Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what progress he has made on the introduction of an energy price cap for businesses in the UK.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Applying a price cap in the non-domestic market is impractical given the number of different contractual arrangements, the range of prices offered and the risk of market distortion. The Energy Bill Relief Scheme has been designed to offer a comparable level of support to the domestic Energy Price Guarantee and legislation came into force on 1 November, shielding businesses across the United Kingdom from soaring energy prices and saving some around half of their wholesale energy costs. The scheme applies to energy usage from 1 October 2022 for an initial 6-month period.
Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
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 has plans to develop new financial support packages to help support UK shipyards to compete internationally.
Answered by Lee Rowley
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is developing proposals for a Home Shipbuilding Loan Guarantee instrument as part of the cross-Whitehall National Shipbuilding Strategy. We hope to launch this instrument shortly.
Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
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 has provided guidance to health and wellbeing boards on how health and wellbeing is to be applied within the context of the government heat and buildings strategy.
Answered by Greg Hands
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Strangford on 16th March 2022 to Question 136558 and to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Minister of State for Health to my hon. Friend the Member for Dudley North on 28th March 2022 to Question 128459.
Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
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 is co-ordinating discussions with (a) Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, (b) Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, and (c) Department for Health and Social Care on a definition of health and wellbeing as it applies to the Government’s Heat and Buildings Strategy.
Answered by Greg Hands
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Strangford on 16th March 2022 to Question 136558 and to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Minister of State for Health to my hon. Friend the Member for Dudley North on 28th March 2022 to Question 128459.
Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how his Department defines health and wellbeing within the context of the Government’s Heat and Buildings Strategy.
Answered by Greg Hands
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Strangford on 16th March 2022 to Question 136558 and to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Minister of State for Health to my hon. Friend the Member for Dudley North on 28th March 2022 to Question 128459.
Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what regulatory oversight is in place to reduce profiteering by petrol and diesel providers; and what legislative plans his Department has to increase oversight of the market at this time.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government remains committed to tackling consumer rip-offs and bad business practices, including profiteering.
The Competition and Markets Authority monitors firms suspected of profiteering to challenge unjustifiable price increases and stands ready to take enforcement action where there is evidence that competition or consumer protection law has been broken.
The Government continues to monitor the operation of consumer markets and keeps all options under review to ensure good value and service for consumers.
Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the Government has plans to strengthen the security of the electricity supply in the context of the move from the public switched telephone network (PSTN) to Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) for landline telephones.
Answered by Greg Hands
Maintaining a resilient and secure energy supply for the UK is a key priority for this Government. The Government continues to work with both the energy and telecommunication industries to understand the implications of the move from the public switched telephone network (PSTN) to Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP).
Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has to tackle the impact of rising energy prices for consumers.
Answered by Greg Hands
The Government is committed to protecting customers, especially the most vulnerable. Despite the rising cost of wholesale energy, the price cap still saves 15 million households up to £100 a year. Low income and fuel poor households will continue to be supported with their energy bills through the Warm Home Discount, which provides eligible households with a £140 discount. Winter Fuel Payments and Cold Weather Payments will also ensure that the most vulnerable are better able to heat their homes over the colder months.
Additionally, the Government has announced an extra £500 million for local authorities through the new Household Support Fund to help those most in need over winter.
Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
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 tackle the delays in Government redundancy payments for ex-Flybe staff in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Paul Scully
The payment of redundancy claims to employees who were employed in Northern Ireland is a devolved matter for the Northern Ireland Executive. Redundancy claims are processed by the NI Redundancy Payments Service in Belfast under the Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996.
Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment she has made of the potential economic effect of the development of gigafactories.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
This Government recognises the economic benefits that securing a UK gigafactory could bring and made this a manifesto commitment. That is why last autumn we announced up to £1 billion of additional funding to develop UK electric vehicle supply chains, and for further electric vehicles research and development.
This builds on the £274 million Government has already invested in the Faraday Battery Challenge through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund. Faraday is a cutting-edge programme, helping businesses in the UK to lead the world in the design, development, and manufacture of batteries for electric vehicles. The UK Battery Industrialisation Centre is on course to open for business in spring 2020 with the first industry-led projects to scale-up battery technology fully underway by the summer.
The Faraday Institution commissioned a study which showed that by 2040, an estimated eight gigafactories (of 15GWh per year capacity) will be needed in the UK and consequently employment in the automotive industry and battery supply chain could increase to 246,000 jobs.