Asked by: Steve Baker (Conservative - Wycombe)
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 calculations underlying his Department’s most recent estimates of levelised costs of renewable generators.
Answered by Greg Hands
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
Asked by: Steve Baker (Conservative - Wycombe)
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 take steps to prevent the implementation of the Oil and Gas Authority's order to concrete shale gas wells at the Preston New Road site in Lancashire.
Answered by Greg Hands
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.
Asked by: Steve Baker (Conservative - Wycombe)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has taken steps to review the corpus of retained EU law and other UK regulations for the purposes of (a) identifying potential negative impact on (i) trade and (ii) competition and (b) prioritising for change those for which a potential negative impact is identified; what estimate he has made of the time it will take to complete such a review; and whether he plans to bring forward legislative proposals to implement changes identified.
Answered by Paul Scully
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.
Asked by: Steve Baker (Conservative - Wycombe)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment he has made of the role of nuclear energy in hydrogen production through electrolysis of steam; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Greg Hands
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.
Asked by: Steve Baker (Conservative - Wycombe)
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 proposals on lowering the financing cost of hydrogen production.
Answered by Greg Hands
The Government published a consultation in August 2021 on a hydrogen business model to provide revenue support to low carbon hydrogen production plants.
Asked by: Steve Baker (Conservative - Wycombe)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the Government's consultation on improving the energy performance of privately rented homes in England and Wales published in November 2021, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect on the rental sector of the proposals to require landlords to increase the energy efficiency of their properties.
Answered by Greg Hands
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.
Asked by: Steve Baker (Conservative - Wycombe)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment he has made of the impact of container shipping prices on UK businesses; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Lee Rowley
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.
Asked by: Steve Baker (Conservative - Wycombe)
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 help ensure that there is no energy supplier restrictions or rationing of industrial, business or individual energy use over the next six months; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Greg Hands
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.
Asked by: Steve Baker (Conservative - Wycombe)
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 (a) lift the moratorium on shale gas and (b) take steps to support the safe extraction of the UK's shale gas resources.
Answered by Greg Hands
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.
Asked by: Steve Baker (Conservative - Wycombe)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what further plans he has for cooperation with the US on the development of nuclear power capabilities following the Prime Minister’s recent visit to Washington.
Answered by Greg Hands
The United States is our closest strategic partner and we regularly discuss clean energy policy with them, including on nuclear energy.