Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth 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 ensure that lessons learned from the UK Investment Bank local lending pilots will be integrated into policy on financing Net Zero.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The UK Investment Bank pilots will be taken into account in the ongoing policy work on financing net zero.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth 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 ensure the UK becomes a centre of excellence for developing, procuring and delivering Net Zero project investment.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Driving investment into net zero is a priority for the Government and backing its ambition with specific policies. The Government has committed £30 billion of public green investment and is putting in place regulatory frameworks to spur private investment into green projects, such as through the Energy Bill. Its policies are expected to drive an unprecedented £100 billion of private investment and support 480,000 jobs by 2030. The Government has already made significant progress - Bloomberg estimates that in 2021, £24 billion of new green investment was committed in the UK across sectors like clean energy, heating and transport.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth 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 scale up local authority-led green investment opportunities to make them more attractive to institutional investors.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Green Finance Strategy, supported by the Greening Financing Roadmap, sets out how the Government is working with local authorities and institutional investors to attract finance into green investment opportunities.
As part of the Government’s overall approach, the BEIS Local Net Zero Hubs support local authorities to develop net zero projects that can attract commercial investment.
In 2022 there was a call for evidence to update the Green Finance Strategy, and this asked for evidence on how local authorities can best support the mobilisation of public and private investment. An updated Green Finance Strategy will be published in due course.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
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 implications for his policies of UK100's report entitled Local Net Zero Delivery Progress Report: Local Powers, published on 12 July 2022.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Net Zero Strategy sets out its commitments to enable local areas to deliver net zero and recognises that local authorities can, and do, play an essential role in driving local climate action. UK100’s Local Net Zero Delivery Progress Report forms part of a growing body of evidence and views on Local Net Zero.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
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 adequacy of national policy and regulatory frameworks at helping (a) local, (b) regional, (c) national and (d) devolved governments to (i) achieve Net Zero and (ii) adapt to climate change..
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government’s net zero target covers the whole UK, and all four parts of the UK have an integral role to play in delivering the Government’s carbon budgets.
The UK Government is working closely with local government and partners in the devolved administrations to achieve our carbon emission reduction ambitions and net zero targets.
The Domestic and Economic Affairs (Energy, Climate and Net Zero) Cabinet Committee leads on bringing together departments to consider matters relating to energy, and to ensure the effective delivery of the United Kingdom’s domestic and international climate strategy leading up to the net zero 2050 target.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make an estimate of the number of houses that have had external wall insulation installed in Portsmouth South constituency as of 31 October 2022.
Answered by Graham Stuart
BEIS estimates that under the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) and Green Homes Grant (GHG) Government schemes, around 3,300 cavity wall insulation measures, 1,100 loft insulation measures, 5 under floor insulation measures and fewer than 5 external wall insulation measures have been installed in Portsmouth South constituency.
Data for ECO covers January 2013 to September 2022. Data for the GHG schemes cover October 2020 to September 2022.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make an estimate of the number of homes that have had heat pumps installed in Portsmouth South constituency as of 31 October 2022.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Microgeneration Certification Scheme Installations Database shows that as of 31 October 2022, seventeen heat pump installations were registered in the Portsmouth South constituency.
The database does not include all heat pump installations, for example, those installed without Government funding support, such as in new buildings, which are not typically recorded in the Microgeneration Certification Scheme Installations Database.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make an estimate of the number of houses that have had solar power panels installed in Portsmouth South constituency as of 31 October 2022.
Answered by Graham Stuart
At the end of October 2022, there were 614 domestic installations of solar panels recorded in Portsmouth South constituency.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
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 had discussions with businesses in Portsmouth South constituency on the potential impact of the cost of living crisis on those businesses.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government recognises the impact rising prices are having on businesses, including those in Portsmouth South, and is engaging with businesses across the UK to understand these challenges and explore ways to mitigate them.
Businesses in Portsmouth South will have benefitted from the Government’s reversal of the National Insurance rise, saving SMEs £4,200 on average, cut to fuel duty for 12 months and the Energy Bill Relief Scheme, which is shielding businesses across the country from soaring energy prices, saving some around half of their wholesale energy costs.
In addition, at the Autumn Statement, my Rt Hon Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer announced £13.6 billion of support for businesses over the next five years, reducing the burden of business rates for SMEs.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth 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 increase the rate of energy efficiency measure installations in homes in Portsmouth South constituency.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government is committed to improving the energy performance of homes across the country, including in Portsmouth South.
The Government is already investing £6.6 billion over this parliament on decarbonising heat and energy efficiency measures.
An additional £6 billion of new Government funding, announced in the Autumn Statement, will be made available from 2025 to 2028. This provides long-term funding certainty, supporting the growth of supply chains, ensuring we can scale up our delivery over time.