Asked by: Paul Masterton (Conservative - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
What steps she is taking to help ensure the viability of the post office branch network in East Renfrewshire.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Government absolutely recognises the importance of post offices in East Renfrewshire, Blaydon and other communities across the UK and is committed to the Post Office network’s future.
Government has provided a further £370 million from 2018 to 2021 to safeguard the network and invest in its future. Following this, and the new Banking Framework, postmaster pay is increasing. This has led to the most stable network in generations, with over 11,600 branches across the UK, the largest retail network in the country.
Asked by: Paul Masterton (Conservative - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much the Government has spent on renewable energy through the Contracts for Difference programme.
Answered by Claire Perry
Contracts for Difference (CfDs) are funded through a levy on GB electricity suppliers, and ultimately by consumers through their energy bills. £636.4m has been spent on renewable electricity generation through the CfD since the first project started generating in 2016/17. The latest forecasts published by the Office for Budget Responsibility estimate an annual scheme cost of £3bn by 2022/23, the year by which all current CfD projects are expected to have commissioned. In the Clean Growth Strategy, published in October 2017, Government confirmed it would be making up to £557m (in 2011/12 prices) of annual support available for further CfDs.
Asked by: Paul Masterton (Conservative - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent progress the Government has made on implementing its commitment to end unabated coal power generation by 2025.
Answered by Claire Perry
On 5 January 2018 we set out that coal-fired power stations will need to close by 1 October 2025 unless they invest to reduce their emissions to 450g CO2 per kWh. The government is exploring the appropriate legislative vehicle for introducing this emissions intensity limit and intend that it is introduced before the 2021 Capacity Market auction round. This auction round will be the first that secures capacity beyond 1 October 2025 at which point unabated coal will no longer be able to participate.
Asked by: Paul Masterton (Conservative - East Renfrewshire)
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 support the retail sector in Scotland.
Answered by Andrew Griffiths
BEIS Ministers regularly engage with retailers based throughout the UK to understand their priorities and work with colleagues across Government to optimise the conditions for the sector. Specific initiatives which have benefited retailers include: the reduction in the corporation tax rate to 19%, with further plans to cut it further to 17% in 2020 and the introduction of the Employment Allowance, giving employers up to £3000 off their National Insurance contributions (NICs) bill, benefitting 1m employers. The Government has also introduced the Great British High Street Competition, now in its third year, which celebrates the achievements of local areas in creating vibrant and dynamic high streets and is open to applications from any community large or small.
Asked by: Paul Masterton (Conservative - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much the Government has invested in renewable energy through the Contract for Difference programme since 2010.
Answered by Claire Perry
To date, contracts have been signed to bring forward nearly 10 gigawatts of renewable generation capacity, with the first of these recently beginning to generate. Government support for these projects is expected to rise to around £2.5 billion a year by 2024/25 (in 2011/12 prices).
Our sustained support has helped deliver dramatic falls in the costs of renewable technologies such as offshore wind.
The Government is committed to delivering clean, smart, and flexible power, which is why in our ambitious Clean Growth Strategy we committed up to £557 million of annual support for further Contracts for Difference, with the next one planned for spring 2019 (in 2011/12 prices).
Asked by: Paul Masterton (Conservative - East Renfrewshire)
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 effect of the closure of post office counter services on vulnerable older customers; and what alternatives are available to those customers.
Answered by Margot James
The Government recognises the important role post offices play in communities across the county, especially for the Post Office’s more vulnerable and elderly customers.
With over 11,600 post offices in the UK, the Post Office network is at its most stable in decades due to the significant investment that has been made to maintain and protect it. This investment has delivered the fresher customer environments, increased opening hours and greater efficiency needed to succeed in Post Office’s competitive and changing markets.
Post Offices are offering nearly a million extra opening hours every month and there are more than 4,400 branches open on Sunday, making Post Office the country’s largest Sunday retail network. Nearly 93% of the UK population live within one mile of their nearest post office, and over 99% within three miles.
Asked by: Paul Masterton (Conservative - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when officials of his Department last met representatives of the Post Office to discuss the provision of local post offices.
Answered by Margot James
The location and provision of individual post offices is the operational responsibility of Post Office Limited; the company manages that and oversees the network.
Departmental officials meet regularly with Post Office Limited to discuss a wide range of matters affecting the network, and this will include its provision of post offices across the country.
Asked by: Paul Masterton (Conservative - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what his policy is on the retention of local post office services in East Renfrewshire.
Answered by Margot James
The provision of individual post offices is the operational responsibility of Post Office Limited; the company that manages and oversees the UK’s post office network.
I understand that there are currently 10 open post offices in the Honourable Member’s constituency, 9 of which have been transformed under the Post Office’s modernisation programme, offering an additional 224 opening hours per week, with 6 branches open on a Sunday.
Asked by: Paul Masterton (Conservative - East Renfrewshire)
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 effect of the Government's industrial strategy on East Renfrewshire.
Answered by Claire Perry
The UK Government agreed the Glasgow City Deal which will see £524 million in new UK Government funding flow into the Glasgow city region, supporting East Renfrewshire and seven other authorities. Projects and programmes will help improve transport infrastructure, invest in world class life sciences facilities, and tackle unemployment through targeted support for the young and the vulnerable.
We are committed to developing an ambitious Industrial Strategy for the whole of the UK. We will continue to work with the devolved governments – building on shared interests to deliver better outcomes for the people of East Renfrewshire, and for the rest of the UK.
Asked by: Paul Masterton (Conservative - East Renfrewshire)
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 support growth in the UK entertainment systems manufacturing industry.
Answered by Claire Perry
We are inviting a dialogue with any sector that can organise behind strong leadership to address shared challenges and opportunities. Sector deals are an ‘open door’ challenge to all sectors and are open to both established and emerging industries, and to sectors of all sizes.