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Written Question
Electricity Interconnectors
Wednesday 17th April 2024

Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many electricity interconnectors are operational; and what the megawatt capacity is per interconnector.

Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

Great Britain currently has nine operational interconnectors, listed alongside their deployed capacity:

  • IFA 2000MW (GB - France)
  • Moyle 500MW (GB - Northern Ireland)
  • BritNed 1000MW (GB - Netherlands)
  • East-West 500MW (GB - Republic of Ireland)
  • Nemo Link 1000MW (GB - Belgium)
  • IFA2 1000MW (GB - France)
  • North Sea Link 1400MW (GB - Norway)
  • ElecLink 1000MW (GB - France)
  • Viking Link 1400MW (GB - Denmark)

Written Question
Export Credit Guarantees
Monday 15th April 2024

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

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 13 March 2024 to Question 17476 on INEOS: Belgium, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of new business outside the UK on (a) sites and (b) industries in the UK.

Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

I refer the Honourable Member to the response provided to Question 19719 on 25 March.


Written Question
INEOS: Belgium
Monday 15th April 2024

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

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 25 March 2024 to Question 19719 on INEOS: Belgium, whether her Department made an assessment of the potential impact of that guarantee on existing and competitor refineries in the UK.

Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

UK Export Finance conducted its customary due diligence in line with its policies and obligations to inform its decision-making about supporting Project One. This included consideration of environmental, social and climate change risks and impacts, but did not include an assessment of the type specified in the question.


Written Question
INEOS: Belgium
Monday 15th April 2024

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

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 25 March 2024 to Question 19719 on INEOS: Belgium, what estimate she has made of the number of jobs that will be created as a result of that guarantee.

Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Department for Business and Trade cannot provide a specific number of jobs supported. As advised in the response to UIN 19719, UK Export Finance's guarantee to commercial lenders will help secure new export opportunities for the UK that would not otherwise have happened, in turn supporting jobs across the UK, both in those businesses with which INEoS contracts direcfly, and in their supply chain.


Written Question
NATO
Monday 25th March 2024

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

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the (a) location is of and (b) deployment levels are at each NATO (i) owned and (ii) operated sites.

Answered by James Heappey

The UK is one of the largest contributors of personnel to NATO, underlining our commitment to deterrence and defence of the Euro-Atlantic Area.

The table below shows the number of UK personnel posted to NATO Peacetime Establishment locations, with personnel in 39 NATO locations in 19 countries all over Europe and the Continental US, and the UK has proportional workforce equity at all locations.

Country

Location

UK Fill

Country

Location

UK Fill

Belgium

Brussels

50

Netherlands

Brunssum

110

Mons

170

Norway

Stavanger

30

Bulgaria

Sofia

~

Poland

Bydgoszcz

~

Estonia

Tallin

~

Elblag

~

France

Lille

10

Szczecin

~

Germany

Geilenkirchen

10

Portugal

Lisbon

10

Munster

10

Oeiras

~

Oberammergau

~

Romania

Bucharest

~

Ramstein

70

Slovakia

Bratislava

~

Uedem

20

Spain

Torrejon

20

Ulm

20

Valencia

~

Wesel

30

Türkiye

Istanbul

10

Greece

Thessaloniki

~

Izmir

30

Italy

Milan

20

UK

Blandford

50

Naples

120

Molesworth

10

Poggio

20

Northwood

60

Sigonella

~

Yeovilton

~

Latvia

Adazi

~

USA

Norfolk

50

Riga

~

Tampa

~

"~" denotes a number less than or equal to 5.

Data have been rounded to 10 and therefore totals may not always equal the sum of the parts.


Written Question
INEOS: Belgium
Monday 25th March 2024

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

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 13 March 2024 to Question 17476 on INEOS: Belgium, what exports that funding will support.

Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

UK Export Finance (UKEF) does not provide direct funding. It issued a guarantee to commercial lenders to help secure new export opportunities for the UK.

UKEF’s support is conditional on the inclusion of UK goods and services in the project and therefore secures export opportunities that might not otherwise have happened, both from businesses directly contracted by INEOS, and others in their supply chains.


Written Question
INEOS: Ethylene
Friday 22nd March 2024

Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the environmental impact of the 1,450 kilo-tons of ethylene that will be produced by the Ineos company's 'Project One' each year; what assurances they have received from Ineos about its claim only 10 per cent of the ethylene produced will be used for single-use products; what steps they are taking to ensure that the 10-per-cent limit is not exceeded; and what penalties will be applied if the 10-per-cent limit is exceeded.

Answered by Lord Offord of Garvel - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

UKEF undertakes due diligence to ensure that all projects it supports align with robust international Environmental, Social and Human Rights standards. This includes ongoing monitoring to ensure this remains the case throughout the duration of UKEF’s support. UKEF does not attach specific conditions on the end-use of products. Further details about this individual project can be found online at: Category A project supported: INEOS Project One, Belgium - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)


Written Question
INEOS: Belgium
Friday 22nd March 2024

Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the notice by UK Export Finance entitled Category A project supported: INEOS Project One, Belgium, published on 14 April 2023, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of that decision on the development of (a) energy generation and (b) energy production sites in the UK.

Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

UK Export Finance (UKEF) has not made an assessment of the potential impact on the development of (a) energy generation and (b) energy production sites in the UK.

In its role as the United Kingdom’s export credit agency, UKEF has issued a guarantee to commercial lenders who are funding the project. That support will help to secure new export opportunities for UK businesses that otherwise may not have been possible.

As with every transaction that it supports, UKEF conducted rigorous due diligence in line with the government’s policies and obligations to inform its decision-making on Project One. This included consideration of environmental and climate impacts.


Written Question
INEOS: Belgium
Friday 22nd March 2024

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

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 13 March to Question 17476 on INEOS: Belgium, how many jobs will be created as a result of the funding.

Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

UK Export Finance (UKEF) does not provide direct funding. It issued a guarantee to commercial lenders to help secure new export opportunities for the UK, which in turn support jobs across the UK, both in those businesses with which INEOS contracts directly, and in their supply chains.

In 2022-23, UKEF provided £6.5 billion of support in total, which is estimated to have backed up to 55,000 jobs across the UK.


Written Question
Europe: Diplomatic Service
Thursday 21st March 2024

Asked by: Stephen Doughty (Labour (Co-op) - Cardiff South and Penarth)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, which Ambassadors and High Commissioners to (a) countries and (b) other institutions in Europe are due to be replaced in 2024.

Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

he FCDO publishes in the public domain announcements of changes to HM Ambassadors (HMA) and High Commissioners (HC). In 2024, we have so far announced the following changes to our posts in Europe:

Role and start date:

Individual:

HMA Pristina (Kosovo), March 2024

Jonathan Hargreaves

HMA Lisbon (Portugal), January 2024

Lisa Bandari

Governor Gibraltar, June 2024

Lieutenant General Sir Ben Bathurst

HMA Brussels (Belgium), July 2024

Anne Sherriff

HMA Madrid (Spain), August 2024

Alex Ellis

HMA Helsinki (Finland), September 2024

Laura Davies

HMA Vilnius (Lithuania), September 2024

Liz Boyles

In addition, we expect a small number of additional announcements to be made, following appropriate recruitment and approval processes concluding.