Asked by: Tonia Antoniazzi (Labour - Gower)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many applications for Covid Recovery Loans have been made in Swansea since 1 January 2022.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Recovery Loan Scheme (RLS) is delivered by the British Business Bank (BBB) through commercial lenders. The most recent data published on RLS is available at the following link: https://www.british-business-bank.co.uk/press-release/recovery-loan-scheme-offers-over-1bn-to-smaller-businesses/. The BBB does not capture application data on RLS. Lenders are only required to notify the BBB of RLS facilities that have been offered and drawn.
The BBB intends to publish updated data on usage of the scheme in due course.
Asked by: Tonia Antoniazzi (Labour - Gower)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many Covid Recovery Loans have been awarded in Swansea since 1 January 2022.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Recovery Loan Scheme (RLS) is delivered by the British Business Bank (BBB) through commercial lenders. The most recent data published on RLS is available at the following link: https://www.british-business-bank.co.uk/press-release/recovery-loan-scheme-offers-over-1bn-to-smaller-businesses/. The BBB does not capture application data on RLS. Lenders are only required to notify the BBB of RLS facilities that have been offered and drawn.
The BBB intends to publish updated data on usage of the scheme in due course.
Asked by: Tonia Antoniazzi (Labour - Gower)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
What steps his Department is taking to support sub-postmasters affected by failings in the Horizon IT system.
Answered by Paul Scully
Post Office Ltd has admitted it got things wrong in relation to Horizon and has apologised. I have announced an Independent Inquiry to ensure that we understand fully what went wrong and that this situation will never be repeated.
Asked by: Tonia Antoniazzi (Labour - Gower)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions his Department has had with representatives of the National Grid on its capacity to store and supply electricity to support the planned increase in the number of electric cars.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
Officials within BEIS have regular engagement with National Grid to discuss issues around the increased uptake of electric vehicles, most recently in the context of the Office for Low Emission Vehicles’ (OLEV) recent consultation on the phase out of internal combustion engine cars and vans.
BEIS officials also engage with National Grid over their production of the annual Future Energy Scenarios (FES), looking ahead to 2050 to show what the future of energy in GB might look like. The latest FES includes projections of increase in annual electricity demand due to a combination of emerging technologies, including electric vehicles, and highlights the key impact of flexibility services associated with electric vehicles in meeting this future required demand.
Asked by: Tonia Antoniazzi (Labour - Gower)
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 the proposed energy price cap will extend to people who use (a) heating oil, (b) liquefied petroleum gas and (c) solid fuels.
Answered by Claire Perry
Ofgem’s regulatory powers extend only to gas and electricity. The proposals in the Domestic Gas and Electricity (Tariff Cap) Bill only apply to the implementation of a cap on standard variable and default tariffs for gas and electricity customers.
There is an open market for the supply of heating oil and solid fuels, so customers can shop around for the best deal before delivery. Domestic liquefied petroleum gas customers are protected by the Competition Markets Authority’s LPG Orders, which are designed to make switching supplier easier.
Asked by: Tonia Antoniazzi (Labour - Gower)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made on the effect of a hard credit check for on the ability of consumers to switch energy suppliers.
Answered by Margot James
All energy suppliers are obligated to offer terms of supply to domestic customers, enabling customers to switch energy suppliers. Some suppliers carry out credit checks on new customers to confirm their identity and assess the risk of defaulting on their energy tariff. Suppliers should be clear to consumers when they intend to carry out a ‘hard’ credit check.
In the non-domestic retail market, suppliers will often carry out credit checks before offering a supply contract to a business consumer.