Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Prime Minister, what plans he has to celebrate Black Country Day on 14 July 2022.
Answered by Boris Johnson
As a former resident of Bilston, I am proud of the enormous contribution that the Black Country has made and continues to make to the UK. I encourage everyone to join in as we celebrate the region's industrial heritage, history and culture on Black Country Day.
Asked by: Colleen Fletcher (Labour - Coventry North East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to support small business growth in (a) Coventry North East constituency and (b) Coventry.
Answered by Paul Scully
We have a clear commitment to level up all areas of the country. The Levelling Up White Paper builds on the important work to level up the country set out in our 'Plan for Growth', coupled with the Innovation Strategy and the recent Net Zero Strategy. Boosting productivity, pay, jobs, and living standards by growing the private sector, especially in places where they are lagging, is one of the four key objectives for levelling up, and BEIS will have a key role in delivering on this ambition.
In 2020, the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) was allocated £66m from the Getting Building Fund for a wide-ranging package of projects that will deliver a much-needed boost to the local economy. The Getting Building Fund will deliver growth for the local economy and support green recovery for a wide-ranging package of projects, fulfilling the government role in creating the conditions for businesses to develop and grow alongside the funding for the infrastructure needed to do this. This included £6.09 million towards Completing the Cultural Capital to help maximise the benefits of Coventry City of Culture. These benefits will be felt across all of Coventry and its constituencies.
In 2021 the West Midlands Combined Authority was also awarded £766,332 from the Community Renewal Fund for the Coventry Creative Growth and Cultural Tourism Recovery Programme, an integrated business, skills and employment support package targeting Coventry’s cultural sectors, including creative industries, tourism, events, and businesses/freelancers supplying these sectors, providing support throughout the area.
In addition, small business growth will be supported through investment in the Coventry Heritage Action Zone, working in partnership with Coventry City Council, Coventry & Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership and others to promote investment and bring business opportunities. Coventry has also benefitted from their status as City of Culture 2021, for which a significant part of the work helped to build capacity so the cultural scene in the city is financially and environmentally sustainable.
Additionally, across Coventry and Warwickshire the government has invested £131.84 million from Local Growth Deals. This included projects which directly supported local business, for example £1.3m to support a Business Investment Fund providing direct grants to businesses, and £1 million to expand Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering support to connect supply chain and wider business community, expanding capabilities, skills and innovation activities. Across the Local Enterprise Partnership, the Local Growth Fund has generated around £220 million in public and private investment.
Asked by: Angus Brendan MacNeil (Independent - Na h-Eileanan an Iar)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the number of personnel supporting (a) heritage and (b) smart meters in the local area networks in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland; and what level of obligation do utility companies have to fulfil heritage and smart metering to customers.
Answered by Greg Hands
Smart meters are replacing traditional gas and electricity meters as part of a national infrastructure upgrade that will make our energy system more efficient and flexible, helping to deliver net zero emissions by 2050. As such, smart meters are becoming the default meter offer in Great Britain. The Government has introduced a new four-year Targets Framework, which commenced on 1 January 2022, with individual annual smart meter installation requirements for energy suppliers to further drive rollout momentum.
Energy suppliers are responsible for the provision of metering to their customers, including ensuring that overall installer capacity is in place to meet their targets and customer demand across Great Britain.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 10 September 2021 to Question 44165 on Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Listed Buildings, if he will publish a list of the (a) properties classified as heritage assets owned by his Department, (b) the most recent estimate of the value of those properties and (c) the annual income derived from those properties as opposed to the details of the body responsible for advising him on those properties' management.
Answered by George Freeman
The following table provides a list of heritage assets recorded by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, alongside valuation and income data where available:
Property | Annual Income | Valuation 31.03.21 |
Pelham House (ID 1356190), | £120,051 | £1,045,000 |
Calder Farm Stangs Cottage (ID 1068621) | £0 | £150,000 |
Seascale Hall (ID 13360641) | £16,000 | £1,000,000 |
Berkeley Summerhouse (ID 1274730) | £0 | £1 |
Seascale Farm stone circle | £0 | £0 |
Bushy House (ID 1089870) | £0 | n/a |
Dounreay Castle (ID SM6401) | £0 | n/a |
Cnoc-na-h’Uiseig Chambered Cairn (ID SM444) | £0 | n/a |
Knock Stanger Cairn (ID SM458) | £0 | n/a |
Dragon Square Garden (ID 422271) | £0 | n/a |
Dame Sylvia Crowe Garden (ID 422272) | £0 | n/a |
Cestyll Garden (ID 301555) | £0 | n/a |
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
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 publish the (a) properties classified as heritage assets by his Department, (b) most recent estimate of the value of those properties and (c) annual income derived from those properties.
Answered by Amanda Solloway
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is advised on the management of designated heritage assets in its portfolio by Historic England’s Government Historic Estate Unit. Further details can be found here:
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy does not collect or collate data on the value or income data for these assets.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
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 merits of developing a strategy for decarbonising traditional domestic buildings that were built before 1919.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan
There is a package of policies, including grants, incentives, and advice, currently in place to support low income and fuel poor households, as well as to encourage investment in decarbonisation and energy efficiency improvements within the domestic housing stock. This package includes grant funding delivered via local authorities (including the Local Authority Delivery Scheme, Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund and the Home Upgrade Grant). The Energy Company Obligation is not a grant scheme, but an obligation on the largest energy suppliers to deliver heating and energy efficiency measures to low income and vulnerable and fuel poor households.
Traditional properties built before 1919 will be eligible for upgrades through these schemes. Advice is also provided through the Simple Energy Advice service. We are consulting on requirements for lenders to support homeowners to improve the energy performance of their homes.
Further, the most recent PAS2035 and PAS 2030:2019 standards set out clear requirements for retrofitting homes built before 1919 to ensure that the most appropriate measures are installed for the building. The risk assessment in the standard is used to help the installers and designers take into consideration the age of the building and any features of heritage or design that need to be considered when upgrading these buildings.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on allowing heritage sites to offer socially distanced showgrounds to couples looking to book a wedding venue, ahead of Step 3 of the Roadmap.
Answered by Paul Scully
BEIS Ministers are in regular contact with Cabinet colleagues on matters related to the COVID-19 pandemic, including issues relating to reopening.
Venues will only be able to open for viewings, including show rounds for wedding couples, where the venue is permitted to open, or where a relevant exemption applies. Where a venue is required to close for the purposes of a viewing people could have a virtual tour.
Asked by: Paul Maynard (Conservative - Blackpool North and Cleveleys)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what his policy is on maintaining domestic coal supplies for the heritage rail sector.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan
In line with our Net Zero target, the Government is committed to phasing out unabated coal-fired electricity generation by 2025, and recently consulted on moving this date forward to 2024. This policy applies to coal-fired power stations only – it does not apply to other coal consumers such as heritage railways.
Although coal will soon no longer be part of our electricity system, it will continue to be used as a fuel by a wide range of other industries such as the iron, steel and cement industries. We are confident that heritage railways will continue to have the option to tap into this significant domestic market. The decision on where to source coal for use in heritage railways and other industries is a private matter for the companies involved
Asked by: David Evennett (Conservative - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what progress his Department has made on providing support for the culture and heritage sector through the Culture Recovery Fund in (a) Greater London, b) the London Borough of Bexley and (c) Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Over £1bn from the Culture Recovery Fund has been distributed to over 3000 organisations across England.
Across recovery grants, repayable finance, and capital awards so far, support for London (including Greater London) in the first round of funding was over £300m.
Across recovery grants, repayable finance, and capital awards so far, support for Bexley Borough in the first round of funding was approximately £340,000.
Across the arts and heritage recovery grants, support for Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency was approximately £310,000.
This included funding for councils and local government owned assets including museums, theatres and music venues. Organisations and sites including museums; archives; historical areas; designed landscapes; buildings; monuments and industrial transport also received support.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will ask Network Rail to set out a timetable for (a) the removal of graffiti, (b) the restoration of the brickwork and (c) the removal of overgrowth and vegetation on the Stockport rail viaduct.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
Stockport Viaduct is a vital part of the railway infrastructure and Network Rail take seriously the responsibility to maintain it in safe working order. They carry out detailed examinations of the structure and address any defects or problems these highlight. This year Network Rail have spent £50k on repairing the brick work in areas highlighted by their examinations.
The main vegetation growth on the viaduct is buddleia which is challenging to manage as it grows so quickly. Network Rail have a specific £1m fund for Control Period 6 (1 April 2019- 31 March 2024) to be used on brick repair and de-vegetation work on the viaduct.
The viaduct is a listed structure in recognition of its importance to Stockport’s industrial heritage. Network Rail look to manage any graffiti on the viaduct in accordance with their policies and will review any specific areas of concern and will take action where appropriate.