Asked by: Michael Fallon (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has made an assessment of the implications for his policies of the March 2019 UK Onshore Oil and Gas report entitled Home grown UK shale gas: a bigger opportunity; and whether he has made an estimate of the date on which the UK will become a net exporter of gas.
Answered by Claire Perry
The Government is supportive of developing the shale gas industry in the UK in a safe and sustainable way. It is not yet known how much of the UK shale gas resource will ultimately be recoverable, or what rates of extraction, deliverability or reliability could be assumed if shale sources are found to be viable. Therefore the likely impact on UK natural gas imports and exports is not yet known.
The Government will continue to work with responsible companies prepared to invest in this industry as they proceed with the exploration process, to test the size and value of the potential reserves. We monitor the progress of the shale gas industry and will revise our estimates, as appropriate, as the industry develops.
Asked by: Michael Fallon (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when he expects the Government to achieve its target to cut £10 billion of red tape.
Answered by Margot James
The target to deliver £10 billion of savings only applied in respect of the last Parliament, which was originally expected to run for five years from 2015 to 2020. The Government is currently considering its approach to setting a Business Impact Target in respect of the current Parliament.
Asked by: Michael Fallon (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
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 estimate the savings to businesses of the repeal of regulations in 2014, 2015 and 2016.
Answered by Margot James
Details of the savings to business that were delivered through improvements to regulation during the 2010-15 Parliament are set out in The Ninth Statement of New Regulation, published in December 2014. It is available on www.gov.uk.
The Government has not yet published its final report on the savings to business delivered during the 2015-17 Parliament, but we will do so in due course.
Asked by: Michael Fallon (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy, when he next plans to publish a list of new UK and EU business regulations that will come into force in the next six months.
Answered by Margot James
The Government no longer publishes a statement of new regulations every six months. Under the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015, the Government is required to publish an annual report that among other things lists all measures’ impact on business or voluntary bodies, which came into force in the preceding year. The final report for the 2015-17 Parliament will be published in due course.
Asked by: Michael Fallon (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
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 set targets for the UK to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in order to limit global warming.
Answered by Claire Perry
The UK was the first country in the world to set legally binding greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets, under the Climate Change Act 2008. The Act requires us to reduce emissions by at least 80% against 1990 levels by 2050, with carbon budgets (caps on emissions over a five year period) to take us on steps down towards this target. Since 1990, we have cut emissions by 42% while our economy has grown by two thirds.
The Fifth Carbon Budget (covering 2028-32) was passed into law on 21 July 2016. This budget is set in line with the recommendation of our independent advisers, the Committee on Climate Change, at 1,725 MtCO2e, equivalent to a 57% reduction on 1990 levels.
In October, the Government published the Clean Growth Strategy, which sets out our plans for cutting emissions, while keeping costs down for consumers, creating good jobs and growing the economy.
Asked by: Michael Fallon (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
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 has taken to invest in 100 per cent clean energy.
Answered by Claire Perry
Power sector emissions in the UK have fallen 49 per cent since 1990 and last year, 47 per cent of our electricity came from low carbon sources.
The Clean Growth Strategy sets out our plans to build on the successful decarbonisation of the power sector, while looking further across the whole of the economy and the country.