Steve Baker

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have, therefore, asked the Authority to respond.

I refer the hon. Member to the previous response provided in PQ171522.

I refer the hon. Member to the previous response provided in PQ171522.

I refer the hon. Member to the previous response provided in PQ171522.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given to PQ171522 on 23 March 2021.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given to PQ171522 on 23 March 2021.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given to PQ171522 on 23 March 2021.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have therefore asked the Authority to respond.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have therefore asked the Authority to respond.

Cabinet Office ministers - and in particular the Minister for the Cabinet Office, me as Paymaster General, and Lord True, frequently discuss matters relating to border preparedness with Cabinet and ministerial colleagues, including at the relevant Cabinet Committees which are Exit Operations (XO) and Exit Strategy (XS). In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of internal discussions are not normally disclosed.

The Government is committed to ensuring that the UK is ready for the end of the transition period on 31 December 2020, and for seizing the opportunities of leaving the Single Market and EU Customs Union at that point. Work on border preparedness takes places across Government, including ministers and officials from Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Department for International Trade, and UK Border Force.

Scotland had an independence referendum in 2014 which was legal, fair and decisive. People in Scotland voted by a significant margin to remain part of the UK on a promise this was a “once in a generation” vote. The UK Government is committed to respecting and upholding that result.

Now that the UK Government has delivered on the democratic decision to leave the EU, this Government will ensure that 2020 is a year of growth and opportunity for Scotland and the whole of the UK.

Due to current high energy prices, the Low Carbon Contracts Company (LCCC) has temporarily stopped collecting the compulsory levy from suppliers which funds the Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme. CfD generators have instead paid approximately £205 million back into the scheme from September 2021 to March 2022 inclusive. LCCC returned around £40 million of this to suppliers at the last quarterly reconciliation, with suppliers leaving the balance on account with LCCC to meet future liabilities towards funding the cost of the scheme. This ensures that consumers do not pay higher CfD support costs during periods of high electricity prices.

Price increases for heat network customers vary depending on the type and owner of the network. Larger district heat networks are able to use their market size to purchase energy at scale and secure cheaper prices.

Whilst the Government does not yet have robust estimates of price increases for heat network consumers, those supplied by district heat networks are seeing price increases broadly in line with increases being seen by customers under the Retail Price Cap. The Government is seeing larger price increases for heat network customers on smaller communal networks where there are greater difficulties in purchasing at scale. These types of networks serve approximately 80,000 domestic consumers (18% of all domestic heat network consumers). The Government remains committed to legislating within this parliament to regulate the heat networks sector.

According to the latest data available, in 2020 the average household used around 12,200kWh of gas. In that year less than 3% of UK gas supplies came from Russia via LNG. Once natural gas enters the UK transmission system, it is impossible to identify the distribution of specific molecules.

The UK only receives direct gas in the form of Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) from Russia, since there are no gas pipelines directly linking the UK with Russia. Over the last five years (2017-2021), UK gas imports from Russia accounted for, on average, 2% of the UK’s gas supply portfolio.

On average, over the last five years (2017-2021), the UK received 21506 GWh of LNG from Russia.

Whilst unabated gas generation currently plays a key role in keeping Great Britain’s electricity system stable and secure (with around 34 GW of capacity currently installed on the system), the development of clean flexible technologies means it will be used less frequently in the future. The Government is actively developing policies to bring forward low carbon flexible technologies and to ensure that unabated gas capacity has clear decarbonisation pathways.

Achieving the UK's ambitious 2050 net zero target will require significant increases in renewable electricity generation and Great Britain’s exposure to volatile global gas prices underscores the importance of the Government’s plan to build a robust domestic renewable and resilient energy sector to further reduce our reliance on fossil fuels.

Whilst unabated gas generation currently plays a key role in keeping Great Britain’s electricity system stable and secure (with around 34 GW of capacity currently installed on the system), the development of clean flexible technologies means it will be used less frequently in the future. The Government is actively developing policies to bring forward low carbon flexible technologies and to ensure that unabated gas capacity has clear decarbonisation pathways.

Achieving the UK's ambitious 2050 net zero target will require significant increases in renewable electricity generation and Great Britain’s exposure to volatile global gas prices underscores the importance of the Government’s plan to build a robust domestic renewable and resilient energy sector to further reduce our reliance on fossil fuels.

The Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme operates as a competitive auction where the strike price successful participants receive is based on the clearing price, which is a product of bid prices. It is for developers to consider a bid price that is sustainable for their project, based on their own, forward-looking assessment of their likely project costs and revenues, and projects are only paid for the electricity they generate.

The Department publishes its own view of future electricity generation costs by technology – the latest version is from 2020, and is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/beis-electricity-generation-costs-2020.

A 2012 Written Ministerial Statement outlined new requirements on fracking to mitigate the risks of seismic activity – the ‘traffic light system’. This statement acknowledged that the trigger levels set in this system were cautious and exceeded the control protocols in place for other industries such as geothermal energy, construction and quarrying. However, it was made clear that the reasons for this approach were specific and appropriate to the context of the nascent shale gas sector. It noted that trigger levels could be adjusted upwards as experience of fracking operations developed.

Following a seismic event of magnitude 2.9 at Preston New Road in 2019, the Government took a presumption against issuing further hydraulic fracturing consents. Seismic events induced by fracking had proved to be unpredictable in size, timing and frequency.

It remains the Government’s policy to be guided by the evidence and to minimise disturbance to those living and working nearby, and to prevent the risk of damage.

Achieving the UK's ambitious 2050 net zero target will require significant increases in renewable electricity generation. As more renewables, including wind, are added to the system, wholesale prices will be less affected by fluctuations in volatile global gas prices.

The Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme operates as a competitive auction where the strike price successful participants receive is based on the clearing price, which is a product of bid prices. It is for developers to consider a bid price that is sustainable for their project, based on their own, forward-looking assessment of their likely project costs and revenues. Once projects begin generating, it is the difference between this strike price and the wholesale electricity price that drives any impact on consumer bills, and projects are only paid for the electricity they generate. This means that an assessment along the lines of what The Honourable Member for Wycombe proposes would not reflect assumptions consistent with actual costs likely to be paid by consumers.

The Department publishes its own view of future electricity generation costs by technology – the latest version is from 2020, and is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/beis-electricity-generation-costs-2020.

The Department’s Electricity Generation Cost Report[1] published on gov.uk sets out levelised cost of electricity estimates for a range of technologies, including offshore wind.

[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/beis-electricity-generation-costs-2020

The Department’s most recent Electricity Generation Cost Report[1] published on gov.uk sets out the calculation methodology behind levelised cost estimates for renewable generators.

[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/beis-electricity-generation-costs-2020

Gas wells need to be safely decommissioned at the end of their useful life. The Oil and Gas Authority is acting within its statutory remit to require the operator of these wells to decommission them.

The Department is supporting the Government’s review into retained EU Law, which will provide an authoritative assessment of where retained EU law is concentrated on the statute book and assist the consideration of future legislative requirements. The recently published ‘Benefits of Brexit: how the UK is taking advantage of leaving the EU’ policy paper announced that the Government intends to amend, replace, or repeal all the retained EU law that is not right for the UK and prioritise areas where reform can deliver the greatest economic gain, with the Government aiming to cut £1 billion of business costs from retained EU red tape.

My Rt hon Friend the Prime Minister has also announced that the Government will bring forward a Brexit Freedoms Bill to make it easier to remove or amend retained EU law in the future.

My department recently consulted on improving the energy performance of private rented homes in England and Wales to EPC Band C by 2028. As part of the consultation, we sought stakeholder feedback on the impact of these proposals on the housing market, including around the introduction of an affordability exemption for landlords, and I am grateful for the responses received. My Department will publish a Government Response in due course.

The Government believes that net zero needs nuclear. Nuclear could have a role in ‘beyond the grid’ applications and welcomes the nuclear industry’s ambition to support low-carbon hydrogen production. As part of the Low Carbon Hydrogen Supply Competition in 2019, BEIS funded the ‘Hydrogen to Heysham’ feasibility study, which showed that current nuclear technologies are technically capable of producing low-carbon hydrogen. BEIS is funding a follow-up innovation programme, Low Carbon Hydrogen Supply 2, and winners will be announced in early 2022.

The Government published a consultation in August 2021 on a hydrogen business model to provide revenue support to low carbon hydrogen production plants.

The situation faced by UK businesses and others across the globe is a result of high consumer demand, and the ongoing disruption caused by Covid-19 pressures. We are aware this is a global problem, and the UK is not uniquely disadvantaged as the container supply system and freight markets across the world are being impacted.

In fact, at present the position for UK freight is more positive than other locations globally who have experienced continued severe operations difficulties.

Government continues to work with the freight sector, including ports to manage the impacts of a surge in container demand and HGV driver shortages.

Energy security is an absolute priority for this government. We have highly diverse sources of gas supply and a diverse electricity mix, which ensures that households, businesses and heavy industry get the energy they need.

The Government has been clear that shale gas development must be safe and sustainable – both for local communities and the environment.

It remains government policy to be guided by the evidence, as demonstrated by BEIS’ Written Ministerial Statement of 4 November 2019, where BEIS confirmed the decision to take a presumption against issuing any further Hydraulic Fracturing Consents, which are required before hydraulic fracturing operations can take place. Please see: https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2019-11-04/HCWS68/.

This position, an effective moratorium, will be maintained unless compelling new evidence is provided which addresses the concerns around the prediction and management of induced seismicity.

The United States is our closest strategic partner and we regularly discuss clean energy policy with them, including on nuclear energy.

New nuclear power has a key role to play as the Government works to reduce the UK’s reliance on fossil fuels and our exposure to volatile global gas prices. My Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister’s Net Zero Strategy published on 19 October committed to legislating for a Regulated Asset Base (RAB) funding model for new nuclear projects to facilitate a final investment decision this Parliament on one large scale nuclear plant. On 26 October, the Government introduced the Nuclear Energy (Financing) Bill. The RAB model could reduce the cost of financing new nuclear power plants, saving the average dual fuel household more than £10 per year throughout the life of each nuclear power station, which can operate for 60 years. In December 2020, the Government announced the start of formal negotiations on Sizewell C and those negotiations are ongoing.

In order to facilitate a final investment decision on at least one new large-scale nuclear project this Parliament, we introduced the Nuclear Energy (Financing) Bill on 26 October, which will establish the RAB as a funding option for new nuclear projects, as well as implement further measures to enable private investment in this sector. The RAB model could reduce the cost of building and financing new nuclear power plants, helping to unlock private investment into these projects and saving consumers money on their bills.