Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
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 plans to maintain the current level of funding for the Global Challenges Research Fund.
Answered by Amanda Solloway
The challenging financial situation we face due to the Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in a temporary reduction in the UK’s aid spending target from 0.7% of GNI to 0.5%. This means making difficult decisions when it comes to prioritising how we spend aid money to deliver the most impactful outcomes.
On Tuesday 26th January, my Rt hon Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Affairs, having concluded the ODA allocations of the Spending Review, issued a statement outlining each Department’s total ODA settlement. At present, I am working with officials to determine how best to allocate BEIS’s allocation on a fund-by-fund basis, in line with the Strategic Framework for UK ODA.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
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 provide support to people with energy costs during the covid-19 lockdown.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan
The Department secured a voluntary agreement with energy companies on 19th March 2020 to support customers impacted by Covid-19. The voluntary agreement remains in place, requiring suppliers to support those struggling with energy bills, and take necessary action to keep them on supply.
The Government has launched the COVID Winter Grant Scheme, that makes £170m available to local authorities in England to provide support for vulnerable households with food, heating and energy costs, water bills and other associated essentials, this winter.
The Government continues to provide a significant package of financial support for households impacted by covid-19 including the £20 per week uplift to Universal Credit that will continue through to March 2021 and the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme and the Coronavirus Jobs Retention Scheme that have been extended until the end of April 2021.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
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 publish the criteria for allocating funding from the Future Fund.
Answered by Paul Scully
The eligibility criteria for the allocating of the Future Fund loans, and indeed all coronavirus loan schemes is freely available on the British Business Bank website:
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether aesthetics clinics are permitted to reopen on 4 July 2020 as part of the easing of lockdown restrictions due to the covid-19 outbreak; and whether his Department plans to publish industry-specific guidance on operating in a covid-19 environment.
Answered by Paul Scully
All businesses that provide cosmetic procedures or treatments for aesthetic and beauty purposes fall into the definition of a beauty salon. These are currently required to remain closed until further notice.
We have already provided (23 June) guidance for close contact services so that they can prepare to reopen where they are currently unable to. The Government continues to work with the sector to provide advice on which premises are permitted to reopen. We will provide further information as soon as possible.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
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 amending and lowering the seniority levels required to access the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme to expand eligibility for that scheme.
Answered by Paul Scully
Except in respect of a residential development facilities, a CLBILS facility must at all times during its life, rank on at least a pari passu basis with the most senior obligations (including secured and/or super-senior obligations, if any) of the Borrower. This includes from all collateral taken by any lender from the borrower unless the borrower is a financing vehicle, whereby this will include any collateral from any member of its Group.
There are certain carveouts from this requirement including collateral:
This approach ensures that taxpayer interests are suitably protected when providing government guarantees for facilities of up to £200 million to mid-cap and large businesses which tend to have more complex capital structures.
The CLBILS is designed to provide temporary assistance to businesses that are suffering disruption to their cashflow due to lost or deferred revenues during the Covid-19 outbreak. In this situation, existing lenders to a business will need to be willing to accept a temporary dilution to their own seniority reflecting this generous assistance from the Government.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with representatives of glass manufacturers on the effect of the renewables obligation and feed-in-tariff compensation on equity and competitiveness in the glass manufacturing market.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
My noble Friend Lord Prior of Brampton, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, met with representatives of the glass manufacturing sector on the 7th March. Officials have regular discussions with representatives of the glass manufacturers sector to discuss the renewables obligation and feed-in-tariff compensation including its effect on equity and competitiveness.