Asked by: Thelma Walker (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether her Department has plans to review the traffic light system limits on seismic disturbance.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
The Government has always been clear that it will only support the exploration of our shale gas resources in a safe and sustainable way. The Oil and Gas Authority is undertaking a scientific analysis of the data from Cuadrilla’s earlier operations in 2018 which will be published shortly. The Government will set out our future approach once we have considered the findings.
Asked by: Thelma Walker (Labour - Colne Valley)
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 increase the production of energy from low-carbon renewable sources.
Answered by Claire Perry
In 2017, 10.2 per cent of total energy consumption came from renewable sources; up from 9.2 per cent in 2016 (source: DUKES 2018) and 3.8% in 2010 (source: DUKES 6.7 – 2018). In our most recent Contracts for Difference auction we secured over 3GW of renewable electricity from as little as £57.50/MWh. The Government has made available up to £557m for future Contracts for Difference, with the next auction planned for May this year.
The Government is also supporting the decarbonisation of heat and is supporting renewable and low-carbon heating technologies through the Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme (RHI), which encourages the uptake of renewable heat technologies amongst householders, communities and businesses through financial incentives, with £4.5bn allocated for renewable and low carbon heating between 2016 and 2021.
Asked by: Thelma Walker (Labour - Colne Valley)
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 has taken to reduce its use of single-use plastics .
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has made a commitment to eradicate single use plastics by 2020. We are working with our contractors to realise this goal as speedily as possible.
Asked by: Thelma Walker (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, on Government support for (a) local authorities and (b) communities to meet the UK's targets for carbon emissions.
Answered by Claire Perry
Climate change is one of the most urgent and pressing challenges we face today, and the UK Government is committed to tackling it. The Clean Growth Strategy, published in October 2017, sets out the Government’s ambitious plans for decarbonising the economy through the 2020s. We continue to engage with Departments on implementing the strategy, including the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government.
The joint BEIS and MHCLG office for Cities and Local Growth works closely with Ministers from both Departments, as well as Local Enterprise Partnerships and local authorities. BEIS has launched a Local Energy Programme which will provide support to Local Enterprise Partnerships and local authorities to help them implement energy projects which benefit their communities. To date, £7m has been committed to this. Additionally a further £16m has been provided to Local Authorities by the Heat Networks Delivery Unit (HNDU) and £24m through the pilot phase of the £320m Heat Networks Investment Project (HNIP). Local Authorities can also bid for funding in the main scheme of HNIP.
Asked by: Thelma Walker (Labour - Colne Valley)
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 increase the production of electricity through community wind projects.
Answered by Claire Perry
The Government’s National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), which the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government leads on, encourages local authorities and neighbourhood planning bodies to set out positive policies to support community-led initiatives for renewable and low carbon energy. The NPPF also encourages authorities to identify opportunities where developments can draw their energy supply from decentralised, renewable or low carbon energy supply systems.
We are working with delivery partners to consider how communities wanting renewable projects can be best supported to deliver these cost-effectively. Community wind projects can be supported through the Feed In Tariff (FIT). We have reintroduced FIT pre-accreditation, including an extra six months’ validity period for community energy projects. Additionally the Rural Community Energy Fund (RCEF) provides support to community groups in rural areas for development and implementation of energy projects, including wind. RCEF is jointly funded by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), and is managed on behalf of Government by DEFRA.
Asked by: Thelma Walker (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what guidance his Department has issued to (a) local authorities and (b) communities on the steps that can be taken to meet the Government's targets for carbon emissions.
Answered by Claire Perry
The Clean Growth Strategy, published in October 2017, sets out the Government’s ambitious plans for decarbonising the economy through the 2020s. We worked across Whitehall to ensure the Clean Growth Strategy is as robust and ambitious as possible.
The joint BEIS and MHCLG office for Cities and Local Growth works closely with Ministers from both departments. BEIS has launched a Local Energy Programme which will support the work of that unit and the excellent work already being achieved by local authorities and community groups.
Asked by: Thelma Walker (Labour - Colne Valley)
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 estimate of the contribution to the public purse made by kit car sector in each of the last five years.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
Kit cars are a small sub-sector of the automotive sector, which cannot be isolated using the data sources available.
Asked by: Thelma Walker (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people employed by (a) producers of kit cars and (b) the supply chain for kit cars.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
Production of kit cars is a small sub-sector of the automotive sector and it is not possible to isolate this sub-sector using the data sources available on employment numbers.