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Written Question
Britishvolt: Insolvency
Thursday 2nd February 2023

Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask His Majesty's Government what lessons they have learned from the collapse of Britishvolt; and what assessment they have made of the consequences for battery manufacturing in the UK.

Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

As part of our efforts to see British companies succeed in the industry, we offered significant support through the Automotive Transformation Fund (ATF). Full due diligence was completed before a final grant offer letter was awarded to Britishvolt.

Funding was designed so that agreed milestones had to be achieved for the company to drawdown any funds.  These milestones were not met and therefore no ATF funds were paid to Britishvolt.

We want to ensure the UK remains one of the best locations in the world for automotive manufacturing as we transition to electric vehicles. That includes investing record sums in battery R&D – such as the recent announcement of £211 million into the Faraday Battery Challenge, which will help deliver 100,000 jobs in battery gigafactories and the battery supply chain by 2040.


Written Question
Energy: Meters
Thursday 2nd February 2023

Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to ban the forced use of gas and electricity prepayment meters.

Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Government expects energy suppliers to treat their customers fairly and reasonably, while doing all they can to support consumers struggling to pay their bills.

As part of Government’s efforts to increase transparency around prepayment meter installations, it has announced a five-point plan. My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State has written to energy suppliers calling on them voluntarily to stop the practice of forcibly installing prepayment meters. He has also called on suppliers to make greater effort to help the most vulnerable, such as offers of additional credit, debt forgiveness or tools such as debt advice.


Written Question
Private Rented Housing: Energy
Wednesday 25th January 2023

Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask His Majesty's Government when they will respond to the improving the energy performance of privately rented homes consultation, which ran from 30 September 2020 to 8 January 2021.

Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Government has carefully analysed the responses received and is considering how best to ensure the cost relating to energy efficiency improvement are fair and proportionate to landlords and tenants. The Government will publish a response in due course.


Written Question
Fracking: Lancashire
Thursday 3rd November 2022

Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that fracking caused an earthquake every day that the site at Preston New Road, Lancashire, was in operation.

Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Government has confirmed that it is adopting a presumption against issuing any further hydraulic fracturing consents. This position, an effective moratorium, will be maintained until compelling new evidence is provided which addresses concerns around the prediction and management of induced seismicity.


Written Question
Fracking: Public Consultation
Thursday 3rd November 2022

Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to allow local communities to veto future plans for fracking in their area.

Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

As the Government has confirmed that it will adopt a presumption against issuing further hydraulic fracturing consents, the Government will not be taking forward a public consultation on the approach to local support at this time.


Written Question
Power Failures
Monday 20th June 2022

Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what contingency plans they have in place in the event of energy blackouts in the UK in the forthcoming winter.

Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

Great Britain has one of the most reliable energy systems in the world.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy works closely with network operators, the regulator Ofgem and other stakeholders to ensure that the appropriate technical measures are able to be deployed throughout the year, to ensure the integrity of the energy system.


Written Question
Listed Buildings: Energy
Monday 24th January 2022

Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what exemptions will be granted for listed accommodation unsuitable for updating to modern energy efficiency standards for (1) homes, and (2) rental properties, in England.

Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

Privately rented listed buildings and those in conservation areas may apply for an exemption from the legal requirement for an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC). In these cases, they would be out of scope of Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard Regulations.

The Department consulted last year on whether to require an EPC for listed buildings and those in a conservation area. A Government Response will be published in due course.


Written Question
Heating
Thursday 2nd September 2021

Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - 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 appropriate heat source to replace redundant gas boilers with; and if such a heat source includes heat pumps, what plans they have to make these more (1) available, (2) practical, (3) efficient, and (4) cost-effective.

Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

Achieving net zero carbon emissions will require almost all UK homes to be supplied with low-carbon heating by 2050. Electrification through heat pumps and hydrogen both offer potential pathways to achieve heat decarbonisation, supported by other potential solutions including biogas and heat networks, and we expect 2050 to include a mix of these technologies. Currently, electrification of heat is the only pathway to net zero that has been proven to work at scale in buildings. That is why we have committed to grow the heat pump market to 600,000 installations a year by 2028.

This commitment provides a clear long-term signal to industry on the expected scale of heat pump deployment, providing certainty and enabling investment. The Government is also undertaking a comprehensive package of measures to support the transition, including targeted public investment, proposals for regulation to decarbonise buildings off the gas grid, and establishing a new market-based mechanism. The full package of measures will be set out in our forthcoming Heat and Buildings Strategy. Additionally, the Government is currently trialling solutions to help overcome barriers to heat pump deployment as part of the £14.6 million Electrification of Heat Demonstration Project, which seeks to demonstrate the feasibility of a mass rollout of the technology by installing heat pumps in a representative sample of homes across the UK.

The above actions by industry and the Government will help to build supply chains and develop a more cost-effective heat pump offer for consumers.


Written Question
Boilers
Thursday 2nd September 2021

Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to ban gas boilers, and over what timescale.

Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

In order to achieve net zero emissions, we will have to transition completely away from traditional natural gas boilers for heating homes on the gas grid.

There are a number of options with the potential to play an important role in decarbonising heat, including heat networks, heat pumps, hydrogen and biogas.

The Government is planning to publish a Heat and Buildings Strategy in due course, which will set out the actions we will take for reducing emissions from buildings.


Written Question
Coronavirus: Vaccination
Thursday 4th February 2021

Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to reports of the effectiveness of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine on new variants of COVID-19, what assessment they have made of the efficacy of the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine in tackling the new strains of the virus; and when results of any such assessment will be published.

Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The UK Government is currently undertaking its own laboratory work as a priority to better understand the impact of the new variants on the vaccines currently in deployment, in particular the risk of vaccine resistance.

We continue to take a portfolio-based approach that monitors the landscape of coronavirus vaccine development and remain confident that the three vaccines (Pfizer/BioNTech, Oxford University/AstraZeneca and Moderna) we have purchased which have been authorised by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency will continue to be effective against the virus.

Even though the first three vaccines have been proven to be effective, we must continue to explore every avenue available to us.