Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many billions of KWh of natural gas storage the UK possesses; and what comparative estimate they have made of the equivalent figures for (1) Germany, (2) France, and (3) Italy.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
On the 8th October 2017 (the most recent date for which data is available), there were 21 TWh (21 billion KWh) of natural gas in storage in various facilities across the UK. This is compared to 100 TWh in France, 202 TWh in Germany, and 184 TWh in Italy.
However, a direct comparison between these countries does not reflect the amount of indigenous gas production available to them – when North Sea gas stocks are included in these figures, the UK is broadly in line with the rest of Europe.
Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what criteria they plan to use to decide whether Royal Dutch Shell will be permitted to leave behind underwater storage tanks and concrete rig supports in dismantling the Brent Oilfield; and how they intend to ensure that the dismantling is managed in accordance with Article 5 of Annex III to the OSPAR Convention.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
The Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy will consider the Brent field decommissioning proposal based on the evidence presented in the decommissioning plan and the supporting information provided in the decommissioning plan package. The proposal to leave the Brent installations in situ will be considered in accordance with OSPAR Decision 98/3 on the disposal of disused offshore installations. In doing so, the Department will apply Annex 2 of OSPAR decision 98/3 which sets out the framework for the assessment of the proposals for the disposal at sea of discussed offshore installations.
Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what obligations they intend to place on companies to list their foreign workers.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Home Office.
The Government will shortly be consulting on proposals to tighten the Resident Labour Market Test, which businesses have to undertake before sponsoring individuals under Tier 2 (General), the skilled work route for non-EEA nationals.
This is not about listing foreign workers or so-called “naming and shaming” of companies. This information will not be published. The proportion of international workers in a company is one of the pieces of information that we might decide to take into account, as part of our work to ensure that companies take reasonable steps to recruit at home before looking to bring in workers from abroad.
We will listen to businesses throughout the consultation and use that feedback to inform our decisions.
Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the dynamism and capability of the UK business sector.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The UK is one of the most dynamic and competitive economies in the world, as borne out by measures of the effectiveness of UK competition policy and regulation, for example:
•The UK is ranked 2nd in the OECD for the pro-competition stance of its regulatory policies
•The World Economic Forum rated the UK 3rd (out of 138) for the intensity of local competition, 12th for the extent of market dominance, and 10th for the effectiveness of our anti-monopoly policies.
As a result, we are ranked 6th out of 189 countries in the World Bank Doing Business Index; and 7th out of 138 countries (improving our ranking from 10th last year) in the World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Index.
Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what has been the trend for input prices for industry since the EU Referendum.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
On a monthly basis, total input prices rose by 0.2% in August 2016, after rising by 3.1% in July 2016 and by 1.7% in June 2016.
On a monthly basis, core input prices rose by 0.2% in August 2016, after a rise of 4.2% in July 2016 and 0.7% in June 2016.
The latest ONS producer price inflation data can be found in the following release (also attached): https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/bulletins/producerpriceinflation/august2016#input-prices-summary
Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what aspects of the Hinckley Point project could not have been fully considered in advance of EDF agreeing to proceed with the contract.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The then DECC Secretary of State reviewed all aspects of the project in October 2015 and gave a minded to decision. The Government is now considering all component parts to make a final decision.