Asked by: Nic Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps the Government is taking to protect British companies who are planning to use their EU emissions trading system allowance provided in 2018 to meet their 2017 obligations.
Answered by Claire Perry
The Government recognises the desire for clarity regarding the UK’s participation in the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) as we withdraw from the EU. To provide certainty to business and others, the Government has proposed moving forward the 2018 reporting and compliance deadlines for UK participants to before the date of the UK’s withdrawal in 2019. Subject to responses from our consultation published on 6 November, we intend to have this measure in place before the end of the year.
This change will render unnecessary the alternative measures proposed in a recently agreed amendment to the EU ETS Directive, which would mean that allowances issued by the UK in 2018 would not be usable for compliance. The UK will continue to engage with the EU institutions, Member States and others to reach an agreed position.
Asked by: Nic Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 11 September 2017 to Question 9980, on iron and steel: procurement, what progress his Department has made on delivering greater UK steel content in line with the public procurement guidelines published by the Government in April 2016.
Answered by Claire Perry
All public authorities are required to implement government guidelines that set out how government buyers should source steel for major projects so that the true value of UK steel is taken into account in major procurement decisions.
We are currently checking that central government departments are implementing the guidelines in their procurement decisions. We have also published future steel requirements to 2020, to enable UK steel manufacturers to better plan and bid for government contracts.
Asked by: Nic Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)
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 announcement made by his Department on 3 April 2016, New public sector boost for UK steel, when he plans to announce the list of approved steel suppliers; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Claire Perry
The Government is working hard to make sure that UK producers of steel have the best possible chance of competing for and winning contracts. In April 2016, we announced a range of measures to support the industry including new public procurement guidelines to help UK steel suppliers compete effectively with international suppliers, publishing details of upcoming steel requirements for national infrastructure projects, and setting up an approved list of steel producers to provide steel for government contracts. Following consultation, we concluded with industry agreement that a list of suppliers would not achieve the desired outcome of levelling the playing field.
We published a steel pipeline in December 2016 which shows how the Government plans to use three million tonnes of steel until 2020 on infrastructure projects such as High Speed 2 (HS2), the construction of Hinkley Point, and the maintenance and upgrading of the UK’s motorway network. We plan to publish the pipeline annually.
Asked by: Nic Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)
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 the border adjustment mechanism proposed by the European Parliament ENVI Committee for the EU Emissions Trading Scheme on lime manufacturers in the UK.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The use of Border Adjustment Mechanisms in the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) could potentially have a number of serious negative effects on the world trade system. For this reason, the Government supports the provision of free allowances as the best way to protect industries from the risk of carbon leakage.
Asked by: Nic Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when the Government plans to commence reporting on UK steel content in relation to procurement by its departments.
Answered by Nick Hurd
Last Autumn, the Government issued guidance to central government departments on how to ensure that they take full account of the value provided by UK steel producers when conducting their procurement activities. This guidance has now been extended to the wider public sector. Since publication of the guidance, Government has been working closely with departments to monitor its impact and ensure delivery. There are no plans to share this data publicly, due to its provisional nature.
The Government has just published its indicative future steel requirements to 2020, to enable UK steel manufacturers to better plan and bid for government contracts.
Asked by: Nic Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to expedite the Government's application to the European Commission to exempt energy intensive industries from the indirect costs of the Renewables Obligation and small scale Feed-in Tariffs and ensure legislation is in place by April 2017.
Answered by Jesse Norman
We are engaging with the European Commission about our state aid pre-notification to move from compensation to exemption for the indirect cost of the Renewables Obligation (RO) and small-scale Feed-in Tariffs (FiT). We aim to introduce the exemption for Energy Intensive Industries (EIIs) from 1 April 2017.
The Government continues to provide relief to those EIIs most affected by the rising cost of electricity and has paid over £360m in compensation since August 2013.
Asked by: Nic Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to secure contingency funding for the continuation of compensation for the indirect costs of the Renewables Obligation and small scale Feed-in Tariffs for energy intensive industries beyond April 2017.
Answered by Jesse Norman
We aim to introduce an exemption for Energy Intensive Industries from the indirect costs of the Renewables Obligation and small-scale Feed-in Tariffs from 1 April 2017. It is not currently necessary to allocate contingency funding for the continuation of compensation beyond April 2017.
Asked by: Nic Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the likely proportion of capacity that diesel generation could make up in the Capacity Market T-4 auction in winter 2016-17; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Updated prequalification results for the 2016 four-year ahead Capacity Market auction have been published on the Electricity Market Reform Delivery Body’s website[1]. Nearly twenty per cent of the pre-qualified capacity is new-build, and around two thirds of this is from combined cycle gas turbines (CCGTs). Up to 1GW of diesel engines (existing and new) have also prequalified. The competitive nature of the auction means it is difficult to predict the specific technologies and projects that will win agreements.
On 16th November 2016, the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs published a consultation on reducing emissions from Medium Combustion Plant and Generators to improve air quality[2] – the proposed limits on emissions of nitrogen oxides will apply from 1 January 2019 to any new build generator in scope of the legislation and winning an agreement in this year’s Capacity Market auction.
[1] https://www.emrdeliverybody.com/CM/prequalification.aspx
Asked by: Nic Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the likely amount of investment in new large-scale gas power stations that will be delivered through the Capacity Market T-4 auction in winter 2016-17; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Updated prequalification results for the 2016 four-year ahead Capacity Market auction have been published on the Electricity Market Reform Delivery Body’s website[1]. Nearly twenty per cent of the pre-qualified capacity is new-build, and around two thirds of this is from combined cycle gas turbines (CCGTs). Up to 1GW of diesel engines (existing and new) have also prequalified. The competitive nature of the auction means it is difficult to predict the specific technologies and projects that will win agreements.
On 16th November 2016, the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs published a consultation on reducing emissions from Medium Combustion Plant and Generators to improve air quality[2] – the proposed limits on emissions of nitrogen oxides will apply from 1 January 2019 to any new build generator in scope of the legislation and winning an agreement in this year’s Capacity Market auction.
[1] https://www.emrdeliverybody.com/CM/prequalification.aspx
Asked by: Nic Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 27 October 2016 to Question 49056, when he was made aware that French steel was being used to build the Trident successor submarines.
Answered by Nick Hurd
This procurement predates the Government’s steel procurement reforms. Since December 2015, and the publication of steel specific procurement guidance, departments including the Ministry of Defence, are now required to ensure that relevant social and economic factors are taken into account in their procurements, to help ensure UK firms can compete on a level playing field.