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 the unit cost incurred by the Insolvency Service is to process an application for a Debt Relief Order.
Answered by Paul Scully
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
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 his policy is on improving democratic participation in the Committee on Climate Change.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
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.
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 steps he is taking to increase Government-backed research into the domestic manufacture of decarbonised steel.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
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.
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 his policy is on maintaining domestic coal supplies for the heritage rail sector.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
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
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, if he will publish a quarterly searchable record of Community Interest Companies.
Answered by Paul Scully
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.
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 discussions he has had with the National Grid on preparedness for a coronal mass ejection.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
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.
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 discussions he has had with the Civil Contingencies Secretariat on the UK's preparedness for a coronal mass ejection.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
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.
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, pursuant to his Answer of 9 June 2020 to Question 51817 on Tidal Power: Swansea Bay, if he will set out the exact range of capital assumptions made by his Department, in British pounds, for the Swansea Bay tidal lagoon value for money assessment.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
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
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, pursuant to his Answer of 9 June 2020 to Question 51817 on Tidal Power: Swansea Bay, what range of hurdle rates, comparable to those more established renewable energy technologies, such as solar PV, onshore wind and large hydropower, were used for the Swansea Bay tidal lagoon value for money assessment.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
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]
Hurdle Rate Scenario | Hurdle rate (real terms, pre-tax) |
Low | 6.2% |
Central | 8.0% |
High | 9.0% |
Table 2: Selected hurdle rates for other low carbon technologies (up to date at time the assessment was undertaken)[3]
Technology | Hurdle rate (real terms, pre-tax) |
Onshore wind | 6.7% |
Offshore wind | 8.9% |
Solar PV (>5MW) | 6.5% |
Nuclear | 8.9% |
Gas with CCUS (first of a kind) | 11.3% |
Hydro (>5MW) | 6.9% |
[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
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, for what reason a 35-year contract for difference assumption was used for the Swansea Bay tidal lagoon value for money assessment when the project's estimated lifespan is 120 years.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
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.