Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment he has made of the impact of (a) moving people onto prepayment meters against their will and (b) cutting off energy supply (i) unilaterally and (ii) remotely on (A) elderly, (B) impoverished and (C) other vulnerable people; what recent discussions he has had with energy companies on the impact of these practices; whether his Department is taking steps to protect people from these practices; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Ofgem has rules in place that restrict the force-fitting of a prepayment meter on customers who are in debt, except as a last resort. Ofgem also has rules to protect consumers from the risk of disconnection, in particular preventing suppliers from directly disconnecting consumers between November and April.
On the impact of suppliers cutting off supply, between Q3 2021 and Q2 2022, suppliers directly disconnected 3 gas accounts and 19 electricity accounts according to Ofgem data. Neither the Government, nor Ofgem hold more detailed data on the recent impact of disconnections, or pre-payment installations and switches, on the groups listed.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
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 institute financial penalties against firms which fail to answer customers' telephone calls within a specified acceptable period of time; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Paul Scully
High quality customer service makes commercial sense and the Government expects all businesses to treat consumers fairly. However, the Government does not seek to intervene in the detail of how businesses conduct their activities, which are essentially commercial matters. For free advice on consumer rights and how to make complaints, consumers may contact the Citizens Advice consumer service on 0808 223 1133 (www.consumeradvice.org.uk/) or Advice Direct Scotland on 0808 164 6000 (www.consumeradvice.scot) for consumers living in Scotland.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
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 22 February to Question 120606 on Carbon Emissions, what verification arrangements are in place to monitor whether and to what extent the Governments of (a) Russia, (b) China, (c) the US and (d) India are implementing net zero pledges; and whether it is Government policy to pursue net zero for the UK irrespective of progress by countries on net zero actions.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Paris Agreement require all countries to report to the UNFCCC on progress against emissions reduction commitments by December 31st 2024, and every two years afterwards. This information will be publicly available. The Enhanced Transparency Framework is designed to show that all countries are contributing their fair share to the global effort. At COP26, all countries agreed the Glasgow Climate Pact, which requests countries to revisit and strengthen their 2030 emissions reduction targets, as necessary, to align with the Paris temperature goal by the end of this year, and it signalled the start of the first Global Stocktake to assess the world’s collective progress. The UK Government is committed to delivering its legally-binding net zero target.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment he has made of the potential of the UK significantly to reduce global warming if it achieved net zero unilaterally whilst other countries did not; what arrangements are in place to verify whether (a) Russia, (b) China, (c) the US and (d) India are pursuing net zero policies in parallel with the programme currently followed by the UK; what estimate he has made of resources of (i) North Sea (A) oil and (B) gas and (ii) shale gas, potentially available to the UK; under which circumstances the Government would begin to exploit those resources; and whether it is Government policy to pursue net zero for the UK irrespective of what other countries do.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
While the UK was the first major economy to commit to net zero, today 90% of global GDP is covered by net zero pledges (which includes Russia, China, the USA and India). We are absolutely committed to delivering on net zero and ensuring the UK is at the forefront of the rapidly growing global green economy.
The North Sea Transition Deal sets out how the UK’s offshore oil and gas sector will help deliver on net zero while continuing to contribute to UK energy security, in the last year two new fields were consented.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent estimate his Department has made of the potential number of smart meters fitted by energy companies since December 2019 which will require (a) upgrading and (b) replacing when the 2G and 3G networks are switched off; what estimate the Government has made of the potential cost of that upgrading and replacement which will be passed on to consumers; what discussions the Government had with energy companies on the potential effect of 2G and 3G switch off (i) before and (ii) during marketing campaigns for new replacement 5G smart meters; what plans the Government has to switch off 2G and 3G networks before all smart meters dependent on those networks have been upgraded or replaced; and what the Government's policy is on whether 5G smart meters will be mandatory for energy consumers.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Smart meters will not need to be replaced or upgraded as a result of sunsetting 2G and 3G networks. Smart meters can work with a range of communications technologies and the system has been designed to accommodate the inevitable evolution of communication services over time. Communications hubs, which are installed alongside smart meters and connect them to the national smart metering network, can be replaced independently of the meter.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether it is Government policy to proceed unilaterally with its current timetable for achieving net zero emissions in the event that (a) the United States and (b) China fail to take similar steps on a multilateral basis.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
In June 2019, following advice from the Climate Change Committee, the UK Government became the first major economy to set a legally binding target to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. This will bring an end to the UK's domestic contribution to climate change.
The Net Zero Strategy outlines measures to transition to a green and sustainable future, helping businesses and consumers to move to clean power, supporting hundreds of thousands of well-paid jobs and leveraging up to £90 billion of private investment by 2030.
When the UK took the role of incoming COP Presidency in December 2019, coverage was less than 30% of world GDP. Countries that are covered by a commitment to net zero or carbon neutrality now account for around 75% of global GHG emissions, and around 80% of global GDP, this includes both US and China.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment he has made of the level of (a) economic and ( b) political vulnerabilities caused to the UK by (i) direct and (ii) indirect dependence on supplies from (A) Russia and (B) continental European countries; and if he will publish a breakdown of the proportion of UK energy supplies sourced from overseas.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Energy security is an absolute priority for this Government. We meet around half of our annual gas supply through domestic production and the vast majority of imports come from reliable suppliers such as Norway. Less than 3% of our gas was sourced from Russia in 2020.The UK is not dependant on Russian oil or gas.
The UK’s exposure to volatile global gas prices underscores the importance of our plan to build a robust domestic renewable energy sector to further reduce our reliance on fossil fuels.
The Government has published a full breakdown of where UK energy comes from at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/digest-of-uk-energy-statistics-dukes.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he plans to take steps in respect of the reported attempt by China to take over Bacanora Lithium.
Answered by Paul Scully
Mergers and takeovers are primarily commercial matters for the parties involved. The Government has powers under the Enterprise Act 2002 to intervene in transactions which raise national security concerns. The Government has recently strengthened those powers through the National Security and Investment Act 2021.
The Government is aware of this proposed transaction and is monitoring developments closely.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
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 18 March 2021 to Question 168810, on Parliamentary scrutiny of the proposed Investment Security Unit, on how many occasions since 2016 the BEIS Select Committee has been given access to material protectively marked as Top Secret; and whether any Top Secret material was disclosed to that Committee during its scrutiny of the (a) civil nuclear programme and (b) other matters referred to in the Answer to that Question and described as sensitive.
Answered by Paul Scully
Details of the frequency and subject matter of what sensitive or highly classified information is transmitted outside Government can itself be sensitive, and its disclosure may give rise to national security risks. I therefore cannot publish the information in the detail my Rt. Hon. Friend has requested.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
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 11 March 2021 to Question 164331 on parliamentary scrutiny of the new Investment Security Unit, under what provisions the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Select Committee could have oversight of that part of the work of the Unit which will involve (a) interaction with the Intelligence and Security Agencies and (b) consideration of highly classified material not normally made available to parliamentary Select Committees; and what the Government's policy is on effective parliamentary scrutiny of activities of the Unit involving material classified at the level of Top Secret.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Select Committee is well-placed to have oversight of the Investment Security Unit. The Committee already provides scrutiny on a number of sensitive areas, such as the civil nuclear programme, and it is well placed to consider how effectively and efficiently the Investment Security Unit is interacting with the business community and investors in delivering the National Security and Investment regime.