Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has made a comparative assessment of the level of customer service provided at post offices operated by (a) the Post Office and (b) WH Smith; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Government has no involvement in the day to day running of the Post Office. The Post Office is committed to ensuring all branches across its network offer excellent customer service and has a long history of working with its many franchise partners, including WHSmith to achieve this.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the Government has (a) sought and (b) obtained guarantees from WH Smith that post office staff will not be (i) made redundant and (ii) moved to roles with (A) poorer working conditions and (B) lower pay after their branches are franchised.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
As an independent organisation, the Government has no in the day to day running of the Post Office. However, the Post Office has been clear in its duty of care for any staff affected. Staff affected have the right to transfer their employment to the franchise partner under protected existing terms and conditions in line with Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) regulations (TUPE) or voluntarily leave with a settlement.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the Government plans to use money from the public purse for (a) redundancy and (b) compensation payments as a result of the upcoming franchising of post office branches to WHSmith; and what estimate has been made of those payments.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
While the Government sets the strategic direction for the Post Office, it allows the company the commercial freedom to deliver this strategy as an independent business. Decisions around franchising and staff employment are both operational matters of commercial judgement for the Post Office.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 15 November 2018 to Question 186941 on Offshore Industry: Oil, and with reference to the October 2018 IPCC report recommendations on the reduction in emissions required by 2030, what his Department's definition is of the time frame medium term.
Answered by Claire Perry
We need to ensure we have a balanced energy mix, so we have a reliable, clean and affordable energy system as we continue to move to a low carbon economy. There will be an ongoing role for some fossil fuels during this transition.
While there is a wide range of possible pathways to meet our emission reduction targets, we expect some fossil fuels to play an important ongoing role in the coming decades when combined with Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 15 November 2018 to Question 189542, on Carbon Budgets: Climate Change, and with reference to the Committee on Climate Change’s assessment of the cost-effectiveness of the UK’s decarbonisation pathway, whether it is mandatory that the committee includes an assessment of the costs incurred by continued high carbon emissions.
Answered by Claire Perry
We have asked the Committee on Climate Change to consider the costs and benefits associated with the range of possible scenarios they recommend and to provide a comparison with the costs and benefits of meeting our current long-term target. When assessing costs, consideration will be given to the impacts, both positive and negative, of innovation and global deployment of technologies. The assessment of benefits will take into account costs avoided.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 19 November to Question 191275 on Offshore Industry: Carbon Emissions, if he will assess the (a) compatibility of the Oil and Gas Authority's remit to maximise the economic recovery of petroleum from the UK continental shelf with the UK’s decarbonisation commitments as a signatory to the Paris agreement and (b) potential merits of changing that remit to support the winding down of the petroleum industry over the next 30 years.
Answered by Claire Perry
Maximising Economic Recovery (MER UK) contributes to the UK’s diverse energy mix, which is necessary as this country moves towards a low carbon economy.
Projections in like with CC advice show that oil and gas will remain an important component of the UK’s energy mix until 2035 and beyond. It is important that the OGA continues with the objective of MER UK to help fulfil ongoing UK energy demand needs.
The UK remains committed to the Paris Agreement and we are leading the world in our response to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s special report on global warming of 1.5°C– commissioning the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) for their advice on the implications of the Paris Agreement for the UK’s long-term emissions reduction targets, just one week after its publication. As part of this, we have requested that they provide evidence on how reductions in line with the CCC’s recommendations might be delivered in key sectors of the economy and we will consider their advice carefully when it is received.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 12 November to Question 186939 on British Petroleum: Offshore Industry, whether the Oil and Gas Authority (a) must or (b) may take into account the effect of oil and gas developments on the UK’s carbon emissions and commitments as a signatory to the Paris Agreement when making such decisions.
Answered by Claire Perry
The remit of the Oil and Gas Authority is to Maximise the Economic Recovery of Petroleum from the UKCS (MER UK). The Energy Act 2016 sets out matters to which the OGA must have regard whilst exercising its functions.
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/20/section/8/enacted
Greenhouse gas emissions from all sectors of the UK’s economy are taken into account when assessing our performance against the carbon budgets and the UK remains committed to the Paris Agreement.
As part of this, we have requested that they provide evidence on how reductions in line with the Committee on Climate Change’s recommendations might be delivered in key sectors of the economy and we will consider their advice carefully when it is received.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment has been made of the potential effect on the UK's (a) total carbon emissions and (b) ability to filful its commitments as a signatory to the Paris agreement on climate change of the carbon emissions generated by the consumption of oil and gas produced as a result of the UK’s 31st offshore licensing round.
Answered by Claire Perry
The independent oil and gas regulator, the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA), has a principal statutory objective to maximise the economic recovery of petroleum from the UK Continental Shelf. This informs their licensing decisions. In the UK, we have been producing oil and gas from offshore fields for more than 50 years and the 31st offshore licensing round could offer further opportunities to contribute to the UK’s diverse energy mix as we transition to a low carbon economy.
Oil and gas will continue to play an important role as part of the energy mix for decades to come. Greenhouse gas emissions from all sectors of the UK’s economy are taken into account when assessing our performance against the carbon budgets.
The UK remains committed to the Paris Agreement and we are leading the world in our response to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s special report on global warming of 1.5°C– commissioning the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) for their advice on the implications of the Paris Agreement for the UK’s long-term emissions reduction targets, just one week after its publication. As part of this, we have requested that they provide evidence on how reductions in line with the CCC’s recommendations might be delivered in key sectors of the economy and we will consider their advice carefully when it is received.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether (a) the Oil and Gas Authority and (b) his Department carried out an assessment on the potential effect on the climate of the development of the Alligin oil field before granting permission for that field to be developed.
Answered by Claire Perry
We are committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80% below 1990 levels by 2050. Greenhouse gas emissions from all sectors of the UK’s economy are taken into account when assessing our performance against the Carbon Budgets- this includes emissions from offshore oil production sites on the UK sector of the continental shelf.
As we continue to move to a low carbon economy we need to ensure we have a balanced energy mix so we have a reliable, clean and affordable energy system. This means that in the medium term there will be a role for some fossil fuels.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 8 November 2018 to Question 186934, whether the Committee on Climate Change's response to the IPCC report on global warming of 1.5 degrees will be permitted to include recommendations on (a) the cost effectiveness and (b) the benefit to the climate of amending the fourth or fifth carbon budget to provide more rapid reduction of the UK’s carbon emissions in line with the timeframe recommended by the IPCC.
Answered by Claire Perry
The Committee on Climate Change’s (CCC) focus for this particular advice will rightly be on our long-term targets, including the costs, benefits and deliverability of more ambitious targets.
Although government has asked the CCC not to consider formally carbon budgets four and five as part of this commission, they have been asked for evidence on how reductions in line with the CCC’s recommendations might be delivered in key sectors of the economy.
If the CCC considers that the most effective way of communicating this information is through a cost-effective pathway (which could include the years captured by carbon budgets four and five), they may incorporate that information into their advice.