Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
What assessment he has made of the effect of recent post office closures on high street footfall.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Government recognise and value the importance that post offices play in communities across the UK and we remain committed to the Post Office network’s future.
There is no programme of Post Office closures and the network has been as its most stable for decades thanks to Government investment of over £2 billion since 2010.
The Post Office have in fact opened 350 branches through their New Network Location programme since April 2017.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether Nissan will be required to pay back any of the £2.6 million allocated to it by the Government to encourage the production of the Nissan X-Trail and Qashqai models in Sunderland.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
The grant awarded to Nissan via the Regional Growth Fund was to support a specific range of investments including the production of the X-Trail.
As Nissan have decided, for commercial reasons, not to progress with this project, the linked RGF grant will no longer be progressed.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many projects his Department has put on hold due to the requirements of planning for the UK leaving the EU without a deal.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
The Government’s policy is for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union with a negotiated deal. Individual Departments are responsible for briefing businesses and other interested parties about contingency planning for all eventualities, and the Cabinet Office is co-ordinating contingency planning across Whitehall. Departments are continually looking at and reviewing workforce plans, reprioritising and assessing changing needs. We expect our ‘no deal’ plans will not be required but will prepare responsibly to ensure the smoothest exit in all outcomes.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many civil servants in his Department are currently working on planning for the UK leaving the EU without a deal; and how many have been moved from other projects to work on those plans.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
BEIS has c.950 staff working exclusively across all elements related to delivering the UK’s exit from the EU, including no deal planning. That number includes staff recently moved from other projects and those recruited. Further moves will follow as the remaining elements of the Department’s plans are enacted with numbers subject to that planning.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many post offices are categorised as suspended.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Government recognises the critical role that post offices play in communities and for small businesses across the UK. This is why the Government committed to safeguard the post office network and protect existing rural services. The overall number of post offices across the UK remains at its most stable in decades with over 11,500 branches thanks to significant Government investment of over £2 billion since 2010.
While the Government sets the strategic direction for the Post Office, it allows the company the commercial freedom to deliver this strategy as an independent business. The distribution of branches is an operational matter of commercial judgement for Post Office management team. I have therefore asked Paula Vennells, the Group Chief Executive of Post Office Limited, to write to the hon Member on this matter. A copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of the House.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
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 viability of removing fossil fuels from the UK's energy generation mix.
Answered by Claire Perry
Our Clean Growth Strategy set out the Government’s ambition for a diverse electricity system that supplies our homes and businesses with secure, affordable and clean power.[1]
We have already committed to phasing out generating power from coal by 2025[2] and recognise that reducing emissions in the power sector means developing low carbon sources of electricity that are both cheap and clean.
There is a number of decarbonisation pathways that balance the role of clean power sources with the use of fossil fuel generation such as from gas. These include those outlined in our Clean Growth Strategy[3], and the latest BEIS Energy and Emissions Projections.[4]
[1] See: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/clean-growth-strategy
[3] See: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/clean-growth-strategy
[4] See: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/updated-energy-and-emissions-projections-2017
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department has received applications to undertake fracking in (a) Ealing, Southall constituency, (b) Ealing local authority area and (c) Greater London.
Answered by Claire Perry
Before an operator can apply for planning permission from a local authority for any proposed oil or gas development, they need to apply for a Petroleum Exploration and Development Licence (PEDL) from the Oil and Gas Authority. There are no current PEDLs within the Greater London area.
In addition, under Section 50 of the Infrastructure Act 2015, the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy must grant Hydraulic Fracturing Consent (HFC) before hydraulic fracturing can take place in the UK. The Department has not received any HFC applications relating to shale gas exploration in a) Ealing Southall constituency, b) Ealing local authority area or c) Greater London.
The British Geological Survey has identified the main areas of shale prosperity in the UK, none of which lie underneath the Greater London area.