Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
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 (a) how many prepayment energy meters there are in (i) St Helens and (ii) Merseyside and (b) what proportion of those are in households.
Answered by Graham Stuart
BEIS produced a one-off publication in March 2019 of annual prepayment meter electricity statistics for Great Britain by country, English regions and local authority. These statistics cover electricity prepayment meters which have a domestic meter profile in 2017.
Data on regional variation of payment method (prepayment, direct debit or credit) for domestic standard electricity customers, domestic economy 7 electricity customers and domestic gas customers is published in Quarterly Energy Prices table 2.4.2, table 2.4.3 and table 2.5.2.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many businesses in St Helens have received the Government energy subsidy.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Energy Bill Relief Scheme (EBRS) provides a discount on the wholesale element of gas and electricity bills to ensure that all eligible small businesses that receive their energy from licensed suppliers, are protected from high energy costs over the winter period. The EBRS discount is applied directly to the energy bills of eligible businesses by their energy providers. Therefore the Government does not currently have a breakdown of support received by location.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
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 effect of rising energy prices on the number of households in fuel poverty in (a) St Helens North constituency, (b) St Helens Metropolitan Borough and (c) the Liverpool City Region.
Answered by Greg Hands
The estimated projections for fuel poverty in England in 2022 can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/annual-fuel-poverty-statistics-report-2022.
The latest subregional statistics are for 2020, and can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/sub-regional-fuel-poverty-2022.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
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 help (a) the UK glass industry and (b) other energy-intensive industries meet the challenges of rising wholesale energy costs.
Answered by Greg Hands
The Government recognises this is a worrying time for businesses facing pressures due to the significant increases in global gas prices and its impact on electricity and carbon prices.
My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State has met representatives of the UK’s high energy-using sectors including the glass industry in the past months in order to understand the impact on their business, and extensive engagement with industry continues across government at both a ministerial and official level. The Government’s priorities are to ensure costs can be managed and supplies of energy are maintained.
Many high energy-using businesses will have hedging strategies in place which help to shield them from exposure to the gas and electricity price rises, while some may be more reliant on current market prices.
To help ensure our economy remains strong and competitive, between 2013 and 2020, total relief to energy intensive industries for electricity policy costs of over £2billion was provided. This helped over 250 businesses across the UK, including 12 glass companies. In 2020 alone, the Government provided relief to Employment Investment Initiatives for electricity policy costs worth over £470million.
In 2018, the Government announced £315 million of funding for the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund, which will support businesses with high energy use to cut their bills until 2024.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment he has made of the potential effect of the prospective removal of the Energy Company Obligation scheme on levels of (a) fuel poverty and (b) domestic energy efficiency in (i) St Helens North constituency, (ii) the North West and (iii) England.
Answered by Greg Hands
The Government keeps all costs on bills under review; We consulted on extending ECO from 2022-26 and expanding it to £1bn per year, supporting low income and vulnerable households across Great Britain. We will issue a response to the ECO4 consultation in due course.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent discussions he has had with (a) publicans, (b) breweries and (c) associated trade bodies on the effect of the Government's decision not to permit pubs to sell takeaway alcohol in sealed containers during the covid-19 lockdown announced in January 2021.
Answered by Paul Scully
I regularly meet with a wide range of representatives from the hospitality sector to understand the impact of COVID-19 on businesses and jobs.
Over the course of the pandemic, the Government has provided an unprecedented package of financial support to businesses, including those in the hospitality sector, which we keep under review.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
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 of the covid-19 pandemic on the financial viability of dog kennels, catteries and other animal boarding facilities.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government understands the considerable difficulties faced by UK businesses due to the coronavirus pandemic. Animal boarding facilities have not been required to close at any point during the pandemic, as there remains a requirement to care for the pets of people hospitalised from Coronavirus and for key workers, and vulnerable people who may not be able to care for their pets. Wee have advised pet owners[1] that they may leave their home to access animal boarding services. This should be by appointment only, and only if the boarding service does not offer a collection or drop-off service.
The Government has put in place a range of business support measures since March 2020. These include loans, small business grants through local authorities, mortgage holidays and VAT deferral. These measures have been updated in line with local and national restrictions. In November, at the beginning of the second national lockdown, Government made available £1.1bn in discretionary funding allocated to each local authority to support businesses via the Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG). This was topped up with a further £500m in January 2021.
Local authorities have significant discretion in the businesses they support and the amount of grant funding per business based on local priorities.
Given the new national restrictions, other amendments now include:
We would always encourage businesses that have been unable to access support, or who are unsure about what support is available, to contact their nearest Business Growth Hub for advice. The Government has established a network of 38 of these hubs, one in each Local Enterprise Partnership area in England. Businesses of all sizes are able to access free, tailored guidance from expert advisers who make up the Hub teams. All contact details are online www.lepnetwork.net/local-growth-hub-contacts/.
The free Business Support Helpline offers advice to businesses across England (FREEPHONE 0800 998 1098) provides with free, impartial business support.
Firms based in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales can access business support through their devolved Governments.
[1] https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-advice-for-people-with-animals
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
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 the announcement of a one-off grant for businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure businesses on 5 January 2021, if he will advise local authorities to include wholesale distribution businesses in the eligibility criteria.
Answered by Paul Scully
Officials are working closely with local authorities to deliver the one-off grant for businesses, announced by the Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer on the 5th January.
Through the Closed Businesses Lockdown Payment Grant, all rate-paying businesses mandated to close may eligible for a grants of up to £9,000. This is alongside the Local Covid Restrictions Grant (Closed) Addendum for 5 January onwards scheme, which provides grants of up to £4,500 per six-week period of closure.
For those businesses not mandated to close but who have had their trade adversely affected by the national and localised Covid-19 Restrictions, the Chancellor announced a further top up of £500 million to the exiting £1.1bn in Additional Restrictions Grant Fund. Local authorities have discretion to use this funding to support businesses in the way they see fit in their local area.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what his (a) policy and (b) strategy is on (i) the use of nuclear power and (ii) its future role in the UK.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
My Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister published his Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution on 18th November, in which he affirmed the Government’s objective to advance nuclear as a clean energy source. This includes large scale nuclear and developing the next generation of small and advanced reactors. The Ten Point Plan highlights the key role of nuclear in delivering deep decarbonisation of our electricity system alongside renewables and other technologies. One of the key targets is the publication of the Energy White Paper, in which further information will be provided.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
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 of job losses in the retail sector during the covid-19 outbreak an on regional inequalities.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government recognises the impact that the coronavirus is having on retailers and businesses as a whole, which is why we have delivered one of the most generous and comprehensive packages of support globally.. Retailers are benefitting from the removal of business rates for 12 months and have been able to access grants through the Small Business Grant Fund or the Retail, Hospitality, and Leisure Grant Fund.
Retailers have been able to benefit from The Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, the Bounce Back Loan Scheme, and an extension on the moratorium on commercial landlords’ right to forfeiture for the non-payment of rent to 31 December 2020.
Additionally the Job Retention Bonus will encourage businesses, including retailers, to keep on furloughed workers, helping to protect jobs and our economic recovery.
We have announced a new Plan for Jobs – making available up to £30 billion with a clear goal to create, protect, and support jobs. This includes a new £2 billion Kickstart Scheme creating hundreds of thousands of new, fully subsidised jobs for young people across the country and £1.6 billion investment in scaling up employment support schemes, training, and apprenticeships to help people looking for a job.
We are ramping up and bringing forward investment, creating jobs in every part of the UK. At the Budget, my Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer announced £88 billion of capital funding for this year. In the New Deal package, we announced our plans to accelerate a further £5 billion of additional investment projects.