Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with the Transport Secretary on plans for lifting covid-19 international travel restrictions to give the aerospace sector the long-term vision to recover from the pandemic.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Department is in regular contact with the Department for Transport on the impacts of COVID-19 on the aerospace sector. Both BEIS and the Department for Transport (DfT) recognise the importance of the UK aerospace industry to the economy and the vital role it will play in the post-pandemic recovery.
DfT engages with the industry via multiple channels, focusing on a wide range of issues affecting the industry such as EU Exit transition, Covid-19 impact, technical certification and specification, and international cooperation.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
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 it his policy to support a roadmap to recovery for the pub and brewing sector to provide (a) financial and fiscal support throughout 2021 and (b) proportional easing of covid-19 restrictions for that sector at the earliest opportunity.
Answered by Paul Scully
Over the course of the pandemic, the Government has worked closely with the hospitality sector to understand the impact of COVID-19 on their businesses and has responded with a substantial package of business support. We keep all restrictions under constant review.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
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 13 July 2020 to Question 68687, what formula was used to determine how much funding local authorities received from the Coronavirus Discretionary Grant Fund.
Answered by Paul Scully
Each of the 314 billing authorities currently involved in the delivery of the Small Business Grants Fund and Retail, Hospitality & Leisure Fund will receive a fixed minimum allocation for the Local Authority Discretionary Grant Fund as a 5% uplift of the value of its in-scope hereditaments as identified at 3 May 2020. Individual letters were issued to all 314 Local Authorities on 20 May 2020 with a detailed explanation of their allocation.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
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 take steps to review the criteria for distributing and allocating funding through the Discretionary Grant Fund to local councils for supporting businesses during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Paul Scully
The?Local Authority Discretionary Grants Fund is aimed at small businesses with ongoing fixed property-related costs that are not liable for business rates or rates reliefs.
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.
We are asking local authorities to prioritise the following types of businesses for grants from within this funding pot:
Businesses already in receipt of the Small Business grant or a Retail, Hospitality and Leisure grant are not eligible for this fund.?Businesses who are eligible for or in receipt of the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme are now eligible to apply for this scheme.
There is currently no plan to change eligibility criteria for this scheme. Officials are keeping in close contact with local authorities to monitor the progress of the scheme.
Guidance for Local Authorities was published 13 May: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-on-business-support-grant-funding.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
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 ensure firms can access the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) opened for applications on 23 March. The Government has been working closely with the British Business Bank and financial sector to ensure businesses can access the support they need. We have made changes to widen the scheme’s eligibility so that more small businesses across the UK can benefit from the scheme, by extending loans to all viable small businesses affected by the Coronavirus, not just those unable to secure regular commercial financing. For facilities under £250,000, use of personal guarantees are not permitted under the scheme.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of directing UKRI to fund research into platform vaccine and diagnostic tools to support the development of vaccines during a potential pandemic.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
We work with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), Department for International Development, and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) to support research on platform vaccine technologies and diagnostic tools that can be utilised as a rapid response during a pandemic. These form a component of the current DHSC and UKRI COVID-19 rapid-response call for proposals to address the threat of this novel coronavirus. Platform vaccines and diagnostics are an integral part of UKRI’s current approach for the development and translation of research findings into tangible benefits, with research funded across UKRI councils
DHSC and UKRI lead the UK Vaccine Network which brings together funders, industry and academia to identify and target investment opportunities for the most promising vaccines and vaccine technologies, including platform vaccine and diagnostic tools to combat infectious diseases with epidemic potential and to address structural issues related to the UK’s vaccine infrastructure.
Through the Network two vaccine manufacturing hubs have been established to streamline vaccine manufacturing. A £10 million award to Professor Robin Shuttock at Imperial College London aims to revolutionise the vaccine manufacture, stabilisation and storage, reducing costs, increasing efficiency and improving prevention of existing and new diseases. A £7 million award to Professor Tarit Mukhopadhyay at University College London aims to establish the UK as a global centre for vaccine discovery, development and manufacture, while also ensuring that new vaccine manufacturing processes can be used in low and middle income countries.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans she has to support the creation of carbon capture and storage clusters; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
Carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS) will play a vital role in meeting our net zero greenhouse gas emissions target by 2050, supporting both our Industrial Strategy and the revitalisation of the economies of the UK’s industrial areas.
The CCUS Action Plan outlined that deploying CCUS in industrial clusters has the potential to allow a number of carbon capture applications – for industry, to hydrogen, to low carbon gas or bio-energy with CCS in power – to connect to shared carbon dioxide infrastructure.
That is why this Government has committed to invest £800 million to build the first fully deployed CCUS cluster by the mid-2020s and £500 million to help energy-intensive industries move to low-carbon techniques.
CCUS is also likely to play an important role in achieving our Industrial Clusters Mission, creating the world’s first net zero industrial cluster by 2040. This is supported by up to £170 million from the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund to support the deployment of low carbon technologies and enabling infrastructure in one or more clusters.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent steps her Department has taken to support businesses in Crawley.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Government is committed to making the UK the best place to start and grow a business, ensuring all businesses have access to the advice and support they need.
All businesses can access core services, information and guidance on starting up and running a business, as well as their statutory rights and obligations, on our GOV.UK sites and www.gov.uk/browse/business. The Business Finance and Support Finder tool on the website provides information on how to access a wide range of Government-backed financial support for start-up businesses, such as funding and grant schemes. The Government backed British Business Bank (BBB), as of July 2019, has provided funding of £6.6bn to over 89,000 businesses. In addition, since 2012, the Start-Up Loans Company (now part of BBB) has delivered over 67,000 loans worth over £534m. In Crawley they have issued 99 loans since 2012, worth over £680,000.
This Government continues to work with Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) to drive forward local growth. Through three rounds of competitive Growth Deals, Government has invested over £9 billion of funding, including £304.3 million to Coast to Capital LEP, which covers Crawley, to empower local areas to reach their potential, boosting national productivity and growth.
We have also supported and invested in the creation of a network of 38 Growth Hubs. Businesses in the Crawley constituency can access business advice through the Coast to Capital Growth Hub. Led and governed by the Coast to Capital LEP, the Growth Hub provides a free, impartial, ‘single point of contact’ to help businesses in the area identify and access the right support for them at the right time no matter their size or sector. This support includes helping businesses prepare for Brexit. In 2018-19 the Coast to Capital Growth Hub supported over 1,503 businesses and helped more than 313 individuals start a business.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps her Department is taking to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
The UK has made world-leading progress in cutting our emissions while growing the economy. Our net zero target requires us to build on this progress by transforming our economy – our homes, our transport, our businesses, and how we generate and use energy.
We are building on the strong frameworks of the Clean Growth Strategy and Industrial Strategy to deliver the net zero target. Since legislating for net zero the Government has announced £2 billion of investment, including up to £1 billion for the electric vehicle supply chain, and funding for electric vehicle infrastructure, clean steel and hydrogen.
The Government will continue to bring forward further plans, for example through the Energy White Paper, Transport Decarbonisation Plan and Heat Roadmap in the coming months.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
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 support scientific human-relevant research methods.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
As part of the Life Sciences Industrial Strategy and the Government’s commitment to maintaining the UK’s position as a world leader in research and innovation, we are investing in identifying better ways to treat and prevent disease and to advance the health of people worldwide.
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 support scientific human-relevant research.