Oral Answers to Questions

Peter Gibson Excerpts

Tuesday 17th January 2023 Commons Chamber

The Secretary of State was asked—

[Peter Gibson (Darlington) (Con)]

1. What steps his Department is taking to support businesses with energy costs.

[The Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Grant Shapps)]

The energy bill relief scheme provides discounts on the wholesale element of gas and electricity bills to ensure that all eligible businesses are protected from high energy costs over the winter period. The support is applied automatically to bills.

[Peter Gibson]

I thank the Secretary of State for that answer. The Government have already awarded Cummins, the engine maker in Darlington, £14.6 million to develop a hydrogen combustion engine, which will help the road haulage industry to decarbonise and reduce business energy costs. Does my right hon. Friend agree with me that investment in alternatives such as that will benefit businesses into the future, will he look at the regulation to enable this technology to be exploited and will he visit Darlington to see Cummins?

[Grant Shapps]

I think the answer is three yeses. My hon. Friend is absolutely right to highlight the importance of that hydrogen technology; it is one of the reasons the UK has a global lead. I am looking very closely at how off-road hydrogen vehicles could also be a big part of our decarbonisation strategy.