Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the £400 payment and electricity and gas caps will be reflected in November electricity bills for households in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Households in Northern Ireland will receive a £400 discount on their energy bills through the Northern Ireland Energy Bills Support Scheme (NI EBSS) this winter. The Government is working to find a solution which can be delivered within the Northern Ireland market as soon as possible.
Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether all energy support for (a) households and (b) businesses in Northern Ireland will be backdated to October 2022.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Households in Northern Ireland will receive a £400 discount on their energy bills through the Northern Ireland Energy Bills Support Scheme this winter. The Government is working to deliver a solution which accounts for the Northern Ireland market and to provide support as soon as possible.
The Northern Ireland Energy Price Guarantee scheme launched on 1 November. The discount will be applied to energy bills from this month, with savings for October’s energy use backdated in bills from November.
The Energy Bill Relief Scheme will provide a price reduction to non-domestic customers from 1 October, with October’s bills generally issued in November.
Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether park homeowners, who are billed by landlords for electricity usage, will be entitled to access the Energy Bill Relief Scheme cap on business electricity rates with effect from 1 November 2022.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Park Homeowners who are billed by landlords for electricity usage on eligible non-domestic tariffs will be covered by the Energy Bill Relief Scheme. This scheme will provide a price reduction to ensure all eligible businesses and other non-domestic energy users are protected from excessively high energy bills over the winter period. Landlords are required to ensure the benefits of the scheme are passed onto the tenants in a reasonable and proportionate way.
Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
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 characteristics of the Northern Ireland energy market in the derivation of £100 payment in energy support for oil-using households, as part of the Government's Energy Price Guarantee scheme.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The £100 payment has been calculated by reference to past increases in the cost of heating oil between September 2021 and September 2022, which in Northern Ireland (NI) was £1,080 (£820 to £1,900), an increase of 132%. The payment is intended to ensure the typical household using heating oil does not experience an increase on September 2021 prices of more than 130%, in line with the guarantee offered through the EPG. The calculation considers characteristics of the NI market including heating oil demand for a typical NI home, NI heating oil price, and typical NI heating oil bill.
Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what basis his Department used to underlie the provision of the £100 one-off payment as analogous energy support for oil-using households, in relation to the Government's Energy Price Guarantee Scheme.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The £100 payment has been calculated by reference to past increases in the cost of heating oil between September 2021 and September 2022. It aims to ensure that a typical customer using heating oil will not face a higher rate of growth from October 2022 than those using mains gas (who are supported by the Energy Price Guarantee).
A payment of £100 will effectively limit the increase in heating costs to 130% for a typical household, in line with the benefit offered by the Energy Price Guarantee.
Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
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 had recent discussions with the Northern Ireland Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs on the retained EU law dashboard; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of amending the dashboard to allow users to filter legislation by devolved administrations.
Answered by Dean Russell
Ahead of the quarterly update to the retained EU law (REUL) dashboard, UK Government departments have been encouraged to work with their devolved counterparts to determine where retained EU law (REUL) is situated across the UK statute book. Where appropriate, amendments will be made to the functionality of the dashboard to reflect the outcome of this engagement.
Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
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 make an assessment of the potential impact of the rise in energy prices on the rate of default on loans made under the Bounce Back Loan and Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan schemes.
Answered by Dean Russell
The Department regularly monitors repayments data across the Covid-19 loan schemes to assess the level of distress amongst borrowers with government-backed loans. Our latest assessment is that we have yet to see a substantial impact on businesses’ ability to repay from the current cost pressures, including rising energy prices. This is something that the Department will continue to review.
The British Business Bank models the impact of wider economic conditions on the performance of the schemes in producing their estimates of expected credit losses across the schemes, which are then reported in the Department’s Annual Report and Accounts.
Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
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 a recent assessment of the potential impact of rising interest rates on the viability of loans made through the (a) Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan and (b) Bounce Back Loan scheme.
Answered by Dean Russell
For facilities provided under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS), interest rates will depend on the specific loan agreements between a borrower and their lender. As with a bank’s normal commercial lending, borrowers on a variable interest rate could see their interest payments increase in line with any increase to the Bank of England Base Rate. Borrowers who are concerned about their ability to repay should contact their lender to discuss options available to them.
In the case of the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS), the interest rate is fixed at 2.5% and therefore borrowers are protected from rising rates. Where borrowers are struggling to repay their loans due to wider cost pressures on their business, Pay as You Grow options can provide more time and greater flexibility in making repayments.
Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
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 plans to increase the level of UK Research and Innovation funding that is spent in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Jane Hunt
In Northern Ireland there are currently over 190 UKRI funded projects worth approximately £146 million. This includes project awards through the Strength in Places Fund, which is designed to build on existing strengths in research and innovation to support innovation-led regional growth.
UKRI and other Government R&D funders will continue to work with places across the UK, as part of the Government’s mission to increase domestic public investment in R&D outside the Greater South East by at least 40% by 2030.