Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - Wolverhampton South West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps are being taken to improve the availability of electric vehicle charge points in Wolverhampton.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government’s On-street Residential Chargepoint Scheme (ORCS) is available to all UK local authorities to provide public chargepoints for their residents without access to private parking. In 2021/22, £20 million is available under the scheme to ensure more local authorities and residents can benefit. Amendments have been made to the ORCS to encourage ambitious local authority projects, and improve access to the funding for local authorities in areas of limited electrical capacity.
Local authorities in England can also take advantage of Energy Saving Trust’s Local Government Support Programme, fully funded by the Department for Transport, which offers support to help authorities develop and deliver EV strategies, and programmes to increase adoption of ultra-low emission vehicles. This includes support with the roll out of charging infrastructure through applying for ORCS funding.
In addition, Government is investing almost £40 million in projects to support innovation in wireless and on-street charging technology to encourage the uptake of electric vehicles.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - Wolverhampton South West)
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 ensure that people can easily access advice on home insulation measures and services.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Simple Energy Advice Service (SEA) provides impartial and tailored advice to help people improve their household’s energy efficiency and make their homes greener. SEA consists of an easy-to-use website supported by a call centre and the website has been accessed by over 1.5 million users. The Government is currently undertaking user research into improving the service.
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) also published an EPC Action Plan detailing a series of commitments to engage consumers to support policy and drive action. The Government is also working with Local Authorities through the Local Energy Programme to develop support for retrofit programmes by addressing local barriers to clean growth activity.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - Wolverhampton South West)
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 his Department has made of the adequacy of services delivered by the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service.
Answered by Paul Scully
BEIS officials review Acas’ performance on a regular basis as set out in the ‘Acas Framework Document’. This document sets out the broad framework within which Acas operates including the performance expectations for the services they deliver.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - Wolverhampton South West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what incentives are being put in place to encourage the transition to electric vehicles.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Government had already committed £1.5 billion to support the early market and remove barriers to ZEV ownership. Alongside the new phase out dates for new petrol and diesel cars and vans, we pledged a further £2.8 billion package of measures to support industry and consumers to make the switch to cleaner vehicles. This includes up to £1 billion to support the electrification of UK vehicles and their supply chains.
The Government will provide £1.3 billion to support the continued roll-out of chargepoint infrastructure at homes, workplaces, residential streets and across the wider roads network, to provide motorists with confidence to purchase an EV. Government and industry have already supported the installation of nearly 25,000 public charging devices. This includes more than 4,500 rapid devices – one of the largest networks in Europe.
Government grants for plug in vehicles continue to be available to help reduce the up-front purchase price of electric vehicles, with total money committed at £582 million for cars, vans, motorcycles and taxis to 2022/23.
The March 2020 Budget included the extension of favourable benefit in kind tax rates for zero emission vehicles out to 2025: company car tax is 1% in 2021/22 and 2% in 2022/23 through to 2024/25; and all zero emission cars are exempt from vehicle excise duty (VED).
Local Authorities may also provide additional incentives such as free parking and exemption from the congestion charge.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - Wolverhampton South West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent estimate he has made of the number of high street shops which have been empty for more than twelve months.
Answered by Paul Scully
BEIS does not hold this data but in 2019 the Local Data Company’s report on Retail & Leisure Market vacancies put the 1 year+ vacancy rate at 7.4%. ONS data indicates that there were nearly 320,000 retail units in the UK in 2019 which suggests around 22,700 stores had been vacant for a year or more. This represents the most recent estimate available.
In order to mitigate against a rise in the number of vacant units, the Government has introduced a range of measures to protect businesses that are struggling to pay their rent due to Covid-19. We have extended the moratorium on commercial landlords’ right to forfeiture for the non-payment of rent to the 25 March 2022 and we will introduce legislation to help landlords and tenants resolve historic Covid-19 rent debt through binding arbitration if necessary.
We continue to reduce the financial burden on retailers by providing eligible retail properties in England with 66% business rates relief for the period from 1 July 2021 to 31 March 2022, capped at £2 million per business for properties that were required to be closed on 5 January 2021, or £105,000 per business for other eligible properties.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - Wolverhampton South West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what advice and support is available to help homeowners increase their household energy efficiency.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Our Simple Energy Advice Service (SEA), which was launched in 2018, provides impartial and tailored advice to help people improve their household energy efficiency and make their homes greener and cheaper to run. The SEA, which consists of an easy-to-use website supported by a call centre which members of the public may contact for digital assistance, has been accessed by over 1.4 million unique users since its launch.
Homeowners may also refer to the advice provided by their Energy Performance Certificate, which are tailored to the characteristics of the property following an assessment of the building and recommend measures to improve household energy efficiency.
At a local level, the Government has supported skills development and advice provision through a number of local supply chain demonstration pilots, which tested new approaches to supporting home energy retrofit in the able-to-pay sector in England and recognise the importance of locally provided advice. We are also working with Local Authorities through the Local Energy Programme to develop support for local retrofit programmes by addressing local barriers to clean growth activity.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - Wolverhampton South West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what funding the Government has allocated to new carbon capture technologies.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Research and innovation into CCUS has been a key priority for the UK. Between 2004-2019 the UK has provided over £295m in public funding for CCUS Research and Innovation. In the BEIS Energy Innovation Programme (2011-2016) more than £41m was provided to CCUS innovation projects. These were funded by the Call for CCUS Innovation, Carbon Capture & Utilisation Demonstration (CCUD) programme and the Energy Entrepreneur Fund (EEF) scheme.
Under the Net Zero Innovation Portfolio (2021-2025), the BEIS CCUS Innovation 2.0 programme is seeking to fund next generation CCUS technology with up to £20m available.
The Carbon Capture and Storage Infrastructure Fund (CIF) which is expected to support Transport & Storage and Industrial Carbon Capture was first announced at the Budget in March 2020, and its allocation of £1bn was confirmed at the Spending Review in November 2020.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - Wolverhampton South West)
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 contracts of employment take into consideration the mental health needs of employees.
Answered by Paul Scully
Under health and safety legislation, employers have a duty to protect the health, safety and welfare of their employees; Under equality legislation employers have a duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled employees, which can include those with mental health needs.
The Government is working to equip employers with the knowledge and confidence to manage health and disability in the workplace. This includes advice on creating inclusive workplaces and working practices and help providing modifications and adjustments where needed to support individual employees, covering both mental and physical health conditions.
In 2019, Public Health England published a series of toolkits in partnership with Business in the Community to help every organisation support the mental and physical health of its employees. Government continues to work with Business Leaders via the ‘Thriving at Work Leadership Council' to break down stigma and also promotes mental health resources available at the Mental Health at Work website. The Department for Work and Pensions’ Disability Confident scheme will continue working with employers to actively promote best practice in supporting the mental and physical health of employees.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - Wolverhampton South West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what financial support the Government is providing to low-income households that need new or replacement boilers.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Energy Company Obligation scheme (ECO), worth £640 million per annum, sets an obligation on larger energy suppliers to install energy efficiency and heating measures in the homes of low income and vulnerable households in Great Britain. A capped amount of replacement boilers is allowed, though there is no cap when certain insulation measures are installed alongside.
Under the current iteration of ECO, over 157,000 boilers had been installed up to the end of December 2020.
Furthermore, under the Warm Home Discount (WHD), the Industry Initiatives element of the scheme allows suppliers to support low income and vulnerable households through a range of measures, including replacement boilers in certain circumstances.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - Wolverhampton South West)
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 support hair and beauty businesses in Wolverhampton South West constituency.
Answered by Paul Scully
We have put in place one of the most generous packages of support in the world worth over £280 billion. For Hair and Beauty businesses, this includes business rates holidays, various loans schemes and the extended furlough scheme. Closed businesses such as hairdressers, like those in your constituency, can also receive a grant of up to £3,000 a month and a one-off payment up to a maximum £9,000.
I meet with the sector regularly to understand the impact of the pandemic on businesses.