Asked by: Christopher Pincher (Independent - Tamworth)
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 made an assessment of the effectiveness of the sustainable warmth scheme competition held in 2021; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of repeating the competition for local authorities to win funds to help insulate energy inefficient homes in 2023.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Sustainable Warmth projects from 2021 are currently in delivery and Local Authorities (LAs) have until 31 March 2023 to complete these projects. The Government monitors delivery through monthly reporting scheme delivery data. Once the scheme concludes, the Government will carry out an evaluation of its impact.
The Sustainable Warmth competition was given a finite period for delivery and will not be repeated in the same form for 2023. Several policies are available enabling LAs to access funding for energy efficiency beyond March 2023 including £1.5bn through the Home Upgrade Grant and Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund. The Energy Company Obligation scheme also allows LAs to refer households to energy suppliers for energy efficiency upgrades.
Asked by: Christopher Pincher (Independent - Tamworth)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 20 October 2022 to Question 62806 on Cannabis: Medical Treatments, with reference to the Government's Life Sciences Vision, published 6 July 2021, if he will make an assessment of the compatibility of the decision not to assess the potential economic merits of establishing a British-based medical cannabis industry with the UK's aspiration to be the world leader for the development, testing, access and uptake of new and innovative treatments and technologies; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by George Freeman
In developing the UK's Life Science Vision we have conducted wide engagement across the sector, including those involved with a wide range of therapeutic modalities, to understand matters of regulation, access and uptake of new products.
The Government is confident that it’s broad based strategy, focussed on improving the competitiveness of every aspect of the UK Life Science environment, is the correct approach, and will enhance the UK’s competitiveness across all therapeutic modalities.
As part of BEIS work on regulation for innovation we are reviewing the TIGRR report and will be continuing delivery plans in due course.
Asked by: Christopher Pincher (Independent - Tamworth)
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 (a) adequacy of the UK's oil refining capacity and (b) potential opportunities for refining (i) bio oils and (ii) other greener products.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The UK remains well-supplied from a diverse range of sources and refining capacity is assessed as adequate. UK demand for diesel is met by a combination of domestic production and imports. There is an oversupply of petrol and the UK is a net exporter. BEIS continually monitors the fuel supply market to remain aware of current supply levels and publishes weekly national average forecourt stock levels. All UK refinery operators are in the process of exploring opportunities to move to greener products and transition towards the Government’s net zero target.
Asked by: Christopher Pincher (Independent - Tamworth)
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 (a) the implications for his policies of rising energy costs for park homes and (b) the potential merits of providing support for park home residents with installing insulation.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government has announced an unprecedented package of support to help households with the cost of living crisis. This includes support of £400 for energy bills for households who do not have a domestic electricity meter or a direct relationship with an energy supplier, such as park home residents. The Government is working with a range of organisations to finalise the details of the Alternative Funding and have the process up and running for applications this winter. Park homes are eligible for support with insulation from the Energy Company Obligation and Sustainable Warmth scheme.
Asked by: Christopher Pincher (Independent - Tamworth)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to his Department's policy paper entitled Life Science Vision, published on 6 July 2021, what discussions he has had with representatives of the domestic medical cannabis sector on the speed of uptake of proven products and potential barriers to the spread of new technologies.
Answered by George Freeman
We developed the Life Sciences Vision with wide engagement across the sector, including those involved with a wide range of therapeutic modalities. As part of this we considered carefully matters of regulation, access and uptake of new products – but not specifically with medicinal cannabis producers. We were careful to consider wider work on this issue, including the Taskforce on Innovation, Growth and Regulatory Reform report.
Asked by: Christopher Pincher (Independent - Tamworth)
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 potential economic merits of establishing a British-based medical cannabis industry; and if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of that industry on (a) job creation, (b) research and development and (c) revenue generation.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
The Government have no plans to assess the potential economic merits of establishing a British-based medical cannabis industry. We will continue to support the Life Science sector through delivery of the Life Science Vision.