Asked by: Nickie Aiken (Conservative - Cities of London and Westminster)
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 infrastructure projects support the Government’s commitment to bring greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
The Government is committed to reduce UK greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050. Reaching this target will end the UK’s contribution to global warming.
Our decisions on infrastructure will help us to deliver net zero. At the Spring Budget we announced an ambitious support package worth over £2bn for low carbon infrastructure, including £800m fund for Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) and £1bn in support for ultra-low emission vehicles. In addition, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister recently announced plans for 4,000 new zero-emission buses and a new plan for cycleways as part of upgrades to transport infrastructure.
The replacement of traditional gas and electricity meters with smart meters is a vital national infrastructure upgrade that will enable a more flexible energy system, without which modelling for the Committee on Climate Change estimates the costs of delivering net zero emissions by 2050 could be up to £16 billion higher each year. We have been working with industry to re-mobilise smart meter installations after the disruption caused by COVID-19, and last month confirmed a new four-year policy framework which will take effect from 2021 to drive a market-wide rollout of smart meters across Great Britain.
Asked by: Nickie Aiken (Conservative - Cities of London and Westminster)
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 guidance published by his Department in respect of offices and contact centres, entitled Working safely during coronavirus, whether he has plans to amend that guidance to encourage staff to return to work in the event that occupiers have undertaken risk assessments and developed safe working environments and practices in line with that guidance.
Answered by Paul Scully
We will keep the guidance under review and will consider updating it as circumstances change. We are being led by the science and we will make changes to the guidance when they are needed and as we learn best practices from businesses.
We know that every organisation is different. Employers can use the guidance to create specific plans for their business in consultation with those who are affected by their operations, including workers and contractors. Return to work plans will depend on the nature of each business, such as the sector, and the details of the workforce and operations.