Asked by: Antoinette Sandbach (Liberal Democrat - Eddisbury)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish all the steps taken by the Government to mitigate the effects of the UK leaving the EU without a deal since 24 July 2019.
Answered by Simon Hart - Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury (Chief Whip)
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Antoinette Sandbach (Liberal Democrat - Eddisbury)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what effects of the UK leaving the EU without a deal cannot be mitigated; and what assessment he has made of the potential impact on the UK of those unmitigated effects.
Answered by Simon Hart - Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury (Chief Whip)
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Antoinette Sandbach (Liberal Democrat - Eddisbury)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish the (a) most up-to-date version of the 1 August 2019 Operation Yellowhammer document and (b) the dates on which each version of that document was circulated; what the distribution list is for that document; and for what reasons the assumptions in each version changed.
Answered by Simon Hart - Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury (Chief Whip)
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Antoinette Sandbach (Liberal Democrat - Eddisbury)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment has been made of the potential effect on the domestic fuel industry of the UK leaving the EU without a deal; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
It has not proved possible to respond to my hon. Friend in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Antoinette Sandbach (Liberal Democrat - Eddisbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on congestion in Kent of (a) 50 per cent and (b) 85 per cent of HGVs not being ready for French customs in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
An assessment of potential traffic disruption in Kent as a result of EU Member State checks has been produced, under a range of different assumptions for trader readiness. These have been shared with relevant partners including the Kent Resilience Forum, in order to support their preparation work.
There are already well progressed plans in place to manage any traffic disruption in Kent in the event of a no-deal scenario. Operation Brock has been developed with the Kent Resilience Forum to ensure that the M20 will be kept open and traffic will continue to flow in both directions at times of cross-Channel disruption.
If hauliers have the correct documentation, there should be no disruption at the UK-France border, although this will in part depend on how the French border authorities implement checks. Government is implementing a multi-channel communications campaign to ensure hauliers are able to operate and trade can continue to move as freely as possible between the UK and Europe. Please note the, ‘Transporting goods between the UK and EU in a no-deal Brexit: guidance for hauliers’ has been published today and is available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/transporting-goods-between-the-uk-and-eu-in-a-no-deal-brexit-guidance-for-hauliers
Asked by: Antoinette Sandbach (Liberal Democrat - Eddisbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the potential effect on the supply chains for medicines and medical supplies of the UK leaving the EU without a deal; what steps he is taking to protect ongoing supplies of medicines and medical supplies; and if he will update the dear colleague letter of the 27 June 2019 entitled No deal Brexit contingency planning assumptions for continuity of supply of medicines and medical products.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
As part of a responsible Government, the Department is doing everything appropriate to prepare for European Union exit. We want to reassure patients that we should be fully prepared for leaving on 31 October, and that our plans should ensure the supply of medicines and medical products remains uninterrupted when we leave the EU.
The Department is implementing a multi-layered approach, which consists of stockpiling where possible, securing freight capacity, changing or clarifying regulatory requirements, procuring additional warehousing, working closely with industry to improve trader readiness and putting in place the National Supply Disruption Response to manage potential shortages. This should ensure the continuity of supply of medicines and medical products following EU exit.
We continue to engage with stakeholders and update our communications regularly. We are looking to update Members shortly.
Asked by: Antoinette Sandbach (Liberal Democrat - Eddisbury)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he will take to ensure that the decarbonisation of the power sector continues in line with the UK’s long term climate change targets.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
This Government has been successful in decarbonising the power sector, as demonstrated by the fact that low-carbon technologies now provide over 50% of our power. As a result, the carbon intensity of the power sector has nearly halved over recent years, from 450g CO2/kWh in 2010 to 230g CO2/kWh in 2017.
The Clean Growth Strategy set out our plans to build on our progress in decarbonising the power sector, while looking further across the whole of the economy and the country. It includes ambitious proposals on housing, business, transport, the natural environment and green finance, with actions for departments across Whitehall. We have also we placed Clean Growth at the heart of our Industrial Strategy and made it one of four Grand Challenges to show our commitment to reduce our emissions whilst driving cleaner economic growth.
Asked by: Antoinette Sandbach (Liberal Democrat - Eddisbury)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to ensure a coordinated response across Government on tackling climate change.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
Climate change is one of the most urgent and pressing challenges we face today, and tackling it is a cross-government priority.
The Clean Growth Inter-Ministerial Group, which brings together ministers from across government, is responsible for overseeing the implementation of the Clean Growth Strategy and driving ambitious clean growth, decarbonisation and wider environmental policies.
Asked by: Antoinette Sandbach (Liberal Democrat - Eddisbury)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the potential economic benefits of a large-scale investment programme to improve the energy efficiency of domestic buildings.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
Investment in energy efficiency brings a wide range of economic benefits to households, businesses, society and the energy system as a whole. More efficient homes mean lower energy bills and increased comfort for occupants, the annual running costs of a Band C rated home are £270 lower than the average Band D rated home and £650 lower than the average Band E rated home. There are also benefits through the improved occupant health, the Building Research Establishment has estimated that the cost of cold and damp homes to the NHS is approximately £760 million per year. The energy efficiency industry forms the largest group within the low carbon and renewable energy sector and the UK’s energy efficient product group has a turnover of over £20.7 billion and employs over 140,000 full time equivalents. Energy efficiency can also play a crucial role in meeting our carbon targets at least cost, by helping reduce pressure on energy system as we move towards low carbon electricity and heat. This is why, in the Clean Growth Strategy, we set out our aspiration that as many homes as possible should be Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) Band C by 2035, where practical, cost-effective and affordable.
Asked by: Antoinette Sandbach (Liberal Democrat - Eddisbury)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that (a) delays to and (b) cancellations of nuclear power station developments does not affect the Government's ability to meet its 2050 climate change targets.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 27 June, a new, legally binding target to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 came into force. This will require ambitious action across the economy building on our Clean Growth Strategy. Whether it is through our global offshore wind industry, our leadership on green finance, or our unrivalled research base leading the charge on electric vehicles, we are showing the economic benefits of how cutting emissions can help to grow our economy.
In the power sector, this will mean significant expansion in low carbon electricity generation, with important roles for renewables, carbon capture usage and storage, and nuclear power. We are already taking action to deliver this through the offshore wind sector deal, a commitment to bi-annual allocation of Contracts for Difference for renewable electricity generation with the third allocation round launched on 29 May, the nuclear sector deal, our review of the viability of a Regulated Asset Base (RAB) funding model for new nuclear power stations, and the CCUS action plan. The planned Energy White Paper will set out more detail on the policy framework that supports our ambitions.