Ian Blackford

Electricity distribution network charges vary by region and reflect the costs of running the network in that area and the number of consumers that those costs are spread over. The Government does not plan to move to national electricity distribution charging, as the current cost reflective approach helps to ensure efficient use of the network and keeps overall costs down for bill payers across Great Britain. In contrast, national pricing risks an overall increase in network costs by weakening each network company’s local accountability to its customers, as well as making charges less transparent. On 23 October 2015, Ofgem published a report on the regional differences in network charges, which found no compelling case from a regulatory perspective to move to a national network charge. The report is available at:

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications-and-updates/regional-differences-network-charges.

The Government will continue to consider any evidence that is presented.

Whilst the Government believes that, in general, cost reflective charging represents the right approach, it is right to consider intervention if one region has markedly different charging levels to any other. This forms the rationale for our Hydro Benefit Replacement Scheme, which protects consumers in the North of Scotland from the very high electricity distribution charges that would otherwise occur. The scheme is providing an annual assistance amount of £57m in 2015/16, which equates to £41 per household in the North of Scotland. The cost of providing this discount is recovered from consumers across the whole of Great Britain.

The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change announced to Parliament on 18 June that the Government plans to legislate to close the Renewables Obligation across Great Britain to new onshore wind from 31 March 2016, one year earlier than planned.

The Government has proposed a grace period, the precise eligibility requirements of which will be determined through the legislative process and are subject to approval by Parliament. It will be for the developer of each individual project to determine whether they meet those eligibility requirements and to apply for the grace period.

Electricity distribution network charges vary by region and reflect the costs of running the network in that area and the number of consumers that those costs are spread over. Moving away from this ‘cost-reflective’ approach would weaken the local accountability of the network operator in ensuring expenditure is fully justified, in turn weakening downward pressures on network costs overall. In addition, a national price for electricity distribution would mean lower network charges in some areas, but increases in others. There are fuel poor consumers throughout GB, including in the areas that could be expected to see higher bills as a result of such a change.

Any decision on whether to pursue this further could therefore only sensibly be considered on the basis of robust and evidence-based analysis. Ofgem is currently working to inform the issue, and the Government will consider its analysis carefully. It will also be important to take full account of the final conclusions of the energy market investigation which is currently being undertaken by the Competition and Markets Authority. Its provisional findings favour more locational transmission pricing.

To help protect domestic and business consumers in the North of Scotland specifically, Government has already introduced the Hydro Benefit Replacement Scheme. It provides an annual assistance amount of over £50m to consumers in the North of Scotland. The cost of providing this discount is recovered from consumers across the whole of Great Britain.

The assessment of historic medals claims is a matter for the independent Advisory Military Sub-Committee (AMSC). Campaigners can be assured their case is under review and recommendations will be made as soon as possible.

The Prime Minister yesterday announced the appointment of Rt Hon Lord Geidt to serve as the Independent Adviser on Ministers’ Interests. The Independent Adviser oversees the production of a List of Ministers' Interests, and the next publication will occur once Lord Geidt has concluded that process.

Further to the answer given on 9 March 2020, campaigners can be assured their case is under review and recommendations will be made as soon as possible.

The reformed Advisory Military Sub-Committee, with a new independent membership under the chairmanship of Dr Charles Winstanley, held its first meeting in May 2019.

Dr Charles Winstanley TD DL has been appointed as the independant Chair of the Advisory Military Sub-Committee, following a public appointments process. Independant members will be appointed shortly.

Under ECO4 installations of all energy efficiency measures, excluding district heating system connections, need to be carried out by TrustMark registered businesses, which are required to adhere to the independent Publicly Available Specification standards.

TrustMark carries out post-installation inspections on up to 10% of all projects, taking a risk-based approach.

Discussions are underway with radio teleswitching service (RTS) providers to secure its ongoing operation into 2025, beyond the end of the current contractual period ending March 2024.

The Government expects energy suppliers to upgrade households with RTS to smart meters as soon as possible. Households should contact their energy supplier who are best placed to advise based on knowledge of individual circumstances, including solutions for where smart meter coverage is not available.

Government is also working with the Data Communications Company on technical solutions to extend smart metering Wide Area Network coverage for those currently unable to receive it.

To support the public with their energy bills, the Energy Bills Support Scheme (EBSS) is delivering a £400 non-repayable government grant. The Energy Price Guarantee will save a typical household in Great Britain £900 this Winter. People with disabilities are also entitled to one-off £150 Disability Cost of Living Payment. The Government is currently reviewing the Energy Price Guarantee. This consultation will explore the best ways to ensure that vulnerable high energy users, such as those with medical requirements, are not put at risk.

On 9 February 2022, the Secretary of State announced that Contracts for Difference allocation rounds will be held on an annual basis from March 2023, when the next round (AR5) will open to applications.^[1]

[1] https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2022-02-09/hcws600

The Government has made targeted support available for tidal stream energy projects in Great Britain through allocation round 4 of the Contracts for Difference scheme. Promising technologies in the early commercial stage of development must prove their viability and scalability by driving down prices before the Government takes a view on whether the levels of deployed capacity are feasible.

The next Contracts for Difference round will be the biggest yet, affirming this Government’s commitment to fully decarbonise the electricity system by 2035. The £20m ringfenced support for Tidal Stream is sufficient to kick-start innovation across the UK and balances our objectives of decarbonisation, fairness and value for electricity billpayers.

The £20 million ring-fence of UK government funding for Tidal Stream was announced on 24^th November. The Government has no specific target for gigawatts of capacity from tidal sources.

In April we published the Online Harms White Paper, which set out our plans for world-leading legislation to make the UK the safest place in the world to be online. We intend to establish in law a new duty of care on companies towards their users, overseen by an independent regulator.

Alongside the White Paper, Government published the Social Media Code of Practice. This voluntary guidance sets out actions that the Government believes social media platforms should take to prevent bullying, insulting, intimidating and humiliating behaviours on their sites. The Code is also relevant to other sites hosting user-generated content and comments. We are aware that many social media companies meet the standards set out in the Code of Practice, although Government does not actively monitor this.

The Online Harms White Paper sets out our plans for world-leading legislation to make the UK the safest place in the world to be online. We intend to establish in law a new duty of care on companies towards their users, overseen by an independent regulator. The duty of care will ensure companies have appropriate systems and processes in place to deal with harmful content on their services to keep their users safe. Compliance with this duty of care will be overseen and enforced by an independent regulator. Companies will be held to account for tackling a comprehensive set of online harms, including cyberbullying.

Alongside the White Paper, we also published the Social Media Code of Practice. This sets out actions that the Government believes social media platforms should take to prevent bullying, insulting, intimidating and humiliating behaviours on their sites.

The government wants to ensure a strong and secure future for Channel 4 in what is a fast-changing and challenging broadcasting environment. The government is looking at a broad range of options, including those proposed by Channel 4’s leadership.

The Scotland Bill would give the Scottish Parliament and Scottish Ministers the power to vary the number of sub-category B2 gaming machines (FOBTs) permitted by new betting premises licences. The UK Government would retain the equivalent powers on FOBTs for the rest of the UK, except for Northern Ireland where gambling is a devolved matter.

In line with our commitment in the St David's Day Agreement, the UK Government is giving careful consideration to whethernon-fiscal recommendations from Lord Smith's commission on devolving powers should be implemented for Wales.

Evaluation into the effectiveness of the self-exclusion pilot schemes introduced by bookmakers in Medway and Glasgow is being carried out by the Association of British Bookmakers (ABB). From April 2016 all bookmakers will have to offer self exclusion schemes as part of a condition of their licence andlessons from these pilot schemes will feed into the final model adopted by the bookmaking sector. The Gambling Commission will be responsible for ensuring compliance with this new licence condition and the Government will take an active interest in the schemes effectiveness.

From September 2020, relationships education will be compulsory for all primary aged pupils, Relationships and Sex Education will be compulsory for all secondary aged pupils and Health Education will be compulsory in all state-funded schools in England. Through these new subjects, teachers will address online safety and appropriate behaviour in an age appropriate way. The guidance is clear that violence is never acceptable. The guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education.

This will complement the computing curriculum, which covers the principles of online safety at all key stages, with progression in the content to reflect the different and escalating risks that pupils face. This includes how to use technology safely, responsibly, respectfully and securely, and where to go for help and support when they have concerns about content or contact on the internet or other online technologies.

There are other curriculum subjects which include content relevant to teaching pupils how to use the internet safely. For example, citizenship education covers media literacy, distinguishing fact from opinion, and the role and responsibility of the media in informing and shaping public opinion.

The Department has also published non-statutory guidance, ‘Teaching Online Safety’ in schools. This outlines how schools can ensure their pupils understand how to stay safe and behave online, as part of these existing curriculum requirements. The guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/teaching-online-safety-in-schools.

The Government is committed to phasing out the use of peat in horticulture in England by 2030. In 2011 we introduced a voluntary target for amateur gardeners to phase out the use of peat by 2020 and a final voluntary phase-out target of 2030 for professional growers of fruit, vegetables and plants. While some progress has been made, we stated in the 25 Year Environment Plan that we would consider implementing further measures if there is insufficient movement to peat alternatives by 2020. We will set out our plans around the use of peat in horticulture in due course.

We are working with the industry to make the transition to peat alternatives and to overcome barriers to their use. This includes, for example, jointly funding research with the industry on peat replacements in professional horticulture.

The Secretary of State received a letter from the member for Dumfries and Galloway requesting a review of intra-UK allocations of funding for agricultural support on 26 October.

The Secretary of State also met Scottish Cabinet Secretary for the Rural Economy and Connectivity, Fergus Ewing, on 6 November to discuss intra-UK allocations. We will set out next steps in due course.

We will provide stability to UK farmers as we leave the EU and the Government has committed to provide the same cash total in funds for farm support until the end of the parliament.

It will be for the Scottish Government to decide on the allocation of funding to individual schemes including the Less Favoured Area Support Scheme for 2019.

The Agriculture Bill will ensure that after we leave the EU we have an effective system in place to support UK farmers and protect our natural environment for future generations. The Secretary of State has spoken to Ministers from Scotland and Wales and officials remain in regular contact with the Northern Ireland Executive. We will continue to engage with the devolved administrations and more widely on the design and the appropriate extent of any legislation.

We will provide stability to UK farmers as we leave the EU and the Government has committed to provide the same cash total in funds for farm support until the end of the parliament.

It will be for the Scottish Government to decide on the allocation of funding to individual schemes including the Less Favoured Area Support Scheme for 2019.

The Agriculture Bill will ensure that after we leave the EU we have an effective system in place to support UK farmers and protect our natural environment for future generations. The Secretary of State has spoken to Ministers from Scotland and Wales and officials remain in regular contact with the Northern Ireland Executive. We will continue to engage with the devolved administrations and more widely on the design and the appropriate extent of any legislation.

We will provide stability to UK farmers as we leave the EU and the Government has committed to provide the same cash total in funds for farm support until the end of the parliament.

It will be for the Scottish Government to decide on the allocation of funding to individual schemes including the Less Favoured Area Support Scheme for 2019.

The Agriculture Bill will ensure that after we leave the EU we have an effective system in place to support UK farmers and protect our natural environment for future generations. The Secretary of State has spoken to Ministers from Scotland and Wales and officials remain in regular contact with the Northern Ireland Executive. We will continue to engage with the devolved administrations and more widely on the design and the appropriate extent of any legislation.