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Catherine McKinnell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine McKinnell on 2016-01-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many businesses were compensated for the indirect costs of the (a) EU Emissions Trading System and (b) carbon price floor; what the average award per eligible business was; and what the total monetary value of such compensation was in (i) 2013-14, (ii) 2014-15 and (iii) 2015-16 to date.

Anna Soubry

Since the compensation schemes for indirect costs of the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) and the Carbon Price Support (CPS) mechanism began, the total number of businesses compensated is 60 and 58 respectively. The table below sets out the amounts of compensation paid from 2013 to 2015 in calendar years. CPS compensation payments began in 2014. The average award per business over that period can be calculated from the table.

2013	2014	2015 (to 21 January 2016)*	TOTAL
(£)	(£)	(£)
EU ETS	31,707,192.00	19,632,228.00	18,130,331.00	69,469,751.00
CPS		33,247,349.00	44,811,626.00	78,058,975.00

TOTAL	31,707,192.00	52,879,577.00	62,941,957.00	147,528,726.00

(* Claimants have until 31 March 2016 to submit Quarter 4 2015 applications).

01/01/2023

Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-01-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether any trade missions to Iran are planned involving businesses from the UK in 2016.

Anna Soubry

The UK government fully supports expanding our trade relationship with Iran. UK Trade and Investment will be leading a whole of government approach to engage with UK companies to ensure that UK businesses are well equipped to benefit from the commercial opportunities that will arise from sanction relief.

There is a desire on both sides to build a long-term bilateral relationship based on future partnership, where trade and investment is a key pillar. We plan to take further trade delegations to Iran in the near future across a number of sectors where UK companies are best placed to benefit from commercial opportunities.

01/01/2023
Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-01-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate his Department has made of the potential costs to (a) consumers and (b) the public purse of the privatisation of the Green Investment Bank.

Anna Soubry

The Government is moving UK Green Investment Bank plc (GIB) into private ownership so it can continue operating in the same way it does now only funded with private capital rather than relying on taxpayers’ support. The detailed background and supporting case for this move was set out in the policy statement we published on 18 November.

Decisions on the proposed sale are being taken in accordance with best practice to ensure all available options are properly examined in a detailed business case and that a robust valuation process is followed. We expect taxpayers to gain a receipt to the public purse from a majority sale of GIB, and to benefit from reduced public funding requirements in future.

01/01/2023
Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-01-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much funding the Green Investment Bank has invested in fracking projects in the UK.

Anna Soubry

The Green Investment Bank has not invested in any fracking projects.

01/01/2023
Angela Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Eagle on 2016-01-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effect that China’s potential Market Economy Status will have on the UK steel industry; and when he last met the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs to discuss that matter.

Anna Soubry

My Rt hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills has regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues, EU Commissioners and EU counterparts about a range of issues, including Market Economy Status (MES) for China. He most recently discussed trade aspects of the steel industry with Trade Commissioner Malmstrom on 20 January.

We are awaiting a European Commission proposal on granting MES. We understand that the Commission will also be undertaking a detailed assessment of the economic impacts of granting MES as part of their consideration of this issue. We will examine any proposal and assessment carefully. The Prime Minister has previously stated that he will make the case for China to be granted MES but China will need to show that it is committed to becoming more open as it becomes more prosperous. In considering the Commission’s proposal it will be important to consider the wider trade and international political context including compliance with international commitments. If China is granted MES, the Commission will still be able to pursue anti-dumping and anti-subsidy cases and impose measures where evidence of dumping or subsidy is found.

The government is strongly in favour of effective trade defences to tackle unfair trade practices. The Government voted in favour of anti-dumping measures on steel products in July and November and lobbied successfully for an investigation into re-bar. The Government is also pushing for faster, more effective action to deal with dumping of steel: this was one of the conclusions of the Extraordinary Competitiveness Council on Steel in November. The Secretary of State also raised the issue with the Trade Commissioner.

The Government is playing an active role in the European Commission’s steel stakeholder’s conference summit on 15 February and is supporting a robust discussion of the issue of overcapacity through the EU’s ongoing dialogue with the Chinese.

01/01/2023
Peter Lilley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Lilley on 2016-01-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to his letter of 15 December 2015 setting out Skills Funding Agency priorities and funding for 2016-17, whether it is his policy that an area can only have its adult education budget devolved once it has fully implemented the recommendations of its area review.

Nick Boles

The Area Review process has been designed to bring about a more resilient and sustainable post-16 sector in the given locality, better able to exploit the opportunities made available through the recent SR and better placed to meet local skills needs. As such the completion of an area review, leading to an agreed plan for implementation, is an essential pre-cursor to the full devolution of the adult education budget.

01/01/2023
Helen Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2016-01-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many students from Warrington North constituency are in receipt of maintenance grants while pursuing a course in higher education.

Joseph Johnson

Statistics showing the number of English applicants awarded Maintenance Grants are published annually by the Student Loans Company (SLC) in the Statistical First Release ‘Student Support for Higher Education in England’.

http://www.slc.co.uk/official-statistics/financial-support-awarded/england-higher-education.aspx

Data provided by the SLC indicates that there were 760 applicants from Warrington North Parliamentary Constituency awarded Maintenance Grants in the academic year 2014/15. An awarded applicant will only receive payments once SLC have received confirmation from the applicant’s provider that the student has been registered on the course.

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01/01/2023
Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-01-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent assessment he has made of the level of security of supply of rare earth metals required by industry.

Anna Soubry

There has been no recent assessment for the UK. However, the EU critical raw material list is reviewed every 3 years and the most recent review of that list, which currently includes rare earth elements, took place in May 2014. The UK uses this list to help in its assessment of which materials are of particular significance to UK manufacturing.

01/01/2023
Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-01-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate her Department has made of the amount of (a) public and (b) private sector investment needed to fulfil Government targets for low-carbon infrastructure and supply chain investment in each year to 2025.

Andrea Leadsom

The National Infrastructure Pipeline provides annual estimates of investment in the Energy Sector. The 2015 publication of the National Infrastructure Pipeline [1] estimates £141bn worth of investment up to 2020/21 with a further £103bn post 2020/21. The figures do not distinguish between private and public investment.

[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-infrastructure-pipeline-july-2015

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01/01/2023
Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-01-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what plans his Department has to ensure that a privatised Green Investment Bank would be able to maximise the deployment of equity and debt from the European Fund for Structural Investment and other EU sources.

Anna Soubry

There is no reason why the Green Investment Bank (GIB) could not invest alongside the EFSI whether GIB is in public or private hands, as it seeks to gather the range of financing necessary to sponsor projects.

01/01/2023