Paul Farrelly

The Department understands the need for industry to decarbonise as the UK moves towards net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. To support this priority, the Department is currently running, or intending to run, the following R&D programmes that focus on industrial decarbonisation, which may consider bids for cost-effective alternatives to coal:

- The Industrial Fuel Switching Competition is a £20m competition, funded by the BEIS £505m Energy Innovation Portfolio (2016-2021), which aims to identify and test the processes and technologies required for industries in the UK to switch to low carbon fuels;

- The Industrial Energy Transformation Fund was announced at Budget 2018 as a new fund worth up to £315 million to support businesses with high energy use to transition to a low carbon future and to cut their bills through increased energy efficiency;

- The Clean Steel Fund, is a £250m programme, currently under consultation, will support the UK steel sector to transition to lower carbon iron and steel production through new technologies and processes;

- The Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund has two relevant challenges, including the industrial decarbonisation challenge which is focused on heavy industry, and the Transforming Foundation Industries challenge, which is focused on energy and resource efficiency.

Domestic abuse is a devastating crime which shatters the lives of victims and their families, and this Government remains committed to transforming the response to this abuse. That is why we have introduced the landmark Domestic Abuse Bill, which had its Second Reading on 2 October and will be carried over to the next Parliamentary session.

Employers should take all steps which are reasonably possible to ensure their health, safety and wellbeing of their employees.

We know that 97% of employers offer some form of flexible working. Many employers also offer compassionate leave or special leave to employees to enable them to take time to deal with a wide range of circumstances. This type of leave is agreed between the employer and the employee, either as a contractual entitlement or on a discretionary basis.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

The Shared Parental Leave & Pay scheme was introduced in 2015. This scheme gives eligible working parents more choice and flexibility around which of them cares for their child in the first year and when they do this.

We are currently consulting on high-level options for how we can better balance the gender division of the parental leave and pay system. Responses to the consultation will be considered alongside our evaluation of the Shared Parental Leave & Pay scheme which is already underway.

The Government has been clear that should the UK leave the EU without a deal, we would support businesses through whatever appropriate action is necessary.

Programmes operated by the Government owned British Business Bank are currently supporting more than £6.6 billion of finance to over 89,000 SMEs.

In particular, the Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) facilitates business finance to smaller businesses that are viable but unable to obtain finance from their lender due to having insufficient security to meet the lender’s normal requirements.

This Government is building a globally competitive sustainable plastics industry through research and innovation. As announced in the recent Bioeconomy Strategy, the Department will provide up to £60 million, bolstered by considerable industry support, to establish the UK as the world’s leading innovator in smart sustainable plastic packaging. We will soon be launching a call for evidence on the impacts of bio-based and biodegradable plastics on the environment and their interaction with the circular economy.

The Government is committed to working with business and others to create a UK market for sustainably sourced palm oil for households and reduce the environmental impact of palm oil production overseas.

In 2012, the Government convened an industry-led UK Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil. This brought together trade associations for palm oil-using sectors to improve reporting, traceability and understanding of supply chains to increase the use of certified palm oil. As a result the market share of sustainable palm oil in the UK has increased from 16% in 2010 to 75% in 2017.

Internationally, as a member of the Amsterdam Declarations Partnership, the UK is driving 100% sustainable palm oil supply chains in Europe. The UK also supports the Tropical Forest Alliance (TFA) which recently secured the Marrakesh Declaration on palm oil. The Declaration has seen seven African palm oil producing countries and major companies agree principles for responsible palm oil.

This builds on earlier Government efforts to tackle non-household use of vegetable oils such as palm oil in sectors such as biofuels, by promoting waste-derived biofuels. Two thirds of biofuels in 2017-2018 were from such wastes.

We recognise that more remains to be done and will continue to explore opportunities to improve the sustainability of palm oil production.

The Industrial Strategy sets out the Government’s vision to make the UK a global centre for AI and data innovation, which includes developing the skills that will contribute to building the best environment for AI development and deployment. We have created the Office for AI (a joint unit between the departments: Business Energy and Industrial Strategy and Digital Culture Media and Sport) to oversee that vision.

The AI Sector Deal brings together commitments from Government, Industry and Academia in a near £0.95bn package of support to promote the adoption and use of AI.

To date, some of the key Government investment in AI skills and talent has included:

• £100m for 16 New Centres for Doctoral Training at universities across the country, delivering 1,000 new PhDs over the next 5 years;
• £50m of funding agreed at Autumn Budget for new prestigious AI fellowships to attract and retain the top AI talent; and
• £13.5m government funding to build new conversion courses to expand pathways into AI and Data specialisms as well as scholarships to improve diversity

Further, through the Government’s Office for AI, we are working with Industry and Academia to develop a new industry-funded AI Masters programme, in collaboration with the British Computer Society and the Institute of Coding. Partnerships between industry stakeholders and universities are being established that will produce the postgraduates industry partners need.

The Office for AI is in regular discussion with industry and continues to welcome other initiatives aimed at increasing artificial intelligence skills in the UK.

The UK Government has introduced mandatory sustainability criteria for biomass for heat and power generation. These are some of the most stringent criteria in Europe.

The sustainability criteria ensure biomass reduces carbon emissions and is sourced sustainably. The criteria include a minimum 60% lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions saving, compared to emissions from an EU fossil fuel comparator for electricity. The calculation requires transport, growing and processing emissions to be included. Generators only receive subsidies for the electricity output which complies with our sustainability criteria.

We keep the sustainability criteria under review.

The Government is in regular dialogue with car manufacturers in the UK on a range of opportunities to support the transition to zero emission vehicles and to new supply chains, including batteries.

The UK is a highly attractive location for battery manufacturing. It is home to Europe’s first volume automotive battery production facility at Sunderland, owned by Envision AESC. In April 2019, the Advanced Propulsion Centre published a report showing the strength of the UK chemicals and materials supply chain for batteries, representing a £4.8bn a year supply chain opportunity by 2030.

Through our Industrial Strategy and landmark Automotive Sector Deal, we are placing the UK at the forefront of new automotive technology development. The Sector Deal which was developed in partnership with the industry, working through the Automotive Council, includes a joint ambition to establish battery manufacturing a scale, a “gigafactory”, in the UK. Central to this, government has committed £274m to the Faraday Battery Challenge (FBC) to help businesses in the UK lead the world in the design, development and manufacture of batteries for electric vehicles.

Under the FBC government has invested £108m in the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre (UKBIC) which will open in 2020 and provide a state-of-the-art pilot facility to test new cell technology. UKBIC will play a key role in laying the groundwork to secure a battery gigafactory. It will do this by allowing collaborative R&D by UK cell manufacturers, battery pack assemblers and car makers to take place, proving out cell chemistries, formats and manufacturing processes at industrial rates.

This is an essential step to allow UK companies to quickly develop their capabilities to manufacture batteries, scale up and get them to market.

Heating our homes, businesses and industry accounts for nearly half of all energy use in the UK and a third of our carbon emissions. Meeting our emission reduction targets implies decarbonising nearly all heat in buildings and most industrial processes. Given the diversity of heat demand, no one solution can provide the best option for everyone – a mix of technologies and customer options will need to be available, potentially bringing extensive change for consumers.

Public awareness of the need to decarbonise heat, and the potential impacts of doing so, is currently low. This needs to change to enable a fully informed debate about long term options. In order to support this debate, BEIS officials have commissioned research to improve our understanding of current public awareness, attitudes and preferences for different approaches to decarbonising heat, and explore options for engaging stakeholders and the wider public in the development of heat policy. The Department will publish a new roadmap for policy on heat decarbonisation next year.

The Government considers that hydrogen technologies have the potential to make an important contribution to decarbonising heating.

The Department commissioned Frazer Nash to prepare the report ‘Appraisal of Domestic Hydrogen Appliances’, published in 2018, which discusses the feasibility and merits of hydrogen-ready appliances as well as the adaption of existing natural gas appliances and new designated hydrogen fuelled appliances.

The Department is also currently delivering the Hy4Heat innovation programme; an ongoing programme assessing the feasibility of hydrogen heating applications in buildings. This programme supports the design, development and testing of domestic hydrogen appliances, including investigating the potential for products, such as hydrogen-ready boilers, to facilitate conversion:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/appraisal-of-domestic-hydrogen-appliances.

As the report notes, the family business sector is vital to the UK economy, employing over 13 million people and generating more than a quarter of the nation’s GDP. In May this year, I attended the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Family Business and discussed a range of issues including access to external finance. The authors of the Report, The Institute for Family Business, are also a member of the BEIS SME Advisory Board, who last met on 24 June.

As part of the modern Industrial Strategy, this Department’s aim is to improve access to finance for all UK businesses, including family-owned businesses. The Government-backed British Business Bank supports more than £6.4bn of finance to over 85,000 SMEs. The Bank’s online Finance Hub also helps small business owners identify potential sources of finance via the finance finder web tool.

The Business Bank has also established a UK Network, with team members based within each of the English regions and the three Devolved Nations. The UK Network works with small business finance intermediaries to enhance business finance ecosystems across the UK, so smaller businesses, wherever they are, can grow and prosper.

In addition, Government has actively supported and invested in the creation of 38 Growth Hubs (one in each Local Enterprise Partnership area), providing businesses across England support and advice via a free and impartial, local single point of contact. At the end of FY18/19, Government had invested £56.4 million in Growth Hubs.

The Government provides support and advice to all types of businesses through our core services including GOV.UK, the Business Support Helpline and Growth Hubs operating in England.

The existing renewable support schemes are designed so that payment is based on generation, and ensures that renewable assets are attractive to investors. Over 42GW of new renewables have been constructed through the Contracts for Difference, Renewables Obligation and Feed in Tariffs Schemes (to 2018).

The Government is clear on the need for action to tackle emissions from the whole economy – including emissions from international aviation and shipping. Emissions from domestic flights and shipping are already covered by our existing domestic legislation and our carbon budgets provide “headroom” for the inclusion of international aviation and shipping emissions. This will continue to be the case for a net zero target.

Emissions from international aviation and shipping are a global problem requiring a global solution. That is why we are working closely with the relevant international organisations, the International Maritime Organization and International Civil Aviation Organization, to ensure we and the rest of the world are taking ambitious action.

The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) sets out the Government’s policy on onshore wind and explains that for new schemes to be acceptable they should be on a site allocated in a development plan and have community support.

The NPPF also sets out that in principle local planning authorities should support community-led initiatives for renewable and low carbon energy.

BEIS Ministers and Officials talk regularly with OGD colleagues and disability and employment is part of those discussions. BEIS Ministers sit on the Inter-Ministerial Group on Disability which is chaired by the Minister of State for Disabled People, Health and Work.

BEIS Ministers and officials regularly engage with their counterparts in other departments on clean growth matters including ultra low and zero emission vehicle policy. We set out in our Road to Zero strategy published last year our mission to put the UK at the forefront of the design and manufacturing of zero emission vehicles, and for all new cars and vans to be effectively zero emission by 2040.

Following the Prime Minister’s announcement on legislating for net zero, we will build on the strong frameworks of the Clean Growth Strategy and Industrial Strategy to deliver on that target in all sectors of the economy, including transport. The Government is committed to supporting the transition to zero emission vehicles, which can cut carbon, reduce air pollution, and help us grow the economy as part of our Industrial Strategy.

The Government believes that carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS) has the potential to play an important role in meeting the UK’s climate targets. CCUS can add value to the economy and help tackle hard to decarbonise sectors.

The Government published its CCUS Action Plan in November 2018, designed to progress CCUS in the UK, including enabling the UK’s first CCUS facility to be operational from the mid-2020s. The Government is investing over £50 million in CCUS innovation support between 2017 and March 2021.

CCUS is also likely to play an important role in achieving our Industrial Clusters Mission, creating the world’s first net-zero industrial cluster by 2040. This is supported by up to £170 million from the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund to support the deployment of low carbon technologies and enabling infrastructure in one or more clusters. In addition, through our Industrial Energy Transformation Fund we are investing £315 million to support businesses with high energy use to cut their bills and emissions through increased energy efficiency and transition to a low carbon future through the use of lower carbon energy and processes. This may support CCUS projects.

In March this year, the Government launched the CCUS Advisory Group. Backed by government and industry support, the Group will provide advice on the potential incentives and regulations needed for the development of a new UK market in CCUS.

The Government is also working with other governments to promote the development of CCUS internationally. We hosted, with the International Energy Agency, the Global CCUS Summit in Edinburgh last November which brought together world energy leaders from governments and industry to accelerate the global progress of CCUS and co-lead the CCUS initiatives under both Mission Innovation and the Clean Energy Ministerial.

The UK is a world leader in cutting emissions while creating wealth. Between 1990 and 2017, the UK reduced its emissions by over 40 per cent while growing the economy by more than two thirds. The Clean Growth Strategy sets out our plans to build on our progress in decarbonising the power sector, while looking further across the whole of the economy and the country. It includes ambitious proposals on housing, business, transport, the natural environment and green finance. We have not made any assessment of the impact of working shorter hours on climate change.

The Government does, though, continue to support flexible working practices, as part of our commitment to ensuring that everyone can access fair and decent work as set out in the Good Work Plan. For example, all employees with 26 weeks’ continuous service with their employer have the right to request Flexible Working. We have also committed to consult on a new duty on employers to consider when a job can be done flexibly, and make that clear when advertising.

We are working with the sector, the unions and devolved administrations to support the UK steel industry to develop a long-term sustainable solution for the UK steel industry. The Department commissioned independent research to identify high value opportunities for UK steel, worth up to £3.8 billion a year by 2030.

In the 2018 Budget, my rt. hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer announced an Industrial Energy Transformation Fund with investment of £315 million to help businesses with high energy use to cut their bills and transition UK industry to a low carbon future. Through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, we are also providing up to £66 million, subject to industry co-funding, to transform foundation industries which includes steel, to develop radical new technologies and establish innovation centres of excellence in these sectors.

Clean Growth is at the heart of this Government’s modern Industrial Strategy. There are currently 400,000 jobs in the low carbon economy, with the ambition to have 2 million by 2030.

We’ve injected £2.5 billion into low-carbon innovation and earlier this year struck a deal with the offshore wind industry, which will see up to £40 billion worth of infrastructure investment in the UK, creating clean, green electricity, good jobs and sustained growth across the UK. Under the Offshore Wind Sector Deal, industry aims to more than triple the number of ‘green collar’ jobs in the sector to 27,000 by 2030, up from the current figure of 7,200.

We recognise that electricity storage technologies, including pumped hydro storage, provide an important source of flexibility to our energy system. We currently have around 3GW of storage capacity on our system, of which the vast majority is pumped hydro storage. The Electricity System Operator outlines that, by 2050, there could be 12-29 GW of total storage capacity on our system.

In our Smart Systems and Flexibility Plan, published in July 2017 (and updated in October 2018), Government and Ofgem set out a range of actions to remove barriers to electricity storage. Our work seeks to enable fair access to energy markets in order to create a best in class regulatory framework for the sector and includes several important reforms to our electricity market, including to the balancing mechanism, capacity market and balancing services, which serve to sharpen incentives to invest in storage.

We will continue to engage with storage developers, including those of pumped hydro projects, to understand how to facilitate these technologies whilst ensuring best value for consumers and fair competition between different flexibility technologies.

The law is clear that any individual performing work is entitled to receive the National Minimum and National Living Wage (NMW). The Government is committed to enforcing this right. In 2018/19 HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) identified a record £24.4 million in arrears for over 220,000 workers and issued over £17 million in penalties to non-compliant employers. The budget to enforce the NMW stands at its highest ever.

HMRC have contacted over 2,000 employers found to be advertising unpaid internships online to ensure they are compliant with the law. They have also issued over 15,000 letters to employers in industries where internships are common to remind them of their responsibilities.

Earlier this month my hon Friend the Minister of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport) (Digital Policy) (Margot James) and I co-hosted a roundtable on internships with employers and organisations in the creative industries. Discussion focused on how Government can work better with employers to raise the profile of existing rules and ensure that interns are paid in accordance with NMW law. The event provided important insight which will be used to improve compliance with the law across all sectors.

Anyone who feels they are being underpaid the NMW should contact Acas for free impartial advice or make a complaint directly to HMRC through their online form. HMRC follow up on every worker complaint received, even those which are anonymous.

Part 8 of the Enterprise Act 2008 provides for a number of enforcers, such as Trading Standards and the Competition and Markets Authority, to enforce consumer protection legislation, including the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008. Alleged breaches of legislation should be reported in the first instance through the Citizens Advice consumer service on 03454 04 05 06 (www.citizensadvice.org.uk/). The helpline will refer on alleged breaches of legislation to the relevant authority for appropriate enforcement action.

Enforcement of the National Minimum and National Living Wage (NMW) is a priority for the Government. Since 2015 we have doubled the budget to enforce the NMW and we are taking tough action against the minority of employers who underpay. In 2018/19 HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) identified a record £24.4 million in arrears for over 220,000 workers and issued over £17 million in penalties to non-compliant employers.

HMRC proactively investigates employers where they identify a risk of non-compliance; this work accounts for around half of all investigations undertaken. In addition, HMRC responds to every worker complaint regarding NMW payment including those made anonymously.

Government is committed to helping employers comply with NMW rules first time; in April we launched a £1 million communications campaign to raise awareness and understanding of NMW rules among both workers and employers.

Companies registered in the UK are required to report the value of their global assets within their annual accounts but there are no plans to introduce requirements to report on their assets in relation to human rights.

Government has introduced other requirements on companies in relation to human rights Quoted companies are required to report on human rights issues, as they relate to the company, within the narrative part of their annual report. Companies must include a description of their business model and of their policies, in relation to human rights, and the effectiveness of those policies. The information provided must be to the extent necessary for an understanding of the development, performance or position of the company’s business and the impact of its activities.

These requirements are enhanced by voluntary guidance and standards, including the UN’s Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs) and the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs).

Non-EU migrants working legally in the UK are entitled to the same workplace statutory protections as any other worker. Fair and effective enforcement is central to the Good Work Plan, which sets out the biggest upgrade of employment rights in a generation. Building on existing minimum wage and agency worker enforcement, we are expanding state enforcement to cover holiday payments for the most vulnerable workers and intermediary companies that operate in the agency worker market.

Government has taken concrete measures to increase the number of labour market inspectors and extend their coverage.

• Government has increased funding for HMRC’s enforcement of the National Minimum and Living Wage (NMW) to a record high of £26.3 million for 2018/19.
• Funding for the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) has also risen in the last two years to reflect the expansion of its remit to tackle labour exploitation. The GLAA now receives over £7m per year in funding, up from £4.5m in 2016/17.
• The Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate has seen its funding increase from £0.5m in 2016/17 to £0.725m in 2018/19.

These three enforcement bodies continue to ensure workers receive the protections they are entitled to. As well as responding to every complaint they receive, all three undertake proactive, intelligence-led enforcement, targeting employers and sectors where the risks of non-compliance are highest, including in the cleaning and hospitality sectors.

Government is also exploring options for a single labour market enforcement body – we will publish proposals on this for consultation shortly. More recently we announced that this consultation will consider extending the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority’s licensing scheme to further sectors and that we will ensure trade unions and businesses are consulted on the strategic direction of labour market enforcement.

The Environment Agency provides advice on how businesses should comply with environmental law through guidance on Gov.uk. In order to regulate businesses it provides advice on the best available techniques and approaches that enable businesses to comply with the law and helps businesses with the best available compliance techniques. We are also committed to working closely with the private sector to support the effective management of climate-related financial risks.

The Industrial Strategy sets out the Government’s vision to make the UK a global centre for AI and data innovation, alongside measures to ensure our people are equipped to capitalise on those opportunities.

We are improving the UK's system for training in digital skills and lifelong learning to ensure that working people have the support they need to navigate the challenge of automation to a higher-wage future. Through the Industrial Strategy we are delivering:

• 16 New Centres for Doctoral Training at universities across the country, delivering 1,000 new PhDs over the next 5 years;
• New prestigious AI fellowships to attract and retain the top AI talent, underpinned by up to £50m of funding agreed at Autumn Budget
• Industry-funding for new AI Masters places;
• Invested £406m in maths, digital and technical education; and
• Committed £100m for the first phase of developing the National Retraining Scheme to support people vulnerable to technological change.

The Government’s Good Work Plan was published in December 2018 and will ensure that the labour market continues to work for everyone. The Plan commits to a wide range of policy and legislative changes to ensure that workers can access fair and decent work, that both employers and workers have the clarity they need to understand their employment relationships, and that the enforcement system is fair and fit for purpose.

Following the publication of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s special report on the impact of global warming of 1.5°C in October 2018, the Government commissioned its independent experts, the Committee on Climate Change (CCC), to provide their advice on the implications of the Paris Agreement for the UK’s long-term emissions reduction targets. This commission included a request for options for the date by which the UK should achieve a) a net zero greenhouse gas target and/or b) a net zero carbon target. The advice will therefore address carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, including methane. The CCC’s advice is due on 2 May and we will consider it carefully when it is received.

All nuclear new build projects are assessed on a case by case basis to ensure they provide value for money for taxpayers and consumers. Before a new nuclear power station can be built and operated, the operator must apply for and obtain a number of permissions from the independent regulators and from Government. The assessment of environmental impact is an important consideration in regulators deciding whether relevant permissions should be issued and what conditions should be attached to the permissions. In addition, potential new nuclear technologies are considered under the Justification Regulations, with ‘Justification’ being the process by which Government determines whether the potential benefits of a practice making use of ionising radiation outweigh its potential risks. Furthermore, all developers of new build stations are required to have a Funded Decommissioning Programme approved by the Secretary of State before nuclear-related construction can begin. This ensures the taxpayer does not bear the burden for future costs of turning the station into a greenfield site once generation has ceased.