Asked by: James Daly (Conservative - Bury North)
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 has made an assessment of the effect of a potential fall in wholesale energy prices on future levels of domestic energy prices.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Despite the recent fall in wholesale energy prices, energy markets remain volatile, and prices are still well above historical norms. Suppliers typically buy energy in advance of when it is delivered and Ofgem determines a maximum price they can charge consumers to recover the cost of this through the price cap. This means there can be a delay between changes in wholesale prices and these being reflected in consumer bills.
The Government’s Energy Price Guarantee (EPG) will save a typical household around £900 this winter.
Asked by: James Daly (Conservative - Bury North)
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 harness science and innovation for the purposes of the Government’s levelling up agenda.
Answered by George Freeman
The Levelling Up White Paper sets out how we will maximise the contribution of innovation to levelling up by building on existing and emerging strengths across the country. This includes a commitment to increase public investment in R&D outside the Greater South East by at least one third over the Spending Review period and at least 40 percent by 2030; making levelling up one of the objectives of our R&D investment strategy and aiming for the regions outside the Greater South East to receive at least 55% of BEIS’ R&D budget by 2024/25; and investing £100 million as part of piloting new Innovation Accelerators supporting three UK city regions to become major, globally competitive centres for research and innovation.
Asked by: James Daly (Conservative - Bury North)
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 deliver new nuclear power.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
This Government is committed to nuclear power as part of the country’s future diverse energy mix. Hinkley Point C is under construction and, when operational, will supply 3.2GW of secure, low carbon electricity for around 60 years, providing enough power for around 6 million homes. The Government is in constructive negotiations over Sizewell C in Suffolk. To further develop the project, the Government entered into a Combined Option agreement of £100 million with EDF on 27th January.
The Government has also announced a £385million Advanced Nuclear Fund. From this, £210million has been awarded to Rolls-Royce SMR to develop their small modular reactor design and their continued advanced modular reactor development. The Government also announced a new £120 million Nuclear Enabling Fund to provide targeted support to address barriers to entry for future nuclear. Further details on the fund will be announced in due course.
Later this year, the Government will publish a nuclear roadmap setting out the government’s strategy in more detail. The Nuclear Energy (Financing) Bill is currently in Parliament. This will introduce a Regulated Asset Base model for nuclear projects and reduce the obstacles to financing new nuclear projects.
Asked by: James Daly (Conservative - Bury North)
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 help ensure that (a) local authorities correctly categorise businesses for the Restart Grant application and (b) there is consistency across local authorities in the funds granted to (i) bridal shops and (ii) other businesses.
Answered by Paul Scully
The primary principle of the Restart Grant scheme is to support businesses that offer in-person services, where the main service and activity takes place in a fixed rate-paying premises, in the relevant sectors. Non-essential retail businesses, such as bridal shops, will be able apply for Restart Grants of up to £6,000. Businesses in the hospitality, leisure, personal care and gym sectors are able to apply for grants of up to £18,000.
If a business operates services that could be considered non-essential retail and also fall into another category, such as hospitality in the higher funding threshold, the main service can be determined by assessing which category constitutes 50% or more of their overall business.
The main service principle will determine which threshold of funding a business receives. Businesses will need to declare which is their main service. Local Authorities will need to exercise their reasonable judgement to determine whether or not a business is eligible for grants under which funding threshold and be satisfied that they have taken reasonable and practicable steps to pay eligible businesses and to pay them the correct amount
Throughout the pandemic, BEIS officials have worked closely with Local Authorities to ensure that grants are delivered as quickly as possible, while safeguarding public funds. As the range of grants available has increased, officials have continued regular briefings with all 314 Local Authorities to provide the latest guidance and respond to questions. Ministers have also held regular conversations with leaders and chief executives.
Asked by: James Daly (Conservative - Bury North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much financial support the Government has provided to the hospitality sector in Bury North constituency during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government has brought forward a substantial package of financial support for the hospitality sector during the COVID-19 pandemic. At the Budget, my Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer announced a £65 billion three-point plan to provide support for jobs and businesses (including the hospitality sector), with extensions to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, self-employed support, business grants, loans and VAT cuts – bringing total fiscal support to over £407 billion.