Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what progress his Department on reviewing rules on the sale of pint sized bottles of English sparkling wine.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
The quantities in which pre-packed alcohol, including English sparkling wine, can be sold will be considered as part of the Government’s review of EU-derived law. An update will be provided in due course.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
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 make an assessment of the potential impact of increased use of hydrogen energy on household bills; and what steps he is taking to promote the use of hydrogen energy by consumers.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Low carbon hydrogen is critical to delivering energy security, presents a significant growth opportunity, and will help the UK reach net zero. The UK approach is to promote every aspect of the hydrogen economy: production, demand, networks and storage. The Government will ensure that its approach to developing the hydrogen economy takes into account wider government priorities and policies – including considerations related to the affordability of energy bills. This, combined with targeted innovation funding and a facilitative regulatory environment, will unlock hydrogen uptake across key end use sectors.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent discussions his Department has had with the Department for Health and Social Care on the impact on care homes who are unable to get added to the priority list for power recovery during a power cut or qualify for a permanent supply line.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is working closely with the Department of Health & Social Care to mitigate the impacts associated with the upcoming winter.
Care homes are not included on the list of Approved Designated Services as set out in the Electricity Supply Emergency Code, and therefore do not qualify for Protected Site status. Sites are ultimately still responsible for their own business continuity and should not rely on being on the Protected Sites List for their power resilience. The Electricity Supply Emergency Code only applies to certain scenarios and does not give sites complete coverage for all possible power disruption events.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of mandating car parks over a certain size to be covered in solar panels.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government is pleased to see examples of solar installations in UK car parks such as in York, Glasgow and Leeds and is considering how to encourage more.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to support SMEs in North East Hampshire.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
Businesses in North East Hampshire will have benefitted from a range of Government measures, including reversal of the National Insurance rise, which will save SMEs approximately £4,200 on average, cut to fuel duty for 12 months and the Energy Bill Relief Scheme, which will protect small businesses from high energy costs over the winter. Furthermore, we have raised the Employment Allowance to £5,000 and are freezing the business rates multiplier for another year to protect businesses from rising inflation, worth £9.3 billion over the next 5 years.
In addition, finance is available to SMEs across the UK through the Recovery Loan Scheme, and the Start Up loan scheme has provided 84 SMEs in North East Hampshire with loans to the value of £926,620 as of October 2022.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of introducing a code of conduct for companies offering (a) cosmetic fillers and (b) Botox injections in relation to (i) the age verification of clients, (ii) the professional status of practitioners and (iii) a duty of care for negligent treatment.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Government is committed to achieving the right regulatory balance between supporting excellent business practice and protecting workers, consumers, and the environment. I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to him by my hon. Friend the Minister for Mental Health, Suicide Prevention and Patient Safety on 22 January 2020 to Question 6799.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much money from the public purse has been spent on the Horizon IT High Court case to date.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Government recognises the critical role that post offices play in communities and for small businesses across the UK. This is why the Government committed to safeguard the post office network and protect existing rural services. The overall number of post offices across the UK remains at its most stable in decades with over 11,500 branches thanks to significant Government investment of over £2 billion since 2010.
While the Post Office is publicly owned it operates as an independent, commercial business. As such, the legal defence of this litigation and the costs involved in doing so are being handled by Post Office Limited. As the litigation is ongoing in the High Court, the Government is unable to comment further.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
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 (a) the recent cancellation of nuclear projects by Hitachi and Toshiba and (b) existing nuclear power stations nearing the end of their lives on the UK's electricity generating capacity and demand in the next ten years; and if he will use that assessment to inform future methods of financing nuclear power stations.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
This Government is committed to delivering secure electricity supplies to consumers at the lowest possible cost. Wylfa and Moorside were not due to become operational until the late 2020s and there are a range of options for generating this capacity over that time-frame. National Grid has stated that there is no issue with the future security of supply. We are currently reviewing the viability of the Regulated Asset Base model, which will draw on a wide range of evidence.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
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 on businesses in Hampshire of the industrial strategy.
Answered by Claire Perry
The Government’s Industrial Strategy sets out a long-term plan to boost the productivity and earning power of people throughout the UK. It focuses on the five foundations of productivity: Ideas, People, Infrastructure, Business Environment and Places.
Central to achieving these ambitions is ensuring that places across the UK are a global draw for innovators. Key policies to secure this ambition include the launch and roll-out of Sector Deals, driving investment in innovative and high potential businesses, and launching a review of the actions that could be most effective in improving the productivity and growth of small and medium-sized businesses across the country. We will also continue to ensure that all businesses have access to a local Growth Hub. I have been delighted at the positive reception the Industrial Strategy has received from business leaders across Hampshire.
The Industrial Strategy also builds on previous reforms to empower local leaders to address local barriers to growth. This includes working in partnership with places to develop long-term Local Industrial Strategies. These will identify local strengths and challenges, future opportunities and the action needed to boost productivity, earning power and competitiveness.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of regulations for small diesel power plants.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
In December 2016, Defra consulted on proposals to introduce Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) emissions controls on generators alongside its consultation on proposals for the implementation of the Medium Combustion Plant Directive (MCPD), aimed at improving air quality. The definition of generators used in the proposal captures those with a rated input of between 1MW thermal and 50MW thermal, although site aggregation means that some plants below this amount may also be affected if the total input on the same site falls within the proposed range. Insufficient controls on diesel generator emissions risk distorting electricity markets by encouraging new diesel at the expense of cleaner gas generation. Following the consultation on tightening controls, the 2016/17 capacity market auctions resulted in significantly fewer new diesel projects. While the proposed regulations relate to air quality, actions which reduce the use of diesel generators would limit carbon emissions.
The Defra consultation closed on 18 February and a response will be issued in due course.