Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department has taken to support energy intensive businesses in a) Newcastle-under-Lyme and b) Staffordshire with energy costs.

The Department for Business and Trade manages two energy cost support schemes, the British Industry Supercharger and the Energy Intensive Industries Compensation Scheme, to support eligible energy-intensive industries with the indirect costs of emissions levies, and electricity policy and network costs. The Supercharger cuts electricity costs by approximately £65-87/MWh for around 550 businesses across the whole of Great Britain, including some of the most electricity-intensive firms in Staffordshire.

From April 2027 the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme will benefit over 10,000 manufacturing businesses reducing electricity costs by up to £40/MWh. The Government also announced an additional payment in 2027 to reflect the support eligible businesses would have received had the scheme been in operation earlier.