Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate his Department has made of the cost of decarbonising the UK steel sector; and what plans his Department has to support that project.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
Decarbonising UK industry is a core part of the Government’s ambitious plan for the green industrial revolution. The Industrial Decarbonisation Strategy published on 17 March, commits to work with the Steel Council to consider the implications of the recommendation of the Climate Change Committee to ‘set targets for ore-based steelmaking to reach near-zero emissions by 2035’.
Hydrogen, electrification, and carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS) are the main technological options being examined as part of this process. The industry decarbonisation pathways technical annex of the strategy (pg. 153-155) presents two possible options for the decarbonisation of the iron and steel industry: Our wide-ranging support also includes: providing over £500m in recent years to help with the costs of energy; a £315m Industrial Energy Transformation Fund, which aims to support businesses with high energy use to cut their bills and reduce carbon emission; and our £250m Clean Steel Fund that will support the decarbonisation of the steel sector.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has plans for the Net Zero Strategy to include an assessment of the steps required to decarbonise the UK steel industry.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
Decarbonising UK industry is a core part of the Government’s ambitious plan for the green industrial revolution. The Industrial Decarbonisation Strategy published on 17 March, commits to work with the Steel Council to consider the implications of the recommendation of the Climate Change Committee to ‘set targets for ore-based steelmaking to reach near-zero emissions by 2035’.
Hydrogen, electrification, and carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS) are the main technological options being examined as part of this process. The industry decarbonisation pathways technical annex of the strategy (pg. 153-155) presents two possible options for the decarbonisation of the iron and steel industry: Our wide-ranging support also includes: providing over £500m in recent years to help with the costs of energy; a £315m Industrial Energy Transformation Fund, which aims to support businesses with high energy use to cut their bills and reduce carbon emission; and our £250m Clean Steel Fund that will support the decarbonisation of the steel sector.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will provide further guidance to businesses in the personal care sector on the meaning of the advice to consider providing shorter, more basic treatments as part of the covid-19 secure guidance.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Safer Working guidance on close contact services was updated on 30 March ahead of reopening on Step 2. Extended treatments have not been banned. Since July 2020, the guidance has made clear that the personal care sector should keep appointments shorter as best practice and consider how the length of the appointment could be minimised to reduce the risk of transmission. We expect the personal care sector to continue to use their discretion and experience.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he undertook an equalities impact assessment before publishing the guidance to businesses in the personal care sector on providing shorter, more basic treatments as part of the covid-19 secure guidance.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Safer Working guidance was developed by BEIS with input from firms, unions, industry bodies and the devolved administrations in Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland, and in consultation with Public Health England and the Health and Safety Executive. An equalities impact assessment was undertaken when the guidance was first published in May 2020. It has been kept under constant review and updated regularly.
Since July 2020, the guidance has made clear that the personal care sector should keep appointments shorter as best practice and consider how the length of the appointment could be minimised to reduce the risk of transmission. We expect the personal care sector to continue to use their discretion and experience.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many Additional Restrictions grants have been issued by each local authority in England.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) is a discretionary scheme aimed at supporting businesses, including those that have not been mandated to close but have had their trade adversely affected by the nationalised restrictions. At Budget on 3 March, my Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer announced an additional £425 million will be made available via the ARG, meaning that more than £2 billion has been made available to Local Authorities since November 2020.
All data on Government allocations and Local Authority payments of the ARG is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-grant-funding-local-authority-payments-to-small-and-medium-businesses.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the effect on businesses of the differences in criteria used by local authorities to determine applications for the Additional Restrictions Grant.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) provides Local Authorities with discretionary funding to enable them to support businesses including those not mandated to close, but which have had their trade affected by the restrictions that have been put in place to tackle Covid-19 and save lives.
The flexibility of the ARG allows Local Authorities to provide support that suits their local area, to determine how much funding to provide to businesses and exactly which businesses to target. The scheme aims to support businesses when most needed, and Local Authorities should use this funding as quickly as possible. We are working closely with Local Authorities to ensure that grants are delivered swiftly to businesses in scope of this funding.
All data on Government allocations and Local Authority payments of the ARG is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-grant-funding-local-authority-payments-to-small-and-medium-businesses.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with businesses operating in the hospitality sector on the level of economic support needed by that sector since the covid-19 lockdown was announced in January 2021.
Answered by Paul Scully
I meet with representatives from across the hospitality sector on a weekly basis to discuss the impact of COVID-19 restrictions on their businesses and the Government’s package of business support.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will work with businesses in the hospitality industry to establish a strategy to ensure businesses can recover after the January 2021 covid-19 lockdown.
Answered by Paul Scully
I recognise the important role the hospitality sector as an economic driver and as the heart of communities up and down the country. While the Government is committed to supporting the sector until the vaccines are rolled out and businesses can open without restrictions, I am also working with the sector as we plan for the longer-term recovery.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of banning firework sales to discourage private gatherings during bonfire season whilst the covid-19 outbreak remains ongoing.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government does not have any plans to ban the sale of fireworks, but people must be careful to safely use fireworks at home and follow their instructions for use. People must follow the coronavirus restrictions in their local area. Information on local COVID alert levels across the UK can be found on the GOV.UK website.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the PUMP IT UP! campaign's recommendations on large-scale heat pump projects.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
The Pump It Up campaign recommends that Government commits to a re-think of the future support it makes available to large-scale heat pump projects.
A new allocation of Tarriff Guarantees has recently opened on the Non-Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI), supporting larger projects, including large scale ground source heat pumps>100kWth. The Non-Domestic RHI will close to new applicants on the 31st of March 2021 and we have consulted on a new scheme, the Clean Heat Grant, which with a proposed cap on the capacity of eligible appliances at 45kW will provide targeted support?to consumers and small businesses?for heat pumps?and some limited biomass?from?April 2022. This is backed by £100?million?of Exchequer funding as announced in the 2020 Budget, and will be open for two years.
The Government expects several large-scale heat pump projects to receive financial support through its other schemes, including the Green Heat Network Scheme, which BEIS will consult on later in the year, and our Industrial Energy Transformation Fund, which is open to large heat pumps providing process heat. Additionally, in the Summer Economic Update, we announced £1 billion funding over the next year to help public sector buildings through the installation of energy efficiency and low carbon heat measures, which will also support the deployment of large scale heat pumps.