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  • Jamie Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Jamie Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jamie Reed on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate she has made of the amount of energy that would be generated in West Cumbria as a result of the (a) Moorside Nuclear development and (b) Solway Firth Tidal Gateway project; and what proportion of UK energy would be generated by those projects.

    Andrea Leadsom

    Nugen’s proposal for Moorside is for three Toshiba Westinghouse AP1000 reactors, which together have a stated generation capacity of 3.6GW. This is equivalent to around 27 TWh per year once the station is fully operational. This is estimated to be equivalent to around 7% of the UK’s electricity generation needs in 2030.

    No assessment of the amount of generation which could be produced by a potential Solway Firth Tidal Gateway project has been made by my Department as we have not received any detailed proposal for such a project.

  • Kelvin Hopkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Kelvin Hopkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kelvin Hopkins on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the Government’s policy is towards the Big Six energy companies that seek to outsource or offshore directly employed jobs in retail operations; and if she will make a statement.

    Andrea Leadsom

    It is important we have a vibrant, dynamic energy market where energy companies work hard to attract customers though customer service as well as price. The management of retail operations, such as answering enquiries and addressing complaints from their consumers, however, are commercial matters for the individual companies.

  • Neil Coyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Neil Coyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what discussions she has had with (a) the Chancellor of the Exchequer and (b) HM Revenue and Customs on proposals to increase VAT rates on solar panels.

    Andrea Leadsom

    I have had no discussions with my rt. hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer or HM Revenue and Customs on the proposals to amend the application of VAT to energy saving materials. The changes stem from a legal judgement in the European Court which found that the reduced rate of VAT on energy saving products had been applied too widely. As part of the amendments, HMRC recently consulted on removing solar panels from the list of measures eligible for the reduce rate of VAT. They are currently considering the responses to that consultation.

  • Paul Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Paul Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Monaghan on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps she is taking to promote domestic solar photovoltaic installations.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Government is continuing to promote domestic solar photovoltaic installations with the Feed-in Tariff scheme which will support small-scale solar until 2019.

    We project that the FIT scheme could support up to 220,000 new solar installations between now and 2019.

  • Paul Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Paul Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Monaghan on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment she has made of the effect on uptake of renewable energy production of increasing VAT on domestic solar photovoltaic installations.

    Andrea Leadsom

    A recent European Court ruling found that the reduced rate of VAT on certain ‘energy saving materials’ was in breach of EU law. As a result HMRC recently consulted on how that reduced rate of VAT is applied and are currently considering the responses to that consultation. If it is decided that a change to VAT is appropriate, we will consider options on how to maintain a suitable rate-of-return for investors.

  • Sue Hayman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Sue Hayman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sue Hayman on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how much funding the Government has allocated to the continued assessment of options for plutonium management in the financial years (a) 2016-17, (b) 2017-18 and (c) 2018-19.

    Andrea Leadsom

    In Spending Review 2015, the Government committed £11bn net funding to NDA over five years (in addition to its forecast commercial income). Government is satisfied with the provision made in the NDA’s budget to continue to make meaningful progress on the plutonium disposition programme.

  • Sue Hayman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Sue Hayman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sue Hayman on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether her Department plans to begin a procurement process for a technology to reuse plutonium stored at Sellafield before 2020.

    Andrea Leadsom

    Safely and securely managing plutonium remains a government priority. My Department is working across government, with the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) and industry to develop a solution.

    NDA submitted advice to support DECC in its considerations on the policy options for separated plutonium held in the UK, in December 2015. The report gives a view on the balance of attractiveness and risk of each reuse option (reuse as MOX and assessment of the credible alternatives PRISM and Candu); as well as immobilisation and continued storage. This, together with other sources of information and evidence, is informing DECC’s consideration of the options for the way forward.

    Only when Government is confident that an option could be implemented safely and securely, in way that is affordable, deliverable, and offers value for money, will it be in a position to proceed.

  • Philip Hollobone – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Philip Hollobone – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Hollobone on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps she is taking to prevent the mis-selling of domestic energy to pensioners.

    Andrea Leadsom

    Energy companies are required under their licence conditions to ensure all information that they or their representatives provide to domestic customers during a marketing activity is complete, accurate and easily understood.

    Ofgem has powers to investigate and impose sanctions, such as financial penalties, on energy companies when they are found to have breached their licence conditions, including mis-selling.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to support the work of Taste of Ulster; and if she will introduce similar organisations throughout the UK to promote food products.

    George Eustice

    I fully support the excellent work that Taste of Ulster is doing to showcase the finest food and drink from Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland’s Year of Food and Drink is running concurrently with the Year of Great British Food, and we are working closely with colleagues from Northern Ireland which includes some food pioneers from Northern Ireland’s food industry to ensure that our shared message about the wonderful food and drink produced throughout the UK and the outstanding food heritage of our nation reaches the widest possible audience.

    This year’s celebrations of food include promoting Protected Food Names. I am delighted that there are three Protected Food Names from Northern Ireland: Armagh Bramley Apples, New Season Comber Potatoes and Lough Neagh Eels and that there are four more in the pipeline.

    Food NI and the Taste of Ulster campaign provides a strong model of the food sector taking the lead in forming a consortium to promote the excellence of Northern Irish food. Similar initiatives exist in other parts of the UK, and I strongly encourage and support their work.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to encourage households to (a) reduce food waste and (b) increase awareness of food waste.

    Rory Stewart

    Working through the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), we are increasing awareness of food waste and helping households waste less and save money through the Courtauld Commitment and the Love Food Hate Waste (LFHW) campaign. These have contributed to a 15% reduction in the amount of household food and drink waste between 2007 and 2012, from 8.3m tonnes to 7.0m tonnes.

    WRAP is currently running the LFHW ‘10 cities’ campaign across the UK. The campaign includes activities in each city including cascade training, practical cookery classes and demonstrations, a kitchen skills programme, food champion networks and memorable experiential events.

    WRAP is currently brokering a new agreement, Courtauld 2025, which is expected to be launched in March and will build on this progress.