Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will make a comparative assessment of energy costs for heavy industry in the UK and in other EU countries.

UK industrial gas prices are among the lowest in Europe, while electricity prices are among the highest. Industrial energy use overall is split relatively evenly between electricity, gas and other fuels.

We are addressing the fundamental causes of the UK’s relatively high electricity costs, through:

• Short-term cost control measures, including the Levy Control Framework actions on solar and onshore wind, announced in summer 2015;

• Longer term measures including investment in new energy infrastructure (such as nuclear); and interconnection with French, Belgian and Norwegian networks which should help to reduce the difference between the electricity prices here and in Continental Europe.