Asked by: Caroline Flint (Labour - Don Valley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much funding from the public purse is planned to be allocated on installing or subsidising (a) uni-directional and (b) bi-directional charge points for electric vehicles within the UK by 2025.
Answered by Jesse Norman
To date, the Government’s Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) has provided more than £100 million to support the installation of uni-directional chargepoints. The Department has not made an estimation of the cost and the number of uni-directional chargepoints that will be installed in the UK by 2025.
As announced at Budget 2017, a new £400m electric car Charging Infrastructure Investment Fund (£200m new Government investment to be matched by private investors) will accelerate the roll-out of charging infrastructure by providing access to finance to companies that deliver chargepoints.
The Government recognises that Vehicle to Grid (bi-directional) charging capability could become an important service for our energy system, but is still at a relatively early stage of development. OLEV and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy are providing funding of £20 million for innovative projects that develop future Vehicle to Grid products, services and knowledge. The outcome of these projects will help inform future development of bi-directional charging.
Asked by: Caroline Flint (Labour - Don Valley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the number of (a) uni- directional and (b) bi-directional charge points for electric vehicles which are planned to be installed within the UK by 2025.
Answered by Jesse Norman
To date, the Government’s Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) has provided more than £100 million to support the installation of uni-directional chargepoints. The Department has not made an estimation of the cost and the number of uni-directional chargepoints that will be installed in the UK by 2025.
As announced at Budget 2017, a new £400m electric car Charging Infrastructure Investment Fund (£200m new Government investment to be matched by private investors) will accelerate the roll-out of charging infrastructure by providing access to finance to companies that deliver chargepoints.
The Government recognises that Vehicle to Grid (bi-directional) charging capability could become an important service for our energy system, but is still at a relatively early stage of development. OLEV and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy are providing funding of £20 million for innovative projects that develop future Vehicle to Grid products, services and knowledge. The outcome of these projects will help inform future development of bi-directional charging.
Asked by: Caroline Flint (Labour - Don Valley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Government is assessing the comprehensiveness and effectiveness of the EU template for public country-by-country reporting.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Knowing who ultimately owns and controls a company is a crucial part of the global fight against corruption, money laundering and terrorist financing. The UK is leading by example and our freely accessible public register of company beneficial ownership went live in June 2016.
Last year, the UK co-launched a ground breaking new initiative with the EU G5 for the systematic exchange of beneficial ownership information. Since launching the initiative, over 50 countries, including all of the Crown Dependencies and relevant Overseas Territories, have signed up.
Building on the success of that multilateral approach, the UK is now pushing for multilateral agreement on a model of public country-by-country reporting (CBCR).
It is important that there is a level of international support and co-ordination that leads to both domestic and foreign headquartered groups being required to report information for a comprehensive range of countries in which they operate.
That is necessary to ensure that public CBCR meets its objective and to avoid the initiative distorting business decisions on their group structure and headquarter location.
The UK is, as part of this, engaging constructively with the European Commission proposal for public CBCR.
That includes the high-level aims of the Directive, and the more detailed aspects of the Directive that are alluded to in the question, on which discussions are still ongoing.
Asked by: Caroline Flint (Labour - Don Valley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the number of countries the Government would need to support any multilateral agreement on public country-by-country reporting for the purposes of implementation of paragraph 17 (6) of Schedule 19 of the Finance Act 2016; and what steps he is taking to secure the support of that number of countries.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Knowing who ultimately owns and controls a company is a crucial part of the global fight against corruption, money laundering and terrorist financing. The UK is leading by example and our freely accessible public register of company beneficial ownership went live in June 2016.
Last year, the UK co-launched a ground breaking new initiative with the EU G5 for the systematic exchange of beneficial ownership information. Since launching the initiative, over 50 countries, including all of the Crown Dependencies and relevant Overseas Territories, have signed up.
Building on the success of that multilateral approach, the UK is now pushing for multilateral agreement on a model of public country-by-country reporting (CBCR).
It is important that there is a level of international support and co-ordination that leads to both domestic and foreign headquartered groups being required to report information for a comprehensive range of countries in which they operate.
That is necessary to ensure that public CBCR meets its objective and to avoid the initiative distorting business decisions on their group structure and headquarter location.
The UK is, as part of this, engaging constructively with the European Commission proposal for public CBCR.
That includes the high-level aims of the Directive, and the more detailed aspects of the Directive that are alluded to in the question, on which discussions are still ongoing.
Asked by: Caroline Flint (Labour - Don Valley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to issue guidance to business on the EU definition of commercially sensitive information for the purposes of the use of that term in the final form of Directive 2013/34EU on public country-by-country reporting.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Knowing who ultimately owns and controls a company is a crucial part of the global fight against corruption, money laundering and terrorist financing. The UK is leading by example and our freely accessible public register of company beneficial ownership went live in June 2016.
Last year, the UK co-launched a ground breaking new initiative with the EU G5 for the systematic exchange of beneficial ownership information. Since launching the initiative, over 50 countries, including all of the Crown Dependencies and relevant Overseas Territories, have signed up.
Building on the success of that multilateral approach, the UK is now pushing for multilateral agreement on a model of public country-by-country reporting (CBCR).
It is important that there is a level of international support and co-ordination that leads to both domestic and foreign headquartered groups being required to report information for a comprehensive range of countries in which they operate.
That is necessary to ensure that public CBCR meets its objective and to avoid the initiative distorting business decisions on their group structure and headquarter location.
The UK is, as part of this, engaging constructively with the European Commission proposal for public CBCR.
That includes the high-level aims of the Directive, and the more detailed aspects of the Directive that are alluded to in the question, on which discussions are still ongoing.
Asked by: Caroline Flint (Labour - Don Valley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of automatic exchange of information on beneficial ownership as a means of introducing country-by-country reporting; and what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of such automatic exchange of information for securing a multilateral agreement to introduce public country-by-country reporting.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Knowing who ultimately owns and controls a company is a crucial part of the global fight against corruption, money laundering and terrorist financing. The UK is leading by example and our freely accessible public register of company beneficial ownership went live in June 2016.
Last year, the UK co-launched a ground breaking new initiative with the EU G5 for the systematic exchange of beneficial ownership information. Since launching the initiative, over 50 countries, including all of the Crown Dependencies and relevant Overseas Territories, have signed up.
Building on the success of that multilateral approach, the UK is now pushing for multilateral agreement on a model of public country-by-country reporting (CBCR).
It is important that there is a level of international support and co-ordination that leads to both domestic and foreign headquartered groups being required to report information for a comprehensive range of countries in which they operate.
That is necessary to ensure that public CBCR meets its objective and to avoid the initiative distorting business decisions on their group structure and headquarter location.
The UK is, as part of this, engaging constructively with the European Commission proposal for public CBCR.
That includes the high-level aims of the Directive, and the more detailed aspects of the Directive that are alluded to in the question, on which discussions are still ongoing.
Asked by: Caroline Flint (Labour - Don Valley)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the expected tonnage of the UK steel pipeline as a result of public sector procurement in each of the next three years.
Answered by Claire Perry
The Government has published details of upcoming steel requirements for national infrastructure projects:
The data shows how the government plans to use three million tonnes of steel until 2020 on infrastructure projects such as High Speed 2 (HS2), the construction of Hinkley Point, and the maintenance and upgrading of the UK’s motorway network. This steel-specific pipeline complements the National Infrastructure and Construction Pipeline, which set out over £500 billion worth of planned private and public investment. However a breakdown of expected steel requirements is not available on a year by year basis.
Asked by: Caroline Flint (Labour - Don Valley)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether pipeline data will be made available to UK steel producers who may wish to meet steel requirements for High Speed 2; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Claire Perry
All of the procurement details specifically for HS2’s current and future pipeline of direct contracts are publically available via the HS2 Contract Opportunities Table, on the HS2 website. The HS2 Contracts Opportunity Table is a live document which is updated weekly, identifying the procurement status for each contract, including contact details to facilitate dialogue with potential bidders.
Additionally, this shows where organisations have been shortlisted and awarded, ensuring suppliers are appropriately informed regarding procurement and the programmes, and enabling sub Tier 1 contractors a direct access route into organisations that have been awarded work on the HS2 programme.
This level of detail builds upon the Government’s published details of upcoming steel requirements for national infrastructure projects which shows how the Government plans to use three million tonnes of steel until 2020 on infrastructure projects such as High Speed 2 (HS2), the construction of Hinkley Point, and the maintenance and upgrading of the UK’s motorway network. This steel-specific pipeline complements the National Infrastructure and Construction Pipeline, which set out over £500 billion worth of planned private and public investment.
Asked by: Caroline Flint (Labour - Don Valley)
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 is taking to encourage UK companies to buy British steel.
Answered by Claire Perry
We have commissioned independent research into future market opportunities for UK steel, which has involved substantial dialogue with existing and potential steel consumers across the whole of the UK. We are actively encouraging the UK steel sector to identify the capabilities it will need to act on the findings, and use this information to ensure they are well placed to plan and bid for future work.
This is further complemented by the Government publishing details of upcoming steel requirements for national infrastructure projects which shows how the government plans to use three million tonnes of steel until 2020 on infrastructure projects such as High Speed 2 (HS2), the construction of Hinkley Point, and the maintenance and upgrading of the UK’s motorway network. This steel-specific pipeline further builds upon the National Infrastructure and Construction Pipeline, which set out over £500 billion worth of planned private and public investment; both which enable UK companies to anticipate material demand.
Asked by: Caroline Flint (Labour - Don Valley)
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 how much steel required for the construction of High Speed 2 will be sourced in the UK.
Answered by Claire Perry
It is anticipated that around two million tonnes of steel will be used across the HS2 programme. Last December, the Government issued updated guidance to public sector contracting authorities on how to ensure that they take full account of the value provided by UK steel producers when conducting their procurement activities.
To maximise British involvement in supply chain opportunities HS2 has engaged extensively with businesses of all sizes from a diverse range of sectors and across the UK; also working closely with UK Steel, British Constructional Steel Association, the Galvanisers Association and the Confederation of British Metalforming.
HS2 Ltd’s recently announced successful Main Works Contractor Tenderers have all confirmed they will comply with works information and further the requirements and spirit of HM Government Procurement Guidance on steel. HS2 will continue to engage with any British business that is interested in supporting its supply chain, throughout the lifetime of the programme.
This level of detail builds upon the work this Government has achieved in publishing details of upcoming steel requirements for national infrastructure projects which shows how the Government plans to use three million tonnes of steel until 2020 on infrastructure projects such as High Speed 2 (HS2), the construction of Hinkley Point, and the maintenance and upgrading of the UK’s motorway network. This steel-specific pipeline complements the National Infrastructure and Construction Pipeline, which set out over £500 billion worth of planned private and public investment.