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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if his Department will provide a package of support to small businesses that are intensive energy users.

The Government recognises the importance to secure a competitive future for our energy intensive industries (EIIs), and in recent years have provided them with extensive support, including more than £2 billion to help with the costs of energy and to protect jobs. As part of our Energy Security Strategy, we recently announced that we have extended the EII Compensation Scheme for a further three years and its budget will be more than doubled. That strategy also announced plans to consider increasing support offered by the EII Exemption Scheme. Small businesses will continue to be eligible to apply in each case.