Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has to introduce a social tariff for energy.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
As set out in the Autumn Statement, the Government is developing a new approach to consumer protection in energy markets, which will apply from April 2024 onwards.
The Government has committed to work with consumer groups and industry to consider the best approach, including options such as social tariffs, as part of wider retail market reforms.
Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
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 Save our Salons campaign group on support for businesses in the hairdressing and beauty industry.
Answered by Paul Scully
I regularly engage with businesses in the personal care sector to listen to their concerns and understand the impact of the pandemic, including members of the Save our Salons campaign. In line with the roadmap, hair and beauty businesses will be able to reopen in England no earlier than 12th April, alongside non-essential retail. They will benefit from the package of support announced by my Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Budget, including restart grants of up to £18,000.
Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
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 ability of local authorities to help tackle the climate emergency at a local level.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
BEIS launched the Local Energy programme in 2017 to support local authorities in taking action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote clean growth. Almost £20 million has been invested in the programme to date, funding a range of measures designed to build local capacity and capability. This includes creating five Local Energy Hubs across England, which provide Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) and local authorities with access to expertise to help them develop plans to secure investment in low carbon projects. The programme has also funded the production of an energy strategy for every LEP area, the production of good practice guidance and resources, a finance conference and regional workshops, and the £10 million re-launch of the Rural Community Energy Fund.
Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what resources his Department is providing to local authorities to help them respond to the climate emergency.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
BEIS launched the Local Energy programme in 2017 to support local authorities in taking action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote clean growth. Almost £20 million has been invested in the programme to date, funding a range of measures designed to build local capacity and capability. This includes creating five Local Energy Hubs across England, which provide Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) and local authorities with access to expertise to help themin develop plans to secure investment in low carbon projects. The programme has also funded the production of an energy strategy for every LEP area, the production of good practice guidance and resources, a finance conference and regional workshops, and the £10 million re-launch of the Rural Community Energy Fund.
Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
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 local authority leaders on achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2030.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
The UK was the first major economy to legislate for a net zero target, in line with advice from our independent expert advisers, the Committee on Climate Change, that 2050 was the earliest feasible date for achieving this.
BEIS launched the Local Energy programme in 2017 to support local authorities in taking action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote clean growth. Almost £20 million has been invested in the programme to date, funding a range of measures designed to build local capacity and capability. This includes creating five Local Energy Hubs across England, which provide Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) and local authorities with access to expertise to help them develop plans to secure investment in low carbon projects. The programme has also funded the production of an energy strategy for every LEP area, the production of good practice guidance and resources, a finance conference and regional workshops, and the £10 million re-launch of the Rural Community Energy Fund.
Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
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 effect of the 1,400 job losses at the Airbus site in Flintshire, North Wales, on the local economy in Wirral.?
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The proposed job losses by Airbus in the UK are part of its planned 15,000 global job reductions due to the reduced demand for new aircraft, resulting from the global Covid-19 pandemic with airlines deferring and cancelling orders. This has required Airbus to lower production rates by around 40%. Recovery to pre-Covid-19 levels may take between three and five years.
We are working closely with Airbus to help it through the crisis and into recovery. We appreciate this is a worrying time for workers at Airbus who may be affected and will do all we can to support them through Job Centre Plus in England, and in Wales through the services offered by the ReAct programme.
Airbus and UK aerospace suppliers are benefiting from the Government’s £330 billion Covid-19 business support packages, including the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. Companies are also benefiting from our support for aviation and aerospace through UK Export Finance, the Bank of England’s Covid Corporate Financing Facility, and grants for research and development.
Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much funding from the European Social Fund (a) the UK and (b) each region of the UK received in the latest year for which figures are available.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The European Social Fund (ESF) is designed to reduce social disparities across the EU. In 2019, the total allocation for ESF is as follows:
| € (millions) |
Scotland | 58.7 |
Wales | 140.88 |
Northern Ireland | 29.9 |
England | 466.1 |
Total | 695.58 |
In a No Deal Brexit, the government has guaranteed ESF funding, enabling existing projects to continue, and new projects to be funded until programme closure. Under the terms of the current Withdrawal Agreement, the UK will continue to take part in the current round of ESF funding until programme closure.
Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much funding from the European Social Fund has been allocated to employment support for (a) disabled people, (b) young people between the ages of 16 and 25 and (c) people who are long-term unemployed in the latest year for which figures are available.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
ESF is allocated according to thematic objectives set out by the EU, and to specific projects which include a range of areas of intervention such as disability, support for young people, and long term unemployment alongside other areas of intervention. ESF Managing Authorities across the UK are not required under EU regulations to maintain a separate breakdown of the precise categories requested.
Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of the creation of a locally-based network of energy efficiency centres to offer advice on (a) energy efficiency to the public and (b) the generation of renewable energy by small businesses, schools, charities and households.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
Local action by communities, by local businesses and by local authorities has a significant role to play in raising awareness of renewable energy and energy efficiency. We have and continue to support local organisations and groups not only to provide advice but also to lead action on these issues locally.
This Government is committed to empowering communities and these projects, which put local people in the driving seat, are an important part of a clean, secure and affordable energy system. BEIS provides the Energy Saving Advice Service covering England and Wales. In 2016, over 15,000 callers were referred to local authority energy efficiency schemes or initiatives.
Since 2013, the UK Government has committed over £16m to support community energy, including the Rural Community Energy Fund which continues to offer support and feasibility and development finance for community-scale renewable energy projects in England. The generation of renewable energy by small businesses, schools, charities and households also remains eligible for payments through the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) and Feed-in Tariff (FIT) scheme.
This Government sees local energy, of which community energy is a key part, as an important part of a wider local energy ecosystem; with cities, municipalities and local partners driving this agenda. As such we have already committed funding to identify and overcome local barriers to delivery in the short term while we understand the contribution and importance of this sector to the delivery of both the Industrial Strategy and the Clean Growth Strategy.
Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
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 effect of changes to funding from central government for local authorities on the provision of trading standards services by councils.
Answered by Margot James
Funding and prioritisation for trading standards are decisions for local authorities – accountable to local communities and the people they serve.
Government recognises that consumer protection goes beyond local authority boundaries, and therefore provides £15m per year for coordinated Trading Standards activity in the UK.