Asked by: David Amess (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what (a) funding and (b) incentives are available to support businesses to recruit new members of staff.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government has set out a plan for recovery that focusses on backing business, improving skills, and creating jobs. For example, the £30 billion Plan for Jobs provides new funding to ensure more people will get tailored support to help them find work. This includes launching the £2 billion Kickstart Scheme fund and investing £2.9 billion in the Restart programme over 3 years to support and encourage the UK’s labour market. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is also doubling the number of jobcentre Work Coaches to provide intensive support for both young people and the newly unemployed.
Additional measures include committing £8 million for digital skills boot camps, increasing apprenticeship opportunities, expanding sector-based work academies programme (SWAPs), launching the Job Finding Support Service, and increasing the funding for the Flexible Support Fund by £150 million in Great Britain.
Businesses can also access tailored advice through our Freephone Business Support Helpline, online via the Business Support website or through their local Growth Hubs in England. Furthermore, the Recovery Advice for Business scheme, supported by the Government and hosted on the Enterprise Nation website, offers small firms access to free, one-to-one advice with an expert adviser to help them through the coronavirus pandemic and to prepare for long-term recovery. Further information can be found at: https://www.enterprisenation.com/freesupport/.
Asked by: David Amess (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether businesses that are registered at a domestic residential address are eligible for the Local Authority Discretionary Grant; and what guidance has been issued to local authorities on the distribution of the Local Authority Discretionary Grant to businesses registered at a domestic residential address.
Answered by Paul Scully
On?1 May,?the Government announced that up to £617 million has been made available to local authorities?in England to allow them to provide discretionary grants. The?Local Authority Discretionary Grants Fund (LADGF) is aimed at small businesses with ongoing fixed property-related costs that are not liable for business rates or rates reliefs.
We are asking local authorities to prioritise the following types of businesses for grants from within this funding pot:
Local authorities are responsible for defining the precise eligibility for this Fund?and?may choose to make payments to other businesses based on local economic need,?subject to those businesses meeting the specific eligibility criteria.?Guidance for Local Authorities was published 13 May: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-on-business-support-grant-funding.
We appreciate that there?is substantial demand for the LADGF. Local Authorities will need to manage?their?scheme to stay within?their?funding?allocation?and?will have?to make choices about which businesses?to?prioritise.
Where businesses are registered at a domestic residential address, tax and insurance details should identify the separate costs of a home-based business. Local Authorities should take steps to understand the specific costs of the business.
Officials are keeping in close contact with Local Authorities?to understand how the scheme is rolling out and advising ministers on any additional support?which could?be offered to help businesses and support local economies.
Any enquiries or appeals?regarding?the provision of, or eligibility for, grant funding should be directed?in the first instance to the relevant?local authority.
The?grant?funding?schemes are?part of?the Government’s?wider?package of support for business.?For further information on what support you might be eligible for, please?visit: https://www.gov.uk/business-coronavirus-support-finder.
Asked by: David Amess (Conservative - Southend West)
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 23 March 2020 to Question No 28671 on Housing: Energy, if he will publish those impact assessments in which the benefits to householders’ health from improving their homes thermal performance have been included.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy does include the health benefits of energy improvements to the householders’ health in published Impact Assessments, although the methodology has not yet been incorporated into the net present value calculation. Two of the latest are the most recent impact assessments for ECO and Private Sector Regulations (see below):
Asked by: David Amess (Conservative - Southend West)
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 23 March 2020 to Question 28671 on Housing: Energy, who is undertaking the study to quantify the cost savings to the health service of improving the energy efficiency of homes; and when that study will be published.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) is the lead organisation undertaking the study to quantify the cost savings to the health service of improving the energy efficiency of homes. BEIS is in the process of applying for access to NHS Digital hospital records and, if this application is approved and relevant data provided to BEIS, analysis will be undertaken, peer reviewed and published.
Asked by: David Amess (Conservative - Southend West)
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 report entitled, Attitudes to Animal Research 2018 published in May 2019, what her policy is on the use of dogs in medical research.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Public Attitudes to Animal Research report is published every two years and presents the findings of a survey on public awareness of, and attitudes towards, the use of animals in scientific research. The report is commissioned by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and supports policy development and public engagement across government and the life science sector on this area.
The Government understands the concerns that many people have about the use of animals such as dogs for research purposes. For this reason, dogs are given special protection under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 that regulates their use in scientific procedures.
Advances in biomedical science and technologies – including stem cell research, in vitro systems that mimic the function of human organs, imaging and new computer modelling techniques – are all providing new opportunities to reduce reliance on the use of animals in research, including dogs. The Government supports these developments through funding for the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs).
Asked by: David Amess (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
What steps he is taking to support people with the cost of household energy bills.
Answered by Claire Perry
Last week this Government delivered on its promise to cap energy prices.
It now protects over 11 million households, ensuring the energy market works for all customers and saving consumers up to around £130 a year.
We continue to invest at least £640m in energy efficiency annually until 2028 and are also delivering on our smart meter programme.
Asked by: David Amess (Conservative - Southend West)
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 are not able to access the Warm Home Discount Scheme due to their energy supplier being exempt from the obligation to offer that discount to its customers.
Answered by Claire Perry
Energy suppliers that are obligated to participate in the Warm Home Discount (WHD) scheme cover 94% of the market for domestic customers. Suppliers that are not obligated under the scheme can participate voluntarily. Last winter, three suppliers volunteered under the scheme. We estimate that the number of customers beyond those 18 suppliers that would have been automatically eligible for WHD last winter is roughly 60,000. There is a set spending envelope for WHD and increasing the number of obligated suppliers would not in itself increase the number of households receiving the rebate. We have recently completed a consultation on the next phase of WHD, including the obligation thresholds, and are currently reviewing the responses.
Asked by: David Amess (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many vulnerable energy customers are not able to access the Warm Home Discount Scheme due to their energy supplier being exempt from providing that scheme.
Answered by Claire Perry
Energy suppliers that are obligated to participate in the Warm Home Discount (WHD) scheme cover 94% of the market for domestic customers. Suppliers that are not obligated under the scheme can participate voluntarily. Last winter, three suppliers volunteered under the scheme. We estimate that the number of customers beyond those 18 suppliers that would have been automatically eligible for WHD last winter is roughly 60,000. There is a set spending envelope for WHD and increasing the number of obligated suppliers would not in itself increase the number of households receiving the rebate. We have recently completed a consultation on the next phase of WHD, including the obligation thresholds, and are currently reviewing the responses.
Asked by: David Amess (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the Answer of 1 February 2016 to Question 24408, if she will discuss with the Sustainable Energy Association and other relevant bodies how to achieve the potential for buildings to contribute to the Government's goals on reducing carbon and tackling fuel poverty.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
DECC officials and ministers will continue to discuss, with a range of stakeholders, the options for buildings to contribute to reducing carbon and tackling fuel poverty. Our approach is to consider the overall use of energy in buildings, and not energy efficiency or heat in isolation.