Asked by: Andy Carter (Conservative - Warrington South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many direct grants her Department has made to support (a) swimming pools and (b) leisure centres since 2010; and what the total value was of those grants.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government recognises the importance of ensuring public access to swimming pools, as swimming is a core life skill and a great way for people of all ages to stay fit and healthy. The responsibility of providing access to leisure facilities lies at Local Authority level, and the Government continues to encourage Local Authorities to support swimming facilities.
In 2023/24, the Government provided over £60 million in additional funding to support operating costs and help improve energy efficiency of facilities through the Swimming Pool Support Fund, delivered via Sport England. In total, the Swimming Pool Support Fund will fund 442 individual facilities and 788 individual pools across 269 Local Authorities by March 2025. Further details can be found on Sport England’s website at:
We provide the majority of support for grassroots sport through our arm’s length body, Sport England - which receives £323 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding each year. Between 2010 - 2023, before the SPSF, Sport England provided over £98 million of support to more than 500 programmes to facilitate participation in grassroots swimming up and down the country. Sport England publishes data on all grant recipients as part of its register of grants awards, which is updated on a quarterly basis with awards dating back to 2009. Please find the information on Sport England’s website at:
Asked by: Taiwo Owatemi (Labour - Coventry North West)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps her Department is taking to reduce daily standing charges for gas and electricity in (a) Coventry and (b) the Midlands.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Ofgem launched a call for input on standing charges looking at how it is applied to energy bills and what alternatives could be considered. Ofgem is currently analysing the responses and will publish its response in due course.
The variance in standing charge is mainly due to regional differences in energy distribution costs. These costs reflect the expenses of maintaining and upgrading the distribution network in a specific area, and the number of consumers those costs are spread across.
On 30 March, my Rt hon Friend the Secretary of State and I wrote to the Chief Executive of Ofgem, highlighting the importance of keeping standing charges as low as possible.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many grants her Department has made to (a) leisure centres and (b) swimming pools in (i) Lincolnshire and (ii) the East Midlands since 2010; and what the total value was of those grants.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government recognises the importance of ensuring public access to swimming pools, as swimming is a core life skill and a great way for people of all ages to stay fit and healthy. The responsibility of providing access to leisure facilities lies at Local Authority level, and the Government continues to encourage Local Authorities to support swimming facilities.
In 2023/24, the Government provided over £60 million to Local Authorities in additional funding to support operating costs and help improve energy efficiency of facilities through the Swimming Pool Support Fund, delivered via Sport England. In total, the Swimming Pool Support Fund (£60 million Exchequer, £20 million of Sport England National Lottery funding) will fund 442 individual facilities and 788 individual pools across 269 Local Authorities by March 2025.
As part of the Swimming Pool Support Fund:
Further details of local authorities and swimming pools/leisure centres awarded funding from Phase I and Phase II of the Swimming Pool Support Fund are available on Sport England’s website at:
We provide the majority of support for grassroots sport through our arm’s length body, Sport England - which receives £323 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding each year. Sport England publishes data on all grant recipients as part of its register of grants awards, which is updated on a quarterly basis with awards dating back to 2009. Between 2009 - 2023, in addition to the Swimming Pool Support Fund, Sport England provided over £2.1 million of funding to Lincolnshire and over £15 million to the East Midlands to support leisure centres and swimming pools. Across the East Midlands, just over £7 million of this is related to the Sport England Covid-19 Leisure Recovery Fund. There is more detail on Sport England’s website at: https://www.sportengland.org/about-us.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 15 November 2023 to Question 1306 on Energy: Prices, if she will make an (a) estimate of when the Supercharger proposals will be fully implemented and (b) an assessment of the potential impact of their full implementation on the international competitiveness of UK electricity costs.
Answered by Alan Mak - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade) (jointly with the Cabinet Office)
The government committed to implementing the Supercharger measures between April 2024 and April 2025. The 4 statutory instruments that enact the Supercharger came into force on 1 April and the first measure has been implemented. The second measure will be implemented from 1 October and the final measure will be implemented from April 2025.
Taken together, the government estimates that Government support on electricity prices for Energy Intensive Industries (EIIs) in the form of the British Industry Supercharger could be worth (on average) around £24-£31 Per MegaWatt Hour (MWh) for eligible businesses, closing the competitive gap with their international competitors.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether she has made an estimate of the average transmission network costs for (a) inter connectors and (b) domestic generators of electricity in the last 12 months.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Electricity System Operator has published its “Final Transmission Network Use of System (TNUoS) Tariffs for 2023/24” document, which details that interconnectors are exempt from transmission charges, and the average transmission network tariff for generators is £12.45/kW.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question
To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, what steps the Church is taking to help achieve net zero.
Answered by Andrew Selous - Second Church Estates Commissioner
The Church Commissioners are committed to reducing the carbon intensity of their portfolio by 2025 and, as a member of the Asset Owners Alliance, reaching ‘Net Zero’ in the investment portfolio by 2050.
The General Synod has set a target for the Church of England to become Net Zero by 2030. The National Church Institutions are supporting every diocese with a grant to grow capacity and employ staff to manage the work of achieving this net zero ambition. The Church Commissioners have committed funding of £30m for 2023-25 and £190m total for a 9-year programme from 2023-31.
Stage one will explore the best ways to decarbonise the diverse range of buildings and navigate planning and governance structures. The project will assess cathedrals and clergy housing, with demonstration churches that can act as showpieces of what is possible. There will be a special grant available from dioceses to enable churches to fund improvements to their energy efficiency.
A second workstream supports schools in accessing public sector decarbonisation funds, and another stream of grants will match local fundraising in churches for net-zero carbon projects through the Buildings for Mission scheme
This will provide a clear picture of the kinds of projects that are effective in reducing emissions, ready for a scaled-up investment in the second 3-year period
Recent success stories include York Minster and the Chapel at Kings College, Cambridge, which have joined many other major churches and cathedrals across the country in installing new solar panels and renewable technologies, reducing their running costs and making them more sustainable buildings.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent discussions she has had with Ofgem on discrepancies in the cost of electricity standing charges across the country.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
DESNZ Ministers and officials regularly discuss with Ofgem issues relating to the energy retail market.
Standing charges are a commercial matter for suppliers, although Ofgem regulates standing charges as they do with other elements of billing. This includes setting a cap on standing charges as part of the overall default tariff cap.
The variance in standing charge is mainly due to regional differences in energy distribution costs. These costs reflect the expenses of maintaining and upgrading the distribution network in a specific area, and the number of consumers those costs are spread across.
On 30 March, my Rt hon Friend the Secretary of State and I wrote to the Chief Executive of Ofgem, highlighting the importance of keeping standing charges as low as possible.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether she has had discussions with Ofgem on trends in the level of standing charge prices across (a) England and (b) Yorkshire.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
DESNZ Ministers and officials regularly discuss with Ofgem issues relating to the energy retail market.
Standing charges are a commercial matter for suppliers, although Ofgem regulates standing charges as they do with other elements of billing. This includes setting a cap on standing charges as part of the overall default tariff cap.
The variance in standing charge is mainly due to regional differences in energy distribution costs. These costs reflect the expenses of maintaining and upgrading the distribution network in a specific area, and the number of consumers those costs are spread across.
On 30 March, my Rt hon Friend the Secretary of State and I wrote to the Chief Executive of Ofgem, highlighting the importance of keeping standing charges as low as possible.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Belmont (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address the issue of increased operating costs for hauliers, including those related to (1) fluctuating fuel prices, and (2) administrative requirements relating to the Windsor Framework.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government has continued its support for haulage companies by freezing HGV Vehicle Excise Duty and the HGV Levy for 2024-25, as announced at Autumn Statement 2023. This has resulted in a tax saving for one of the most popular HGVs (a 38-44 tonne articulated lorry with 3 axles, EURO VI) of £47 per annum. These measures form a package of support for hauliers, alongside the freezing of Fuel Duty as announced at Spring Budget 2024.
More broadly, at Autumn Statement 2023, the Chancellor announced that full expensing would be made permanent, meaning companies can claim 100% capital allowances on qualifying main rate plant and machinery investments, so that for every pound invested its taxes is cut by up to 25p. Following representations from industry – including the haulage sector – at Spring Budget 2024, the Chancellor confirmed that draft legislation on extending full expensing to assets for leasing will soon be published for a period of technical consultation. The extension will remain under consideration for a future fiscal event.
Additionally, the Windsor Framework will ensure the smooth flow of goods within the UK internal market. Under the new UK internal market system, which will come into force later this year, there will be no checks save those conducted by UK authorities as part of a risk-based or intelligence-led approach to tackle criminality, abuse of the scheme, smuggling and disease. The requirements in the old Protocol for both international customs paperwork and supplementary declarations will also be scrapped.
The Department for Transport does not hold a formal assessment of the specific impacts of fuel prices on businesses, nor on haulage and transport industries. However, the department is in regular contact with haulage and other transport sectors where discussions include the impact of fuel prices among other economic factors.
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero publishes weekly fuel prices and the Office for National Statistics conducts a regular survey of business sectors on concerns such as energy prices.
Asked by: Keir Mather (Labour - Selby and Ainsty)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the daily standing charges for gas and electricity in Ofgem's (a) Yorkshire and (b) Northern regions.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
DESNZ Ministers and officials regularly discuss with Ofgem issues relating to the energy retail market.
Standing charges are a commercial matter for suppliers, although Ofgem regulates standing charges as they do with other elements of billing. This includes setting a cap on standing charges as part of the overall default tariff cap.
The variance in standing charge is mainly due to regional differences in energy distribution costs. These costs reflect the expenses of maintaining and upgrading the distribution network in a specific area, and the number of consumers those costs are spread across. On 30 March, my Rt hon Friend the Secretary of State and I wrote to the Chief Executive of Ofgem, highlighting the importance of keeping standing charges as low as possible.