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 representations the Government has received from (a) the US Administration and (b) US security agencies following their decision to add CGN to its entity list of blacklisted companies.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The US is a close ally; we regularly discuss a range of issues with the US authorities. However, it would not be appropriate to comment publicly on the detail of these discussions.
Nuclear security is a top priority for the UK Government. All investment involving critical infrastructure, including nuclear, is subject to thorough scrutiny and needs to satisfy our robust legal, regulatory, and national security requirements, which are world-leading. All civil nuclear operators are answerable to a robust and independent regulator – the Office for Nuclear Regulation.
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 potential effect of the Government's decision to limit the access of Huawei to the 5G network on the ongoing assessment by the Office for Nuclear Regulation of nuclear reactor design by CGN.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) is an independent regulator; it is responsible for defining the principles that it will apply in performing its statutory duties. The ONR’s safety and security assessment principles reflect international relevant good practice in safety and security, and apply to the assessment of all reactors in the UK, whether in design, construction or operation. These principles have been published on the ONR’s website at: www.onr.org.uk.
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 increase the number of energy suppliers enrolled in the Warm Home Discount Scheme.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
The participation threshold for energy suppliers will be lowered from 200,000 domestic customer accounts in 19/20 to 150,000 customer accounts in 20/21, covering around 97% of the consumer energy market. Smaller suppliers can join the scheme voluntarily. We will consult on the future of the scheme, including on further reductions to supplier thresholds, in the first half of this year.