Asked by: Simon Baynes (Conservative - Clwyd South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions officials in his Department have had with (a) businesses, (b) trade unions and (c) workers on developing guidance on workplace safety during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Paul Scully
There was an extensive series of engagements to support the drafting process for guidance on safe return to work, with several roundtables chaired by my Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State, meetings with businesses, unions and other representative organisations and written consultations.
Asked by: Simon Baynes (Conservative - Clwyd 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 he is taking to facilitate the development of electric vehicle battery manufacturing in the UK; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits for North Wales and Wrexham of Stoke-on-Trent becoming a manufacturing location for those batteries.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
There are a range of factors that will influence the location of any UK Gigafactory investment, and the final location decision will be a commercial matter.
The Government has a long-standing programme of support to maintain the competitiveness of the UK automotive sector. Through the Automotive Sector Deal, we are working with the industry to develop world-leading battery technologies.
We have already invested £274 million in the Faraday Battery Challenge (FBC) through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund. The FBC is a cutting-edge programme, helping UK businesses to lead the world in the design, development, and manufacture of batteries for electric vehicles. Under the FBC, we have invested £120 million in the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre (UKBIC), the first phase of which was completed in March 2020, and which will provide a state-of-the-art pilot facility to test new cell technology. UKBIC will play a key role in laying the groundwork to secure a battery Gigafactory in the UK.
The Faraday Institution commissioned a study which showed that by 2040, an estimated eight Gigafactories (of 15GWh per year capacity) will be needed in the UK and consequently employment in the automotive industry and battery supply chain could increase to 246,000 jobs.
The Government has announced up to £1 billion of additional funding to develop UK electric vehicle supply chains, and for further electric vehicles research and development. This funding will accelerate mass production of key technologies in the UK, through major investments in the manufacturing of batteries, electric motors, power electronics, and hydrogen fuel cells, along with their component and materials supply chains.
Asked by: Simon Baynes (Conservative - Clwyd 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 ensure that all firms entitled to assistance under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme are able to access it.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government has responded to helpful feedback to ensure that companies feel the full benefits of available support through the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) by:
The Government will continue to see if there are other areas for improvement across the scheme as a whole.