Asked by: Sarah Atherton (Conservative - Wrexham)
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 merits for Wrexham in relation to (a) job creation, (b) investment in the local economy and (c) trading opportunities of the Government's HyNet North West Hydrogen energy project.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Last month, the Government announced that HyNet has been sequenced onto ‘Track-1’ under the CCUS Cluster Sequencing process, for deployment in the mid-2020s. Amongst other things, this decision considered the cluster’s potential to deliver benefits to the regional economy, including through the development of the hydrogen economy in both North Wales – including Wrexham – and the North West of England.
The Government estimates that CCUS could support up to 50,000 green jobs by 2030, along with over 9,000 supported by low carbon hydrogen. These jobs are set to be concentrated in the UK’s industrial heartlands, including in North Wales.
Asked by: Sarah Atherton (Conservative - Wrexham)
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 has been made on securing private investment to help take over the Wylfa Nuclear Power site, following Hitachi's withdrawal.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Wylfa Newydd site remains a candidate for new nuclear power. The Government is aware of the strong interest and support in North Wales for the development of this site continues to discuss proposals for at Wylfa Newydd with a range of viable companies and investors.
The Government has set out a new £120 million Future Nuclear Enabling Fund towards the development of nuclear projects. More details of the Fund and how it will operate will be released in due course.
Asked by: Sarah Atherton (Conservative - Wrexham)
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 of both Government and private investment at the Wylfa Nuclear plant in North Wales on (a) job creation in North Wales, (b) economic investment in North Wales and (c) the Government's commitment to decarbonisation.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
New nuclear projects can deliver significant local, regional, and national economic benefits, including high-skilled employment, to the UK. Government would expect to see similar levels of economic impacts to those at Hinkley in the regions where future power stations might be built.
The construction of Hinkley Point C has to-date seen EDF spend £3.5 billion in the south-west and it is estimated that a large-scale nuclear plant would support around 10,000 jobs at peak of construction.
The recently published Net Zero Strategy confirms that Government recognises the key role Nuclear will play in helping the UK to deliver on Net Zero. We are likely to need new nuclear capacity in order to meet our carbon reduction commitments, so we continue to engage with credible developers and investors on their proposals for future projects including Wylfa. The government has set out a new £120 million Future Nuclear Enabling Fund towards the development of nuclear projects. More details of the Fund and how it will operate will be released in due course.
Asked by: Sarah Atherton (Conservative - Wrexham)
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 potential merits of the Wylfa Nuclear Power site in North Wales to the Government's (a) net zero strategy and (b) the commitment to source all the UK electricity from clean energy sources by 2035.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is aware of the strong interest and support in North Wales for the development of this site and continues to discuss new projects with viable companies and investors wishing to develop sites including Wylfa Newydd.
The Net Zero Strategy is clear that nuclear is an important part of our plans to achieve net zero. Nuclear power stations provide firm low carbon power, which is required to complement variable renewable generation in order to ensure a low cost, stable, reliable, low carbon system in 2050.
The Government has set out a new £120 million Future Nuclear Enabling Fund towards the development of nuclear projects. More details of the Fund and how it will operate will be released in due course.
Asked by: Sarah Atherton (Conservative - Wrexham)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
What steps his Department is taking to tackle late payments to small businesses.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
We recently strengthened the Prompt Payment Code and have consulted on new powers for the Small Business Commissioner. The Commissioner is very active in highlighting these issues and to date has intervened to recover £7.8 million for small businesses experiencing payment issues.
Asked by: Sarah Atherton (Conservative - Wrexham)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what progress has been made on discussions with Airbus UK on avoiding large scale redundancies at Airbus plants throughout (a) the UK and (b) its supply chairs.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
We have regular discussions with Airbus on a wide range of issues, including their announcement of plans to reduce their global workforce as a result of significantly reduced demand for aircraft due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Aerospace companies are drawing upon the unprecedented package of Government support measures, including schemes to raise capital, flexibilities with tax bills, and financial support for employees. Aerospace is benefiting from over £6 billion of support; airlines and aerospace companies, including Airbus, have benefited from over £2 billion of support from the Bank of England Covid Corporate Financing Facility. These companies will also access over £500 million of research and development grants over the next three years. In addition, UK Export Finance expects to support £3.5 billion of support for aerospace exports over the next 18 months. We will continue to work closely with the aerospace industry to position it for a return to growth.
We appreciate this is a worrying time for those workers at Airbus UK whose jobs may be affected and we will do all we can to support them through the Department for Work and Pensions and Job Centre Plus in England, and in Wales through the services offered through the ReAct programme.