Asked by: Sam Tarry (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps the Government is taking to help ensure that the UK meets its carbon reduction targets in conjunction with supporting developing countries reduce overall carbon emissions.
Answered by Greg Hands
The UK is taking ambitious action through the Prime Minister’s Ten Point Plan and landmark Net Zero Strategy to reach net zero, while creating jobs and reinvigorating new industries.
At the same time, the Government will support developing countries to decarbonise. Those efforts are at the heart of the UK’s COP Presidency and COP26, that took place in November 2021.
Asked by: Sam Tarry (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the number of (a) short- and (b) long-term jobs that would be created by the Cambo oil field development.
Answered by Greg Hands
The Government does not forecast estimates of the numbers of jobs associated with particular oil field developments as a matter of course, and this does not form part of the regulator’s decision-making processes.
The upstream oil and gas sector supports approximately 147,000 jobs both directly and in the supply chain. Many of these roles are highly skilled, providing quality employment for workers in locations right across the country and supporting many more local jobs.
Asked by: Sam Tarry (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps the Government plans to take in response to the conclusion of the International Energy Agency that there can be no new oil, gas or coal development if the world is to reach net zero emissions by 2050.
Answered by Greg Hands
Since 31 March 2021, the UK Government no longer provides any new direct financial or promotional support for the fossil fuel energy sector overseas, other than in limited circumstances, and is aligning its support to enable clean energy exports.
While the Government is working to drive down dependency for oil and gas, there will continue to be ongoing demand over the coming years, as recognised by the independent Climate Change Committee. Given the maturity of the UK Continental Shelf, even with continued development, the UK is projected to remain a net importer out to 2050. The North Sea Transition Deal sets out a path for the UK to manage the transition away from fossil fuels, with a goal of achieving a net zero basin by this timeframe. Further, as announced earlier this year, the Government will introduce a climate compatibility checkpoint for any new licences which will be used to assess whether any future licensing rounds remain in keeping with its climate goals, including net zero.
The Government has committed to phasing out unabated coal generation in Great Britain by October 2024. Coal’s share of our electricity supply has already declined significantly in recent years – from almost 40% in 2012 to less than 2% in 2020.
Asked by: Sam Tarry (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if the Government will prioritise funding to improve energy efficiency to create jobs and reduce energy demand over investment in new oil and gas projects.
Answered by Greg Hands
The Government is committed to improving energy efficiency. We have recently committed £3.9 billion to decarbonising buildings over the next 3 years, taking our total investment to date during this parliament to almost £6.6bn
This will fund the next 3 years of investment through the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund, the Home Upgrade Grant scheme, the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, the Heat Networks Transformation Programme and the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme.
Alongside these schemes, the Government is already providing energy-efficiency upgrades such as insulation and low-carbon heating to around 50,000 homes through the Local Authority Delivery Scheme. Furthermore, the Energy Company Obligation scheme has installed 3.3 million measures in 2.3 million homes since 2013.
Through our first Net Zero Strategy, published 19 October 2021, we committed to grow green industries and supply chains in the UK, which will support up to 240,000 jobs by 2035, resulting in £10 billion additional GVA in the same timeframe.
Asked by: Sam Tarry (Labour - Ilford South)
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 plans to take to strengthen laws to protect consumers from businesses that hold deposits for a long period of time.
Answered by Paul Scully
Consumer protection law requires mandatory protection of consumer deposits in a number of sectors, and particularly in the travel industry. The Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018 ensure arrangements are made so travellers are refunded, or where applicable repatriated, should the organiser become insolvent.
In July 2020 the Government announced that passengers who accept refund credit notes for cancelled holidays as a result of COVID-19 will be protected by the ATOL scheme if necessary. If the CMA finds evidence that companies are failing to comply with the law, it will take appropriate enforcement action.
In July, the Government published a command paper, ‘Reforming Competition and Consumer Policy’ that sets out a range of proposals to enhance consumers’ rights, including with regard to consumer prepayments which in some cases count as deposits. The consultation closes on 1 October and can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/reforming-competition-and-consumer-policy.