Ian Murray

The Government has committed to extending the Warm Home Discount to at least 2025/26 and expanding the scheme spending envelope from the current £350 million to £475 million (in 2020 prices) per year. This will enable the Government to provide around 3 million rebates each winter across Great Britain, which is an increase of a third compared to the current scheme.

The Government has consulted on apportioning a fair amount of the overall £475 million annual funding to Scotland for a Warm Home Discount scheme in Scotland from the 2022/23 scheme year. The Government is agreeing a position with the Scottish Government on the future scheme. Any scheme in Scotland would be consulted on. Should the UK Government implement a scheme for Scotland, the intention would be to have consulted and have Regulations in place in advance of the summer Parliamentary recess.

The current scheme is continuing to operate across Great Britain for 2021/22.

Under the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement January 2020 it was agreed that the UK would remain in European Structural and Investment Fund (ESIF) programmes in the Multiannual Funding Framework (MFF) 2014-2020. This includes Interreg programmes also known as European Territorial Cooperation (ETC) programmes. Spending on these programmes will continue until December 2023 and after this they will be closed.

The UK will not be participating in ESIF programmes in the next MFF 2021-2027, including ETC programmes, except for the Peace Plus programme in Northern Ireland. The Northern Ireland Office (NIO) has policy responsibility for Peace Plus.

Carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) clusters will have the opportunity to negotiate for capital support from the £1bn CCS Infrastructure Fund, as well as from the twin-track £240m Net Zero Hydrogen Fund. In addition, further capital support may be brought forward in future spending review period, based on government’s assessment of need and value for money to the taxpayer.

No funding allocation has yet been decided on track 1 cluster. Track-1 clusters will now enter a process of negotiations and further due diligence, where the government will confirm where it is appropriate to provide financial support, and the level of support required to facilitate cluster deployment by the mid-2020s.

The Department published the draft parameters for Allocation Round 4 of the Contracts for Difference scheme on 13 September 2021. The Department has not set out a specific ringfence for tidal projects. However, as a less established renewable technology, tidal stream will be eligible to compete in Pot 2 in the next auction round in December.

The Government’s assessment of the potential use of powers under Section 185 of the Energy Act 2004 to adjust transmission powers is set out in the ‘Policy Response’ section at page 7 of Government Response of June 2018 to a consultation on proposed amendments to the Contracts for Difference scheme. It is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/contracts-for-difference-cfd-proposed-amendments-to-the-scheme.

The assessment points to transmission charging as a matter for Ofgem, the value of cost-reflective charges, and Contracts for Difference contracts as the focus of Government support for renewable energy generation projects.

The Department published the draft parameters for Allocation Round 4 of the Contracts for Difference scheme on 13 September 2021. The Department has not set out a specific ringfence for tidal projects. However, as a less established renewable technology, tidal stream will be eligible to compete in Pot 2 in the next auction round in December.

Ministers engage regularly with various representatives of the business, hospitality, retail and tourism industries in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland including local Chambers of Commerce, and branches of the Confederation of British Industry, Federation of Small Business and Institute of Directors on business and economic issues. In addition, DCMS Ministers who are responsible for tourism engage with Scottish tourism industry representatives via the Tourism Industry Council.

The Government holds regular discussions with stakeholders about the copyright framework to ensure it remains fit for purpose. This includes engagement with representatives from the publishing industry.

Any change to UK copyright legislation following its exit from the EU would come only after detailed consideration and assessment, including consultation with stakeholders, and would need to be driven by the evidence. This approach will help ensure that the UK’s IP and enforcement framework continues to be rated as one of the best in the world.

As part of the evaluation of Contracts for Difference (CfD), we have carried out some analysis on the estimated saving of successful projects in CfD Allocation Round 3 in comparison to the Renewables Obligation. This analysis will be published in due course.

In order to be eligible to bid into the round, projects competing in all pots must first have obtained planning permission from the relevant authority and meet eligibility criteria specific to each technology.

The Department publishes the quarterly Renewable Energy Planning Database (REPD) which provides information on the potential pipeline for renewable technologies. This includes detail on the estimated capacities of known projects that have already obtained planning permission, and those which are currently in the planning process (although will still need to demonstrate compliance with the eligibility criteria before bidding in to the Contracts for Difference Auction). The latest published REPD can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/renewable-energy-planning-database-monthly-extract.

As set out in my Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister’s announcement of 6 October 2020, Allocation Round 4 aims to support up to 12GW capacity of renewable electricity, subject to the availability of the pipeline. This is not an overall capacity cap, and we are currently considering auction parameters (including caps) ahead of publishing the Draft Budget Notice.

We are currently developing parameters for Allocation Round 4 and will publish these well in advance of the next auction in December 2021.

Applying a capacity cap as a soft constraint might allow us to achieve capacity closer to the Government’s ambitions for the round than is possible with a hard capacity cap. We will publish the parameters for the fourth Contracts for Difference allocation round soon, including decisions on any use of soft capacity caps.

The Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) is overseen by the Strategic Advisory Group (SAG), which acts in an advisory capacity to the strategic direction of the GCRF. Its membership consists of experts in the fields of science and research, and international development. They represent academia, government, business and other stakeholders, covering a broad range of disciplines and have an international or global perspective.

Of the SAG’s 14 current members, three represent Scottish institutions. A full list of members, including their affiliate institutions, is available on the UKRI SAG webpage. I am not aware of any imminent planned changes the makeup of the SAG. A periodic refresh of SAG membership has only recently been completed, in line with Cabinet Office guidelines on good governance.

The challenging financial situation we face due to the Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in a temporary reduction in the UK’s aid spending target from 0.7% of GNI to 0.5%. This means making difficult decisions when it comes to prioritising how we spend aid money to deliver the most impactful outcomes.

The Government recognises the importance of supporting international research partnerships, and supporting the UK research sector. Our commitment to research and innovation has been clearly demonstrated by my Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer’s Budget announcement of increasing investment in R&D across government to £14.6bn in 2021/22; and as has been set out in our Integrated Review ambitions, international collaboration is central to a healthy and productive R&D sector.

On 1st April, the Department set out an additional £250m of funding for the R&D sector. As a result, UK scientists will have access to more public funding than ever before. This takes total Government investment in R&D to £14.9 billion in 2021/22 and follows four years of significant growth in R&D funding, including a boost of more than £1.5 billion in 2020/21.

We are currently working with UKRI, and all our Global Challenges Research Fund and Newton Fund Delivery Partners, to manage the financial year 2021/22 ODA allocations, including determining which projects will be going ahead. Our Delivery Partners have communicated with award holders setting out the next stage of the review of ODA funding next year, and to explore options for individual programmes. Full details have been published on the UKRI website. Due to the ongoing nature of this process, until it is complete, we cannot share project-level details.

The challenging financial situation we face due to the Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in a temporary reduction in the UK’s aid spending target from 0.7% of GNI to 0.5%. This means making difficult decisions when it comes to prioritising how we spend aid money to deliver the most impactful outcomes.

On 2^nd December last year, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary wrote to the Chair of the International Development Committee setting out the Strategic Framework for UK ODA, which details the UK’s foreign aid spending priorities. This is in addition to tackling poverty, as all UK ODA does. In line with these priorities, he confirmed each Department’s total ODA settlement on 26^th January.

We are currently working with UKRI, and all our Global Challenges Research Fund and Newton Fund Delivery Partners, to manage the financial year 2021/22 ODA allocations. Once this process is complete, BEIS officials will review the impact of these spending decisions, in line with relevant public sector duties.

The Government’s priority is to keep goods moving and avoid delays at the border. The Government is ensuring that border processes are as smooth as possible, without compromising security.

The Government is continuing to engage with businesses across sectors to support their adjustment to the new processes and arrangements with the European Union.

National Grid Electricity System Operator collects transmission charges from network users to recover the cost of installing and maintaining the transmission system in Great Britain and the offshore electricity network infrastructure. These include a locational element to reflect network use as part of the requirement for cost reflective network charges.

Individual Contracts for Difference bidders will determine their bid prices based on their own assessment of expected costs and revenues. The price paid to each successful bidder is based on the clearing price of a competitive auction.

However, the Department does set the maximum strike price each technology can receive (the Administrative Strike Price), which takes into account a broad range of factors. This incorporates our latest view of transmission charges, estimated for pipeline projects where possible using tariffs and network charging assumptions for each location (provided by National Grid).

The Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme does not award contracts to projects based on regional quotas. The scheme awards contracts through a competitive process which ensures the most cost-effective projects are supported. The focus on supporting the lowest price bids drives efficiency and cost reduction and has resulted in significant quantities of new renewable electricity capacity being delivered across Great Britain.

National Grid Electricity System Operator collects transmission charges to recover the cost of installing and maintaining the transmission system in Great Britain and the offshore electricity network infrastructure. These include a locational element to reflect network use as part of the requirement for cost reflective network charges.

Individual Contracts for Difference bidders will determine their bid prices based on their own assessment of expected costs and revenues. The price paid to each successful bid is based on the clearing price of a competitive auction.

However, the Department does set the maximum strike price each technology can receive (the Administrative Strike Price), which takes into account a broad range of factors. This incorporates our latest view of transmission charges, estimated for pipeline projects where possible using tariffs and network charging assumptions for each location (provided by National Grid).

National Grid Electricity System Operator collects transmission charges to recover the cost of installing and maintaining the transmission system in Great Britain and the offshore electricity network infrastructure. These include a locational element to reflect network use as part of the requirement for cost reflective network charges.

Individual Contracts for Difference bidders will determine their bid prices based on their own assessment of expected costs and revenues. The price paid to each successful bid is based on the clearing price of a competitive auction.

However, the Department does set the maximum strike price each technology can receive (the Administrative Strike Price), which takes into account a broad range of factors. This incorporates our latest view of transmission charges, estimated for pipeline projects where possible using tariffs and network charging assumptions for each location (provided by National Grid).

Over the course of the pandemic the Government has worked closely with the hospitality sector to understand the impact of COVID-19 on businesses and has responded with an unprecedented package of business support, which we keep under review.

Ministers have regular meetings with the CMA leadership, and the CMA issued guidance for nurseries on charging and refunds for parents following closure due to the covid-19 outbreak on 28^th July 2020.

As a public authority, BEIS is required to adhere to the Public Sector Equality Duty in line with the Equality Act. The Department takes its obligations under the Equality Act very seriously, specifically in ensuring that we give due regard to the impacts on people with protected characteristics. We are currently reviewing the assessments made, and are committed to undertaking equality impact analysis of health-related funding allocated by BEIS over the next five years.

Health-related projects funded by BEIS and its delivery partners includes funding in the Life Sciences Sector Deals, the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund Healthy Ageing Programme, and the Artificial Intelligence Sector Deal.

The Government recognises that equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI), of both people and ideas, is crucial to delivering excellence in research and innovation. UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has been developing work on this topic, led by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Executive Chair Jennifer Rubin and an external advisory group that brings together experts from the UK and international bodies. UKRI will be publishing its EDI strategy in February 2020, laying out the challenges and opportunities that the organisation and wider community faces. More information will be available after the anticipated House of Commons Science and Technology Committee inquiry into EDI and the publication of UKRI diversity data in the spring. The department will make decisions on further requirements in due course.