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 help the British steel industry to decarbonise.
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 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.
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 effect of hydrogen-based steelmaking on the commercial viability of the British steel industry.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
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.
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 weighting he plans to give to the potential regional economic benefits of a project for domestic and industrial heat decarbonisation in the selection of track one and phase one carbon capture and storage projects.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
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.
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 weighting he plans give to (a) cost and (b) deliverability by 2026 in the selection of track one carbon capture and storage projects.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
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.
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 help ensure that industry in the North West has access to carbon capture and storage infrastructure needed to meet regional and national decarbonisation targets by 2026.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
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.
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 adequacy of the level of financial support available to pubs that do not serve food in areas that are under tier 2 local covid alert level restrictions.
Answered by Paul Scully
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.
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 potential merits of increasing the level of financial support available to pubs that do not serve food in areas that are under tier 2 local covid alert level restrictions.
Answered by Paul Scully
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.
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 support the development of green infrastructure projects in Merseyside.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
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.
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 potential merits of banning the sale and use of fireworks after 5 November 2020 for the remainder of the November 2020 covid-19 lockdown period of restrictions.
Answered by Paul Scully
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.
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 has plans to introduce additional regulations on the sale of fireworks.
Answered by Paul Scully
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.