Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
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 28 March to Question 143801 on Energy Bills Rebate, and with reference to the Energy Bills Support Scheme explainer published on 1 April 2022, if he will provide an update on the progress his department has made in ensuring that all households with a domestic electricity connection, including those using an electricity sub-meter in (a) park homes and (b) Multiple Dwelling Units, will be able to access the £400 energy rebate in October.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
All domestic electricity customers who have a direct relationship with a licensed electricity supplier will be automatically eligible for this Scheme.
Households without a domestic electricity supply contract are not eligible for the Scheme and we are exploring options for other ways in which they might receive similar support. This was raised in our technical consultation (Energy Bills Support Scheme – Managing the impact of the energy price shock on consumer bills) which closed on the 23 May. Responses to the consultation are being analysed and the Government response will be published in the summer.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department supports a proactive, predictive immunology approach to the development of the next generation of covid-19 vaccines.
Answered by George Freeman
The Government supports a proactive approach to continue to develop the next generation of vaccines. Despite the highly successful national vaccination campaign, it is important we continue to study how to produce Covid-19 vaccines that induce robust, long-term protective immunity and which are effective across mutating variants.
To that end, following extensive engagement with academic and industry stakeholders, the Vaccine Taskforce are working with other stakeholders across government, to explore the establishment of a UK-wide Predictive Immunology Network, formed of centres of excellence spread across the UK.
The aim is to ensure the network will utilise the collaborative approach that was so successful during the pandemic, to bring together industry, academia, and the NHS to work towards a common goal and answer key immunology questions on how to improve vaccines including the next generation Covid-19 vaccines.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
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 merits of introducing a scheme to allow companies to offer employees fuel bank vouchers, as a trivial benefit for tax purposes.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is not currently considering introducing a scheme to allow companies to offer employees fuel bank vouchers.
The Government understands the pressures households are facing with increased cost of living caused by global energy prices and has therefore announced a cost of living package worth a total of £37bn this year in support to households.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if the Government will review section 172 of the Companies Act 2006 with a view to creating a legal requirement for companies to align their social and environmental impact with their existing duty to shareholders.
Answered by Paul Scully
Section 172 of the Companies Act 2006 already requires directors to have regard to the impact of their company’s operations on the community and the environment, amongst other things. The Government strengthened this requirement in 2019 by requiring directors to make an annual statement explaining how they have discharged their section 172 duty in practice over the previous reporting year.
The Government believes the most effective way to encourage companies to address environmental and other challenges is through a transparent corporate reporting framework. This month, the UK became the first G20 country to introduce mandatory reporting in line with the recommendations of the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures, for economically significant UK companies. This will ensure that businesses consider the risks and opportunities they face on climate change and encourage them to set out their emission reduction plans and sustainability credentials. The Government has also published a landmark Roadmap on Sustainable Investing, the first phase of which will introduce new economy-wide sustainability disclosure requirements.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
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 launch a review into the energy costs incurred by those who need to power 24/7 medical equipment at home; and what assessment he has made of the merits of introducing new tariffs for disabled people with those needs.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Ofgem has updated its Consumer Vulnerability Strategy which set out its priorities to help protect gas and electricity consumers in vulnerable situations until 2025.
The energy price cap ensures prices for households fairly reflect the underlying costs of supply. The Government is faced with supporting households with the current high costs of energy with a £9.1bn package including an energy bills discount and Council Tax rebate.
A scheme operated by the NHS enables householders who use oxygen concentrators at home to receive a refund of the electricity costs used by the equipment.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
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 undertaken an assessment of the amount of non-residential building roof space that is (a) available and (b) suitable for the installation of solar panels.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Data estimating the floor area of non-domestic properties, from which commercial roof space can be inferred, is available on www.gov.uk here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/non-domestic-national-energy-efficiency-data-framework-nd-need-2020. However, not all rooves are suitable for solar panels due to shading, orientation, and location.
Solar is key to the Government’s strategy to decarbonise energy. The Government is supporting commercial rooftop solar deployment through capital allowances for spend on solar panels, exempting solar and storage used on site from business rates from 1 April 2022 until 31 March 2035, and changes to energy performance standards for non-domestic buildings.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what home insulation scheme grants are available to residents of mobile homes.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Existing Park Homes are eligible for support under the £500m Local Authority Delivery Scheme and the Home Upgrade Grant. Constituents should contact their local authority to make enquiries.
Residents of park homes may also be eligible for insulation under the Energy Company Obligation scheme. This scheme is not a grant, but a levy placed on larger energy suppliers to deliver energy efficiency and heating measures to low income and vulnerable households across Great Britain. Relevant contact details are listed on the Simple Energy Advice website here: www.simpleenergyadvice.org.uk/pages/energy-company-obligation. The scheme can also be delivered in partnership with Local Authorities (LAs) via the LA flexible eligibility element of the scheme; constituents should contact their local authority.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many companies are registered at Companies House without any Directors in post as of 14 March 2022.
Answered by Paul Scully
16,448 live companies are currently registered at Companies House without any Directors as of 15th March 2022.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
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 the average cost difference between the installation costs and efficiency savings arising from smart meter installation.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The smart meter rollout is helping consumers manage their energy use while making Great Britain’s energy system cheaper, cleaner and more efficient.
After all costs, the smart meter rollout is set to deliver a £6 billion net benefit to Great Britain. The latest estimates of the costs and benefits can be found in the 2019 Cost Benefit Analysis of the smart meter rollout in Great Britain: www.gov.uk/government/publications/smart-meter-roll-out-cost-benefit-analysis-2019.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether preliminary findings have been made from the interdisciplinary research being undertaken in the Perennial biomass crops for GHG removal (PBC4GGR) study.
Answered by George Freeman
Research publications funded by UKRI are required to be open access, so any published findings will be accessible to all. Details of this specific project can be found at: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=BB%2FV011553%2F1.