Written Statements

Monday 2nd March 2020 Written Statements

Monday 2 March 2020

Contracts for Difference

Monday 2nd March 2020 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and Minister for COP26 (Alok Sharma)]

I am today confirming details of the next round of the contracts for difference scheme, which opens in 2021. The latest round will be open to renewable technologies including onshore wind and solar, with proposals to introduce floating offshore wind. This could see millions more homes powered by clean energy by the end of the decade, and a boost for the supply chain, adding to the 20,600 jobs and the £628 million of exports each year already supported by the renewables industry.

Today my Department is publishing a consultation on proposed changes to the contracts for difference scheme. We have made huge strides to decarbonise our energy system, moving the power sector away from its reliance on fossil fuels towards a cleaner, greener future. In 2018 the collective share of UK electricity generation from renewable sources was 33%. Our target of reaching net zero emissions by 2050 requires the UK to bring all greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050.

Delivering net zero will require change across the whole of society, and I am therefore more mindful than ever of the importance of meaningful engagement with local communities on the measures in this transition that affect them the most. Local communities will have a more effective voice on developments that impact them, through proposals for tough new guidance on community engagement for developers of onshore wind across Great Britain, also announced today. They will have a definitive say on whether projects are allowed to proceed. It will remain the case that no English onshore wind project can proceed without the consent of the local community.

This challenge means we will need to make the most of multiple technologies available. 2020 is the year of climate action and this decision is a crucial part of the Government plans to go further and faster in tackling climate change. In the same manner I will be encouraging other countries to increase their own ambition ahead of COP26 later this year.

Today’s consultation outlines proposals to ensure the contracts for difference scheme can support the increased ambition required, including proposals to build on our world-leading position on offshore wind by introducing floating offshore wind into the scheme as well as proposals to support our renewable supply chain to enhance productivity and increase competitiveness.

I will place in the Libraries of both Houses, copies of the “Contracts for Difference for Low Carbon Electricity Generation - Consultation on Proposed Amendments to the Scheme” which sets out further information on proposals for engaging communities.

[HCWS139]

Van Benefit and Car and Van Fuel Benefit Order 2020

Monday 2nd March 2020 Written Statements

[The Financial Secretary to the Treasury (Jesse Norman)]

The van benefit charge and fuel benefit charges for cars and vans will be uprated by the consumer prices index from 6 April 2020. The uprate will take effect as follows:

Van benefit charge will uprate from £3,430 to £3,490.

Car fuel benefit charge multiplier will uprate from £24,100 to £24,500.

Van fuel benefit charge will uprate from £655 to £666.

This measure is being announced outside of the normal fiscal process to ensure employers and HMRC are given enough time to prepare for the uprate, ahead of the 2020-21 tax year.

The Government will lay the statutory instrument to uprate these charges before the House today. A tax information and impact note (TIIN) will be published at: www.gov.uk/government/collections/tax-information- and-impact-notes-tiins.

[HCWS137]

Health and Disability Assessment Services

Monday 2nd March 2020 Written Statements

[The Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work (Justin Tomlinson)]

I would like to update the House on the Department’s plans, under the health transformation programme, to reform assessment services for employment and support allowance, universal credit (UC) and personal independence payment (PIP). In March 2019, we announced that we would transition towards an integrated assessment service, with a single digital platform developed by DWP. Today I am pleased to announce the next steps in these plans, which are a key part of this Government’s commitment to transform how we support disabled people.

Our claimants include some of the most vulnerable in society and so our approach is based on delivering this complex and important transformation safely and carefully. To that end, we will initially develop the new service on a small scale in a defined part of the country, a transformation area.

For claimants in this transformation area, assessments will be conducted by the DWP, rather than outsourced to providers. This will give us the flexibility to explore new ideas including:

trialling better ways of carrying out face-to-face assessments;

how to triage more effectively so that only those people who need a face-to-face assessment will have to undergo one;

how to make it easier for claimants to understand the evidence they need to provide and why;

how to remove the need for claimants to give the same information twice;

how to ensure that claimants are aware of the whole range of support available to them both from DWP and more widely.

Our ambition in developing the new service is that it captures the experience and insights of those who use the service or who represent users of the service. We have already acted on this and will continue to drive forward engagement on the future of the health and disability agenda through our upcoming Green Paper.

I can also inform the House that today we will be issuing two prior information notices to advise the market that the Department is seeking to procure contracts to deliver PIP and WCA assessments from 1 August 2021 to ensure continuity of service when the current contracts end on 31 July. The transformation area will start in autumn 2021 and operate alongside these contracts. We will work with the successful providers to ensure continuous improvement in their service, including how developments in the transformation area can benefit delivery by contracted providers.

[HCWS138]