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Written Question
Firewood: Imports
Tuesday 19th March 2024

Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what estimate she has made of the average annual tonnage of wood imported for burning in (a) industrial and (b) domestic settings; which (i) countries and (ii) sites in those countries that wood is imported from; and how many tonnes on average comes from each of those countries each year.

Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

Figures on the amount of imported wood and waste wood by country is published in The Digest of UK Energy Statistics (DUKES) Table 6.6, but information on sites is not collected. Imports of waste wood are used in the industrial, commercial and agricultural sectors and all imports of wood are burnt in the domestic sector; of the 2,319 thousand tonnes of wood consumed in the domestic sector in 2022, 198 thousand tonnes were imported.


Written Question

Question Link

Tuesday 19th March 2024

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 14 March 2024 to Question 17929 on Energy: Overseas Companies, which overseas energy companies registered in the UK have received funding from her (a) Department and (b) predecessor Department in excess of £50 million in each year since 2021.

Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

2021 – No overseas energy companies registered in the UK received funding from BEIS in excess of £50 million in the calendar year of 2021.

2022 – EDF Energy Customers Ltd, EDF Energy Holdings Ltd, EON Next Energy Ltd and Scottish Power Energy Retail LTD all received funding in excess of £50 million from BEIS in the calendar year of 2022.

2023 – EDF Energy Customers Ltd, EON Next Energy Ltd and Scottish Power Energy Retail LTD all received funding in excess of £50 million from BEIS/DESNZ in the calendar year of 2023. Up until August 2023, DESNZ data was still being published under BEIS. Separating these transactions for each department would be at a disproportionate cost.

2024 - no overseas energy companies registered in the UK have received funding from DESNZ in excess of £50 million in the calendar year of 2024 to date.

Please note, these companies are being categorised as overseas, at they are all overseas owned. Some of them may be situated and operate in the United Kingdom but are categorised as being overseas in our data due to their ownership.

These figures include the unprecedented payments made to energy suppliers to reduce consumer bills in 2022 and 2023 through the Energy Price Guarantee.


Written Question
Oldbury Power Station and Wylfa Power Station: Land
Tuesday 19th March 2024

Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to paragraph 4.53 of the Spring Budget 2024, HC 560, how much land the Government is acquiring in its purchase of the (a) Wylfa and (b) Oldbury-on-Severn sites; what method the Government used to estimate the value of each of those sites; and what criteria the Government used to determine the sites to be purchased.

Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Wylfa and Oldbury sites have inherent characteristics that make them suitable for consideration for nuclear development. Those characteristics, the previous development work and the terms of agreement were all factors in progressing with the purchase. Independent valuations were obtained for both sites and the purchase secures access to approximately 600 acres at Wylfa and approximately 400 acres at Oldbury.


Written Question

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Tuesday 19th March 2024

Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Penrith and The Border)

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps her Department has taken to support users of off-grid energy with energy costs.

Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

I refer my Hon. Friend to the answer I gave my Hon. Friend the Member for Ynys Môn on 22 January 2024 to Question 10266.


Written Question
Firewood: Housing
Tuesday 19th March 2024

Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what estimate she has made of the average annual tonnage of wood burnt in homes in the UK.

Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

Figures on the amount of imported wood and waste wood by country is published in The Digest of UK Energy Statistics (DUKES) Table 6.6, but information on sites is not collected. Imports of waste wood are used in the industrial, commercial and agricultural sectors and all imports of wood are burnt in the domestic sector; of the 2,319 thousand tonnes of wood consumed in the domestic sector in 2022, 198 thousand tonnes were imported.


Written Question

Question Link

Tuesday 19th March 2024

Asked by: Angus Brendan MacNeil (Independent - Na h-Eileanan an Iar)

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many energy planning applications she has approved.

Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

All decisions taken by the Secretary of State relating to energy planning applications for development consent are published on the Planning Inspectorates web-site and are publicly available. Since the Secretary of State's appointment in August 2023, a total of six decisions have been published and development consent was granted in all cases.


Written Question
Asylum: Community Development
Monday 18th March 2024

Asked by: Lord Bishop of Chelmsford (Bishops - Bishops)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they are taking steps to develop engagement forums with asylum seeker and refugee communities.

Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

We regularly engage with stakeholders through standalone meetings and various forums such as the Asylum Strategic Engagement Group, which includes organisations who both speak for and represent asylum seekers.

The Asylum Lived Experience Advisory Panel (ALEAP) is a regular engagement forum, which enables refugees with recent lived experience of the UK asylum system an opportunity to discuss the impact of Home Office policies and processes across their asylum journey.

It is important that we distinguish between individuals who need protection and those seeking to work here who can apply for a work visa under the Immigration Rules.


Written Question
Asylum: Churches
Monday 18th March 2024

Asked by: Lord Bishop of Chelmsford (Bishops - Bishops)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what statistical evidence is held by the Home Office to support the claim made by former Home Secretary in the Daily Telegraph on 3 February that between 6 September 2022 and 13 November 2023, she “became aware of churches around the country facilitating industrial-scale bogus asylum claims”.

Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

Every asylum claim is determined on its individual merits in line with our published policy and guidance. There are a small number of recent cases which have raised concerns that not all conversions are necessarily genuine and it is right we work with faith leaders to better understand these cases.

We are unable to comment further on the former Home Secretary’s remarks. She was reshuffled on 13th November 2023.


Written Question
Drugs: Safety
Monday 18th March 2024

Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Coroner’s report entitled Oli Hoque: Prevention of future deaths report, published on 13 October 2022, what steps NHS England is taking to allow the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority to compel the timely production of clinical data when conducting investigations into harms arising from regulated medicines.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.


Written Question
Health Services: Children
Monday 18th March 2024

Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of levels of parental (a) choice and (b) responsibility to decide the medical care their child receives.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

No assessment has been made of the adequacy of levels of parental choice and responsibility to decide the medical care their child receives. Those with parental responsibilities are entitled to give consent for medical treatment on behalf of their children. However, they are not entitled to inappropriate treatment for their children, or to refuse treatment which is in the child’s best interests.