Asked by: Baroness Featherstone (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what definition of electricity storage they intend to use in the provision of storage licences.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
The Government and Ofgem’s Smart Systems and Flexibility plan, published in July, announced that Ofgem will shortly consult on a modified generation license for electricity storage facilities. This document set out that the Government and Ofgem will use the definition of storage provided by the Electricity Storage Network, which received broad support from industry, as the basis for defining storage in regulations including licences.
The Electricity Storage Network’s definition is:
• “Electricity Storage” in the electricity system is the conversion of electrical energy into a form of energy which can be stored, the storing of that energy, and the subsequent reconversion of that energy back into electrical energy.
• “Electricity Storage Facility” in the electricity system means a facility where Electricity Storage occurs.
Asked by: Baroness Featherstone (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how they intend to ensure that energy service providers provide value for money for the consumer.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
Energy service providers could play an important role in delivering valuable services to consumers including, but not limited to, energy management, energy efficiency improvements and demand side response. The Government will continue to consider the role of energy service providers as the market for services they offer develops.
Asked by: Baroness Featherstone (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many deaths have been attributed to air pollution in Greater Manchester in each of the last five years.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
The fraction of annual all-cause adult mortality attributable to anthropogenic (human-made) particulate air pollution (measured as fine particulate matter, PM2.5) is provided by the Public Health Outcomes Framework (PHOF) indicator 3.01.
This calculates the mortality burden associated with long-term exposure to anthropogenic particulate air pollution at current levels, expressed as the percentage of annual deaths from all causes in those aged over 30.
The following table shows the fraction of mortality (%) attributable to particulate air pollution extracted from the PHOF 3.01 indicator, for the period 2010-2015, for England, North West and areas within the Greater Manchester Area (GMA), as GMA is not an administrative area.
| 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 |
Greater Manchester |
|
|
|
|
|
Bolton | 5.0 | 4.7 | 4.9 | 4.8 | 4.2 |
Bury | 5.2 | 4.8 | 4.9 | 4.8 | 4.0 |
Manchester | 5.4 | 5.1 | 5.2 | 5.1 | 4.3 |
Oldham | 5.3 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 4.9 | 4.2 |
Rochdale | 5.2 | 4.8 | 4.8 | 4.7 | 4.0 |
Salford | 5.5 | 5.2 | 5.3 | 5.2 | 4.3 |
Stockport | 5.2 | 4.8 | 4.9 | 4.7 | 4.1 |
Tameside | 5.4 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 4.8 | 4.2 |
Trafford | 5.1 | 4.8 | 4.9 | 4.8 | 4.1 |
Wigan | 4.8 | 4.6 | 4.9 | 4.7 | 4.3 |
North West | 4.6 | 4.4 | 4.6 | 4.4 | 4.1 |
England | 5.4 | 5.1 | 5.3 | 5.1 | 4.7 |
Asked by: Baroness Featherstone (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the White Paper <i>The United Kingdom’s exit from and new partnership with the European Union</i>, on what basis they intend to withdraw from Euratom; whether they will seek Parliamentary consent; and what assessment they have made of the impact of the withdrawal on the British nuclear industry.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
Euratom and the EU share a common institutional framework, including the European Court of Justice, a role for the Commission and decision making in the Council, making them uniquely legally joined. Therefore, the European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill provides for parliamentary consent to start the process for leaving Euratom as well as the EU.
The Government remains committed to the highest standards of nuclear safety, safeguards and support for the industry, and we will work to ensure that there is no interruption in the quality and robustness of the UK’s civil nuclear regime.
Asked by: Baroness Featherstone (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the fusion research programme at the Culham Centre will continue to be funded following the UK's departure from the EU.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
The UK is a world leader in fusion research and development (R&D) and we have no intention of compromising this following the government’s decision to withdraw from the Euratom Treaty. We fully recognise the importance of international collaboration in fusion research and the UK’s key role in these efforts.
Maintaining and building on our world-leading fusion expertise and securing alternative routes into the international fusion R&D projects such as the Joint European Torus (JET) project at the Culham Centre will be a priority. Government is working closely with the UK Atomic Energy Authority on ways to achieve this.
Asked by: Baroness Featherstone (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the Connection and Use of System Code panel, and its modification and voting process, on (1) competition, and (2) consumer costs.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), as part of its investigation into the energy market, considered the governance of energy industry codes, which included the Connection and Use of System Code (CUSC) panel. They found that current arrangements for code governance had an adverse effect on competition. The complexity of codes can act as a barrier to new entrants and the implementation of pro-competitive change can be difficult. The CMA made a number of recommendations to Government and to Ofgem to address these issues; the Government is considering these recommendations and will respond in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Featherstone (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what priority the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy places on climate change; how many of its civil servants currently work on climate change in a full- or part-time capacity; and how many civil servants worked on climate change in a full- or part-time capacity in the Department of Energy and Climate Change before it was disbanded (1) at the time the Department was closed, (2) in 2015, (3) in 2014, and (4) in 2013.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Department’s activity to tackle climate change cuts across the work of various teams and is undertaken by officials who, as well as energy and climate change, also work to deliver the department’s other priorities.
Consequently, it is not possible to provide an exact number of officials who work on energy and climate change issues. However, I would like to reassure the noble Lady that delivery of the Government’s commitments on climate change remains a key priority for the department.
Asked by: Baroness Featherstone (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether green gas from marginal grassland will be included in, or excluded from, the Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive scheme; and what is the rationale for that decision.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) is targeted at, but not limited to, homes off the gas grid. The technologies supported by the scheme include biomass boilers, air source and ground source heat pumps and solar thermal. Green gas from marginal grassland would be used to fuel biogas combustion. Biogas combustion is not supported under the domestic RHI because the scheme is targeted at single domestic properties where the use of biogas combustion would be less suitable.
Asked by: Baroness Featherstone (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to call in the decision by Northumberland County Council to approve plans for an opencast coal mine at Highthorn in the light of recent government commitments to phase out the use of coal.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
Members of the public and MPs have requested that this application is called in, and we are currently considering that request.
Asked by: Baroness Featherstone (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether in negotiating the UK’s exit from the EU they plan to seek for the UK to be included in any EU regulations on the security of gas supply in times of crisis, as set out in the European Commission’s Proposal for a Regulation concerning measures to safeguard the security of gas supply and repealing Regulation (EU) No 994/2010.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
While the UK remains a member of the EU the existing rules apply and new legislation that applies to the UK will be implemented.
It will be for the new Prime Minister to decide on our future relationship with the EU, including on matters of energy.