards and Closed Businesses Lockdown Payment, any changes to the rating list (rateable value or to the hereditament) after 5 January 2021, including changes which have been backdated to this date, should be ignored for the purposes of eligibility. Local Authorities are not required to adjust, pay or recover grants where the rating list is subsequently amended retrospectively to the date that national restrictions began.
In cases where it is factually clear to the Local Authority that the rating list was inaccurate on 5 January 2021, Local Authorities may withhold the grant and/or award the grant based on their view of who would have been entitled to the grant had the list been accurate. This is entirely at the discretion of the Local Authority and only intended to prevent manifest errors. By accepting grant support, business owners are confirming that they are eligible to receive that support.
Should further business grant support measures be introduced in future, new guidance on eligibility and other related matters would be issued to local authorities to ensure that grant funding can be directed to where it is needed as quickly as is practicable.
Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Labour - Canterbury)
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 instruct Ofgem to extend the claims period for the Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive in response to the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The requirement for accreditation applications to the Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive scheme to be made within 12 months of the renewable heating system being commissioned, is set out in the Renewable Heat Incentive regulations. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we are already taking steps to amend the regulations, and relax this requirement. Should these amendments pass successfully through Parliament, they will come into force in April 2021.
In March 2021, we intend to publish a consultation on closing the Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive to new applications, as scheduled, at the end of March 2022.
Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Labour - Canterbury)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans his Department has to provide support to help private practitioner physiotherapists rebuild their businesses in response to the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government introduced an unprecedented and comprehensive package of business support measures to help as many individuals and businesses as possible during this difficult period. This support package included measures such as the small business grants, the coronavirus loan guarantee schemes, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), the deferral of VAT and income tax payments, and more. These measures were designed to be accessible to businesses in most sectors and across the UK.
The Government has set out a plan for recovery that focusses on backing business, improving skills, and creating jobs. Further measures were also announced by the Chancellor that build on the significant support already available as well as set out how current support will evolve and adapt. This includes the extension of the CJRS until the end of March 2021, the increase of the third Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) grant from 55% to 80% of trading profits, the extension of the coronavirus loan guarantee schemes until 31 January 2021, and the introduction of Pay As You Grow measures, meaning businesses now have the option to repay their Bounce Back Loans over a period of up to ten years.
Businesses who also deferred VAT due from 20 March to 30 June 2020 will now have the option to pay in smaller instalments up to the end of March 2022, interest free. Businesses will need to opt-in to the scheme, and for those who do, this means that their VAT liabilities due between 20 March and 30 June 2020 do not need to be paid in full until the end of March 2022.
Additionally, the Government has worked closely with Public Health England and the Health and Safety Executive to develop our workplace guidance. Close-contact service providers can check what they need to do to keep people safe and to make their business COVID-secure on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-coronavirus-covid-19/close-contact-services.
Businesses, including private practitioner physiotherapists, are also able to access tailored advice through our Freephone Business Support Helpline, online via the Business Support website or through their local Growth Hubs in England.
Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Labour - Canterbury)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many households in Canterbury district council area that live in social housing are affected by fuel poverty.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
The latest sub-regional data (2018) can be found in Fuel Poverty Sub-regional tables at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/sub-regional-fuel-poverty-data-2020.
Estimates are only available for the number of households and number and proportion of fuel poor households at sub-regional level. Estimates by tenure are not available. Information on the sub-regional methodology can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fuel-poverty-sub-regional-methodology-and-documentation.