Asked by: Paul Maynard (Conservative - Blackpool North and Cleveleys)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when he plans to respond to correspondence of 11 August from the hon. member for Blackpool North and Cleveleys relating to natural gas trade between Britain and Norway.
Answered by Graham Stuart
This correspondence was responded to on 6 December, with the reference MCSL2022/18816.
Asked by: Paul Maynard (Conservative - Blackpool North and Cleveleys)
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 improvements required in the capacity of the National Grid to accommodate increased use of renewable energy.
Answered by Graham Stuart
In August 2022, the Government and Ofgem jointly published the Electricity Networks Strategic Framework, setting out a vision for the transformation of the electricity network to ensure it enables a clean, secure and low-cost energy system. The Framework included analysis suggesting that the network could require an additional £100-£240bn of investment to meet net zero and could support 50,000-130,000 jobs and contribute £4-11bn to the economy by 2050.
The Government is working closely with Ofgem, as the body responsible for network regulation, to deliver the capacity needed to accommodate additional generation.
Asked by: Paul Maynard (Conservative - Blackpool North and Cleveleys)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many applications the Park Homes Warm Home Discount scheme has had in each of the last five years; and if he will increase capacity of that scheme in 2022-23.
Answered by Greg Hands
The Park Homes Warm Home Discount scheme was set up by the Government and Charis Grants. The number of applicants for the scheme over the past five scheme years is as follows:
Scheme Year | Total Number of Applications |
2017/18 | 7,017 |
2018/19 | 7,892 |
2019/20 | 6,543 |
2020/21 | 4,048 |
2021/22 | 3,813 |
As the Park Homes Warm Home Discount scheme is funded voluntarily by energy suppliers through Warm Home Discount Industry Initiatives, the funding and therefore the application window can vary year on year.
Asked by: Paul Maynard (Conservative - Blackpool North and Cleveleys)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when he intends to announce details of extended eligibility for the Warm Homes Discount.
Answered by Greg Hands
The Government intends to lay the Regulations in Parliament in the coming months, with the reforms coming into force from the 2022/23 scheme year.
Asked by: Paul Maynard (Conservative - Blackpool North and Cleveleys)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he plans to make payment of the Warm Homes Discount automatic.
Answered by Greg Hands
As confirmed in the recently published Government Response on the future of the Warm Homes Discount scheme, from 2022/23 onwards most eligible households will receive their rebates automatically. Each year the Government will identify around 1.9 million households on low incomes with the highest energy costs through data matching. This will enable the vast majority of households to receive their rebates automatically without having to apply, including working-age households for the first time. Eligibility would also be the same across all participating energy suppliers.
Asked by: Paul Maynard (Conservative - Blackpool North and Cleveleys)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when he plans to respond to the letter of 25 November 2021 from the hon. Member for Blackpool North and Cleveleys on behalf of a constituent regarding solar panels.
Answered by George Freeman
My hon Friend provided a copy of the enquiry to the Department on 1 February. A reply has now been sent to my hon Friend.
Asked by: Paul Maynard (Conservative - Blackpool North and Cleveleys)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many of the 96 weather stations reporting to the Met Office recorded or forecasted 7 day average temperatures of (a) one degree Celsius or below, (b) two degrees celsius or below and (c) three degrees celsius and below between 1 November 2021 and 14 January 2022.
Answered by George Freeman
The information requested for the period 1 November 2021 to 14 January 2022 is contained in the following table:
| Number of weather stations for which 7-day running mean temperature was observed | Number of weather stations for which 7-day running mean temperature was forecast |
one degree celsius or below | 9 | 4 |
two degrees celsius or below | 19 | 14 |
three degrees celsius or below | 48 | 34 |
Asked by: Paul Maynard (Conservative - Blackpool North and Cleveleys)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when UK Research and Innovation plans to publish its updated thematic areas for its Strategic Priorities Fund.
Answered by Amanda Solloway
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.
Asked by: Paul Maynard (Conservative - Blackpool North and Cleveleys)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what investment the UK Space Agency plans to make to mitigate the effect of atmospheric events and space weather on space debris.
Answered by Amanda Solloway
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.
Asked by: Paul Maynard (Conservative - Blackpool North and Cleveleys)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many Debt Relief Order applications have been (a) accepted and (b) rejected by the Insolvency Service in each year since 2015.
Answered by Paul Scully
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 23rd March 2021.
Accepted DRO applications can later be revoked. Revocation of a DRO occurs where information subsequently comes to light that the individual:
DRO applications, rejections and revocations
1st April 2015 to 23rd March 2021
Year | DRO Applications accepted | DRO Applications rejected | DRO Applications revoked |
2015/16 | 24,922 | 96 | 301 |
2016/17 | 25,593 | 82 | 275 |
2017/18 | 24,969 | 66 | 212 |
2018/19 | 28,085 | 86 | 251 |
2019/20 | 27,434 | 62 | 290 |
2020/21 to date | 17,265 | 49 | 266 |
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.