Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what fiscal steps he is taking to support households in Meriden constituency with their energy bills.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government took action at Spring Budget 2023 to support struggling families in all constituencies, including by maintaining the Energy Price Guarantee support rate at £2500 per year until July 2023. This measure, alongside the £400 Energy Bills Support Scheme, brings total government support for energy bills to £1500 for the typical household since October 2022. The government is also removing the premium paid by 4 million households using prepayment meters (PPMs), bringing their costs into line with those paid by comparable households on Direct Debits (DD).
These measures are in addition to the uprating of benefits and Cost of Living Payments in 2023-24, which will help more than 8 million UK households on eligible means tested benefits, 8 million pensioner households and 6 million people across the UK on eligible disability benefits. Taken together, support to households to help with higher bills and cost of living is worth £94 billion, or £3,300 per household on average across 2022-23 and 2023-24.
Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what fiscal steps he is taking to support small and medium-sized businesses in Meriden constituency with energy prices.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government remains committed to supporting the whole business sector including small and medium sized businesses. The Energy Bills Discount Scheme (EBDS) provides all eligible businesses and other non-domestic energy users with a discount on high energy bills for 12 months from 1 April 2023 until 31 March 2024. It also provides businesses in sectors with particularly high levels of energy use and trade intensity with a higher level of support.
This follows the unprecedented package of support for non-domestic users last winter provided through the Energy Bill Relief Scheme. The Government has been clear that such levels of support, unprecedented in its nature and huge scale, were time-limited and intended as a bridge to allow businesses to adapt.
Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what fiscal steps he is taking to support the technology sector in Meriden constituency.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The tech sector is important for growth across the UK, including the Meriden constituency.
West Midlands Mayoral Combined Authority (MCA) has been invited to develop an Investment Zone proposal, to catalyse a high potential knowledge intensive growth cluster in one of our priority sectors, including Digital and Technology. The government has begun discussions with West Midlands, through the MCA, with a view to agreeing a co-developed Investment Zone proposal by the end of the year.
We would recommend engagement with West Midlands MCA directly to discuss how to ensure the benefits of the Investment Zone are best felt by residents across the region, including in Meriden.
Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to support the financial services sector in Meriden constituency.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The government’s vision for financial services is for a sector that is open, sustainable, technologically advanced, globally competitive, and which acts in the interests of communities and citizens across all four nations of the UK.
The Edinburgh Reforms will drive growth and competitiveness while retaining our commitment to high international standards. This supports delivery of the Chancellor’s wider priority of driving economic growth and prosperity through his 4 E’s: Enterprise, Education, Employment, and Everywhere.
The government recognises that financial services is an important employer across the whole of UK, with 2.5 million people employed in financial and related professional services across the UK, two thirds of whom are employed outside of London. This includes 145,000 people in the West Midlands alone.
The Government’s approach to financial services reforms will ensure that the sector benefits from dynamic and proportionate regulation, and that consumers and citizens from across all four nations of the UK benefit from high quality services, appropriate consumer protection, and a sector that embraces the latest technology.
Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending the remit of the Tell Us Once service to include the notification of death to (a) banks, (b) utility companies and (c) other organisations outside the public sector.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
There are currently no plans to extend the existing Tell Us Once Service to organisations outside the public sector.
Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence is taking steps to approve Enhertu for use in the treatment of cancers other than breast cancer.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is currently in the early stages of developing technology appraisal guidance on treatments for non-small-cell lung cancer, including Enhertu (trastuzumab deruxtecan) and held a scoping workshop focusing on this topic on 24 April 2023.
Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what fiscal steps she is taking to support the life sciences sector in the West Midlands.
Answered by George Freeman
The call for proposals for up to £38m biomanufacturing fund and £250m LIFTS initiative are open UK-wide. Additionally, funding for skills and regulations will benefit companies across the UK and £121 million for clinical trials will support the delivery of clinical trials across England. With 66% of the sector employed outside London and South-East, these UK wide initiatives will benefit all regions. At least £9.4m has been awarded to Birmingham for the Mental Health Mission, to set up the Midlands Translational Research Centre demonstrator site. Funding will be used to support research and novel treatments for mental health conditions.
Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to provide financial support to people on lower incomes in Meriden constituency.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government recognises the challenges facing households on lower incomes across the country, particularly in light of elevated costs of living. Support to households with the cost of living is worth £94 billion, or £3,300 per household on average, across 2022-23 and 2023-24.
This includes uprating benefits and the state pension in line with inflation from this April, and new Cost of Living Payments in 2023-24 for households on means tested benefits, pensioner households and individuals on disability benefits, in addition last year’s support. Over 14,000 households on means-tested benefits in Meriden were eligible for last year’s £650 Cost of Living Payment, with another 11,500 individuals on disability benefits eligible for a further £150 Disability Cost of Living Payment, and over 20,000 pensioner households eligible for the £300 Pensioner Cost of Living Payment.
The Government is also providing further assistance through a one year extension to the Household Support Fund in England. Solihull Council has been allocated over £2.8m this year from the Household Support Fund to support its residents, including in Meriden, with the cost of food, energy and other essentials.
Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department is taking steps to help secure free access to cash withdrawals and deposit facilities in Meriden constituency.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The government recognises that while the transition towards digital payments brings many opportunities, cash continues to be used by many people across the UK, including those who may be in vulnerable groups.
The government is currently legislating to protect access to cash across the UK as part of the Financial Services and Markets (FSM) Bill 2022. The Bill establishes the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as the lead regulator for access to cash with responsibility and powers to seek to ensure reasonable provision of withdrawal and deposit facilities.
As amended, the FSM Bill protects free access to cash by requiring the FCA to seek to ensure that, in the United Kingdom, there is reasonable provision of free withdrawal and deposit facilities for personal current accounts with relevant providers. It also requires the Treasury to publish a policy statement that includes policies on free access.
According to LINK data for April 2023, there are around 39,000 free-to-use ATMs across the UK, including 81 in the constituency of Meriden.
Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how much from the public purse the Government has invested in the UK energy industry since 2010; and if he will make a comparative assessment of that level of funding against spending in (a) the US and (b) other international counterparts over the same time period.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The UK has seen nearly £200 billion of public and private investment into low carbon energy sectors between 2010 and 2022. This is 50% higher than the US as a share of GDP. A comparison with other G7 countries is set out in Figure 2 of Powering Up Britain: The Net Zero Growth Plan. A split between public and private sources of investment is not available from the data.