Paul Maynard

The information requested for the period 1 November 2021 to 14 January 2022 is contained in the following table:

The Strategic Priorities Fund (SPF) provides a mechanism for research and innovation communities to identify and propose priorities for funding. UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) ensures that proposals align with the aims of the SPF, including by consulting with departments on Areas of Research Interest. All research themes and currently funded programmes are published on the UKRI website.

There are no current plans to update the research themes.

The Department will publish a new space weather strategy later this year, which will set out a five-year road map for how we intend to boost resilience and build on existing UK strengths and capacity in preparing for and mitigating space weather impacts.

This Government understands that good management of risk is essential for contingency planning, increasing the likelihood that the services we rely on day-to-day remain available for citizens.

In November 2019, the UK Government committed £80m to the European Space Agency Space Safety programme, of which £10m was targeted towards Space weather and debris mitigation development activities, including improving the modelling of how routine and extreme variations in space weather affect space debris.

In addition, this year the UK Space Agency invested a further £1m into projects related to space debris detection and tracking.

Future investment in this area within our National and European Space Agency programmes is subject to the spending review settlement.

The UK is a world leader in space weather forecasting and the Met Office Space Weather Operations Centre provides forecasts and warnings of space weather on a 24/7 basis. The UK Space Agency works with the Met Office to ensure the continuity of space weather observational data.

The table below provides a summary of Debt Relief Order (DRO) applications that have been accepted and rejected in each financial year since 2015/16, as of 23^rd March 2021.

Accepted DRO applications can later be revoked. Revocation of a DRO occurs where information subsequently comes to light that the individual:

• did not qualify for a DRO at the time the order was made.
• no longer qualified for a DRO during the one-year moratorium period.

DRO applications, rejections and revocations

1^st April 2015 to 23^rd March 2021

Revoked DROs are presented in the table based on their revocation date which may not be the same period in which the application was accepted.

The Insolvency Service’s published DRO statistics exclude all accepted DROs that have later been revoked. The Insolvency Service’s latest National Statistics publication on DROs can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/individual-insolvency-statistics-october-to-december-2020.

The unit cost for processing Debt Relief Order applications varies according to case volumes in any given financial year due to the costs being a mix of fixed and variable costs.

Using the costs for the financial year 2019/2020 and the costs for the current financial year to the end of February, the average unit cost of a Debt Relief Order application is £88.81

The Climate Change Committee (CCC) is an independent, statutory body made up of highly esteemed academics and experts across a range of key sectors. The CCC provides expert analysis and advice to government on climate change mitigation and adaptation. The Committee must have regard to the desirability of involving the public when carrying out its functions.

It will be vital for Government to engage the public on our net zero by 2050 target. We have invited the public to shape policies on climate change through consultations and deliberative dialogues (for example, on heat and transport decarbonisation, on the environment). As we develop our plans for reaching net zero emissions by 2050, we will continue to engage the public on the changes that are needed to develop our ambitions on net zero.

The Government recognises the importance of research and development in helping to transform the steel sector so that it can play a vital role in developing a cleaner, greener economy in the UK. We have taken a number of steps to facilitate the decarbonisation of steel making in the UK, including;

Firstly, a £315 million Industrial Energy Transformation Fund which aims to support businesses with high energy use to cut their bills and reduce carbon emissions.

Secondly, providing up to £66m through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund to help steel and other foundation industries develop radical new technologies and establish innovation centres of excellence in these sectors.

Thirdly, establishing a £250m Clean Steel Fund that will support the decarbonisation of the steel sector, supporting its transition to new low carbon technologies and processes. The Government also plans to establish a Net Zero Hydrogen Fund (previously Low Carbon Hydrogen Production Fund): with £240m of capital co-investment out to 2024/25. This will support at-scale production from both Carbon Capture Usage and Storage (CCUS) enabled (‘blue’) hydrogen and electrolytic (‘green’) hydrogen projects.

Finally, as part of the Spring 2020 Budget, the Chancellor announced £22m (subject to a business case) for the Materials Processing Institute in Teesside to deliver a R&D programme of transformation manufacturing - to help UK steel and metals sector improve efficiencies, slash emissions and ultimately boost global competitive edge.

In line with our Net Zero target, the Government is committed to phasing out unabated coal-fired electricity generation by 2025, and recently consulted on moving this date forward to 2024. This policy applies to coal-fired power stations only – it does not apply to other coal consumers such as heritage railways.

Although coal will soon no longer be part of our electricity system, it will continue to be used as a fuel by a wide range of other industries such as the iron, steel and cement industries. We are confident that heritage railways will continue to have the option to tap into this significant domestic market. The decision on where to source coal for use in heritage railways and other industries is a private matter for the companies involved

The Office of the Regulator of Community Interest Companies (CICs) publishes a monthly list of newly incorporated CICs. This is freely available and can be downloaded at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/community-interest-companies-new-cics-registered-in-last-month.

As CICs are limited companies, all CICS are listed on the public register which is published and maintained by Companies House and is also freely available on the Companies House website at https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/companies-house/about-our-services#find-info.

The UK has one of the most robust energy systems in the world. Our power network is resilient and built to withstand impacts from weather conditions, including Severe Space Weather.

The Government, working and engaging extensively with National Grid, other infrastructure operators and the Met Office Space Weather Operation Centre (MOSWOC), has taken significant steps to ensure the UK’s preparedness for major space weather events, such as a Coronal Mass Ejection.

Additionally, in October 2019, the UK Government announced a £20m boost to predict severe space weather events. This will further build the UK’s knowledge on how to forecast and better prepare for these space weather events.

National Grid are ensuring preparedness by increasing the number of transformer spares to help minimise timescales to replace damaged equipment. They are also replacing high voltage transformers with new designs which are more resilient and resistant to extra currents and undertaking emergency exercises aimed at improving knowledge, resilience, and response capability.

The UK has one of the most robust energy systems in the world. The Department works closely with the Civil Contingencies Secretariat (CCS) on preparedness, resilience, and emergency planning for the risks to critical energy infrastructure, including Severe Space Weather.

Severe Space Weather was added to the UK’s National Security Risk Assessment (NSRA) in 2011.The CCS works closely with Lead Government Departments, including BEIS, to periodically update the NSRA, to ensure robust mitigations are in place.

The Government, working and engaging extensively with National Grid, other infrastructure operators and the Met Office Space Weather Operation Centre (MOSWOC), has taken significant steps to ensure the UK’s preparedness for major space weather events, such as a Coronal Mass Ejection.

Additionally, in October 2019, the UK Government announced a £20m boost to predict severe space weather events. This nearly quadruples investment from government into research that can improve systems at the Met Office Space Weather Operations Centre. This will further build the UK’s knowledge on how to forecast and better prepare for these space weather events.

The capital cost assumptions used in the Value for Money Assessment of the proposed programme of lagoons[1] were derived from information shared under a non-disclosure agreement between Tidal Lagoon (Swansea Bay) Plc, Tidal Lagoon Power Ltd and the Department.

The Department believes the non-disclosure agreement still applies in this case and the information cannot be released.

[1] Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/swansea-bay-tidal-lagoon-value-for-money-assessment

The hurdle rates applied across the portfolio of tidal lagoons in the Department’s value for money assessment[1] are shown in Table 1. The hurdle rates for other low carbon technologies estimated at the time of the value for money assessment are shown in Table 2.

Table 1: Range of hurdle rates applied to proposed programme of tidal lagoons[2]

Table 2: Selected hurdle rates for other low carbon technologies (up to date at time the assessment was undertaken)[3]

[1] Available at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/swansea-bay-tidal-lagoon-value-for-money-assessment

[2] Source: BEIS commercial advisory

[3] Source: BEIS Electricity Generation Costs Report (2016), available at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/beis-electricity-generation-costs-november-2016

The Department considered a range of factors in coming to this conclusion. These included the proposed design life of project, the extent to which bill payers should accept operating life risk, a rapidly evolving energy market, and the falling cost of other renewable technologies.

The key categories of assumptions used are listed in Annex B of the Department’s value for money assessment for the proposed programme of tidal lagoons.[1]

Test 2a of the assessment considered levelised cost, expressed in £/MWh terms, of the proposed lagoons over their full assumed asset life of 120 years.

Test 2b (costs of the GB power system) and Test 3 (household bills) assessed the proposed lagoons over the period to 2050. In these cases the costs of the lagoon were spread over the full 120 year asset life. This means that for a tidal lagoon commissioning in 2035, only 15 years’ worth of costs will have been factored in and compared to any benefits occurring over those same 15 years. This approach avoids a mismatch between costs and benefits in the value for money assessment.

[1] Available at www.gov.uk/government/publications/swansea-bay-tidal-lagoon-value-for-money-assessment

The Department’s value for money assessment for the proposed programme of tidal lagoons[1] considered the wider benefits, including the value of jobs supported.

The estimated number of direct jobs underlying this part of the assessment peaked at around 18,000 FTE in any one year across the lagoon fleet. The number of direct jobs maintained across the lagoon fleet once construction had completed was estimated at around 1,000 FTE per year. Indirect jobs were also considered, with a range tested around 2 indirect jobs per direct job.

[1] Available at www.gov.uk/government/publications/swansea-bay-tidal-lagoon-value-for-money-assessment

The value for money analysis undertaken by the Department used a range of different cost of capital assumptions. This included scenarios in the lower range using hurdle rates which were comparable to those for more established renewable energy technologies, such as solar PV, onshore wind and large hydropower.

The value for money assessment undertaken in 2018 took into consideration all potential public sector funding, including funding from the Welsh Government. The analysis concluded that the Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon and proposed programme of follow on lagoons did not meet the Government’s value for money criteria.

My Rt. Hon. Friend the former Secretary of State made a statement to the House on Monday 25 June 2018 setting out our position on the support for the proposed Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon project.

The Department published its summary value for money assessment in June 2018. A copy can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/swansea-bay-tidal-lagoon-value-for-money-assessment

The Department’s analysis of the proposal considered the energy generation from the proposed project and follow-on programme of lagoons but also took account of potential wider economic benefits which might arise from it. The analysis concluded that it did not represent value for money. This remains the Department’s position.

My Rt. Hon. Friend the former Secretary of State made a statement to the House on Monday 25 June 2018 setting out our position on the support for the proposed Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon project.

The Department’s analysis of the proposal to generate electricity from the lagoon and the proposed follow-on programme of lagoons was that it did not represent value for money. This remains the Department’s position.

My Rt. Hon. Friend the then Secretary of State made a statement to the House on Monday 25 June 2018 setting out our position on the support for the proposed Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon project. The Department’s analysis of the project and the proposed follow-on programme of lagoons was that it did not represent value for money.

The Government has said it is open to considering well developed, privately developed tidal range projects. However they must be able to demonstrate credibly that they would represent value for money.

Since 2010, over £94bn has been invested in clean energy in the UK and the Government has spent a total of £30.7bn on renewable electricity through the Renewable Obligations, Feed-in-Tariffs and Contracts for Difference (CfD) schemes. We recently set out ambitious plans at the Budget including investing £270m new funding for heat networks and £100m for heat pumps and biomass.

The Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme is the government’s main mechanism for supporting new large-scale renewable electricity generation projects in Great Britain. We are continuing to improve the route to market for renewables by making up to £557 million available for CfD schemes. In the latest CfD allocation round, contracts were awarded to 12 renewable projects with the potential for nearly 6GW of new renewable capacity – enough to power over 7 million homes.

Our sustained support for clean energy has led to dramatic falls in the costs of some renewable technologies. The auction prices of offshore wind reduced by around two-thirds between the 2015 and 2019. The new projects and lower prices are another step towards decarbonising our energy system as we work toward net zero emissions by 2050, creating jobs and economic opportunities across the UK.

In addition, we are investing over £3 billion in low-carbon innovation through to 2021 – going beyond the £2.5 billion we committed to in the Clean Growth Strategy – and this investment will help to grow our low carbon economy. We are focusing our innovation spend where this can bring down the systems costs of delivering our climate targets and where the UK has expertise, building on our strengths in sectors such as advanced manufacturing, automotive, aerospace and nuclear.

We will be focusing on continuing to develop our net zero strategy in advance of COP26 – including through strengthening our plans for decarbonisation in key sectors. We published the first phase of our transport decarbonisation plan on 26 March 2020, and will be setting out further plans including our forthcoming Energy White Paper later this year.