Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment he has made of reports from the British Antarctic Survey on the effect of climate change on Antarctic ice sheets; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Claire Perry
The evidence gathered by the British Antarctic Survey shows significant changes in the Antarctic ice sheet that have occurred due to human-induced climate change, and natural phenomena, over recent years. Reports produced by the British Antarctic Survey form an important contribution to reports produced by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
The Antarctic ice sheet contribution to sea level rise has been growing in recent years and represents a significant fraction of the total. The recent IPCC’s Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C states that instabilities exist for the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets, which could result in multi-metre rises in sea level over timescales of centuries to millennia. According to the IPCC there is “medium confidence” that these instabilities could be triggered at around 1.5°C to 2°C of global warming above pre-industrial levels.
Satellite observations show that since 2002, the Antarctic ice sheet has been losing 127 billion tonnes of mass per year, and that the IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Report states that the average rate of ice loss from the Antarctic ice sheet has likely increased from 30 gigatonnes per year over the period 1992-2001, to 147 gigatonnes per year over the period 2002 to 2011.
These findings emphasise the importance of international collaborative research, such as the £20 million UK-US International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration in Antarctica, to understand its ice sheet stability and potential impacts on future global sea-level rise.
The IPCC will publish a Special Report on Oceans and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate later this year, which will include an up-to-date assessment of observed and projected changes in the Antarctic region. Once published, we will respond to these findings in due course.
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what progress his Department has made on reducing regulation.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Government published the 2017-18 Better Regulation Annual Report in July 2018, which gave an assessment of the total progress that the Government has made towards the Business Impact Target and individual departmental totals. The next annual report is due to be published in the Summer.
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative - Life peer)
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 of developing mini nuclear power plants.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
Diversity in our energy mix provides vital insurance against future uncertainty and in ensuring security of supply can be maintained. As part of this, nuclear power as well as other low carbon power technologies have an important role to play in the UK’s energy future as we transition to a low carbon economy.
We regularly compare the impact on electricity system costs of deploying technologies, as well as assessing their impact on energy security, decarbonisation and consumer bills. This includes looking at the benefits smaller reactors can provide to the UK energy mix.
This will also include considering the findings of the Expert Finance Working Group which was set up to advise Government on how small reactor projects could raise private investment in the UK, and the outputs from the Advanced Modular Reactor (AMR) R&D Programme of which all 8 participants have now submitted their feasibility studies
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative - Life peer)
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 introduce small modular reactors to the UK.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
The Government recognises the potential long-term value of small modular reactor (SMR) technology and in October announced £7m funding over the next 2 years to build capacity of the UK nuclear regulators to support and assess advanced nuclear technologies like SMRs. We expect to make further announcements of SMR policy in the coming months.
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative - Life peer)
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 improve productivity in British commerce and industry; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Claire Perry
In January 2017 we launched our Industrial Strategy Green Paper, ‘Building our Industrial Strategy’.
The objective of our modern Industrial Strategy is to improve living standards and drive economic growth by increasing productivity and making sure that growth is spread across the whole country.
We have set up a £23 billion National Productivity Investment Fund to drive improved productivity across the country; including a £4.7bn increase in investment for science, research and innovation – the biggest increase in any Parliament in almost 40 years.
We are also supporting a new private sector initiative led by Sir Charlie Mayfield with up to £13 million grant funding over three years to raise business awareness of productivity and to provide practical tools to businesses to improve productivity.
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps are being taken to build expertise in engineering and scientific capabilities for the nuclear industry.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government is working collaboratively with industry and skills bodies, including through the Nuclear Skills Strategy Group (NSSG), to ensure the nuclear industry has access to the required engineering and science capabilities. The NSSG reports up to the Nuclear Industry Council which I co-chair, and Nuclear Industry Association Chair, John Hutton, which will be considering skills initiatives as a key pillar of the developing Industrial Strategy. The pipeline of future scientists and engineers needed for the sector is being strengthened through national Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education as well as Government-backed skills initiatives such as the Apprenticeship Levy and the National College for Nuclear. The National College for Nuclear aims to train 7,000 people by 2020, with the first intake of students to begin in Autumn.
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative - Life peer)
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 support investment in science research at universities within (a) West Sussex and (b) the South East.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
The Government is fully committed to maintaining the UK’s world-leading science, research and higher education base.
According to Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) data, the University of Chichester in West Sussex received public research funding, from Higher Education Funding Council for England and the Research Councils, of £802,000 in 2015/16. HESA data shows that 19 institutions in the South East, which includes the universities of Oxford, Southampton and Reading, but excludes London, received a total of £544 million of public research funding in 2015/16.
The Autumn Statement 2016 announcement of an extra £2 billion a year in research and development by 2020- 21 underlines the place of science and innovation at the heart of this Government’s industrial strategy.
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative - Life peer)
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 ensure that (a) communities and (b) businesses in (i) West Sussex and (ii) Mid Sussex contribute to the Government's industrial strategy.
Answered by Margot James
The Government published the Industrial Strategy Green Paper on 23 January 2017.
This document outlines how Government intends to build on the diverse strengths of our cities and regions, including Sussex, using record investment in infrastructure, research and innovation and inward investment to ensure higher growth is seen across the UK.
We welcome responses from all businesses, organisations and individuals from mid and West Sussex who wish to contribute, including the Coast to Capital Local Enterprise Partnership.
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative - Life peer)
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 skills shortages in the construction industry; and what steps he is taking to rectify such shortages.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Department for Education (DfE) is responsible for the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB), the body that supports training and skills in construction.
DfE is currently working closely with employers in the construction industry to develop new apprenticeships for the sector. While evidence suggests there are sufficient learners going through the skills system, with over 200,000 construction qualifications being taken each year, reforms set out in the skills plan (July 2016) will ensure these qualifications become more relevant and meet the industry’s needs.
Additionally, the Construction Leadership Council, the business led sector council which advises Government on key strategic issues, has investigated the labour model in the construction industry and commissioned an independent report (published in October 2016), making recommendations for industry and Government. The Government is currently considering the review’s recommendations.
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many small nuclear reactors her Department plans to order over the Spending Review 2015 period.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Small modular reactors (SMRs) are a relatively new technology for civil nuclear power generation and whilst a small number of bespoke “small” reactors have been built and operated, no true SMRs have yet reached demonstration or deployment.
At Autumn Statement 2015 Government announced it would launch a competition to identify the best value SMR design for the UK. In March 2016 the first phase of the competition was launched. This phase will include structured engagement with technology developers, utilities, potential investors, funders and other parties interested in developing, commercialising and financing SMRs in the UK to inform subsequent stages of the competition. This is the beginning of a process that will enable bids from interested parties in subsequent phases of the competition.
As we are still in the early stages of the competitive process no decision has yet been made on a potential SMR design or levels of deployment.