Asked by: Mick Whitley (Labour - Birkenhead)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if officials in his Department will meet representatives of Titan Electricity to discuss the Geo Engine and the potential role it could play in helping to meet national net-zero targets.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Officials from the Department met with Titan Electricity on the 5th 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.
Asked by: Mick Whitley (Labour - Birkenhead)
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 ensure that people with (a) physical and (b) learning disabilities are aware of their consumer rights when dealing with energy providers.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
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
Asked by: Mick Whitley (Labour - Birkenhead)
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 met representatives of energy providers to discuss the steps they are taking to ensure that reasonable adjustments are in place to allow people with limited mobility to access their gas and electricity meters.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
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.
Asked by: Mick Whitley (Labour - Birkenhead)
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 met representatives of energy providers to discuss the steps they are taking to guarantee the equitable treatment of customers with (a) learning and (b) physical disabilities.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
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.
Asked by: Mick Whitley (Labour - Birkenhead)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what additional funding he plans to allocate to local authorities to support the creation of new jobs in the low-carbon sector.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
It has not proved possible to respond to the Hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Mick Whitley (Labour - Birkenhead)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the data-set released by the Green New Deal UK group on 19 April 2021 and based on the European Climate Foundation’s 2018 report, Unlocking the Job Potential of Zero Carbon, what steps his Department plans to take to ensure that at least (a) 1580 green jobs are created within two years and (b) 4484 green jobs are created within 10 years in Birkenhead constituency.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
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.
Asked by: Mick Whitley (Labour - Birkenhead)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department plans to allocate funding for a pilot trialling hydrogen-based steelmaking in the UK.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
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:
Asked by: Mick Whitley (Labour - Birkenhead)
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 progress made in (a) Germany, (b) Sweden and (c) China on hydrogen-based steelmaking.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
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.
Asked by: Mick Whitley (Labour - Birkenhead)
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 encourage UK firms and manufacturers to use British steel.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
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.
Asked by: Mick Whitley (Labour - Birkenhead)
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 potential merits using hydrogen-based steelmaking to help the (a) British steel industry to decarbonise and (b) UK to meet its target of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
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:
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/industrial-decarbonisation-strategy