Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent discussions she has had with the Board of the Post Office Ltd on how funds wrongly claimed back from sub postmasters using Horizon software were used.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
I hold meetings with the Post Office CEO on a monthly basis where we discuss the topic of Horizon compensation delivery.
Postmasters who paid shortfalls which were recorded in Horizon to the Post Office are paid those amounts back in their compensation claims, as well as any other financial and personal damage which they have suffered as a consequence of the IT system.
Government has made funding available for both the Horizon Shortfall Scheme and for Overturned Convictions compensation. Post Office has published its provisions for both in its annual accounts and Government has published the level of funding available on the Subsidy Transparency Database.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent discussions she has had with the Board of the Post Office Ltd on the urgent return of funds wrongly claimed from sub postmasters.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
I hold meetings with the Post Office CEO on a monthly basis where we discuss the topic of Horizon compensation delivery.
Postmasters who paid shortfalls which were recorded in Horizon to the Post Office are paid those amounts back in their compensation claims, as well as any other financial and personal damage which they have suffered as a consequence of the IT system.
Government has made funding available for both the Horizon Shortfall Scheme and for Overturned Convictions compensation. Post Office has published its provisions for both in its annual accounts and Government has published the level of funding available on the Subsidy Transparency Database.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many former EU product regulations apply in the UK.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
We do not hold information on the breakdown of the exact number of pieces of former EU product regulation that apply in the UK. The publicly available dashboard contains all of the relevant REUL. However, the relevant information cannot be readily or accurately ascertained and would encounter disproportionate costs to produce. Departments are assessing how best to reform this REUL using the powers in the REUL Bill.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what the budget for subsidies to attract investment in car and battery manufacture (a) was this year and (b) will be next year.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
HM Government has allocated £257m of capital budget for supply chain and finished vehicle manufacturing for this financial year (2023/24) and £268m for the next financial year (2024/25).
In addition, through the Advanced Propulsion Centre and Faraday Battery Challenge programmes, with budgets of £127.1m this financial year (2023/24) and £77.5m next year (2024/25), the Government supports research and development into the next generation of low carbon and zero emission vehicle technologies and the design, development, manufacturing, and recycling of electric batteries.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what estimate she has made of changes in the level of investment in the car industry as a result of the ban on new diesel and petrol vehicles from 2030.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The UK has demonstrated international leadership with our plans to implement a zero-emission vehicle mandate, phasing out the sale of petrol and diesel cars by 2030. The Department for Transport are carefully considering the responses to the recent consultation on this matter.
The government continues to work with industry to unlock private investment in the future of vehicle manufacturing, including via the Automotive Transformation Fund, which has already helped secure major investments in the UK.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what estimate the Government has made of the potential maximum number of electric cars the UK will be able to produce in (a) two and (b) five years time.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
This information is commercially sensitive to companies and not held centrally.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how much the Government spent on subsidies to high energy using industries last year.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
Over £450 million was provided across the Energy Intensive Industry schemes in 2022. This was in addition to support provided by the Energy Bill Relief Scheme (EBRS) for businesses and other non-domestic customers. The EBRS ended on 31 March 2023 and provided around £7 billion of support to businesses, including high energy using industries.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how much the Government (a) collected in carbon taxes and (b) provided in subsidies to energy intensive industries in last 12 months.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
Although not a carbon tax, the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) was introduced in January 2021, setting a cap on the total amount of greenhouse gas emissions that can be emitted by the sectors it covers. In 2022 it raised around £6 billion, though amounts can vary and in previous years this has been lower - such as around £1 billion in 2021-22.
The value of relief provided to eligible companies under Energy Intensive Industries (EII) schemes for financial year 2021-22 is just over £541 million. This is the most recent period for which full data is available.