Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the total cost was to close the Department's Sheffield Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) office in 2016, including redundancy payments made to civil servants.
Answered by George Freeman
I am unable to comment on the decisions taken by the former BIS Department, to close the Sheffield office as part of the BIS 2020 programme and relocate policy roles to London, as this was taken by senior officials from a legacy department.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what representations he has received from representatives of the life sciences sector on the upcoming Spending Review.
Answered by George Freeman
A range of representations from the Life Sciences sector on their Spending Review priorities were formally submitted to HM Treasury for consideration.
In addition, the Government has continued to engage with the sector throughout the Spending Review process. There was also broad engagement with the sector in co-developing the Life Sciences Vision, published in July 2021, which sets out the Government’s priorities for the sector and informed work on the 2021 Spending Review.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on increasing Innovate UK funding in the upcoming spending review.
Answered by George Freeman
At the Spending Review yesterday, the Government announced a record £39.8 billion for BEIS R&D for 2022/23 to 2024/25.
The Spending Review secures at least £2.5 billion over the SR for core Innovate UK programmes, a 60% rise in funding between 2021/22 and 2024/25, to ensure it can support business in bringing innovations to market and drive economic growth.
The money will boost private sector investment across the whole of the UK, creating the right conditions for all businesses to innovate and giving them the confidence to do so.
This spending review demonstrates the government’s commitment to delivering the Innovation Strategy, with UKRI playing a central role by unleashing business, investing in talent, strengthening our institutions, and developing cutting-edge technology.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of making businesses based in (a) non-commercial and (b) non-rateable premises eligible for the covid-19 Restart Grant.
Answered by Paul Scully
The £5 billion Restart Grant Scheme announced by my Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer on 3 March 2021 are one-off grants to businesses in the non-essential retail, hospitality, leisure, personal care and accommodation sectors, to support businesses to reopen as Covid-19 restrictions are relaxed.
Strand One of the Restart Grants aims to support non-essential retail with grants of up to £6,000. Strand Two is to support hospitality, accommodation, leisure, personal care and gym businesses, with grants of up to £18,000.
There are currently no plans to change the eligibility criteria for the Restart Grant scheme.
However, further funding has been made available via the Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) to support those businesses that have had their trade adversely affected by the local and national restrictions.
The ARG is a discretionary fund and is also administered by Local Authorities to support businesses in the way they see fit. More than £2 billion of funding has been made available via the ARG, £1.6 billion on Nov 2020 and further £425 million on April 2021.
Businesses should consult their Local Authority to determine whether they might be eligible for ARG support.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
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 introducing a skills framework in consultation with trade unions and professional bodies to develop the skills of construction workers working on green retrofit projects.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) launched a £6.9m skills competition in September to provide training opportunities for energy efficiency and low carbon heating supply chains to deliver works and scale up to meet additional consumer demand. Funding is provided to support training individuals with existing skills and those new to the sector in energy efficiency and clean heat measures, along with support for installation companies to gain the required PAS 2030 standards or Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) accreditation, including possible contribution to certification costs.
A number of training providers have now started training, offering free or subsidised courses covering a wide range of skills and certifications across both energy efficiency and clean heat measures. More information regarding the skills competition can be found here, with a webpage with links to training provider websites here.
The Government is investing in the UK workforce to ensure that people have the right skills and qualifications to deliver the low-carbon transition and thrive in the high-value jobs this will create. BEIS and the Department for Education (DfE) are jointly leading work to consider the skills and jobs needed to help deliver net zero, including green retrofit skills. The Green Jobs Taskforce is working with industry, unions and providers to develop solutions and recommendations that will be refined into a shortlist of high impact actions that will make up a final Green Jobs Action Plan (February 2021 to April 2021).
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
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 construction workers involved in green retrofitting are given adequate on the job training.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) launched a £6.9m skills competition in September to provide training opportunities for energy efficiency and low carbon heating supply chains to deliver works and scale up to meet additional consumer demand. Funding is provided to support training individuals with existing skills and those new to the sector in energy efficiency and clean heat measures, along with support for installation companies to gain the required PAS 2030 standards or Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) accreditation, including possible contribution to certification costs.
A number of training providers have now started training, offering free or subsidised courses covering a wide range of skills and certifications across both energy efficiency and clean heat measures. More information regarding the skills competition can be found here, with a webpage with links to training provider websites here.
The Government is investing in the UK workforce to ensure that people have the right skills and qualifications to deliver the low-carbon transition and thrive in the high-value jobs this will create. BEIS and the Department for Education (DfE) are jointly leading work to consider the skills and jobs needed to help deliver net zero, including green retrofit skills. The Green Jobs Taskforce is working with industry, unions and providers to develop solutions and recommendations that will be refined into a shortlist of high impact actions that will make up a final Green Jobs Action Plan (February 2021 to April 2021).
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
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 (a) increasing the level 2 NVQ qualification required for construction workers working on green retrofit and (b) mandating that a higher level technician be required onsite.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) launched a £6.9m skills competition in September to provide training opportunities for energy efficiency and low carbon heating supply chains to deliver works and scale up to meet additional consumer demand. Funding is provided to support training individuals with existing skills and those new to the sector in energy efficiency and clean heat measures, along with support for installation companies to gain the required PAS 2030 standards or Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) accreditation, including possible contribution to certification costs.
A number of training providers have now started training, offering free or subsidised courses covering a wide range of skills and certifications across both energy efficiency and clean heat measures. More information regarding the skills competition can be found here, with a webpage with links to training provider websites here.
The Government is investing in the UK workforce to ensure that people have the right skills and qualifications to deliver the low-carbon transition and thrive in the high-value jobs this will create. BEIS and the Department for Education (DfE) are jointly leading work to consider the skills and jobs needed to help deliver net zero, including green retrofit skills. The Green Jobs Taskforce is working with industry, unions and providers to develop solutions and recommendations that will be refined into a shortlist of high impact actions that will make up a final Green Jobs Action Plan (February 2021 to April 2021).
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what public health guidance informed his decision prior to the national lockdown that pub patrons had to purchase a substantial meal if they wanted to buy an alcoholic beverage.
Answered by Paul Scully
On 22 February, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister published the Government’s ‘COVID-19 Response - Spring 2021’. The roadmap is a step-by-step plan to ease restrictions in England cautiously, starting with education. Across the four steps, the roadmap sets out the sequencing and indicative timing for easing restrictions. This is a cautious and gradual approach.
With regard to the reopening of the hospitality sector, Step 2 will take place no earlier than 12 April, when hospitality venues will be able to open for outdoor service, with no requirement for a substantial meal to be served alongside alcoholic drinks, and no curfew. The requirement to order, eat and drink while seated (‘table service’) will remain.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what targets he has set for the local supply of electricity for (a) 2025 and (b) 2030.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
With increased electrification of heat and transport, the Government and Ofgem, the independent regulator, continue to work to ensure that the systems and markets that will support this remain flexible, secure, competitive and that they meet the needs of consumers.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
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 energy suppliers have adequate funding to support his Department’s ambition to install a smart meter in every (a) home and (b) small business.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
Since 2013, energy suppliers have been required to take all reasonable steps to install smart meters in homes and small businesses. How they plan for, manage and fund the activity needed to meet this obligation is a matter for individual energy suppliers.
It is Ofgem’s legal duty to determine the methodology for calculating the price cap. In setting the cap Ofgem’s duty is, among other things, to have regard to the need to ensure that suppliers who operate efficiently are able to finance activities authorised by their supply licence, such as smart meter installations.