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  • Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what (a) national and (b) local arrangements are in place for issuing iodine tablets in the event of a radiation emergency involving an operational civil nuclear reactor or reprocessing facility; which localities have had a pre-distribution of iodine tablets to households and what the radii of those localities are; to which nuclear reactors those (a) national and (b) local arrangements are linked; and if he will make a statement.

    Jesse Norman

    Civil nuclear emergency preparedness is a devolved issue, with the Scottish Government taking responsibility for planning in Scotland. England and Wales have arrangements in place to ensure stable iodine is available to potentially affected populations around civil nuclear reactor sites.

    Locally, stable iodine is pre-distributed around civil nuclear reactor sites to a distance that has been assessed by the Office for Nuclear Regulation to be sufficient for all reasonably foreseeable emergencies.

  • Alison Thewliss – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Alison Thewliss – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Thewliss on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to ensure that consumers are adequately informed about the option to switch to gas and electricity tariffs with zero standing charge.

    Jesse Norman

    Tariffs with zero standing charge generally have a higher unit charge than tariffs with a standing charge, as the cost to supply is only recovered when energy is used. This tariff may benefit low energy using households but not others. Under the terms in the supply licence, suppliers must provide individual customers with details of their cheapest tariff and an estimate of annual savings. Customers can shop around for the best energy deal that suits their needs by using a price comparison company that operates in accordance with the Confidence Code, a code of practice managed by Ofgem for accredited price comparison companies.

  • John Mann – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    John Mann – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mann on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what proportion of UK energy supply he plans to be produced by UK coal-fired power stations in each of the next 10 years.

    Jesse Norman

    Most of the UK’s existing coal fired power stations are old, relatively inefficient and require investment to reduce the level of damaging pollutants they emit. I expect to consult shortly on the closure of unabated coal stations.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, (a) how many and (b) what proportion of staff employed by his Department are non-UK nationals.

    Joseph Johnson

    All Government Departments are bound by legal requirements concerning the right to work in the UK and, in addition, the Civil Service Nationality Rules.

    Evidence of nationality is checked at the point of recruitment into the Civil Service as part of wider pre-employment checks, but there is no requirement on departments to retain this information beyond the point at which it has served its purpose.

    More broadly, the Government will be consulting in due course on how we work with business to ensure that workers in this country have the skills that they need to get a job. But there are no proposals to publish lists of the number or proportion of foreign workers.

  • Adam Afriyie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Adam Afriyie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adam Afriyie on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment he has made of whether his Department is on course to complete the roll-out of smart meters by 2020.

    Jesse Norman

    The Government is committed to every home and small business being offered smart meters by the end of 2020. The Programme is making good progress. More than 4.2 million meters have been installed in homes and businesses across Great Britain.

    Data on the number of smart electricity and gas meters installed in Great Britain is set out in the Government’s ‘Smart Meters, Great Britain, Quarterly report to end June 2016’, published on 29 September 2016: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statistical-release-and-data-smart-meters-great-britain-quarter-2-2016

    “

  • Zac Goldsmith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Zac Goldsmith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Zac Goldsmith on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, for what reason his Department has not implemented the Department of Energy and Climate Change’s commitment to a biannual budget reconciliation process for the new feed-in tariff scheme, set out in its review of that scheme in December 2015.

    Jesse Norman

    The Government response to the 2015 review of the scheme set out that a budget reconciliation process could be biannual, or more or less frequent, depending on deployment. As well as our current consultation on support for anaerobic digestion and micro-combined heat and power under the scheme, we are reviewing the deployment that has taken place since the revised scheme was re-launched in February of this year and will make a statement in due course.

  • Callum McCaig – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Callum McCaig – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Callum McCaig on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what proportion of the budget for the National Measurement System was spent through (a) NEL Ltd, (b) the National Physical Laboratory and (c) LGC over the last five years.

    Margot James

    The National Measurement System (NMS) is funded by BEIS, on behalf of Government as a whole, through a portfolio of programmes encompassing a wide range of scientific disciplines.

    The budget distribution across the NMS programmes was informed by the NMS Strategy 2009-2016.

    2012/13

    2013/14

    2014/15

    2015/16

    2016/17

    NPL*

    £39.2M

    £39.4M

    £39.3M

    £39.3M

    £40.3M

    LGC

    £6.7M

    £6.8M

    £6.9M

    £7M

    £7.1M

    NEL

    £3.6M

    £3.5M

    £3.5M

    £3.4M

    £3.5M

    NMO

    £1M

    £1M

    £1M

    £1M

    £1M**

    NGML

    £75k

    £75k

    £75k

    £75k

    £75k

    Int. Subs

    £900k

    £900k

    £900k

    £900k

    £900k

    * Figure quoted for NPL is adjusted to reflect the rent returned to the department by NPL.

    **Now included within BEIS operating costs.

  • Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much his Department has allocated to schemes to encourage investment in solar energy in each of the last five years.

    Jesse Norman

    Over the past five years, solar photovoltaic (PV), wind, wave and tidal electricity projects have received support from either the Renewables Obligation (RO) or the Feed-in Tariff (FITs).

    Expenditure through the Renewables Obligation in 2011/12 to 2015/16 can be broken down by power generation technology shown in the table (£million in nominal prices). Solar PV and some small-scale onshore wind are also supported by the Feed In Tariff scheme, but costs are not available disaggregated by technology. Total support is shown below (£million).

    RO (£million)

    11/12

    12/13

    13/14

    14/15

    15/16

    Onshore wind

    £482.6

    £557.1

    £755.6

    £786.8

    £803.0

    Offshore wind

    £371.1

    £698.5

    £988.7

    £1,108.0

    £1,429.7

    Solar PV

    £0.1

    £0.9

    £34.9

    £133.9

    £264.8

    Wave & Tidal

    £0.1

    £0.4

    £0.4

    £0.1

    £0.2

    TOTAL RO

    £1,457.7

    £1,991.3

    £2,599.3

    £3,114.2

    £3,743.2

    TOTAL FITs

    £151

    £506

    £691

    £866

    £1,110

    Renewables Obligations: Source Ofgem:

    www.ofgem.gov.uk/environmental-programmes/ro/contacts-publications-and-data/publications-library-renewables-obligation

    www.ofgem.gov.uk/publication-and-updates/renewables-obligation-ro-annual-report-2014-15

    www.renewablesandchp.ofgem.gov.uk/Public/ReportManager.aspx?ReportVisibility=1&ReportCategory=0

    FITs: Source Ofgem:

    https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/environmental-programmes/fit/contacts-guidance-and-resources/public-reports-and-data-fit/levelisation-reports

    The Contracts for Difference Scheme opened for delivery from 2015/16 onwards. No projects started deploying in 2015/16 so no payments were made.

    “

  • Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much his Department has allocated to schemes to encourage investment in nuclear energy in each of the last five years.

    Jesse Norman

    The Government welcomes investment in nuclear energy. Under the Electricity Market Reform (EMR) framework, Contracts for Difference (CfDs) are available to potential developers of new nuclear plant – a mechanism which offers a return on private sector investment in the sector. In September 2016 a CfD for Hinkley Point C was awarded to EDF and China General Nuclear (CGN), giving a strike price of £92.50 per megawatt hour for 35 years.

  • Zac Goldsmith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Zac Goldsmith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Zac Goldsmith on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make it his Department’s policy to implement the Department of Energy and Climate Change’s commitment to feed-in tariff deployment cap top-ups, set out in its review of the feed-in tariffs scheme, published in December 2015.

    Jesse Norman

    The Government response to the 2015 review of the scheme set out that a budget reconciliation process could be biannual, or more or less frequent, depending on deployment. As well as our current consultation on support for anaerobic digestion and micro-combined heat and power under the scheme, we are reviewing the deployment that has taken place since the revised scheme was re-launched in February of this year and will make a statement in due course.