Asked by: Tom Hunt (Conservative - Ipswich)
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 Government support for small businesses with energy costs.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Energy Bill Relief Scheme provides a discount on the wholesale element of gas and electricity bills to ensure that all eligible businesses, that receive their energy from licensed suppliers, are protected from high energy costs over the winter period.
This support is preventing insolvencies and protecting jobs and livelihoods. Following an HMT-led review, the new Energy Bill Discount Scheme, will run from April until March 2024, and continue to provide a discount to eligible businesses. The support offered through the EBRS and EBDS schemes is in addition to a package of support including recent fuel duty and VAT cuts, business rate holidays and government backed loans worth around £400 billion.
Asked by: Tom Hunt (Conservative - Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent steps his Department has taken to support small businesses with energy costs.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Energy Bill Relief Scheme provides a discount on the wholesale element of gas and electricity bills to ensure that all eligible businesses, that receive their energy from licensed suppliers, are protected from high energy costs over the winter period.
This support is preventing insolvencies and protecting jobs and livelihoods. Following an HMT-led review, the new Energy Bill Discount Scheme, will run from April until March 2024, and continue to provide a discount to eligible businesses. The support offered through the EBRS and EBDS schemes is in addition to a package of support including recent fuel duty and VAT cuts, business rate holidays and government backed loans worth around £400 billion.
Asked by: Tom Hunt (Conservative - Ipswich)
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 impact of Sizewell C on levels of employment in Ipswich.
Answered by Paul Scully
The proposed Sizewell C Nuclear Power station is subject to a live planning application, which is entirely separate from the ongoing commercial negotiations on the project. Given the Department’s statutory responsibility for determining individual planning applications for energy projects, the Government is unable to comment on specific matters related to this application, including the socio-economic impacts, as this could be seen as prejudicing the decision-making process.
Asked by: Tom Hunt (Conservative - Ipswich)
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 impact of Sizewell C on the UK's energy security.
Answered by Greg Hands
New nuclear projects are important for ensuring a low-carbon, low-cost and resilient electricity system, to help us reach our world-leading emission reduction targets and ensure our energy security and prosperity.
The Government has set out its ambition to increase our plans for the deployment of civil nuclear power up to 24GW by 2050. The Government have been in negotiations on the Sizewell C project since January 2021. If approved, Sizewell C would make a substantial contribution to this objective by producing 3.2GW of low carbon electricity, enough to power around 6 million homes or 7 percent of UK electricity.
Asked by: Tom Hunt (Conservative - Ipswich)
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 take urgent steps to ensure that floating bar and restaurant businesses that are not eligible for business rates are able to access the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund has been designed to support smaller businesses in some of the sectors which have been hit hardest by the measures taken to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
The scheme has been tied to the business rates system and rating assessments, which together provide a framework for Local Authorities to make payments as quickly as possible.
On 1 May 2020 the Business Secretary announced that a further up to £617 million is being made available to local authorities. This additional fund is aimed at small businesses with ongoing fixed property-related costs such as rents rather than business rates. We are asking local authorities to prioritise businesses in a range of shared workspaces, regular market traders, small charity properties that would meet the criteria for Small Business Rates Relief, and bed and breakfasts that pay council tax rather than business rates. Local authorities may choose to make payments to other businesses based on local economic need.
Asked by: Tom Hunt (Conservative - Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he plans to make St George's Day a bank holiday.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government regularly receives requests for additional bank and public holidays to commemorate a variety of occasions – such as cultural, history, military and religious events.? The current pattern on public and bank holidays is well established and acknowledged throughout the country.