Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans the Government has to incentivise investment capital in low carbon (a) innovation, (b) technology and (c) energy solutions to help accelerate the delivery of regional decarbonisation targets.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
My Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister’s 10 Point Plan for a green industrial revolution will create long-term advantage for the UK in low-carbon technologies and services. It will support up to 250,000 green jobs, levelling up regions across the UK, and reinvigorate our industrial heartlands. The Plan will mobilise £12 billion of government investment to unlock three times as much private sector investment by 2030.
Delivering clean investment at the scale and pace required will mean taking bold steps. That is why we will issue the UK’s first Sovereign Green Bond and we will create a new infrastructure bank for the UK which will co-invest alongside private sector investors in infrastructure projects.
As part of the Plan, we announced £1 billion for the Net Zero Innovation Portfolio to develop the cutting-edge technologies needed to reach our energy ambitions. We are also investing up to £500 million for low carbon hydrogen production across the decade with £240 million confirmed out to 2024/2025 and £1 billion to capture carbon from power stations and industry, helping to support 50,000 jobs.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
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 extend the Green Homes Grant for 12 months to March 2022 to (a) allow the full uptake of the scheme and (b) help stimulate new green jobs.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
The Government is committed to improving the building stock as part of reaching our net zero targets. We recognise the importance of providing industry with certainty over demand in future years in order for them to have confidence to invest and grow their businesses.
We are working to provide that certainty and have therefore confirmed that the delivery dates for Green Homes Grant Local Authority Delivery scheme and the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund Demonstrator will extend into 2021/22 to provide assurance that work will be available. Outside of support schemes, we are creating the regulatory environment to drive retrofit and on 30th September we published a consultation on further improving the energy performance of privately rented homes over the 2020s, which provides a clear signal on how Government is committed to improving the housing stock.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether businesses that are eligible for the Self-employment Income Support Scheme will also be able to access the Top-up to local business grant fund scheme announced on 2 May 2020.
Answered by Paul Scully
On 1 May 2020 during a call to Local Authorities, the Government announced that a further up to £617 million is being made available to Local Authorities in England to allow them to provide discretionary grants as part of the suite of Business Support grants to support businesses and local economies across England.
Businesses that have received Self-employment Income Support are not eligible for funding under the Local Authority Discretionary Grants Fund.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
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 plans to take to extend the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme to businesses that have no rateable property but have been adversely affected by the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Paul Scully
Whether or not a business is liable for Business Rates, or occupies business premises, is not a consideration under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS).
To be eligible for a facility under CBILS, a smaller business must:
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
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 (a) plumbers and (b) electricians working for clients in confined spaces in domestic properties do not transmit covid-19 between their clients' households.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
Construction and utility workers play a crucial role in supporting our public services, as well as in providing and maintaining safe, decent homes for people to live in.
Based on current medical advice, utility workers who cannot work from home, who show no symptoms of Covid-19, and who live in households where no person is self-isolating, can continue to go to work. We encourage households to continue to engage with tradespeople on this basis so that essential repairs and maintenance can be carried out. Where such work takes place, Public Health England (PHE) guidelines should be followed, including social distancing measures where possible.
Construction activity can continue in line with PHE guidance. Through the Construction Leadership Council, the construction industry has issued Site Operating Procedures (SOP), which align with PHE guidance. The SOP set out that, where it is not possible or safe for workers to distance themselves from each other by 2 metres, then employers should closely consider whether the activity needs to continue for the site to operate.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policy on work and social distancing of 2 metres of utility workers working (a) in confined domestic residences on jobs that require multiple workers and (b) on construction sites on jobs that require materials to be transported between individuals.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
Construction and utility workers play a crucial role in supporting our public services, as well as in providing and maintaining safe, decent homes for people to live in.
Based on current medical advice, utility workers who cannot work from home, who show no symptoms of Covid-19, and who live in households where no person is self-isolating, can continue to go to work. We encourage households to continue to engage with tradespeople on this basis so that essential repairs and maintenance can be carried out. Where such work takes place, Public Health England (PHE) guidelines should be followed, including social distancing measures where possible.
Construction activity can continue in line with PHE guidance. Through the Construction Leadership Council, the construction industry has issued Site Operating Procedures (SOP), which align with PHE guidance. The SOP set out that, where it is not possible or safe for workers to distance themselves from each other by 2 metres, then employers should closely consider whether the activity needs to continue for the site to operate.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what guidance the Government has provided on what employees should do if their employer is asking them to continue going to work and (a) their job role could be completed at home or (b) social distancing is not adhered to.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Government has been clear that employers should carefully consider Public Health England’s social distancing guidance. The guidance sets out that employers should help their staff to find alternative arrangements to support them to work from home, , including providing suitable IT and equipment to enable remote working.
Where people cannot work from home, they can continue going into their place of work as long as Public Health England’s guidance is closely followed. This is consistent with the Chief Medical Officer’s advice.
Where a worker has a concern about health and safety which cannot be resolved through speaking with their employer or trade union, they can contact the relevant enforcement agency – either their local authority or the Health and Safety Executive. Where the Health and Safety Executive are made aware of an employer not complying with the relevant Public Health England guidance (including enabling social distancing where it is practical to do so), the Health and Safety Executive will consider a range of actions, from providing specific advice to employers through to issuing enforcement notices.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
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 (a) a comprehensive list of what is deemed essential domestic utility work, (b) instructions on whether utility workers should engage in non-essential work and (c) his plans to ensure that employers (i) obey those instructions and (ii) support their workers to do so.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
Based on current medical advice, the Government has stated that workers can continue to work when they cannot work from home, show no symptoms of Covid-19, and live in a household where no person is self-isolating.
We encourage households to engage with tradespeople on this basis, so urgent health and safety issues within homes can be inspected or remedied. Where such work takes place, Public Health England’s social distancing guidelines should be followed, which are available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/social-distancing-in-the-workplace-during-coronavirus-covid-19-sector-guidance#tradespeople-and-working-in-peoples-homes.