Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has to support maritime and shipbuilding.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
The Marine sector and shipbuilding are an important part of my Ministerial portfolio. BEIS is supporting the delivery of the refreshed National Shipbuilding Strategy led by the Ministry of Defence. The Home Shipbuilding Credit Guarantee Scheme will underwrite lending, in partnership with commercial lenders, for domestic operators to encourage more UK builds and is a key priority for early delivery. I am bringing forward our specific proposals for the scheme to Government colleagues, with a view to updating Parliament and launching a scheme this calendar year.
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when the Home Shipbuilding Guarantee Scheme will be published.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
Shipbuilding falls within my Ministerial portfolio, and the Home Shipbuilding Credit Guarantee Scheme is a key priority for early delivery. I am bringing forward our specific proposals for the scheme to Government colleagues, with a view to updating Parliament and launching a scheme this calendar year.
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department has made an assessment of the number of homes and businesses (a) on and (b) off the gas grid in the UK which will need to replace or upgrade their heating system to work with a heat pump.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan
Earlier this year, the Department published a report on heat distribution systems in domestic buildings. This report suggests that up to 90 per cent of dwellings in the UK with an existing wet central heating system may need to replace or upgrade their heating system to meet peak winter heating demand with a low temperature heat pump, falling to 68 per cent when using a high temperature heat pump.
This research does not distinguish between homes on and off the gas grid, and does not consider non-domestic buildings. For non-domestic buildings, we intend to explore the suitability of existing heat distribution systems for low temperature operation as part of our forthcoming Non-Domestic Building Survey.
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the average cost of fitting a new heating system to a typical UK property to make it compatible with a heat pump.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan
Earlier this year, the Department published a report on heat distribution systems. This report concluded that the typical cost of retrofitting an entire house with larger radiators for a low temperature heating system, like a low temperature heat pump, would be approximately £1,700 for a one- to two-bedroom house, £2,200 for a three-bedroom house and £2,900 for a five-bedroom house. However, not all homes will require a radiator retrofit to become suitable for a heat pump, meaning the costs would be lower. In addition, the use of high temperature heat pumps is likely to significantly reduce the need to alter existing heat distribution systems.
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the number of properties that have sufficient space available for the installation of a water tank in addition to fitting a new heating system.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan
We do not currently hold data on how many homes have sufficient space available for the installation of a water tank in addition to fitting a new heating system. However, the English Housing Survey suggests the proportion of dwellings that have central heating and a separate hot water cylinder has decreased from half of the stock in 2008 to just over a third in 2018. This suggests a general attrition in the space provision for separate hot water cylinders.
As low carbon heating systems generally require a separate hot water tank, we are exploring this further through projects like the Government-funded Electrification of Heat Demonstration Project and working with industry to develop solutions to internal space constraints, such as providing innovation funding to support the commercialisation of technologies like thermal phase change batteries, which occupy a third of the space of a traditional hot water cylinder for the same hot water output.
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the average number of gas boilers that were replaced in UK domestic properties in each of the last five years.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan
According to the Hot Water Heating and Industry Council (HHIC), 1.67 million boilers were sold in 2019. HHIC have also recently announced that the 12-month rolling average sales figure for boilers had increased by 14% from April 2020 to April 2021, demonstrating a strong response to the impacts of Covid-19 last year.
The majority of boiler purchases are replacements, installed into existing dwellings, with the rest being installed within new build properties.
For previous years, data on annual boiler sales is available under licence from market intelligence sources.
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department plans to publish an assessment of the potential average costs to (a) pubs, restaurants and cafes and (b) bed and breakfast, hotels and self-catering accommodation providers associated with the decarbonisation of heating proposals contained within the forthcoming Heat and Buildings Strategy.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan
Alongside the Heat and Buildings Strategy, the Government aims to consult on new regulations to phase out fossil fuel heating in businesses and public buildings off the gas grid. We will publish an impact assessment alongside this consultation, which will include details on additional upfront costs to non-domestic buildings for transitioning to low carbon heating. The impact assessment will not break down the cost by building or occupancy type, however.
The Government acknowledges the need to take a fair and proportionate approach in the support it provides businesses on their path to net zero. We will seek views on how to best support businesses transition to low-carbon heating through the upcoming consultation.
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
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 (a) potential merits of an extension to the Trade Credit Reinsurance Scheme beyond 30 June 2021 and (b) potential effect of that extension on the hospitality sector.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Trade Credit Reinsurance Scheme has successfully supported over half a million businesses across a range of different sectors to keep trading throughout the pandemic.
The Government is working closely with businesses and participating insurers to ensure businesses continue to be able to access appropriate levels of credit insurance coverage to support economic recovery.
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has to ensure the delivery of key components for the manufacturing of electric vehicles and wind turbines other than lithium ion-batteries.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
As part of my Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister’s 10 Point Plan for a green industrial revolution, nearly £500m of funding for the Automotive Transformation Fund will be made available in the next four years to build an internationally competitive electric vehicle supply chain. This funding is the first part of the up to £1 billion committed by the Government to ensure that the UK takes advantage of this once in a generation opportunity. The Automotive Transformation Fund will target support at strategically important technologies (batteries, motors, drives, power electronics and fuel cells).
The Offshore Wind Manufacturing Investment Scheme allocated £160 million to upgrade ports and manufacturing infrastructure across the UK to enable the sector to support jobs and investment in ports, factories and the supply chains, manufacturing the next-generation of offshore wind turbines. In February we announced up to £95m to invest in two new dedicated offshore wind ports in Teesside and Humberside, and in March we announced the first investment, GE Renewables who will build a state-of-the-art blade manufacturing facility at Teesside creating 735 direct jobs.
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
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 develop an industrial magnet industry in the UK.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Government recognises the importance of industrial magnets in a range of advanced manufacturing applications, including as key components in zero emission vehicles and in wind turbines. The UK magnet industry can therefore play a significant role in our plans for green growth, levelling up across our country and driving emissions to net zero by 2050.
We are investing in R&D and capital projects to develop and embed the next generation of technologies in the UK. For example, through the Automotive Transformation Fund, Less Common Metals (Cheshire) has secured funding for two studies that will look at the feasibility of, and the requirements for, a rare earth permanent magnet plant in the UK. Our Driving the Electric Revolution Challenge is investing £80 million in electrification technologies, including projects relating to the recovery and recycling of rare earth elements, and activities to facilitate the development of rare earth magnet supply chains in the UK.
In addition, the Department for International Trade and other departments are working with UK and overseas mining companies and host Governments, to support and enable UK investment in the extraction, processing and refining of the raw materials required for magnet manufacture. This includes supporting investment in projects to process and refine these materials in the UK.