Asked by: Cherilyn Mackrory (Conservative - Truro and Falmouth)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what progress his Department has made on the implementation of the Home Shipbuilding Credit Guarantee Scheme.
Answered by Lee Rowley
Following intensive development work and stakeholder engagement over the past few months, the Department is now finalising the scheme design, and subject to final business case approvals we intend to launch the scheme soon.
Asked by: Cherilyn Mackrory (Conservative - Truro and Falmouth)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when his Department plans to publish the UK’s critical minerals list.
Answered by Greg Hands
It has not proved possible to respond to my hon. Friend in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Cherilyn Mackrory (Conservative - Truro and Falmouth)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether Local Authorities have discretion not to award grants to (a) holiday lets and (b) other businesses that cannot explicitly prove that they have been directly financially impacted by the Omicron variant.
Answered by Paul Scully
Holiday accommodation businesses are eligible for the Omicron Hospitality and Leisure Grant (OHLG) scheme provided they can evidence they are trading as a business and are listed on the business rates register. Second homeowners not trading as a business cannot claim a grant of any amount. Where a Local Authorities determines that a business is not trading they will not be eligible for a grant. This is consistent with steps announced by Government on 14 January 2022, which mean that owners of second homes who abuse a tax loophole by claiming their often-empty properties are holiday lets will be forced to pay their fair share of tax under tough new measures due to be introduced from April 2023.
Local Authorities have the discretion to use Additional Restrictions Grants (ARG) funding to support businesses in the way that best meets local economic need, in line with the scheme guidance. Local Authorities are encouraged to focus ARG support on businesses who have been severely impacted by reduced business activity due to the spread of the Omicron variant. The guidance does not mandate specific evidence to determine if a business has been severely impacted by Omicron. It is for Local Authorities to issue grants at their discretion, based on local decision making.
The guidance for both OHLG and ARG schemes can be found here.
Asked by: Cherilyn Mackrory (Conservative - Truro and Falmouth)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps the Government has taken to develop (a) upstream, (b) midstream and (c) downstream sections of the critical minerals supply chain in the UK.
Answered by Greg Hands
Upstream, midstream and downstream sections of the critical minerals supply chain have all been – and will continue to be – supported through a number of Government initiatives. For example, the 10 Point Plan announced £500 million to support the electrification of vehicles and their supply chains, and other strategically important technologies including critical mineral processing, through the Automotive Transformation Fund. Other specific examples of the UK’s extensive work in this area include the Driving the Electric Revolution Challenge, which is investing £80 million in electrification technologies. This includes projects relating to the recovery and recycling of Rare Earth Elements, and activities to facilitate the development of Rare Earth Element magnet supply chains in the UK.
Going forward, the Government will publish a UK Critical Minerals Strategy in 2022, setting out our approach to securing the technology-critical minerals and metals. Our stated aims include to ensure the UK has a reliable supply of critical minerals and metals, and to establish an enabling environment for growing the sector in the UK.
Asked by: Cherilyn Mackrory (Conservative - Truro and Falmouth)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the Government is taking steps to simplify the mineral rights system within the UK.
Answered by Greg Hands
Apart from oil, gas, coal, gold and silver, the state does not own mineral rights in the UK. The government does not have any current plans to amend the existing process of securing mineral rights, but also notes that this is a devolved matter, with different regulations in force in Northern Ireland as compared with other parts of the Union.
As part of our engagement activity supporting the development of our Critical Minerals Strategy, announced in the Net Zero Strategy, we will seek views from stakeholders on the effects of the current mineral rights system.
Asked by: Cherilyn Mackrory (Conservative - Truro and Falmouth)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment the Government has made of the potential for domestic production of lithium.
Answered by Greg Hands
In May 2020, the British Geological Survey published “The potential for lithium in the UK” as part of its Raw Materials for Decarbonisation series. It summarises previous British Geological Survey activity in the UK, as well as more recent activity by Cornish Lithium Ltd, British Lithium Ltd and the Li4UK project, each of which has received Government support.
The report is available here:
https://www2.bgs.ac.uk/mineralsuk/download/cmp/lithium.pdf.
As we set out in our Net Zero Strategy published earlier this year, we will publish a UK Critical Minerals strategy in 2022, and aim to establish an enabling environment for growing the sector in the UK. We are also establishing a Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre to provide robust, dynamic analysis on stocks and flows to guide our decision-making on critical minerals such as lithium.
Asked by: Cherilyn Mackrory (Conservative - Truro and Falmouth)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the Government’s assessment of lithium demand will be to meet electric car battery production in the UK by 2030.
Answered by Greg Hands
In December 2020, the Faraday Institution published issue 6 of its Faraday Insights series, focused on Lithium, Cobalt and Nickel. It has developed a model that considers the role that differing battery chemistries and mineral intensities may have in overall demand for lithium and other battery materials.
The report is available here: https://faraday.ac.uk/get/insight-6/.