Oral Answers to Questions

Craig Williams Excerpts

Tuesday 29th September 2020 Commons Chamber

[Craig Williams (Montgomeryshire) (Con)]

What steps his Department is taking to support businesses during the covid-19 outbreak.

[Dr James Davies (Vale of Clwyd) (Con)]

What steps his Department is taking to support businesses during the covid-19 outbreak.

[The Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Alok Sharma)]

My Department has delivered a wide range of measures as part of the Government’s unprecedented support package. That includes £11 billion in grants supporting almost 900,000 business premises and over £57 billion in loan guarantees to over 1 million businesses across the UK. We have also extended the deadline for the loan schemes to the end of November, ensuring that there is further support for those who need it.

[Craig Williams]

I thank the Secretary of State for that answer and for the support to date. When we emerge from the current crisis, we must build back in an environmentally sustainable way and ensure that we are on track to meet our net zero target. What is he doing to deliver carbon capture and storage across the UK, to ensure that manufacturing and agricultural businesses have certainty, with net zero in mind?

[Alok Sharma]

I agree with my hon. Friend: we need to build back better and build back greener. CCS will be an essential part of the transformation to a low-carbon economy, and it presents an opportunity for the creation of high-value jobs, which we want to see in our country. We have already announced a CCS infrastructure fund of £800 million to deploy carbon capture and storage in at least two industrial clusters over the next decade.