Asked by: Simon Baynes (Conservative - Clwyd 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 his Department is taking to ensure (a) a green and (b) a resilient recovery from the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
In his speech of June 30, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister made clear that in recovering from COVID-19, we must build back better, build back greener, build back faster, and to do that at the pace that this moment requires. At my Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer's economic update on July 8, the Government set out the next stage in our plan to support the UK’s recovery from the pandemic.
We are taking action to support a Green Recovery in every sector including: over £3 billion to transform energy efficiency in homes and public buildings; over £1 billion support for ultra-low emission vehicles; £800 million to capture carbon from power stations and industry; £640 million in Nature Climate Fund; and £100 million for research and development into Direct Air Capture technologies.
We will continue to build on this and deliver a stronger, greener, more sustainable economy after this pandemic.
Asked by: Simon Baynes (Conservative - Clwyd South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what support he is providing to small builders in North Wales.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
Whilst policy relating to construction is a devolved matter, my Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer has announced a £330 billion support package of Government-backed and guaranteed loans so as to help businesses to access finance, including those in Wales.
Measures include the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS), which enables small and medium-sized enterprises, with a turnover of up to £45 million, to access vital financial support. This is available to businesses in Wales via high street banks and the Development Bank of Wales. The Chancellor has extended the CBILS so that all viable businesses affected by COVID-19, and not just those unable to secure regular commercial financing, will now be eligible should they need finance to keep operating during this difficult time. In addition, we announced the Bounce Back Loans Scheme, which provides loans of up to £50,000 to benefit small businesses with a 100% Government-backed guarantee for lenders.
The Welsh Government has announced a new £500 million Welsh fund which will support firms of all sizes, including social enterprises.
Asked by: Simon Baynes (Conservative - Clwyd 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 is taking to support innovative and fast-growing firms during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government is aware of the role that innovative businesses play in supporting economic growth as our economy recovers from the Covid-19 crisis. That is why my Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer announced a £1.25 billion package to help protect firms driving innovation in the UK.
This package includes the Future Fund, which provides innovative companies with convertible loans, investing between £125k and £5m, on the condition that third-party investors at least match the Future Fund’s commitment. Developed by Government and delivered by the British Business Bank, the Future Fund launched for applications in May and will initially be open until the end of September. As of 12 July, the Future Fund had facilitated 429 loans totalling £420 million.
SMEs focusing on research and development are also benefiting from £750 million of grants and loans through Innovate UK.
This package builds on the government’s existing support for innovative, high-growth firms including the British Business Bank’s £2.5 billion British Patient Capital programme, internationally competitive R&D tax reliefs, and our commitment to increase public R&D spending to £22 billion by 2024-25.
Asked by: Simon Baynes (Conservative - Clwyd South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions officials in his Department have had with (a) businesses, (b) trade unions and (c) workers on developing guidance on workplace safety during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Paul Scully
There was an extensive series of engagements to support the drafting process for guidance on safe return to work, with several roundtables chaired by my Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State, meetings with businesses, unions and other representative organisations and written consultations.
Asked by: Simon Baynes (Conservative - Clwyd 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 is taking to facilitate the development of electric vehicle battery manufacturing in the UK; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits for North Wales and Wrexham of Stoke-on-Trent becoming a manufacturing location for those batteries.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
There are a range of factors that will influence the location of any UK Gigafactory investment, and the final location decision will be a commercial matter.
The Government has a long-standing programme of support to maintain the competitiveness of the UK automotive sector. Through the Automotive Sector Deal, we are working with the industry to develop world-leading battery technologies.
We have already invested £274 million in the Faraday Battery Challenge (FBC) through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund. The FBC is a cutting-edge programme, helping UK businesses to lead the world in the design, development, and manufacture of batteries for electric vehicles. Under the FBC, we have invested £120 million in the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre (UKBIC), the first phase of which was completed in March 2020, and which will provide a state-of-the-art pilot facility to test new cell technology. UKBIC will play a key role in laying the groundwork to secure a battery Gigafactory in the UK.
The Faraday Institution commissioned a study which showed that by 2040, an estimated eight Gigafactories (of 15GWh per year capacity) will be needed in the UK and consequently employment in the automotive industry and battery supply chain could increase to 246,000 jobs.
The Government has announced up to £1 billion of additional funding to develop UK electric vehicle supply chains, and for further electric vehicles research and development. This funding will accelerate mass production of key technologies in the UK, through major investments in the manufacturing of batteries, electric motors, power electronics, and hydrogen fuel cells, along with their component and materials supply chains.
Asked by: Simon Baynes (Conservative - Clwyd 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 his Department is taking to ensure that all firms entitled to assistance under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme are able to access it.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government has responded to helpful feedback to ensure that companies feel the full benefits of available support through the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) by:
The Government will continue to see if there are other areas for improvement across the scheme as a whole.