Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether any funds allocated to support the UK space industry (1) have been, or (2) will be, used to support OneWeb.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The UK Space Agency has supported some research and development activities undertaken by OneWeb and its eligible supply chain through its subscription to the European Space Agency’s Advanced Research in Telecommunications Satellites (ARTES) programme.
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much money has been allocated as part of the recently announced increase in defence spending to be available to support OneWeb.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The procurement of OneWeb is not a Defence matter.
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether OneWeb uses any components from Huawei.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
In advance of Her Majesty's Government’s investment, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State took advice from experts both across government and externally commissioned to provide detailed scrutiny of the commercial, financial, and scientific rationales for investment and to ensure its compliance with the policy on High Risk Vendors.
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have (1) had discussions, (2) received requests, or (3) given any undertakings, in relation to the future financing of OneWeb; and if so, out of which budget will such funds be allocated.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
OneWeb presents a significant commercial opportunity and we will work closely with the company and other partners to raise additional private investment.
Further information on the future financing of OneWeb remains subject to commercial sensitivities.
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much they have spent on the acquisition of OneWeb, including transaction costs; and what costs they have incurred since becoming a shareholder of OneWeb.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government has committed to invest $500m in OneWeb, and will continue to work with OneWeb and consortium partners to ensure this is being used to best support the UK investment.
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what percentage of Bounce Back Loans have been paid out to small businesses.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
As of 7th September 2020, 1,152,511 of the total 1,157,956 Bounce Back Loans offered (99.5%) had been paid out to small and micro businesses.
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the rate of defaults on Bounce Back Loans.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
As of 15 November 2020, £42.18 billion of loans have been provided under the Bounce Back Loan Scheme.
The BEIS Annual Report published on 30 September contained information on all debt loan schemes and potential loss estimates.
The initial indicative loss ranges are based on historic losses observed in prior programmes which most closely resemble the current Covid-19 interventions. However, no two programmes (or two economic downturns) are completely alike, and the estimate will be revised as more data becomes available.
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - 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 proposal by the Association of Accounting Technicians that Bounce Back Loans for all small businesses should be written off.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
We have always been clear that businesses are responsible for repaying any finance they take out. However, we recognise that some borrowers will benefit from flexibility for their repayments. That is why we announced the Pay as you Grow measures.
Pay as You Grow will provide Bounce Back Loan borrowers more time and flexibility over their repayments by giving them the option to:
Businesses will be able to use these options either individually or in combination with each other. In addition they have the option to fully repay their loan early and will face no early repayment charges for doing so.
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what were the results of the survey they published in September on extending the scope and powers of the Prompt Payment Code.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
We have received over 400 responses to our survey on suggested reforms of the Prompt Payment Code and officials are currently analysing those responses.
We plan to publish the new Code principles before the end of the year but only after the views of those who took the time to respond have been given the consideration they deserve.
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have (1) to review the operation of the Pubs Code, (2) to publish a report of the findings of that review, and (3) lay a copy of that report before Parliament, as required by section 46 of the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The report on the findings of the first statutory review of the Pubs Code and the Pubs Code Adjudicator will be published and laid before Parliament as soon as practicable.