Mick Whitley

The Government has carried out extensive communications including through the Help for Households campaign, via charities and consumer groups, through community radio, translated materials and the media. This work continues alongside enhanced effort by electricity suppliers to reach customers with unused vouchers. I have raised this with a number of city region mayors and have provided resources for Local Authorities to use with their local networks. The Government will shortly be sharing these resources with Hon. Members to use within their constituencies. The Department continues to work with stakeholders to ensure every effort is made to reach all eligible households.

This Government is clear that anyone entitled to be paid the minimum wage should receive it and will take robust enforcement action against employers who do not pay their staff correctly.

The Employment Agencies Act 1973 and its associated regulations are the main pieces of legislation that directly regulate employment agencies and employment businesses, including online recruitment services, which operate within Great Britain. This legislation is enforced by the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate. It is the responsibility of the agency to check the validity of the adverts before they post them online and that they include the required information.

An individual's entitlement to the minimum wage is not dependent on the rates of pay included in a job advert or job offer that they accepted. Therefore, if an individual is not being paid at least minimum wage when they are entitled to it, they should complain to HMRC using the online form on gov.uk. HMRC consider every complaint they receive and, if they identify underpayment, they will require the employer to repay the arrears to workers and a penalty to government.

HMRC support employers and workers by actively raising awareness of employers’ obligations and workers’ rights relating to the minimum wage. For example, HMRC routinely contact employers who advertise unpaid internships, signposting them to guidance to help ensure they are compliant.

BEIS engineering experts met with Titan Electricity at a meeting on the 5^th July to discuss their geo-engine concept and its use in removing hydrogen sulphide and carbon dioxide from sour and acid natural gas.

Technologies similar to the geo-engine could help achieve the ambitious decarbonisation targets set in the North Sea Transition Deal for offshore gas published by BEIS in March. This commits the UK offshore oil and gas sector to a carbon dioxide production emission reduction of 10% in 2025, 25% in 2027, and 50% in 2030 compared to a 2018 baseline.

The Department does not specify the equipment used on gas rigs however, this being a matter solely for the individual scheme developers.

Small and medium-sized businesses have a vital role in developing the technologies needed to deliver net zero. There is a wide range of financial and logistical support available to aid them in doing so.

The Net Zero Innovation Portfolio, a £1 billion fund announced in my Rt hon Friend the Prime Minister’s Ten Point Plan for a green industrial revolution, aims to accelerate the commercialisation of low-carbon technologies, systems and business models in power, buildings, and industry. Funding is available for projects across the UK for companies of all sizes. Within the portfolio, the ‘Energy Entrepreneurs Fund’ particularly aims to assist small and medium sized enterprises, including start-ups. Those companies that are selected will receive acceleration support.

More widely, Innovate UK (IUK) acts as the prime channel through which the Government incentivises business-led technology innovation. Its role is to fund business-led innovation through the allocation of competitively awarded grants, delivered through competitions. Through their Knowledge Transfer Network and Innovate UK EDGE, IUK help connect innovative businesses with the right partners, expertise, facilities, financiers and influencers to help them bring their ideas to market, grow and scale their companies, and build collaborations, partnerships and supply chains.

In addition, the Government established a network of Catapult Centres in 2011 to commercialise new and emerging technologies in areas where there are large global market opportunities and a critical mass of UK capability to take advantage of them. There are nine Catapults, across 40 locations throughout the UK, supporting a broad range of technologies. The Catapult Centres have supported in excess of 8000 small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs).

Between 2014 and the third quarter of 2020 a total of £160m has been invested into clean technology businesses by equity funds backed by the British Business Bank. The Bank crowds in additional private sector capital to support equity investment for small and medium sized enterprises, maximising the impact of government investment.

BEIS engineering officials have recently discussed with Titan Electricity at a meeting their geo-engine concept.

Technologies similar to the geo-engine could help achieve the ambitious decarbonisation targets set in the North Sea Transition Deal for offshore gas published by BEIS in March. This commits the UK offshore oil and gas sector to a carbon dioxide production emission reduction of 10% in 2025, 25% in 2027, and 50% in 2030 compared to a 2018 baseline.

Officials from the Department met with Titan Electricity on the 5^th July where they discussed the GeoEngine technology and the various BEIS energy innovation competitions that Titan would be eligible to apply for to get funding for further development of the concept. Officials would be pleased to meet with Titan again if they would find another meeting helpful, although for any live competitions Titan should engage through the standard process.

The Government, and the energy Regulator Ofgem, has a duty to protect the interests of electricity and gas consumers and to have specific regard to the interests of vulnerable consumers, including individuals who are disabled or chronically sick.

Ofgem Supply Licence Conditions require energy companies to treat all customers fairly, including customers in a vulnerable situation.

Ofgem also requires energy companies to maintain a Priority Services Register of vulnerable customers, including people with certain mental health conditions which impact their understanding of a bill. Customers on a Priority Service Register are offered a range of services relating to safety, access and communication free of charge. Full details of who is eligible and the support that can be accessed is available online at: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/consumers/household-gas-and-electricity-guide/extra-help-energy-services/priority-services-register

The energy Regulator Ofgem, requires energy companies to maintain a Priority Services Register of vulnerable customers, including individuals who are disabled or unable to top up their prepayment meter due to injury. Customers on a Priority Service Register are offered a range of services relating to safety, access and communication free of charge. These services include arrangements to ensure it is safe and practical for customers to use a prepayment meter, such as moving a meter that cannot be safely accessed to top up and meter reading services if a customer is unable to read their meter. Full details of who is eligible and the support that can be accessed is available online at: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/consumers/household-gas-and-electricity-guide/extra-help-energy-services/priority-services-register

Smart meters are benefitting people with limited mobility by ending the need for manual meter reads, delivering accurate bills and enabling prepayment customers to conveniently track and top-up credit from home. The In-Home Display (IHD), which households are offered when they have smart meters installed, can be placed anywhere in the home and provides easily accessible, near-real time information about energy consumption, credit and costs.

Ministers in the Department regularly meet with energy providers to discuss a range of issues, including support for vulnerable energy consumers.

Government, and the energy Regulator Ofgem, has a duty to protect the interests of electricity and gas consumers and to have specific regard to the interests of vulnerable consumers, including individuals who are disabled or chronically sick.

Ofgem Supply Licence Conditions require energy companies to treat all customers fairly, including customers in a vulnerable situation. Ofgem also requires energy companies to maintain a Priority Services Register of vulnerable customers, including people with certain mental health conditions which impact their understanding of a bill. Customers on a Priority Service Register are offered a range of services relating to safety, access and communication free of charge. Full details of who is eligible and the support that can be accessed is available online at: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/consumers/household-gas-and-electricity-guide/extra-help-energy-services/priority-services-register

Ofgem monitors energy company performance with their requirements through their Social Obligations Reporting. The latest report can be found online at: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/system/files/docs/2019/09/vulnerable_consumers_in_the_energy_market_2019_final.pdf.

It has not proved possible to respond to the Hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

As we rebuild, we must build back better, greener, and faster. This means supporting green jobs, levelling up, accelerating our path to net zero, and creating long-term advantage for the UK.

Spanning clean energy, buildings, transport, nature and innovative technologies, the Ten Point Plan will mobilise £12 billion of government investment to unlock three times as much private sector investment by 2030. In doing so we will support a further 90,000 green jobs across the UK by 2024, and up to 250,000 by 2030. Job estimates at a constituency level are not available.

The Government recognises the importance of research and development in helping to transform the steel sector so that it can play a vital role in developing a cleaner, greener economy in the UK.

Decarbonising UK industry is a core part of the Government’s ambitious plan for the green industrial revolution. The Industrial Decarbonisation Strategy, published on 17 March, commits to work with the Steel Council to consider the implications of the recommendation of the Climate Change Committee to ‘set targets for ore-based steelmaking to reach near-zero emissions by 2035’.

Our current Government initiatives include:

• Up to £66m as part of the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, to help key foundation industries, such as steel, develop innovative technology to reduce energy and resource use;
• £22m to the Materials Processing Institute in Teesside to deliver a R&D programme of transformative manufacturing - to help UK steel and metals sector improve efficiencies, cut emissions and ultimately boost its global competitive edge;
• Plans to establish a Net Zero Hydrogen Fund (previously Low Carbon Hydrogen Production Fund): with £240m of capital co-investment out to 2024/25. This will support at-scale hydrogen production projects, allowing companies, such as steel producers, the potential to access to secure supplies of lower cost hydrogen;
• More broadly, the £1bn Net Zero Innovation Portfolio provides funding for low carbon technologies and systems to support decarbonising our power, homes and industry as set out in the Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution.

Hydrogen-based steelmaking is one potential way to decarbonise steel production. Decarbonising UK industry is a core part of the government’s ambitious plan for the green industrial revolution and, as part of the UK’s ongoing engagement in key international initiatives focused on industry decarbonisation, we are engaging with a range of stakeholders in Germany, Sweden and China (as well as other countries) to better understand the latest plans to decarbonise steel production. This includes engagement under Mission Innovation, the Clean Energy Ministerial, and the Leadership Group for Industry Transition.

The Department is actively supporting the UK steel sector to ensure it is in the best position to benefit from future market opportunities, including domestic opportunities which are estimated to be worth £3.8 billion a year by 2030.

We have published a steel pipeline signalling upcoming steel requirements for national infrastructure, which are estimated to require around 5 million tonnes of steel over the next decade.

We have established a new joint industry and BEIS Steel Procurement Taskforce (launched on 12 March) with the aim of working with the sector to promote the unique selling points of UK steel and explore how best to support and position the industry for success in forthcoming major public contracts.

Decarbonising UK industry is a core part of the government’s ambitious plan for the green industrial revolution. The Industrial Decarbonisation Strategy[1], published on 17 March, commits government to work with the Steel Council to consider the implications of the recommendation of the Climate Change Committee to ‘set targets for ore-based steelmaking to reach near-zero emissions by 2035’. Hydrogen, electrification, and carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS) are the main technological options being examined as part of this process. The industry decarbonisation pathways technical annex of the strategy (pg. 153-155) presents two possible options for the decarbonisation of the iron and steel industry:

• The first option shows fuel switching to hydrogen and electric arc furnace. This suggests abatement potential from hydrogen fuel switching of 3.9 MtCO2e and 3.5 MtCO2e of electric fuel switching by 2050.
• The second option shows the abatement potential of carbon capture utilisation and storage (abatement of 6.7 Mt CO2e).

[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/industrial-decarbonisation-strategy

Decarbonising UK industry is a core part of the government’s ambitious plan for the green industrial revolution.

The Industrial Decarbonisation Strategy published on 17 March, commits to work with the Steel Council to consider the implications of the recommendation of the Climate Change Committee to ‘set targets for ore-based steelmaking to reach near-zero emissions by 2035’.

Our recent and on-going work to support the steel sector includes:

o Announcing the £250m Clean Steel Fund to support the decarbonisation of the steel sector, including its transition to new low carbon technologies and processes.

o The Industrial Energy Transformation Fund. This £315m fund aims to support businesses, including those in the steel sector, with high energy use to cut their bills and reduce carbon emissions.

o The newly re-constituted Steel Council offers the forum for government, industry and trade unions to work in partnership on the shared objective of creating an achievable, long-term plan to support the sector’s transition to a competitive, sustainable and low carbon future.

Our new Industrial Decarbonisation Strategy sets out, for the first time, the Government’s comprehensive assessment of how industry, including the steel sector, can decarbonise in line with net zero, in a way that supports competitiveness and clean growth.

The newly re-constituted Steel Council offers the forum for government, industry and trade unions to work in partnership on the shared objective of creating an achievable, long-term plan to support the sector’s transition to a competitive, sustainable and low carbon future. The Industrial Decarbonisation Strategy commits to work with the Steel Council to consider the implications of the recommendation of the Climate Change Committee to ‘set targets for ore-based steelmaking to reach near-zero emissions by 2035’. Hydrogen is one of the technological approaches being considered as part of this process.

As my Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister’s Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution made clear, we are committed to two carbon capture clusters by the mid-2020s and for a further two clusters by 2030. These are expected to be in areas of heavy industry such as the North East, the Humber, North West, Scotland, and Wales. In February we published a consultation on a potential approach to sequencing the deployment of clusters; we have gathered and considered stakeholder feedback and intend to launch Phase-1 of that process shortly. In order to support this deployment, the Government has announced a £1 billion CCS Infrastructure Fund, alongside £240 million to fund low-carbon hydrogen, and is developing business models across power, industry and hydrogen to encourage private investment.

Phase-1 of the Government’s Carbon Capture Usage and Storage (CCUS) Cluster Sequencing Process aims to sequence industrial clusters for decarbonisation over the next decade. The focus of the process will be in identifying those clusters most suited for deployment of CCUS from the mid-2020s, whilst also delivering wider benefits such as economic benefits and learnings that will enable the CCUS to be deployed at scale in the future. The Department is finalising the evaluation criteria and weightings, building on the weighting ranges that were set out in our recent consultation.

Phase-1 of the Government’s Carbon Capture Usage and Storage (CCUS) Cluster Sequencing Process aims to sequence industrial clusters for decarbonisation over the next decade. The focus of the process will be in identifying those clusters most suited for deployment of CCUS from the mid-2020s, whilst also delivering wider benefits such as economic benefits and learnings that will enable the CCUS to be deployed at scale in the future. The Department is finalising the evaluation criteria and weightings, building on the weighting ranges that were set out in our recent consultation.

Since 2017 the Government has funded the North West Energy Hub, hosted by Liverpool City Region Combined Authority. The Hub works with LEPs and local authorities in their region to help them to identify a pipeline of low carbon projects and provide practical support for the initial stages of project development.

We are providing hospitality businesses in Tier 2 areas with a wide package of support to help them through the current crisis. This includes the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, government-backed loans, Local Restrictions Support Grants and additional funding provided to Local Authorities to support businesses. On 1 December, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister also announced an additional £1,000 Christmas grant for ‘wet-led pubs’ in tiers 2 and 3.

We are providing hospitality businesses in Tiers 2 and 3 with a wide package of support to help them through the current crisis. This includes the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, government-backed loans, Local Restrictions Support Grants and additional funding provided to Local Authorities to support businesses. On 1 December, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister also announced an additional £1,000 Christmas grant for ‘wet-led pubs’ in tiers 2 and 3.

We remain committed to promoting the safe and considerate use of fireworks through the effective legislative framework and through non-legislative measures – an action also recommended by the House of Commons Petitions Committee. This has included running a public awareness campaign on fireworks for this fireworks season involving safety charities, animal welfare organisations and retail bodies.

The public must follow the latest Covid-19 restrictions at all times, including when using fireworks.

There is already a comprehensive regulatory framework in place for fireworks that aims to reduce the risks to people and disturbance to animals. Existing legislation controls the sale, availability and use of fireworks, as well as setting a curfew and noise limit.

We remain committed to promoting the safe and considerate use of fireworks through the effective legislative framework and through non-legislative measures.

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme was welcomed and widely utilised by the automotive sector. Surveys carried out by the industry body, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, showed that during the lockdown earlier this year, the Job Retention Scheme was accessed by 60.6% of the automotive manufacturing workforce in April and by 34.2% of the workforce in May.

In order to support the retention of jobs, my Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer announced the Job Retention Bonus in June. This will see businesses receive a one-off payment of £1,000 for every previously furloughed employee if they are still employed at the end of January next year.

As part of his Winter Economy Plan, the Chancellor announced the Job Support Scheme, which is designed to protect jobs in businesses who are facing lower demand over the winter months due to Covid-19. The Government will pay a third of hours not worked up to a cap (£697.92 per month), with the employer also contributing a third.

In order to protect jobs and UK businesses, we are expanding the Job Support Scheme for businesses legally required to temporarily close their premises as a direct result of Coronavirus restrictions. The Government will provide employers with a grant for employees that have been instructed to cease work, covering two-thirds of their usual wages and subject up to a maximum of £2,100 a month.

Employers using the Job Support Scheme will also be able to claim the Job Retention Bonus if they meet the eligibility criteria.

We recognise the challenges facing the automotive industry as a result of Covid-19. Firms can draw upon our package of support, which is one of the most generous and comprehensive globally, with a fiscal response so far totalling £160 billion.

The Government has been working closely with key industry stakeholders throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, to understand how we can support the resilience and continued competitiveness of the UK’s automotive manufacturing sector at this time.

At the same time, we are continuing our long-standing programme of investment in the automotive sector. To date, the Government has invested £497 million through the Advanced Propulsion Centre’s innovation grants to develop the next generation of low carbon technologies, which have helped to secure or create?over 40,000 jobs?and have saved around 225 million tonnes of CO2.

The Government remains committed to reaching an agreement with the EU. There are large areas of convergence and we will keep working to bridge the gaps.

The Government is continuing to engage extensively with business and industry about how to prepare for changes to trade at the end of the transition period. Many businesses have already begun preparing for life outside the Customs Union and we urge others to do the same. This includes getting an Economic Operators Registration and Identification (EORI) number and making plans for completing customs declarations, where traders will need a customs agent or their own software.

All decisions on spend are made in line with expectations in Managing Public Money.

External experts are required to complete a conflict of interest declaration; these are then assessed on a case-by-case basis and where conflicts arise, those individuals are required to recuse themselves from the decision-making process.

Employees with the necessary qualifying service who consider that they have been dismissed unfairly may complain to an employment tribunal. The case of an employee who has been dismissed as a result of health issues clearly demands special consideration. For example, a tribunal will expect the employer to have considered whether there was suitable alternative work available. Employees may also be able to seek redress through the civil courts or employment tribunals if their dismissal breaches the terms of their contracts, for instance, because the employer has failed to comply with provisions relating to sickness absence.

The Department recognises the important role that naval procurement programmes play in creating construction opportunities in British shipyards and across the marine engineering supply chain. The procurement of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary fleet solid support ships is a matter for the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

The Department works closely with the MoD to support the opportunities for UK construction of these vessels through the MoD led National Shipbuilding Strategy.