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 households use prepayment electricity meters in (a) St Helens, (b) Liverpool City Region and (c) the North West.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
There are approximately 4 million prepayment meters in Great Britain, of which 36% are smart meters. Statistics are not kept on regional or local level.
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 proportion of jobs in (a) the UK, (b) the North West and (c) St Helens borough are paid the (i) National Living Wage and (ii) National Minimum Wage.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
Through the National Living Wage (NLW) and National Minimum Wage (NMW), the Government ensures that the lowest paid in our society are fairly rewarded for their work. April 2019’s increase to the NLW will see nearly 1.8 million workers in the UK receive a 4.9% pay rise. A full-time worker on the NLW will now be more than £2,750 better off over the year compared to when it was first announced in 2015.
The table below provides estimates for the number and proportion of jobs in the UK and the North West on the NLW and NMW in 2019. The most recent available data for St. Helens shows were an estimated 2,400 workers who were on the NLW or NMW.
| National Living Wage | National Minimum Wage | ||
Number of jobs | % of jobs | Number of jobs | % of jobs | |
UK | 1,766,000 | 7.2% | 364,000 | 10.6% |
North West | 222,000 | 8.5% | 46,000 | 12.1% |
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 Department’s policy is on the provision of postal services where a post office has closed due to unforeseen circumstances.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Government recognises the critical role that post offices play in communities and for small businesses across the UK. This is why the Government committed to safeguard the post office network and protect existing rural services. The overall number of post offices across the UK remains at its most stable in decades with over 11,500 branches thanks to significant Government investment of over £2 billion since 2010.
While the Government sets the strategic direction for the Post Office, it allows the company the commercial freedom to deliver this strategy as an independent business. The provision of services and branch closures are operational matters for Post Office Limited. Paula Vennells, the Group Chief Executive of Post Office Limited, to write to the hon Member on this matter. A copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of the House.
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 progress has been made in discussions between the Government, the Mineworkers' Pension Scheme Trustees, Trade Union representatives and others on the Mineworkers' Pension Scheme surplus.
Answered by Claire Perry
I met the Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme (MPS) Trustees recently to discuss options for the future of the Scheme. As a result of that discussion, I have asked BEIS officials to work with the Trustees to explore options for revising the scheme to the benefit of all parties.
The MPS has worked well for all parties and credit must go to the Trustees for their excellent investment strategy and administration of the Scheme. As Trustees have acknowledged, the Government guarantee has enabled an investment strategy that has resulted in scheme members receiving payments 33% higher than they would have been had they received only their actual earned pension up to privatisation.
The most recent valuation has just been completed. Positive results mean that scheme members will receive an additional 4.2% of the guaranteed pension as bonuses for each of the next 6 years. More information is available here: https://www.mps-pension.org.uk/news/2018/07/results-of-the-2017-valuation.
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 his Department is taking to develop a carbon capture and storage cluster in the North West.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
The Government’s Clean Growth Strategy, published on 12 October 2017, commits Government to working with ongoing initiatives in Teesside, Merseyside, South Wales and Grangemouth to test the potential for development of carbon capture usage and storage (CCUS) industrial decarbonisation clusters.
To progress this, the Department is engaging with Cadent, Peel Environmental, and Progressive Energy on their proposals to create a low-carbon hydrogen cluster with CCUS supplying industry and consumers in the Liverpool and Manchester 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, how many businesses in (a) St Helens North, (b) Merseyside, (c) the North West and (d) the UK have received funding from the British Business Bank since its inception.
Answered by Margot James
The British Business Bank (BBB) is a government-owned economic development bank. It manages the UK Government’s access to finance programmes for smaller businesses within a single commercially-minded institution. The Bank received State aid clearance to start operating in November 2014. Since this date, BBB has provided funding to the following businesses:
| St Helen's North | Merseyside | North West | UK |
No of SMEs | 34 (excl. ENABLE Funding) | 466 (excl. Start-up Loans) | 6,921 | 43,918 |
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 much funding the Green Investment Bank has provided in (a) St Helens North constituency, (b) Merseyside and (c) the UK in each financial year since its creation.
Answered by Nick Hurd
The UK Green Investment Bank plc (GIB) has helped finance two projects in the Merseyside area.
In December 2013, GIB committed £20m to the design, build and operation of a new ‘energy from waste’ plant on behalf of the Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority. The facility, located in Teesside, will each year convert into energy more than 420,000 tonnes of residual waste from six boroughs in the Merseyside area, including St Helens North. The project has created approximately 75 permanent jobs, in addition to more than 100 jobs during the construction phase.
In November 2014, GIB committed £30.1m to a new Combined Heat and Power (CHP) Plant in Widnes the North West’s largest waste wood renewable power facility.
The project has created more than 200 construction jobs and around 20 full time jobs in the operational phase.
In addition, some of GIB’s UK wide investment platforms such as its indirect investments in LED lighting upgrades to Santander branches and NCP car parks are likely to have benefitted Merseyside including St Helens North.
GIB provides a full list of its investments for each financial year on its website: www.greeninvestmentbank.com
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 much funding his Department has provided to start-up businesses in (a) St Helens, (b) Merseyside, (c) the North West and (d) England in each year since 2010.
Answered by Margot James
The Department’s main support programme for start-up businesses is the Start Up Loan programme. The following tables show the number and value of Start Up Loans issued since the programme was launched in 2012.
(a) St Helens |
| |
Year | Value (£) |
|
2013 | 159030 |
|
2014 | 166000 |
|
2015 | 72961 |
|
2016 | 117950 |
|
(b) Merseyside | ||
Year | Value |
|
2012 | 14700 |
|
2013 | 2255214 |
|
2014 | 2613001 |
|
2015 | 1266860 |
|
2016 | 1397774 |
|
(c) the North West | ||
Year | Value |
|
2012 | 74200 |
|
2013 | 9133096 |
|
2014 | 9698183 |
|
2015 | 5270121 |
|
2016 | 8633777 |
|
(d) England | ||
Year | Value |
|
2012 | 740219.3 |
|
2013 | 60752665 |
|
2014 | 60474669 |
|
2015 | 52193345 |
|
2016 | 72521195 |
|
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 his Department is taking to incentivise energy companies to assist people in (a) fuel poverty and (b) fuel debt.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government recently consulted on proposals to increase the amount that energy companies pay to fund household energy efficiency improvements for low income and vulnerable households to £450m by 2017 and up to £640m by 2018.
Energy companies are also required to provide over 2 million low income and vulnerable households with a £140 rebate off their energy bill each winter, under the Warm Home Discount Scheme.
These proposals combined will see up to £1bn of support for low income and vulnerable households each year from 2018.
If suppliers believe a domestic customer is having difficulty paying all or part of their energy bills, they must offer facilities to make payments by: deductions direct from benefits, known as Fuel Direct; regular instalments paid through a means other than a prepayment meter; or, using a prepayment meter, where it is safe and reasonably practicable for the customer to do so.
It is important that customers who are experiencing difficulties in paying their gas or electricity bills contact their supplier as soon as possible to arrange a repayment plan that suits their needs.
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 protect employment levels in (a) St Helens North constituency, (b) Merseyside and (c) the UK.
Answered by Margot James
This Government is committed to regional development and supporting growth up and down the country as we build an economy that works for everyone. We are focused on developing an industrial strategy that will boost productivity, create good jobs, and ensure sustainable economic growth. The employment rate in the UK is now at a record high of 74.5% and the unemployment rate is at its lowest level in over 10 years at 4.9%.
We will continue to put power in the hands of local communities to drive economic growth. For Liverpool City Region, this includes implementing the devolution deal agreed with the Government in November 2015, which includes commitments around skills funding and co-designing future employment support for harder-to-help claimants. We will also work with Liverpool to deliver the city region’s Growth Deal which encompasses key projects across the city region and, for St Helens, includes improvements to Newton-le-Willows station and upgrades to the A570 to support growth in employment sites in the area.