Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department plans to include wholesalers in the guidance for local authorities for the administration of the new business rates relief fund.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government has announced a £1.5 billion pot of additional business rates relief for businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic that have not otherwise been eligible for existing reliefs. The statement by the Minister of State for Regional Growth and Local Government of 25 March 2021 explained the relief will be allocated to local authorities based on the stock of properties in the area and the sector-specific economic impacts of COVID-19.
Formal guidance will follow in due course, setting out the specific considerations that Local Authorities (LAs) should have regard for when providing relief. Relief will be for LAs to award on a discretionary basis. Funding will be available once the legislation relating to material change in circumstance provisions has passed and LAs have established their own local relief schemes. The Government will support LAs to do this as quickly as possible, including through new burdens funding.
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of including wholesalers in the guidance for local authorities on the administration of the new business rates relief fund.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government has announced a £1.5 billion pot of additional business rates relief for businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic that have not otherwise been eligible for existing reliefs. The statement by the Minister of State for Regional Growth and Local Government of 25 March 2021 explained the relief will be allocated to local authorities based on the stock of properties in the area and the sector-specific economic impacts of COVID-19.
Formal guidance will follow in due course, setting out the specific considerations that Local Authorities (LAs) should have regard for when providing relief. Relief will be for LAs to award on a discretionary basis. Funding will be available once the legislation relating to material change in circumstance provisions has passed and LAs have established their own local relief schemes. The Government will support LAs to do this as quickly as possible, including through new burdens funding.
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he we will meet with the Federation of Wholesale Distributors to discuss practicalities involved with developing a business rates support system for businesses affected by the covid-19 outside the retail, hospitality, and leisure sectors.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government has announced a £1.5 billion pot of additional business rates relief for businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic that have not otherwise been eligible for existing reliefs. The statement by the Minister of State for Regional Growth and Local Government of 25 March 2021 explained the relief will be allocated to local authorities based on the stock of properties in the area and the sector-specific economic impacts of COVID-19.
Formal guidance will follow in due course, setting out the specific considerations that Local Authorities (LAs) should have regard for when providing relief. Relief will be for LAs to award on a discretionary basis. Funding will be available once the legislation relating to material change in circumstance provisions has passed and LAs have established their own local relief schemes. The Government will support LAs to do this as quickly as possible, including through new burdens funding.
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when his Department plans to bring forward legislative proposals for business rates support to be granted to businesses affected by covid-19 outside the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government has announced a £1.5 billion pot of additional business rates relief for businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic that have not otherwise been eligible for existing reliefs. The statement by the Minister of State for Regional Growth and Local Government of 25 March 2021 explained the relief will be allocated to local authorities based on the stock of properties in the area and the sector-specific economic impacts of COVID-19.
Formal guidance will follow in due course, setting out the specific considerations that Local Authorities (LAs) should have regard for when providing relief. Relief will be for LAs to award on a discretionary basis. Funding will be available once the legislation relating to material change in circumstance provisions has passed and LAs have established their own local relief schemes. The Government will support LAs to do this as quickly as possible, including through new burdens funding.
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the economic effect on the wholesale sector of the time taken to start the new business rates relief fund.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government has announced a £1.5 billion pot of additional business rates relief for businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic that have not otherwise been eligible for existing reliefs. The statement by the Minister of State for Regional Growth and Local Government of 25 March 2021 explained the relief will be allocated to local authorities based on the stock of properties in the area and the sector-specific economic impacts of COVID-19.
Formal guidance will follow in due course, setting out the specific considerations that Local Authorities (LAs) should have regard for when providing relief. Relief will be for LAs to award on a discretionary basis. Funding will be available once the legislation relating to material change in circumstance provisions has passed and LAs have established their own local relief schemes. The Government will support LAs to do this as quickly as possible, including through new burdens funding.
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has to ensure the delivery of key components for the manufacturing of electric vehicles and wind turbines other than lithium ion-batteries.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
As part of my Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister’s 10 Point Plan for a green industrial revolution, nearly £500m of funding for the Automotive Transformation Fund will be made available in the next four years to build an internationally competitive electric vehicle supply chain. This funding is the first part of the up to £1 billion committed by the Government to ensure that the UK takes advantage of this once in a generation opportunity. The Automotive Transformation Fund will target support at strategically important technologies (batteries, motors, drives, power electronics and fuel cells).
The Offshore Wind Manufacturing Investment Scheme allocated £160 million to upgrade ports and manufacturing infrastructure across the UK to enable the sector to support jobs and investment in ports, factories and the supply chains, manufacturing the next-generation of offshore wind turbines. In February we announced up to £95m to invest in two new dedicated offshore wind ports in Teesside and Humberside, and in March we announced the first investment, GE Renewables who will build a state-of-the-art blade manufacturing facility at Teesside creating 735 direct jobs.
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
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 develop an industrial magnet industry in the UK.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Government recognises the importance of industrial magnets in a range of advanced manufacturing applications, including as key components in zero emission vehicles and in wind turbines. The UK magnet industry can therefore play a significant role in our plans for green growth, levelling up across our country and driving emissions to net zero by 2050.
We are investing in R&D and capital projects to develop and embed the next generation of technologies in the UK. For example, through the Automotive Transformation Fund, Less Common Metals (Cheshire) has secured funding for two studies that will look at the feasibility of, and the requirements for, a rare earth permanent magnet plant in the UK. Our Driving the Electric Revolution Challenge is investing £80 million in electrification technologies, including projects relating to the recovery and recycling of rare earth elements, and activities to facilitate the development of rare earth magnet supply chains in the UK.
In addition, the Department for International Trade and other departments are working with UK and overseas mining companies and host Governments, to support and enable UK investment in the extraction, processing and refining of the raw materials required for magnet manufacture. This includes supporting investment in projects to process and refine these materials in the UK.
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
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 policy paper entitled The Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution, what progress he has made on the delivery of increased offshore wind capacity.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
In November 2020, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister’s The Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution committed to deploying 40 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030 (including 1GW of floating offshore wind). It also announced £160m of support for offshore wind coastal manufacturing infrastructure across the whole of the UK to support this deployment programme.
The Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme has been very successful in delivering large-scale renewable generation whilst reducing costs through competitive allocation rounds. The next round will open in December 2021 and aims to deliver up to double the renewable capacity of last year’s successful round, potentially providing enough clean energy for up to 10 million homes. The allocation round will be open to floating offshore wind projects and both The Crown Estate and Crown Estate Scotland are taking forward plans for seabed leasing rounds for future floating wind projects.
In February 2021, the Department announced up to £95 million of government investment for two new offshore wind port hubs, to be constructed on Humberside and Teesside. The support for the Teesworks Offshore Manufacturing Centre and the Able Marine Energy Park will help to level up the UK economy, bring in new investment, create high-skilled jobs, and provide new opportunities in ports and the areas around them.
In addition, in the Budget 2021 my Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that the Government would provide £27 million, subject to business case, for the Aberdeen Energy Transition Zone, helping to support North East Scotland to play a leading role in meeting the UK’s net zero ambitions.
Furthermore, GE Renewable Energy announced an investment in a major new offshore wind turbine blade manufacturing plant, the first investment at the Teesworks Offshore Manufacturing Centre. This brand-new manufacturing facility could create 750 direct renewable energy jobs and close to 1,500 indirect jobs in the area.
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what contribution the armed forces have made towards the delivery of humanitarian relief and other forms of overseas aid in the last three years.
Answered by James Heappey
Defence assets are regularly used to facilitate transport of UK emergency relief to countries impacted by natural disasters. The delivery of emergency aid to the Caribbean following Hurricanes Iota (2020) and Dorian (2019) and to Mozambique (2019) following Cyclone Idai are just few of many examples of the military's contribution to global disaster relief efforts.
In support to the FCDO's International aid programme, Official Development Assistance (ODA), Defence has also facilitated the transportation of humanitarian aid to ODA eligible countries, such as vital UK aid to refugees on the Turkey-Syria border in 2020.
British military overseas activity in response to COVID-19 falls under Operation Broadshare. Over the last year Defence has been vital in transporting vaccines and medical equipment to affected British overseas territories and UK overseas military bases. Defence continues to support the COVID response in other nations where appropriate.
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what factors he will assess to reach a decision on whether to remove travel advice relating specifically to cruises in order to bring cruises under global travel advice in line with other types of transport.
Answered by Nigel Adams
he Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) advises against international cruising informed by public health risk assessments. This advice is kept under continuous review. The risk assessments to inform travel advice from Public Health England and the Department of Health and Social Care are not published separately.
National restrictions on international travel remain in place, including only permitting travel abroad for a limited number of reasons set out in law. Holiday travel is not included.
The FCDO remains fully committed to working closely with the Department for Transport and key industry leaders, informed by the changing public health situation during this pandemic to agree on the steps required to restart international cruises safely.