Energy Costs: Support for Businesses
(Darlington) (Con)
1. What steps his Department is taking to support businesses with
energy costs.
The Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial
Strategy ()
The energy bill relief scheme provides discounts on the wholesale
element of gas and electricity bills to ensure that all eligible
businesses are protected from high energy costs over the winter
period. The support is applied automatically to bills.
I thank the Secretary of State for that answer. The Government
have already awarded Cummins, the engine maker in Darlington,
£14.6 million to develop a hydrogen combustion engine, which will
help the road haulage industry to decarbonise and reduce business
energy costs. Does my right hon. Friend agree with me that
investment in alternatives such as that will benefit businesses
into the future, will he look at the regulation to enable this
technology to be exploited and will he visit Darlington to see
Cummins?
I think the answer is three yeses. My hon. Friend is absolutely
right to highlight the importance of that hydrogen technology; it
is one of the reasons the UK has a global lead. I am looking very
closely at how off-road hydrogen vehicles could also be a big
part of our decarbonisation strategy.
(Rotherham) (Lab)
Some 440 redundancies have just been announced across Liberty
Steel, including 185 in Rotherham. It cites soaring energy costs
as a major factor behind the decision. It is no surprise that its
announcement comes just days after the Government said that they
were going to start withdrawing support for business energy
costs, and inflated energy markets have placed British
steelmakers at a profound disadvantage. When will Ministers step
up and address this, as our competitors’ Governments do?
As the hon. Lady will know, I am of course very concerned about
the Liberty Steel position, and I am working very closely with it
and everyone else involved. There has been £18 billion of support
to business, and we have just announced a further £5.5 billion
specifically on energy bills. On energy-intensive industries,
there is further support through an 85% measure, which we are
also reviewing to take up to 100%. We will work very closely with
the company, and I will undertake to work, with my Ministers,
with her as well.
(Uxbridge and South Ruislip)
(Con)
Does my right hon. Friend agree that, in addition to the
excellent solution proposed by my hon. Friend the Member for
Darlington (), now is the time for the
Government to exploit this country’s technological lead, and
build a fleet of small modular nuclear reactors as part of our
Great British Nuclear programme? While I am at it, is it not time
that the Labour party apologised for 13 years of bone-headed
hostility to any new nuclear power in this country?
I think it is fitting if I start with the apology, because I
inadvertently airbrushed my right hon. Friend out of a picture on
Twitter last week. I think my team were confused: I simply told
the team that he needed hair brushing, not airbrushing. No one
did more to progress space than my right hon. Friend as Prime
Minister, and although the space launch was not successful last
week, I know it is the start of a very important new sector for
this country.
On my right hon. Friend’s point about small modular reactors, he
is absolutely right. We will be announcing the creation of Great
British Nuclear very shortly, and small modular
reactors—Rolls-Royce and the others—will play an amazingly
important part in this nuclear mix, which will get us back up to
25% of our power being from nuclear.
Mr Speaker
I think Lancashire would be a great place for it.
(Newport East) (Lab)
As my hon. Friend the Member for Rotherham () said, high energy costs and
competitiveness were cited by Liberty Steel when it also
announced the idling of the Newport site, which is really hard
news for the dedicated and skilled workforce there. No more warm
words from the Government: what will the Government practically
do to work in partnership with our industry, as other European
countries are doing—and they are far more generous, which is the
point here—to ensure that this key strategic industry is
competitive?
The Government have worked very hard with the steel industry, to
the sum of hundreds of millions of pounds, and will continue to
do so. We do recognise the strategic importance of steel, and we
also recognise that energy prices are very high. As I mentioned
to the hon. Member’s colleague, the hon. Member for Rotherham
(), a moment ago, we have
already consulted on and will be in a position to say more soon
about greater discounts in the energy-intensive industries, but
we need to work together to make sure we can deliver that, and I
look forward to extending the invitation to her as well.
Mr Speaker
I call the shadow Secretary of State.
(Stalybridge and Hyde)
(Lab/Co-op)
Last Monday the Government presented the next stage of their
energy support scheme, but it got a decidedly mixed response. The
Federation of Small Businesses calculated that it is worth just
2p per kilowatt hour of electricity to the average small
business, which it says is not enough to be material to a
business’s decision to close or not, despite that element of the
scheme costing £2 billion of taxpayers’ money. The worst of all
worlds would be a scheme that costs a large amount of money,
while failing to improve the situation facing businesses in any
significant way. Will the Secretary of State respond to that
criticism and explain the Government’s thinking behind the design
of that stage of the scheme?
The hon. Gentleman will know that UK gas wholesale prices—the
forward price—peaked at £600 in August. I looked this morning
before coming to the Dispatch Box, and it is currently at 136p
per therm, which is a massive reduction. We are very much of the
view that we must continue to provide support to business, on top
of the £18 billion, which is why the Chancellor has announced up
to another £5.5 billion. We also recognise that prices are lower
now than they were before the invasion of Ukraine, so we will
track the issue carefully and continue to provide that support to
business.
As we heard from colleagues, energy prices are inextricably
linked to our country’s competitiveness. Last week, Make UK
published a survey of manufacturing businesses. That report was
damning, with businesses saying that under the Conservatives they
pay a premium for doing business in the UK. They can see that the
political instability caused by this Government has driven
investment away from Britain, and after three Prime Ministers,
four Chancellors and three Business Secretaries last year, it is
hard to disagree. Does the Secretary of State accept that the low
investment the Conservatives have presided over is at the heart
of our economic problems? What is he planning to do this year
finally to change that?
No, I do not accept the hon. Gentleman’s analysis. He must
recognise that in countries such as Germany, for example, where
he is right to say that energy costs for business are lower, that
cost is reflected in typically higher costs for domestic bills,
and he would need to say whether he supports that. In addition,
£18 billion is a huge amount of support. Taxpayers are having to
pay that money, and it is a question of getting the right balance
between the taxpayer and industry. I have already explained the
ongoing support we will put in, in addition to the
energy-intensive industry consultation that has already gone out,
and we will say more about that shortly.
Household Energy Bills
(Chipping Barnet)
(Con)
2. What steps he is taking to support households with energy
bills.
(Eastleigh) (Con)
6. What steps he is taking to support households with energy
bills.
(Leigh) (Con)
8. What steps he is taking to support households with energy
bills.
The Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial
Strategy ()
The Government are supporting households with their energy bills
through the energy price guarantee, the energy bills support
scheme, and alternative fuel payments for households that use
alternative fuels such as heating oil to heat their homes.
Will the Government take action to decouple the cost of gas
supplies from renewables, because that is a way to get the cost
of renewable energy down, helping households and also helping the
taxpayer fund the important package of support that the
Government have introduced for energy bills?
My right hon. Friend makes an excellent point, and it is
noticeable that gas prices are high, but the price of renewables
is typically much lower. Indeed, for a whole load of days in a
row more than half our electricity has been provided through
renewables, in particular offshore wind. That decoupling is
important, but it is also not straightforward, as my right hon.
Friend will know. It is something that the Minister for Energy
and Climate and I are actively working on.
Eastleigh has a diverse housing mix that includes pensioners,
those living in park homes and lower-income families, who are all
struggling to pay their energy bills. What steps is the Secretary
of State taking to pass on any falls in wholesale energy prices
to consumers, so that they pay less as prices come down?
My hon. Friend raises a good point. What concerns me is the idea
that when wholesale prices go up we get a rocketing in domestic
prices, but as wholesale prices fall again, as they have done, we
get a sort of feathering down, very slowly. I am concerned about
that and I have written to Ofgem asking it to look at the market.
Energy companies are forward buying their energy by several
months, but we need those changes to come through in reductions
to households, and we will be pressing to make sure that happens.
Will my right hon. Friend confirm that the support the Government
have provided to households to help with their energy bills will
continue once current arrangements come to an end later this
spring, and until international energy markets have fully
stabilised?
I am pleased to confirm that the energy price guarantee has been
extended to April 2024, so that support will continue. As I
mentioned earlier, we are seeing some of the prices moderate, but
the problem is that that combination of higher prices could still
continue to lead through, which is why we will keep the energy
price guarantee in place.
(Sheffield South East)
(Lab)
May I ask the Secretary of State about two groups who have not
had much support so far? One group is households on a communal
heating scheme who get their heating bills from their landlord.
The Government have announced measures to rectify that situation,
but could registered housing providers such as housing
associations and local authorities be allowed to apply jointly
for their tenants, to ease them into the scheme? Secondly, people
on housing benefit do not get the additional help for being on a
low income that those on universal credit receive, because
housing benefit is not a Department for Work and Pensions
benefit. Why is there discrimination against housing benefit
recipients? It really is unfair, is it not?
I know that the hon. Gentleman and the whole House recognise how
complex it has been to put in place the schemes to pay money to
people in a system that is usually meant only for people to pay
money to energy companies. That has been easy to resolve through
the simple direct debit billing method but much more complicated
in edge cases including combined energy and heat power and other
off-grid measures. It is probably best if I ask my right hon.
Friend the Energy and Climate Minister to speak to him
specifically about the cases that he raised, because they are so
complex that that probably requires a meeting and a further
clarification letter.
(Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch
and Strathspey) (SNP)
Domestic energy companies are routinely raising people’s direct
debits above the level of energy that they use and need to pay
for. In the process, they are building up credit
balances—sometimes of hundreds of pounds of people’s money—when
those people cannot afford that. Will the Minister meet me to
discuss how to hold the energy companies to account and ensure
the automatic repayment of overcharging?
I entirely agree with the hon. Gentleman. I have had the
experience myself where the energy company arbitrarily decided to
put an outrageous figure into the direct debit. Once someone
challenges that figure, the company will fall back from that—but
that is if they can get through on the helpline.
indicated dissent.
I absolutely share the hon. Gentleman’s concern and will offer
him a meeting with the Energy and Climate Minister specifically
on this matter.
(Eltham) (Lab)
I wonder what discussions the Secretary of State has had with the
energy companies following the report last week from Citizens
Advice showing that hundreds of thousands of customers are being
forcibly moved on to prepayment meters. Has he had discussions
with his colleagues in the Ministry of Justice? Forcible entry to
make hundreds of these changes is being approved on an industrial
scale in minutes flat in magistrates courts. It is a real
scandal. What is he doing about it?
The hon. Gentleman is right on that point. My right hon. Friend
the Energy and Climate Minister and I have instructed our
officials to draw up measures that could be helpful. We also have
a letter to go to Ofgem once we have that advice. I am very
concerned about this happening through an enforced process. We
are on the public’s side and trying to fix it.
(North Shropshire) (LD)
The alternative fuel payment scheme is being applied to people’s
electricity bills where they have their own direct supply, but,
for people in park homes or on houseboats without their own
electricity, such support is difficult to access, and they are
often the types of people who struggle to get online. Will the
Secretary of State consider a better public information campaign
for those households and support with access to applying for the
scheme for those who struggle to get online?
The hon. Lady points out another one of the edge cases in park
homes. Many hon. Members have park homes in their constituencies,
including me, and it has been more complex to get the money to
them. She will be pleased to hear that the pilot scheme to get
that money out to them launched yesterday. It will be a process
through the local authority, and we are making sure that it is
expedited as much as possible.
Mr Speaker
I call the shadow Minister.
(Bristol East) (Lab)
According to Citizens Advice, someone is being cut off from their
energy supply every 10 seconds. With millions unable to afford to
top up their prepayment meters, self-disconnections have
rocketed. Is it not the Government’s and the energy regulator’s
responsibility to ensure that people are not sitting at home in
the cold and in the dark? As temperatures once again reach
freezing point across the UK this week, will the Government
introduce an immediate moratorium on the forced installation of
prepayment meters while their use is reviewed?
It is a matter of considerable concern that anybody should be
removed from their power or heating. We have specifically asked
the energy authorities not to go down that line and asked Ofgem
to do the same. As I mentioned just moments ago, officials are
actively working on this issue, with a letter ready to go to
Ofgem as well. She is right to highlight this issue. We do not
want to see people cut off during this cold weather. We will
return to the House with more detail.
Small and Medium-sized Businesses
(Ruislip, Northwood and
Pinner) (Con)
3. What steps he is taking to support small and medium-sized
businesses.
(Erewash) (Con)
4. What steps he is taking to support small and medium-sized
businesses.
(Wimbledon) (Con)
16. What steps he is taking to support small and medium-sized
businesses.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Energy
and Industrial Strategy ()
It is absolutely right that we direct support where we can to our
SME community. We have reversed the national insurance rise,
saving SMEs approximately £4,200 a year on average; provided
£13.6 billion of business rates support over five years; cut fuel
duty for 12 months; and raised the employment allowance to
£5,000. The energy bill relief scheme is also protecting SMEs
from high energy costs, as will, from April, the energy bills
discount scheme.
Before Christmas I held a session with hospitality businesses in
my constituency. Although they were appreciative of the energy
bill relief scheme, they expressed some concern that they were
not necessarily seeing it reflected in their bills. What
assurances can my hon. Friend provide to ensure that companies,
such as Hop and Vine in Ruislip High Street, see Government
support reflected in reduced energy costs?
The £18 billion energy bill relief scheme is set out clearly in
legislation, so it should be applied in a uniform way by all
licensed suppliers. The regulations include a robust monitoring
compliance and enforcement regime. Suppliers are required to
inform customers about the details of support, including the
amount of the discount and the supply price, to ensure
transparency. That will also be the case with the energy bills
discount scheme, which starts in April.
Many SMEs are facing increasing pressure to agree lengthy payment
terms of up to 90 days as a prerequisite to securing contracts
with larger firms. That has significant cash-flow implications
for businesses that already operate on a tight margin. To support
further SMEs such as those operating across Erewash, will my hon.
Friend commit to working with Treasury colleagues to review the
UK’s payment terms regulations with a view to reducing the
maximum credit period, as has happened in Germany?
I thank my hon. Friend for raising that point. This is a very
significant problem for many businesses, particularly
micro-businesses. Our prompt payment and cash flow review will
examine business behaviours and small business experience of late
payment and long payment terms, to help ensure that the UK has
arrangements in place to best support small businesses. It will
include looking at the payment reporting obligations and a review
of the role of the Small Business Commissioner.
Wimbledon’s clubs and pubs are at the heart of our community and,
like my hon. Friend the Member for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner
(), several have asked me how
the Government will ensure that the scheme meets the needs of
hospitality. Will my hon. Friend ensure that Ofgem takes action
against suppliers whose actions damage small businesses in my
constituency and across London?
My hon. Friend raises a very important point. My r hon. Friend
the Minister for Energy and Climate and I recently had a
roundtable with energy suppliers to discuss exactly that point:
ensuring that the support the Government are providing is passed
on to SMEs. The energy suppliers assure us that that is
happening. We have asked Ofgem to take a closer look at that and
it will report back to us shortly.
Mr Speaker
I call the Chair of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
Committee.
(Bristol North West) (Lab)
Britishvolt, the once valued £3.8 billion site of national
importance for the production of electric vehicle batteries in
our country, is today going into administration. Does the
Minister agree with me that the future of UK car manufacturing
relies on UK battery production? If so, what is he going to do
about it?
The hon. Gentleman raises a very important point. It is important
to note that we have not withdrawn any money from Britishvolt,
but clearly British taxpayers’ money is important and it is
important that we dispense that money in a responsible way. There
are clear milestones that we expect anybody in receipt of public
money to hit. We are looking at the situation very carefully to
make sure that they are doing so.
(City of Chester) (Lab)
In Chester, we are fortunate to have a high street full of
wonderful small and medium-sized businesses. The Chancellor’s
announcement of cuts to the energy bill relief scheme from April
will be devastating to many of those businesses. The cost of
living crisis continues, yet the support is being pulled. Does
the Minister agree that businesses need support to continue
driving our economy?
I do agree that we need to continue to support businesses. The
£18 billion energy bill relief scheme package was very generous.
We are now seeing prices moderate, which will help lots of SMEs,
and particularly the high street businesses to which the hon.
Lady referred. The replacement scheme—the EBDS—is another £5.5
billion of taxpayers’ money. We have to be careful in terms of
balancing the books and being responsible with the public
finances, but I absolutely agree that businesses need continued
support, which is what they are getting from the replacement
scheme and from several other measures I mentioned in my first
answer.
Mr (East Londonderry)
(DUP)
In the next few months small businesses will, like many others,
face massively increased council tax bills here in Great Britain
and rates bills in Northern Ireland. Does the Minister agree that
the early payment discount scheme should be looked at and revised
to 4% or 5% across both domestic and non-domestic council tax and
rates payers?
Most of the businesses that we deal with pay business rates
rather than council tax, but we nevertheless have to make sure
that the schemes are as affordable as they can be, which is why
we have stepped in with £13.6 billion of business rate discounts,
targeted at SMEs. We have to look at the ongoing situation and
make sure that support is available, as we are doing in many
different respects, not least by helping those small businesses
that have premises.
(Newcastle upon Tyne Central) (Lab)
AMLo Biosciences is a Newcastle University spin-out whose
groundbreaking research will save lives by making cancer
diagnosis easier and more accurate. AMLo spends millions on
research and reinvests all its research and development tax
credits into R&D. The Government’s tax credit changes will
halve what AMLo can claim, meaning less research and fewer new
jobs. Its investors may ask for it to move abroad, where R&D
is cheaper. Many Members have similar examples in their
constituencies. Will the Minister explain why the Government
issued no guidance, gave no support and had no consultation on
the changes to SME R&D tax credits? Does he accept that
whether in respect of hospitality heating bills or spin-out
science spend, the Government are abandoning small businesses?
Clearly, we have to balance the interests of the taxpayer with
the interests of small business. We have to make sure that the
money that is being utilised for R&D is properly spent, and
there were concerns about abuse of the small business R&D
scheme. It is good that the Treasury is now looking into the
matter and looking to move towards a simplified universal scheme,
which I would welcome and on which there is a consultation. I
absolutely agree that we need to make sure we have the right
support for research and development in this country, not least
for SMEs.
Onshore Wind Farms
(Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)
7. What assessment he has made of the adequacy of the number of
onshore wind farms developed in England since 2015.
The Minister for Science, Research and Innovation ()
Onshore wind in the UK has been a great success. It generates 25%
of our total renewables, and since 2015 around 10 onshore wind
projects, totalling 30 MW, have been given consent in England. We
have made it clear that onshore wind is an important part of the
energy mix and that we will now need more, which is why we are
consulting on making changes to the national planning policy
framework in England so that local authorities can better respond
to the views of their local communities when they wish to host
onshore wind infrastructure.
New onshore wind has been stymied since 2015, even though it is
our cheapest renewable. Shire-counties conservatism has been put
ahead of our national interest; weak policy has undermined the
UK’s energy security, leaving us wide open to international
shocks. Does the Minister not accept that all this has helped to
cause family bills to skyrocket?
In a word, no. What has caused family bills to skyrocket is the
international pressure on energy supply chains, the war in
Ukraine and the economic sanctions in respect of Russia. I accept
the point that the costs of onshore wind have fallen dramatically
through our contracts for difference round 4. This is a UK
success story, which is why we are keen to do more. The
public-opinion data show that 78% of the public support onshore
wind. We want to make sure that we do not impose it on local
authorities and are giving them more freedom to make sure they
can reflect local demand so that it is renewable energy led by
communities with community benefit.
Sir (Rochford and Southend
East) (Con)
Looking out from the east of my constituency, one can see a
number of offshore wind farms, which are more efficient and
cheaper. The Government have done really well over the past 10
years by increasing the renewable generation of electricity
fivefold; does the Minister agree that that not only helps to cut
emissions but pump-primes new jobs markets in the generation of
clean energy around the world?
As a BEIS Minister and as an East Anglian Member of Parliament, I
absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. The southern North sea is
becoming the Saudi Arabia of wind energy, and the Norfolk and
Suffolk coast and the new hydrogen freeport at Felixstowe and
Harwich are part of the way in which we are growing the
infrastructure for smart advanced wind and a linked hydrogen
economy in the 21st century.
Advanced Manufacturing Sector
(Rugby) (Con)
9. What steps his Department is taking to support the advanced
manufacturing sector.
The Minister for Industry and Investment Security ( )
The Government support advanced manufacturing through programmes
in strategically important manufacturing sectors such as
aerospace, automotives and life sciences. We have committed
nearly £650 million to high-value manufacturing Catapult centres,
and £200 million to the Made Smarter programme.
Pramac Generac recently acquired Off Grid Energy Ltd, a highly
innovative SME based in my constituency which makes high-tech
power storage solutions to reduce fuel consumption and carbon
emissions. Will the Minister join me in welcoming the
high-quality advanced manufacturing jobs that it is providing,
and may I invite her to visit Rugby to see the work that it is
doing to provide more resilient, sustainable, efficient energy
supplies?
Ms Ghani
I welcome the invitation, and it would be remiss of me not to
wish my hon. Friend a happy birthday for yesterday.
We salute the great work that is being done in this firm and
others throughout the country, and welcome the jobs that they
provide. This is exactly why the Government’s £1.2 billion
investment was set up for high-value manufacturing centres, to
help manufacturers to bring advanced technologies such as these
to the market. I look forward to visiting my hon. Friend’s
constituency.
(Kingston upon Hull West and
Hessle) (Lab)
Not just the advanced manufacturing sector but many sectors
throughout the country struggle to recruit staff with the skills
that they need. I hope the Minister will support the initiative
“Work Hull. Work Happy.” Its aim is to make Hull the co-working
capital of the UK by encouraging businesses up and down the
country to come and recruit the remote workers that we have in
the city, because people should not have to leave the place they
love for the job they want.
Ms Ghani
There is nothing I could disagree with there. It is absolutely
right that we focus on the skilled workforce that so many of our
manufacturing sectors are struggling to recruit, and any
opportunity to show and share with the skilled workforces, or
even help them to “skill up”, is welcome news.
Fuel Poverty
(North Tyneside) (Lab)
10. What recent estimate he has made of the number of households
in fuel poverty.
(Lewisham, Deptford)
(Lab)
25. What recent estimate he has made of the number of households
in fuel poverty.
The Minister for Industry and Investment Security ( )
The latest statistics, published in February 2022, show that 3.2
million households in England were fuel poor in 2020. Updated
estimates are due to be published next month. Fuel-poor
households can benefit from schemes including the energy company
obligation, the local authority delivery scheme and the home
upgrade grant, which will help them to improve the energy
efficiency of their homes.
According to the Fuel Poverty Monitor released by National Energy
Action today, from next April onwards the number of households in
fuel poverty in the UK could reach 8.4 million. What additional
targeted support will the Government provide for those on the
lowest incomes—particularly those who are not receiving
benefits—when the energy price guarantee increases to £3,000 in
April?
Ms Ghani
The Government are committed to tackling fuel poverty, and I
welcome the work of National Energy Action, which published its
Fuel Poverty Monitor today to highlight the difficult situation
in which many households have found themselves. Just as we
provided support during covid, we are providing it now. I believe
that the report looked fundamentally at means-tested benefits,
pensioners and those with disabilities. The Government have
committed £26 billion for 2023-24, including £900 for households
on means-tested benefits, £300 for pensioners and £150 for those
with disabilities, as well as an extra £1 billion to allow the
extension of the household support fund. However, I know that we
will continue to do more.
Mr Speaker
I think we have got the message.
Today a group of nearly 100 charities and other organisations,
co-ordinated by Scope, wrote to the Chancellor calling for a
social energy tariff to help low-income and vulnerable older and
disabled households to heat their homes. A survey for Age UK
suggests that 24% of over-60s are living in homes that are colder
than they would like, rising to 27% for older people with a
disability. Will the Minister commit herself to giving serious
consideration to targeted support for those groups?
Ms Ghani
As I listed earlier—I do not wish to test the patience of the
Speaker—we have focused on targeted support, but I also remind
the House of the local authority delivery, which is focused on
low income households and those homes that need energy efficiency
upgrades. They have a grant ability of £787 million to provide
the support that is needed. That is on top of the £26 billion
that I mentioned earlier for 2023-24.
Energy Transition Projects: Scotland
(Midlothian) (SNP)
11. What plans he has to support energy transition projects in
Scotland.
The Minister for Industry and Investment Security ( )
The Government remain firmly committed to the low carbon industry
across the UK, including Scotland. Our landmark North sea
transition deal will support the offshore oil and gas sector,
including its supply chain, for the delivery of low carbon
hydrogen production and carbon capture, usage and storage.
Former mining communities such as my own in Midlothian
contributed so much to the economy through our mining history,
but for many years they have been left behind after the pits were
closed. New opportunities are now widely available, especially in
coalfield communities, so will the Minister commit to a clear
road map to fast-track more geothermal energy projects and to use
mine water energy to help in production, particularly to help
regenerate coalfield communities across the nations of the UK?
Ms Ghani
We will continue to provide as much support as we can to ensure
we are helping emerging technologies in the renewable sector, but
the North sea transition deal will support 40,000 high quality
direct and indirect supply chain jobs, and also generate up to
£14 billion to £16 billion of investment up to 2030. This is good
support and investment that is being provided to these
communities.
(Banff and Buchan) (Con)
Of course we all welcome the ongoing development and
implementation of renewable and low carbon sources of energy, not
only in Scotland but right across the United Kingdom, and
especially in my constituency of Banff and Buchan, including
carbon capture and storage, net zero thermal energy and a range
of other sources, but could the Minister explain why the awarding
of new oil and gas licences and producing our own domestic
hydrocarbons is not at all inconsistent with our net zero
objectives?
Ms Ghani
I think it is only being seen as inconsistent with some of the
proposals provided by the Scottish Government. We will be
investing £1 billion to support carbon capture and storage in
four industrial clusters by 2030. My hon. Friend is absolutely
right: for us to have an energy mix, we need oil and gas and we
need it here in the UK, because obviously there is less of a
carbon footprint if we are not shipping it in.
Mr Speaker
I call the Scottish National party spokesperson.
(Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
(SNP)
For a real energy mix we need dispatchable energy such as pumped
storage hydro, and in Scotland we have such schemes ready to go,
including Coire Glas, Cruachan and Red John, which between them
could generate 2.5 GW of power—almost the same as a new power
station but at a fraction of the cost. In the BEIS Committee, the
Secretary of State told me that he had met representatives of SSE
to discuss Coire Glas—a meeting so memorable that SSE does not
seem to know anything about it. When are this Government going to
get a grip and meet the industry to agree a route to market for
pumped storage hydro?
Ms Ghani
I think the hon. Member is incorrect. I believe that the
Secretary of State did indeed hold that meeting. What I find
extraordinary is that the hon. Member will look at the energy mix
but exclude nuclear, for example. We need to have everything in
our energy mix, and the work that we are doing in the UK has
shown that we are going on the right path. Our low carbon
electricity sources such as solar, wind, and hydrogen, alongside
nuclear, generated over 50% of the UK’s energy last year in
February, May, October, November, and December, I believe, so we
do have a path forward.
The reality about nuclear is that there is not one successful
evolutionary power reactor—EPR—project in the world. Hinckley is
a disaster and Sizewell C will not happen in time, if it happens
at all. On the energy mix, the UK Government’s inaction has
blocked pumped storage hydro, onshore wind was blocked for years
in Scotland and we have had the rug pulled from under the feet of
the Peterhead carbon capture project three times now. When will
this Government finally support and give the go-ahead for the
Acorn cluster, which is vital for reducing emissions in Scotland
and the UK? Is not this cap-in-hand approach proof that Scotland
has energy but not the power?
Mr Speaker
Order. The Minister must let the hon. Gentleman finish before she
goes to the Dispatch Box. I cannot have both of you on your feet
at the same time.
Ms Ghani
I am sorry, Mr Speaker. I was not sure if there was one question
there or just a lot.
Mr Speaker
Order. I think I will decide that.
Ms Ghani
Forgive me, Mr Speaker. Just to clarify, the Secretary of State
did meet that individual at COP. Within the hon. Member’s few
sentences, I will address the issue of Acorn, which was a
sensible point. The promise of Government is to progress carbon
capture, usage and storage at pace, and Acorn submitted a bid
into the track 1 sequencing process, forming the reserve cluster.
Should either of the track 1 clusters not be able to deliver, we
would call on the Scottish cluster instead.
Energy Bills Support Scheme: Alternative Funding
(Bedford) (Lab)
13. What assessment he has made of the adequacy of the energy
bills support scheme alternative funding.
The Minister for Energy and Climate ()
The energy bills support scheme alternative funding will provide
£400 of credit to around 900,000 households without a direct
relationship with an electricity supplier. This matches the
energy bills support scheme in Great Britain, which is
automatically delivering the discount to 29 million households.
My constituency is home to a number of residents who are waiting
for the energy bills support scheme alternative funding. Despite
the Government confirming alternative funding on 1 April 2022,
not a penny has been paid to date. Why is this taking so long?
When do the Government estimate the first payment will be
received?
I share the hon. Gentleman’s frustration. It is complicated. We
do not live in a database society, so finding and identifying
these people without putting public money at risk has been
challenging. I am delighted to say, as my right hon. Friend the
Secretary of State said earlier, that a pilot programme using the
Government portal, and a telephone support service for those who
struggle to access the portal, went live yesterday. We aim to
have the portal open at the end of the month. If all goes well
with the pilot, payments will be processed by local authorities
and will go out as soon as possible in February, and certainly
this winter. That is our aspiration.
(North East Bedfordshire)
(Con)
I am afraid the Government are testing the patience of park home
owners in my constituency. I have previously asked the Minister
whether he can confirm that payments will be made directly to
park home owners, rather than park home operators. Can he confirm
that point, and that payments will be made as a block sum? Or
will they be paid monthly, as per the standard programme?
I have spoken on a number of occasions with my hon. Friend, and
with colleagues on both sides of the House, about making sure
these residents are not forgotten. We have worked hard to make
sure we have a system that can stand up and deliver. We give the
funding to local authorities and, as soon as they have gone
through the process and made the necessary verifications for the
payment to go out, a single payment will be paid directly into
the bank accounts of the people concerned.
Floating Offshore Wind Manufacturing Investment Scheme
(North Devon) (Con)
14. When he plans to make an announcement on the floating
offshore wind manufacturing investment scheme.
The Minister for Industry and Investment Security ( )
BEIS is currently processing the information it was provided
through the request for information process that ran over the
summer, in which there was significant interest. We will set out
the next steps on the floating offshore wind manufacturing
investment scheme in due course.
I thank the BEIS team for attending last week’s reception held by
the all-party parliamentary group on the Celtic sea. As they
heard at the reception, sustained investment is needed in a
number of ports across the region to ensure that we harness the
full opportunity of floating offshore wind in the Celtic sea and
meet the ambition of 50 GW of flow by 2050. Can my hon. Friend
confirm that steps are being taken to invest in ports across the
region?
Ms Ghani
My hon. Friend was welcome to host BEIS colleagues at her event.
BEIS recognises the potential for floating offshore wind in the
Celtic sea region. Following the request for information, BEIS is
continuing to engage with ports on their development plans to
understand their investment needs in more detail. I know she has
liaised and corresponded with the Energy Minister, and a letter
is winging its way to her.
(Westmorland and Lonsdale) (LD)
Although the Government are rightly considering the advantages
that can be gained from rural and offshore renewable energy, will
the Minister also consider the possibility of using tidal power,
and particularly tidal turbines? The United Kingdom has the
biggest tidal range on Earth after Canada, and we are using
nearly none of it. Is it not time to consider this innovative
technology? Will she meet me and those seeking to get tidal
energy out of Morecambe bay?
Ms Ghani
I believe that the largest number of contract for difference
licences were awarded to tidal, and the Energy Minister will be
more than happy to meet the hon. Gentleman.
Postal Services
(Wansbeck) (Lab)
15. What steps he is taking to help ensure the effective
provision of postal services.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Energy
and Industrial Strategy ()
Ofcom has a duty to ensure the provision of a financially
sustainable and efficient universal postal service. Ofcom
oversees Royal Mail’s contingency plans to mitigate disruption to
universal postal services, and it continues to closely monitor
Royal Mail’s performance.
Does the Minister share my deep concerns about the creeping
increased shareholding in Royal Mail by Vesa Equity Investment, a
company whose chief executive, Daniel Křetínský, has close ties
to Russia? What guarantees can the Minister give about the future
of our cherished, 500-year-old Royal Mail?
As I say, we have no plans to change the universal service
requirements of the postal service. This Government are proud of
their credentials on foreign direct investment, and we encourage
foreign investment into this country. I notice from the global
chief executive officer survey today that the UK is third in the
world in terms of the places where people want to invest, and we
want to make sure that that continues. We looked at this matter
from a national security perspective and we did not feel there
was an issue, so we welcome that investment.
(Rochester and Strood)
(Con)
Sadly, a long-established post office will be closing in my
constituency in November, owing to an expansion of the pharmacy
there, which is a success story. Many businesses locally,
including the council, are desperate to take on a post office
franchise. Will the Minister meet me to make sure we can secure
Rochester’s having a post office after November?
Of course I will meet my hon. Friend; I have suffered closures of
post offices in my constituency, so I know how difficult this is.
We are committed to maintaining a network of 11,500 post office
outlets and making sure that 99% of the population are within 3
miles of a post office. I am keen to meet her to see what we can
do in this instance.
Mr Speaker
I call the shadow Minister.
(Feltham and Heston)
(Lab/Co-op)
Maintaining the universal service obligation as affordable and
accessible for all, ensuring a fair deal for workers and
improving the service by Royal Mail are what it will take to
ensure the quality of postal services that our constituents need
and deserve. Astonishingly, last year the International
Distributions Services board led the company to losses of £1
million a day, just six months after reporting huge profits and
paying out £567 million in dividends and the share buy-back,
putting at risk the stability needed to modernise and keep
Britain’s Royal Mail competitive. Is this not so clearly the
result of mismanagement at the highest level, and is it not now
time for an inquiry into the actions of the board and the CEO and
the risks facing the postal service?
The Royal Mail is facing a difficult year—there is no doubt about
it. One reason quoted in the update from the Regulatory News
Service—this is a regulator-issued news bulletin, so it has to be
accurate—on why the company has gone from a profit to a loss was
the industrial action by the Communication Workers Union, which
is putting tremendous strain on the Royal Mail and its customers,
many of whom are going elsewhere, and indeed on the post office
network. Will the hon. Lady condemn the fact that this is causing
extra difficulties for the Royal Mail and some of these financial
problems?
Topical Questions
(Scunthorpe) (Con)
T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental
responsibilities.
The Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial
Strategy ()
On Thursday, I will be flying our flag on the global stage for
the CBI in Davos, making sure the world knows that Britain is the
place to invest. At the World Economic Forum, I will be setting
out a bold vision to scale up Britain, backing British business,
empowering our entrepreneurs and driving disruption.
Will my right hon. Friend give further detail on whether the
Government think that the non-domestic energy support package
will help to provide a level playing field for British
steelmakers?
My hon. Friend, who has done more than many others to fight for
and support steel in her constituency, is right to highlight the
energy bills discount scheme, but other schemes, including the
one I was talking about, the energy-intensive industries scheme,
where we have the consultation to take the level up to 100%, may
in the end be much more meaningful. I want to assure her,
Opposition Members and the whole House that the Government are
very focused on this issue.
Mr Speaker
I call the shadow Minister.
(Ellesmere Port and Neston)
(Lab)
Tomorrow, the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill comes
back before us. It will see vital employment rights such as
holiday pay, TUPE and maternity protections scrapped at the end
of this year if Ministers do not act. Labour Members believe in
strong employment protections, so will the Government vote with
us tomorrow to ensure that those vital rights are saved?
There is absolutely no truth whatsoever in this idea that
employment rights, environmental rights or other rights will be
scrapped, and the sooner the Opposition stop peddling this stuff
the better.
(North Devon) (Con)
T3. What progress has my right hon. Friend made on
promoting community energy?
The Minister for Energy and Climate ()
The levelling-up White Paper outlined that the new UK shared
prosperity fund will support interventions that reinforce the
Government’s commitment to net zero by 2050. That includes £2.6
billion of funding for investment in places, including for
community infrastructure projects.
(Glasgow North) (SNP)
The calls that we have already heard to take action to support
people on prepayment meters are echoed by more than 40 Members of
both Houses on the all-party parliamentary group on fuel poverty
and energy efficiency. They, too, are calling for a ban on forced
installation of prepayment meters by court warrant and an end to
unfair standing charges and price differentials. It is not good
enough just to hear nice words from the Government; they have to
require action from the energy suppliers.
The Minister for Science, Research and Innovation ()
We agree that the most vulnerable consumers in this country
should be protected. Those duties already lie with Ofgem. I shall
repeat what my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State said
earlier: it is completely unacceptable that vulnerable patients
leave hospital and find that they have been automatically
disconnected. We are convening a roundtable meeting and my right
hon. Friends the Secretary of State and the Minister for Energy
and Climate are putting pressure on Ofgem to make sure that
vulnerable consumers are looked after.
(Wimbledon) (Con)
T4. Wimbledon is one of the best places for young diverse
entrepreneurs to start up. The recent London Chamber of Commerce
and Industry report suggested that there were problems and
additional problems for those entrepreneurs to access finance.
What exactly are the Government doing to make sure that access to
finance is open to as many people as possible?
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Energy
and Industrial Strategy ()
The UK, including Wimbledon, is one of the best places in the
world to start a business, as evidenced by the OECD report. My
hon. Friend is right to raise the issue of access to finance,
particularly for diverse groups. The Start-Up Loans Company has
provided £1 billion of loans to around 100,000 businesses,
including £2 million of loans to businesses in his constituency,
and 40% of those loans go to people from a black, Asian and
minority ethnic background.
Dame (Hackney South and Shoreditch) (Lab/Co-op)
There is an inconsistency in how the public sector is required to
report greenhouse gas emissions. That makes it difficult to keep
a track on progress as we approach net zero, and difficult for
citizens to hold the public sector to account on delivery. What
is the Minister doing to rectify that so that we can keep a
proper track on what is happening?
May I take this opportunity, on behalf of the Department, to
thank the hon. Member and the Public Accounts Committee for their
report, to which we will very shortly reply? I am delighted to
say that the public sector has reduced emissions by 44% since
1990 and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial
Strategy by 70% since 2010. We appreciate her Committee’s point
that the data—the metrics—have to be clear and coherent, and we
are taking that on board.
(Kettering) (Con)
T5. To help promote energy security and to protect the
planet, what steps is the Minister taking to reduce UK energy
demand by the 15% target by 2030?
My hon. Friend rightly highlights the target set by the
Chancellor to reduce by 15% demand across our energy system. The
energy efficiency taskforce is being established, with my
colleague as co-chairman. We will be
taking a number of steps, alongside the additional £6 billion in
2025-28, on top of the £6.5 billion being spent on energy
efficiency in this Parliament.
(North Down) (Alliance)
I am grateful to the Minister for Energy and Climate and his
officials for their work on rolling out the energy payments in
Northern Ireland, which started this week. Will he reassure us
that he will continue to work very closely on the roll-out with
the energy companies and the advice sector, ensuring that
photographic ID issues and potential changes of address by
property occupiers and park home owners are addressed so that
everyone across Northern Ireland receives help, particularly the
most vulnerable?
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question and for so
assiduously pressing the case, along with his colleagues, for
Northern Ireland residents. I am delighted to see payments going
out automatically to direct debit payers, and vouchers going out
to others. He is quite right to focus on this. Suppliers have
worked with the Post Office in trying to make sure that the right
instructions are going out alongside the vouchers to help people
get through this. To avoid scammers, I encourage people to go to
the Post Office and, ideally, get this paid into a bank account.
That will be £600 for every household and family in Northern
Ireland, which will help at this time.
(Christchurch) (Con)
T6. What action is the Secretary of State taking to deal
with the large number of house fires arising now because of
malfunctioning solar panels?
Obviously, management of safety is not something for which I am
directly responsible, but I am happy to follow up with my hon.
Friend. I always thank him for giving me prior notice, which of
course he did not do today.
(Aberavon) (Lab)
The Secretary of State is well known for his airbrushing skills,
but he cannot airbrush the fact that, of the top 10 economies in
the world, the UK is the only one with a declining steel
industry. When is he going to sit down with Tata Steel and the
other businesses to do a deal on green steel for the future of
our workforce?
The Minister for Industry and Investment Security ( )
We are working with the whole steel industry across the UK and
regularly hold meetings. I do not think the question was posed in
an appropriate way, because we are doing a huge amount of work to
support the steel sector, including providing £800 million since
2013. We have provided a package of relief support for
non-domestic users throughout this winter worth £18 billion. The
report published by the BEIS Committee, which I previously sat
on, also mentioned that any earlier bail-out for Liberty Steel,
in particular, would not have been good value for taxpayers’
money.
(Harrogate and Knaresborough)
(Con)
T7. Last week I visited Duftons Plumbing & Heating
Supplies, a leading local firm, and its tie-up with Daikin UK, a
heat pump manufacturer. The importance of having trained
engineers locally available to advise customers and install green
heating technologies was clear. Will my right hon. Friend please
advise what support there is for training those new skills?
My hon. Friend is right to highlight the need for skills and
training if we are to meet our ambitious net zero targets. On 20
September, the Government launched the latest phase of the £9.2
million home decarbonisation skills training competition, which
will fund training for people working in the energy efficiency,
retrofit and low-carbon heating sectors in England. We are
confident that there is enough training capacity to meet demand
for heat pump upskilling as heat pump deployment increases.
(Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
(PC)
The UK imports all medical radioisotopes used for treatment and
diagnosis, mostly from European facilities that are due to close
down by 2030. What assessment has the Secretary of State made of
the need to ensure security of supply of nuclear medicines?
Ms Ghani
As the life sciences Minister I can say that we are working
extensively with the industry to ensure that we have good
equipment in our supply chains. I am not particularly aware of
this situation, but I am happy to have a meeting or write to the
right hon. Lady to see what exactly the problem is.
(Bracknell) (Con)
T8. The UK is a hub of privately driven research and
development. I am proud that my Bracknell constituency is the
silicon valley of the Thames valley and the home of fantastic
companies such as 3M, Dell, Honda and Panasonic, which is also
great for local employment. What steps are being taken to
encourage more international R&D investment into the UK?
My hon. Friend makes a good point. We have the groundbreaking
commitment to move from £15 billion to £20 billion a year of
investment in public R&D over this comprehensive spending
review, the creation of the National Science and Technology
Council, the recent launch of our international science
partnership fund, the ISPF, which I announced in Japan with a
first tranche of £119 million, a series of strategic bilats and
multilats, and, of course, our £7 billion ring-fenced for Horizon
for three years—if we cannot deploy it through Horizon, we will
deploy it in other ways to support UK R&D.
(Liverpool, Walton) (Lab)
I recently wrote to all the major energy companies to ask about
the shameful practice of obtaining warrants to forcibly install
prepayment meters. The responses showed a lottery across all the
companies, but British Gas told me that 7,500 warrants were
obtained in 2020. That jumped to 24,500 last year, and one court
in the north of England approved 496 warrants in three minutes.
Ofgem has proven incapable of dealing with this scandal; when
will the Government act?
I thank the hon. Gentleman for this question and for the numerous
parliamentary questions he has also tabled, highlighting the need
to ensure that vulnerable customers, including those on
prepayment meters, are treated properly by suppliers. Where
customers are not treated properly, those suppliers are in breach
of their licensing conditions from Ofgem, which, as he knows, has
investigated that matter, has found the suppliers wanting and is
taking compliance action now. I share his frustration, as does
the Secretary of State, to ensure that the system not only does
what it says on the tin, but delivers in practice for people,
including his constituents and mine.
(Amber Valley) (Con)
T9. After the price of energy, the second most common complaint
from local businesses in Amber Valley is that they cannot work
out how the tariff that they are quoted bears any relation to the
wholesale price and the cap. They then cannot work out why all
the additional charges are now, for no obvious reason, a multiple
of many times what they were a year ago. Can the Minister ask
Ofgem to cut down on those practices so that businesses can see a
fair and transparent price that cannot be altered halfway through
the year?
It is important to differentiate between the domestic market,
which is much more heavily regulated and for which, of course, we
have the energy price cap, and the non-domestic market, which is
much more complicated and for which we have not felt that a
one-size-fits-all approach would work. But my hon. Friend is
absolutely right to highlight issues where companies do not
behave in the right way. That is why my right hon. Friend the
Secretary of State and I are working with Ofgem to ensure that it
fulfils its obligations. It may not be fully regulated in the
same way, but it has licensed conditions and it needs to fulfil
them.
(Walsall South) (Lab)
Will the Minister confirm that post offices, which are at the
heart of our community, will receive support for their energy
bills so that they can continue to function for the rest of the
community?
Post offices, like all non-domestic businesses and institutions,
will benefit from the new energy price discount scheme, which
follows the energy bill relief scheme, as announced by the
Chancellor.
(Witham) (Con)
My right hon. Friend the Energy Minister is more than aware of
the deep anger in my constituency and across the east of England
about National Grid’s green proposals to put pylons across the
whole of East Anglia. Will he give clear assurances that the
Government will work proactively to explore offshore grid
options—an alternative, basically—to deliver more resilience and
capacity, and to protect our countryside?
I thank my right hon. Friend who, along with colleagues, has been
assiduous in championing constituents’ interests and making sure
that no infrastructure that imposes a burden on constituents goes
in if it is not necessary. I am pleased to say that we have
launched the £100 million offshore co-ordination support scheme,
which provides funding to ensure a more co-ordinated approach.
Although we recognise that we cannot forcibly change some
contracts, we can—including with that funding—encourage
developers to look at doing their infrastructure in the way that
has the least negative impact on her constituents.
(Harrow West) (Lab/Co-op)
Last year, a pay transparency came into law in Colorado. It
requires employers to publish the salary range when they
advertise for jobs, saving considerable amounts of time, and
sometimes costs, for would-be employees. Would such a
common-sense rule not be good for British job applicants and
employers, too?
That is an interesting point. We are looking at pay reporting,
especially in larger companies. We want to minimise the burden of
regulation on smaller companies, of course, but the hon.
Gentleman raises an interesting point, and we will have a close
look at it.
Dame (South Northamptonshire)
(Con)
My right hon. Friend knows only too well our energy triple
challenge of keeping the bills down, keeping the lights on and
decarbonising. As chairman of the 1922 Backbench committee on
Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, I draw his attention to
the fact that we have just published a report on the future of
energy. In my humble opinion, the report is packed full of
incisive and actionable policy suggestions. May I invite him to
meet me and my vice-chairs to discuss it and the implications for
his Department?
My right hon. Friend is absolutely right in her analysis: I have
not yet read her report but I look forward to receiving a
personalised copy of it, and I certainly look forward to meeting
her, alongside the Minister for Energy and Climate, my right hon.
Friend the Member for Beverley and Holderness ().
(Birmingham, Selly Oak)
(Lab)
The west midlands has the highest fuel poverty in the country.
How many west midlands homes will benefit from the new energy
company obligation plus scheme when it comes online this year?
Will the figure be nearer 4,000 or 20,000 homes?
I will write to the hon. Gentleman as I do not have those numbers
to hand. I am delighted that we have gone from just 14% of homes
being rated EPC C or above in 2010 to more than 46% now. That is
not enough, but we have transformed the situation of UK housing
stock that we inherited from Labour.
