Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, who (a) Companies House and (b) HMRC share information on business owners with when a limited company is set up.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
Companies House collects information on business owners (subscribers, who are the company’s initial shareholders, directors, and persons with significant control in a company) when a limited company is set up. The registrar of companies is under a statutory duty to make this information freely available to the public. Any person may inspect this information and require a copy of it. The registrar of companies does this through a variety of means, such as through our online service - Companies House Service, Companies House Direct and WebCheck - through our Contact Centre and through data and image products.
There is some engagement with HMRC where companies register for corporation and PAYE tax as an employer which can be found at:
However, under the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005 HMRC does not disclose customer information.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what personal information of a business owner is placed in the public domain when a limited company is set up.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
Companies House collects information on business owners (subscribers, who are the company’s initial shareholders, directors, and persons with significant control in a company) when a limited company is set up. The registrar of companies is under a statutory duty to make this information freely available to the public. Any person may inspect this information and require a copy of it. The registrar of companies does this through a variety of means, such as through our online service - Companies House Service, Companies House Direct and WebCheck - through our Contact Centre and through data and image products.
There is some engagement with HMRC where companies register for corporation and PAYE tax as an employer which can be found at:
However, under the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005 HMRC does not disclose customer information.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
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 produce hydrogen in a low-carbon emissions form.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Government is undertaking activity to accelerate the development of low carbon hydrogen at scale and understand its potential to deliver clean growth.
We have provided up to £20m funding through our Hydrogen Supply Innovation Programme. This programme is funding a range of projects in low carbon hydrogen, zero carbon hydrogen and energy storage. These projects together could work towards reducing the cost of low carbon hydrogen.
In addition, our Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage (CCUS) Action Plan sets out how we will meet our ambition of having the option to deploy CCUS at scale during the 2030s, subject to costs coming down sufficiently. With current technologies CCUS is needed to produce low carbon hydrogen at scale. The Action Plan is designed to enable the first CCUS facility in the UK, commissioning from the mid-2020s.
The Hydrogen Supply Innovation Programme and CCUS Action Plan are important steps towards assessing the potential for producing low carbon hydrogen at scale. These developments will help with assessing the potential for hydrogen power alongside alternative technologies that could support the UK’s decarbonisation efforts.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
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 of hydrogen fuel cell power sources for cars.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The development and deployment of hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) is at an earlier stage than for plug-in electric vehicles, but there are hydrogen cars available on the UK market and major vehicle manufacturers are publicising their plans to increase production and bring new models to market over the next few years. We are moving in step with international progress on standards and technology on hydrogen as a transport fuel, ensuring that the UK retains its position at the forefront of the adoption of zero emission technologies. The Government’s £23m Hydrogen for Transport Programme supports hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles and hydrogen refuelling stations. It is funding the expansion of the hydrogen refuelling network into new locations and supporting the deployment of 300 vehicles as well as innovation and growth of UK hydrogen supply chain and manufacturing.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
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 merits of hydrogen power in contributing to cutting carbon emissions.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Government is undertaking activity to accelerate the development of low carbon hydrogen at scale and understand its potential to deliver clean growth.
We have provided up to £20m funding through our Hydrogen Supply Innovation Programme. This programme is funding a range of projects in low carbon hydrogen, zero carbon hydrogen and energy storage. These projects together could work towards reducing the cost of low carbon hydrogen.
In addition, our Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage (CCUS) Action Plan sets out how we will meet our ambition of having the option to deploy CCUS at scale during the 2030s, subject to costs coming down sufficiently. With current technologies CCUS is needed to produce low carbon hydrogen at scale. The Action Plan is designed to enable the first CCUS facility in the UK, commissioning from the mid-2020s.
The Hydrogen Supply Innovation Programme and CCUS Action Plan are important steps towards assessing the potential for producing low carbon hydrogen at scale. These developments will help with assessing the potential for hydrogen power alongside alternative technologies that could support the UK’s decarbonisation efforts.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
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 safely introduce hydrogen into the heating system.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
Transforming our heating system is one of the most difficult decarbonisation challenges facing the country. A range of technologies have potential to contribute to this, including heat networks, heat pumps, hydrogen and biogas. However, it is not yet clear which approaches will work best at scale.
In relation to hydrogen, the HyDeploy projects, funded by OFGEM, are looking to demonstrate the safety case for blending up to 20% hydrogen into the grid. Further work is also needed to better understand the potential for using hydrogen to fully replace methane in parts of the gas grid. Several relevant projects relevant to this are currently underway. These include projects run by gas network operators, and the £25m BEIS-funded Hy4Heat programme, which is investigating the feasibility of using hydrogen for heating in residential and commercial buildings.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
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 policy is on the European Council's modernisation of European copyright rules.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
The Government supports the modernisation of European copyright rules, and wants to achieve reforms that benefit both the creative and digital economies, and promote creativity, innovation and investment.
In negotiations within the Council of the European Union, the Government has sought a Copyright Directive which is balanced and proportionate, providing clarity of rules for rights holders, business and consumers alike. The Government considers that the Council’s legal text meets these objectives and looks forward to future negotiations with the European Parliament.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what guidance his Department issues for companies charging booking fees.
Answered by Andrew Griffiths
Guidance for businesses on consumer law is set out on the Business Companion website. Government guidance on booking fees is set out to the Consumer Rights (Payment Surcharges) Regulations 2012 on gov.uk website.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate his Department has made of the financial benefit to the public purse of the introduction of autonomous vehicles.
Answered by Claire Perry
The potential social and economic benefits of connected and autonomous vehicle technology are significant, and securing these benefits along with the tremendous industrial opportunities associated with developing and producing them is central to the Government’s strategy.
The Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles has commissioned research to better understand the industrial opportunity.
Published on the 7th September 2017, the research estimates that the market for connected and autonomous vehicles is estimated to be worth £28bn in the UK in 2035.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
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 effect of the national living wage on the number of low skilled jobs since the introduction of that wage.
Answered by Margot James
Independent experts at the Low Pay Commission monitor the effects of the National Living Wage (NLW) on behalf of BEIS. Their autumn 2016 report found;
“official data do not yet show clear evidence of NLW effects on employment or hours… Our analysis suggests that the group of workers most likely paid at the NLW (women, ethnic minorities, migrants, disabled people, those with no qualifications, 25-29 year olds, 60-64 year olds) had a relatively strong performance in the labour market in the year to June 2016.” 1
The Low Pay Commission will continue to monitor the effects of the NLW and will report again later this year.