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1169869

registered interest
date	09/01/2020
answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept id	201
answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
hansard heading	Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make it his policy to change the Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme so that hot water from solar thermal collectors can be used to support a home's heating needs under that scheme; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Christchurch
tabling member printed	Sir Christopher Chope
uin	1676
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/01/2020 answer text <p>The Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) is tax-payer funded, and supporting solar thermal for space heating would not represent good value for money. This is because solar thermal systems are normally only capable of meeting a portion of a house’s heat demand (so a backup space heating system would be required), and are not as cost-effective in space heating when compared to other technologies.</p> answering member constituency Spelthorne answering member printed Kwasi Kwarteng question first answered 14/01/2020 11:43:26 answering member 4134 label Biography information for Kwasi Kwarteng
tabling member	242 label Biography information for Sir Christopher Chope

1169897

registered interest
date	09/01/2020
answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept id	201
answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
hansard heading	Fracking
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to revoke the moratorium on fracking.
tabling member printed	Lord Greaves
uin	HL253
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/01/2020 answer text <p>The Government have no plans to revoke the moratorium on shale gas extraction.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has always been clear that we will take a precautionary approach and only support shale gas exploration if it can be done in a safe and sustainable way, and that we will be led by the science on whether this is indeed possible.</p><p> </p><p>It remains our policy to be guided by the evidence and to minimise disturbance to those living and working nearby to shale gas exploration sites, and to prevent the risk of any damage.</p><p> </p><p>The moratorium will be maintained unless compelling new evidence is provided which addresses the concerns around the prediction and management of induced seismicity.</p> answering member printed Lord Duncan of Springbank question first answered 14/01/2020 15:04:50 answering member 4686 label Biography information for Lord Duncan of Springbank
tabling member	2569 label Biography information for Lord Greaves

1169553

registered interest
date	08/01/2020
answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept id	201
answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
hansard heading	Renewable Energy
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what additional steps her Department has taken to increase the supply of renewable energy production.
tabling member constituency	Hornsey and Wood Green
tabling member printed	Catherine West
uin	1422
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/01/2020 answer text <p>This Government is committed to meeting net zero by 2050, and in 2019, the Government became the first major economy in the world to have legislated for a net zero target to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions from across the UK economy by 2050. We agree with the Committee on Climate Change’s view on the importance of a diverse mix of power generation sources to achieve that with renewables providing the majority of our electricity by 2050 alongside firm low carbon power from sources such as nuclear, and gas or biomass generation with carbon capture and storage.</p><p>The Government has introduced many initiatives to increase the supply of renewable energy production in the UK and with this support, carbon emissions have reduced by 42%, while the economy has grown by 73% since 1990. We have also seen rapid deployment of solar PV over the last 8 years, with over 99% of the UK’s solar PV capacity deployed since May 2010 and half of the world’s offshore wind deploying in the UK. We have committed up to £557m of annual support for future Contracts for Difference, providing developers with the confidence they need to invest in bringing forward new projects and we are supporting our world-leading offshore wind industry through the 2019 sector deal.</p><p>In order to support smaller scale renewable electricity generation, the Government introduced the Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) on 1 January, which gives small scale low-carbon electricity generators, such as homes with solar panels, the right to be paid for the renewable electricity they export to the grid. Unlike the previous Feed-in Tariff scheme, the SEG is a market-driven mechanism. It paves the way to projects being deployed without subsidies.</p><p>The Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) supports the transition to low-carbon heating in the UK, helping generate renewable heat for schools, hospitals and more than 12,000 social housing properties. The scheme is designed to bridge the gap between the cost of fossil fuel heat sources and renewable heat alternatives through financial support for owners of participating installations. The RHI helps to sustain and build the supply-chains needed to deliver our aspirations for renewable heat in 2020 and beyond</p><p>We are working to develop a new policy framework for the long-term decarbonisation of heat. We have committed to publishing a policy roadmap in summer 2020. This will set out the programme of work required to enable key strategic decisions in the first half of 2020 on how we achieve mass transition to low carbon heating.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Spelthorne answering member printed Kwasi Kwarteng question first answered 14/01/2020 11:44:03 answering member 4134 label Biography information for Kwasi Kwarteng previous answer version 742 answering member constituency Spelthorne answering member printed Kwasi Kwarteng answering member 4134 label Biography information for Kwasi Kwarteng
tabling member	4523 label Biography information for Catherine West

1169594

registered interest
date	08/01/2020
answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept id	201
answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
hansard heading	Heating: Renewable Energy
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent comparative assessment his Department has made of the costs and benefits of the use of solar thermal collectors as alternatives to water heated by heat pumps and solar PV panels; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Christchurch
tabling member printed	Sir Christopher Chope
uin	1269
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/01/2020 answer text <p>The use of electricity from solar PV to heat water is most commonly achieved by directly heating water in a thermal store using an immersion heater rather than a heat pump. As heating water with heat pumps and solar PV panels is relatively uncommon, and this method is not considered to be a potential major source of renewable heat generation in the future, the Department has not made a comparative assessment of the costs and benefits of the use of solar thermal collectors against water heated by heat pumps and solar PV.</p> answering member constituency Spelthorne answering member printed Kwasi Kwarteng question first answered 14/01/2020 11:43:45 answering member 4134 label Biography information for Kwasi Kwarteng previous answer version 740 answering member constituency Spelthorne answering member printed Kwasi Kwarteng answering member 4134 label Biography information for Kwasi Kwarteng
tabling member	242 label Biography information for Sir Christopher Chope

1169647

registered interest
date	08/01/2020
answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept id	201
answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
hansard heading	Weather: Forecasts
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how they monitor the accuracy of weather forecasts issued by the Meteorological Office; and whether the accuracy of forecasts has (1) increased, (2) decreased, or (3) remained the same during the last five years.
tabling member printed	Lord Jopling
uin	HL222
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/01/2020 answer text <p>The core task of the Met Office is to deliver the Public Weather Service (PWS). The PWS Customer Group (PWSCG), which has an independent chair responsible to the Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation, monitors the delivery of the PWS against agreed performance indicators and targets, including the accuracy of public facing forecasts.</p><p> </p><p>Over the last 5 years, the PWSCG has set targets each year for the accuracy of forecasts for maximum and minimum temperature, 3 hourly temperature, wind speed and wind direction at days 1, 3, and 5 ahead. During this period the accuracy of all these forecasts has increased.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, the Met Office has a performance indicator that compares the accuracy of its global forecast model against other global modelling centres to demonstrate that it is maintaining its position in global forecast accuracy. Over the last 5 years the Met Office has maintained its position as the leading national meteorological service.</p> answering member printed Lord Duncan of Springbank question first answered 14/01/2020 15:05:24 answering member 4686 label Biography information for Lord Duncan of Springbank
tabling member	883 label Biography information for Lord Jopling

1169111

registered interest
date	07/01/2020
answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept id	201
answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
hansard heading	Renewable Energy: Carbon Emissions
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the Answer of 7 October 2016 to Question 45055, how many tonnes of carbon dioxide were displaced by renewable (a) electricity and (b) heat generation in (i) the UK, (ii) England, (iii) Scotland and (iv) Wales in (A) 2016, (B) 2017 and (C) 2018.
tabling member constituency	Kilmarnock and Loudoun
tabling member printed	Alan Brown
uin	1050
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/01/2020 answer text <p>The Answer of 7 October 2016 to Question 45055 estimated the displacement of carbon dioxide emissions in 2015 as renewable electricity generation multiplied by the average emissions factor for electricity supplied by fossil fuel stations in 2015. However, using the same methodology for subsequent years would be misleading due to the steep drop in the average fossil fuels emissions factor between 2015 and 2016. The increase in the carbon price floor in 2015 and closure of coal-fired power stations drove a switch from coal to gas generation. This methodology would therefore not differentiate between the reduction in carbon dioxide due to displacement of coal by gas and the reduction due to the displacement of fossil fuels by renewables.</p> answering member constituency Spelthorne answering member printed Kwasi Kwarteng question first answered 14/01/2020 11:44:13 answering member 4134 label Biography information for Kwasi Kwarteng
tabling member	4470 label Biography information for Alan Brown

1169214

registered interest
date	07/01/2020
answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept id	201
answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
hansard heading	Living Wage
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how frequently she plans to raise the National Living Wage to meet the Government target of two-thirds of median earnings by 2024.
tabling member constituency	Bolton South East
tabling member printed	Yasmin Qureshi
uin	969
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/01/2020 answer text <p>The Government has announced that in April 2020 the National Living Wage (NLW) will increase by 6.2 per cent to £8.72 for those aged 25 and over. The Government has also announced inflation-beating increases in the National Minimum Wage (NMW) rates for younger workers and apprentices of between 4.6 per cent and 6.5 per cent.</p><p> </p><p>My Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer has pledged that the NLW will increase further, reaching two-thirds of median earnings by 2024, providing economic conditions allow. The Government also plans to expand the reach of the NLW, bringing down the eligibility threshold first to age 23 in 2021 and then to 21 by 2024.</p><p> </p><p>The Government increases the NLW and NMW rates annually with consideration to recommendations made by the independent Low Pay Commission (LPC). The Government will publish the LPC’s 2020 remit, which will include details of the new target for the NLW to reach two-thirds of median earnings by 2024.</p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst question first answered 14/01/2020 10:05:36 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
tabling member	3924 label Biography information for Yasmin Qureshi

1168898

registered interest
date	06/01/2020
answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept id	201
answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
hansard heading	Pregnancy: Discrimination
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment the Government has made of trends in the level of pregnancy and maternity discrimination in the workplace; and if she will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Linlithgow and East Falkirk
tabling member printed	Martyn Day
uin	424
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/01/2020 answer text <p>The Government recognises the importance of tackling pregnancy and maternity discrimination. That is why we committed in our Manifesto to reform redundancy law so companies cannot discriminate against women after they have returned from maternity leave.</p><p>The Government is currently undertaking the Maternity and Paternity Rights Survey which surveys over 3,000 parents across Great Britain to understand leave and employment decisions when they have a baby, this includes a question on whether a parent experienced any discrimination at work.</p><p>The Government will undertake further research into pregnancy and maternity related discrimination when the current package of interventions has had time to take effect.</p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst question first answered 14/01/2020 11:44:20 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
tabling member	4488 label Biography information for Martyn Day