Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what impact assessment he has conducted on the Subsidy Control Bill and its potential effect on food and drink procurement by Welsh local authorities from within their authority area.
Answered by Paul Scully
An Impact Assessment was published alongside the Subsidy Control Bill , which gives an overarching assessment of the impact the measures in the Bill will have on public institutions and business. It focuses on the subsidy control regime’s framework, rather than the individual subsidies that may be awarded under it.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what impact assessment he has conducted on the potential effect of proposals in the Subsidy Control Bill on food and drink procurement by local authorities.
Answered by Paul Scully
An Impact Assessment was published alongside the Subsidy Control Bill , which gives an overarching assessment of the impact the measures in the Bill will have on public institutions and business. It focuses on the subsidy control regime’s framework, rather than the individual subsidies that may be awarded under it.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for International Trade on the compatibility of proposals in the Subsidy Control Bill with the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Answered by Paul Scully
Officials are working with the Department of International Trade to ensure that our international agreements are consistent with and support our ambitious domestic policy agenda. The Government is committed to upholding all its international obligations, including those on subsidy control. We do not anticipate any incompatibility issues with the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, which does not contain any commitments on subsidies that conflict with the proposals in the Subsidy Control Bill.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
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 his Department has made of whether proposals for the Cambo oilfield are compatible with the (a) Government’s climate targets and (b) Paris Agreement on climate change.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Cambo is not a new oilfield, it was licensed in 2001. The development proposal from Cambo is being scrutinised in line with robust regulatory procedures and no decision has yet been taken.
Oil and natural gas are still required for heating, cooking and transport, and are vital to the production of many everyday essentials like medicines, plastics, cosmetics and household appliances. While we are working hard to drive down demand for fossil fuels, there will continue to be ongoing demand for oil and gas over the coming years, as recognised by the independent Climate Change Committee, with the UK as net importers of both oil and gas.
Looking forward, the Government will introduce a climate compatibility checkpoint which will be used to assess whether any future licensing rounds remain in keeping with our climate goals. We have committed to launching the checkpoint by the end of 2021.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the transmission electricity network in Wales in facilitating renewable energy generation.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government recognises the importance of investing in electricity transmission network infrastructure to enable renewable generation to build and connect to the grid. The electricity transmission network in Wales and across Great Britain is regulated via a price control, set and administered by Ofgem, as the independent regulator. The current price control commenced on 1 April this year, and it includes £8.7bn of upfront funding for electricity transmission across Great Britain, £5.4bn (2018/19 prices) of which is allocated to National Grid Electricity Transmission which owns and operates the electricity transmission network in England and Wales. Further funding of up to £10bn for future projects to enable net zero is also available across the next price control (electricity transmission and gas), including readying the network for further renewable generation.
The UK Government remains firmly committed to the renewables industry across the UK, including in Wales. To date, Contracts for Difference (CfD) have been awarded to 5 projects in Wales, totalling around 200MW of capacity. Future CfD auctions will provide further opportunities for developers of renewable electricity projects in Wales to secure contracts and expand the amount of capacity supported by the scheme in Wales.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
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 facilitate the use of smart meters for residential solar PV installations.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Smart meters are replacing traditional gas and electricity meters in Great Britain as part of an essential infrastructure upgrade to make the energy system more efficient and flexible, enabling the cost-effective delivery of net zero greenhouse gas emissions.
All smart meters are capable of recording electricity that is exported to the grid from onsite renewable generation sources, such as solar panels.
The rollout is making good progress, with 23.6 million smart and advanced meters in homes and small businesses across Great Britain, as of the end of December 2020.
The latest data on the rollout of smart meters is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/smart-meters-statistics.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the timeframe is for the UK to begin receiving the 50 million doses of variant vaccines secured as part of the partnership with CureVac.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
We expect deliveries of the vaccines from CureVac later this year, if required. This will be subject to successful clinical trials and regulatory approval by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
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 support research and development into wool-based products in Wales.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Government’s ambitions are for a world-leading system that unlocks innovation and growth throughout all parts of the economy across the UK. Research and development are central to igniting the UK’s economic recovery, boosting productivity, creating new jobs and improving people’s quality of life.
Last Summer, we published the R&D Roadmap which outlines our plan to ensure the UK is the best place in the world for scientists, researchers, and entrepreneurs to live and work. Through our R&D Places Strategy, we will ensure research and development benefits the economies in places across the UK, including Wales, as part of our wider commitment to levelling up.
In November 2020, the Spending Review set out the government’s plan to cement the UK’s status as a global leader in science and innovation by investing £14.6bn in R&D in 2021-22. We will increase public R&D investment to £22bn per year by 2024-25. This investment supports our commitments set out in the R&D Roadmap and helps consolidate our position as a science superpower.
We are continuing to work with devolved administrations and other Government departments on delivering the R&D Roadmap.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent discussions he has had with private developers on proposals to build a battery factory in (a) Wales and (b) elsewhere in the UK.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Government remains committed to securing UK gigafactories.
Ministers and Officials in the Department are regularly engaging with potential investors. These discussions are ongoing, and it would not be appropriate for me to comment on specific cases.
There are a range of factors that will influence the location of any UK gigafactory investment, and ultimately this decision will be a commercial matter. There are several locations across the UK that may meet the requirements of investors, including in Wales.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
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 restrict the distribution of plastic toys with children’s magazines.
Answered by Paul Scully
All children’s toys on the UK market, whether sold or supplied individually or along with children’s magazines, must meet the safety requirements set out in the Toys (Safety) Regulations 2011 (‘The Regulations’). Under the Regulations, any toys distributed in the UK must not jeopardise the safety or health of users or third parties when they are used as intended or in a foreseeable way, bearing in mind the behaviour of children. The Regulations also set out requirements for warnings and safe use labels on toys and other safety obligations that must be met by manufacturers, importers and distributors; again, these apply however the toys are supplied.
Any toys distributed along with children’s magazines must be safe and meet the requirements of the Regulations. The Office for Product Safety and Standards and local authority Trading Standards have powers to enforce the Regulations.