Asked by: Paul Farrelly (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
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 ensure that the parental leave system supports men and women equally to take time out of the workplace to care for children.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
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.
Asked by: Paul Farrelly (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether her Department plans to provide cash flow support to manufacturers in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
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.
Asked by: Paul Farrelly (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
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 she has made of the potential merits of increasing the share of the miners' pension scheme’s surplus that goes to former miners.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Paul Farrelly (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
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 (a) support the growth and (b) minimise the adverse environmental effects of the bioplastics industry.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
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.
Asked by: Paul Farrelly (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
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 support businesses to develop new and more sustainable vegetation oils as a replacement for palm oil.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
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.
Asked by: Paul Farrelly (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
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 report entitled, The state of the nation: The UK Family Business Sector 2018-19 by Oxford Economics, published in July 2019, what steps his Department is taking to make it easier for family businesses to access external finance.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
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.
Asked by: Paul Farrelly (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department plans to support industry-led initiatives to close the artificial intelligence skills gap.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
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:
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.
Asked by: Paul Farrelly (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
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 support the UK biomass energy industry to be completely sustainable.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
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.
Asked by: Paul Farrelly (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
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 car manufacturers in the UK on creating a battery gigafactory to make the UK less dependent on essential materials which are currently sourced abroad.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
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.
Asked by: Paul Farrelly (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
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 inform the public of the (a) need to de-carbonise heat and (b) potential changes required to domestic appliances.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
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.