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1128898

registered interest
date	03/06/2019
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	Iron and Steel: Recycling
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 assessment he has made of the potential merits of creating a more sustainable steel industry with a focus on recycling steel.
tabling member constituency	Newcastle-under-Lyme
tabling member printed	Paul Farrelly
uin	259037
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/06/2019 answer text <p>We are working with the sector, the unions and devolved administrations to support the UK steel industry to develop a long-term sustainable solution for the UK steel industry. The Department commissioned independent research to identify high value opportunities for UK steel, worth up to £3.8 billion a year by 2030.</p><p> </p><p>In the 2018 Budget, my rt. hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer announced an Industrial Energy Transformation Fund with investment of £315 million to help businesses with high energy use to cut their bills and transition UK industry to a low carbon future. Through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, we are also providing up to £66 million, subject to industry co-funding, to transform foundation industries which includes steel, to develop radical new technologies and establish innovation centres of excellence in these sectors.</p> answering member constituency Pendle answering member printed Andrew Stephenson question first answered 11/06/2019 15:54:14 answering member 4044 label Biography information for Andrew Stephenson
tabling member	1436 label Biography information for Paul Farrelly

1128917

registered interest
date	03/06/2019
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	Post Offices: Closures
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 discussions he has had with Post Office Ltd on the closure of Crown Post Offices; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Gedling
tabling member printed	Vernon Coaker
uin	258990
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/06/2019 answer text <p>BEIS Ministers and officials engage regularly with representatives of Post Office Limited on a range of strategic issues of mutual interest. While the Post Office is publicly owned, it is a commercial business operating in competitive markets. The Government sets the strategic direction for the Post Office – to maintain a national network accessible to all and to do so more sustainably for the taxpayer – and allows the company the commercial freedom to deliver this strategy as an independent business. Therefore, issues relating to the Post Office network, including Crown Post Offices and franchising agreements with WHSmith, are all operational matters for Post Office Limited.</p><p>Most of the UK’s Post Office network of over 11,500 branches (almost 98%) already operates successfully on a franchise or agency basis. Research by Citizens Advice (June 2017) found that franchised branches are delivering to the same, or better, standards.</p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst question first answered 06/06/2019 12:59:58 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
tabling member	360 label Biography information for Lord Coaker

1128918

registered interest
date	03/06/2019
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	Post Office: Finance
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 much funding from the public purse has been provided to Post Office Ltd in each of the last five years.
tabling member constituency	Gedling
tabling member printed	Vernon Coaker
uin	258991
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/06/2019 answer text <p>Government subsidy ensures that branches serving our rural communities that need additional support receive it so that they can stay open.</p><p> </p><p>Government subsidy has been declining in recent years; this reflects the progress that the business has made. Post Office Limited returned to profit after 16 years of losses and has thereby reduced its reliance on the taxpayer.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has provided the following funding to the Post Office over the last five years:</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Network Subsidy Payment (£ million)</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Investment funding</strong> <strong>(£ million)</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2014/15</p></td><td><p>160</p></td><td><p>170</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015/16</p></td><td><p>130</p></td><td><p>150</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016/17</p></td><td><p>80</p></td><td><p>140</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017/18</p></td><td><p>70</p></td><td><p>70</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018/19</p></td><td><p>60</p></td><td><p>168</p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst question first answered 11/06/2019 15:49:46 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst previous answer version 121125 answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
tabling member	360 label Biography information for Lord Coaker

1128919

registered interest
date	03/06/2019
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	Post Office: Finance
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 funding from the public purse will be provided to Post Office Ltd in the next three years; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Gedling
tabling member printed	Vernon Coaker
uin	258992
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/06/2019 answer text <p><strong>Draft Answer</strong></p><p>Between 2010 and 2018 the Government provided nearly £2 billion to maintain and invest in our national network. This led to the most stable Post Office network in a generation, with 93% of the population living within 1 mile and over 99% within three miles of their nearest branch.</p><p> </p><p>The funding was split into investment funding to support the modernisation of the network and the business and subsidy payment to sustain those branches that are not sustainable on a commercial basis. Government investment has also enabled the modernisation of over 7,500 branches, added more than 200,000 opening hours per week and established the Post Office as the largest network trading on Sunday.</p><p> </p><p>The current Funding Agreement between BEIS and Post Office Limited runs until the end of March 2021. The funding provided by Government over FY 2019/20 &amp; 2020/21 is as per below:</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Network Subsidy Payment (£ million)</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Investment funding</strong> <strong>(£ million)</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2019/20</p></td><td><p>50</p></td><td><p>42</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2020/21</p></td><td><p>50</p></td><td><p>-</p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst question first answered 07/06/2019 11:57:56 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst previous answer version 121126 answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
tabling member	360 label Biography information for Lord Coaker

1128920

registered interest
date	03/06/2019
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	WH Smith: Post Offices
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 discussions he has had with Post Office Ltd on the agreement they reached with WHSmith’s following the closure of Crown Post Offices; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Gedling
tabling member printed	Vernon Coaker
uin	258993
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2019 answer text <p>BEIS Ministers and officials engage regularly with representatives of Post Office Limited on a range of strategic issues of mutual interest. While the Post Office is publicly owned, it is a commercial business operating in competitive markets. The Government sets the strategic direction for the Post Office – to maintain a national network accessible to all and to do so more sustainably for the taxpayer – and allows the company the commercial freedom to deliver this strategy as an independent business. Therefore, issues relating to the Post Office network, including Crown Post Offices and franchising agreements with WHSmith, are all operational matters for Post Office Limited.</p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst question first answered 10/06/2019 08:50:41 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
tabling member	360 label Biography information for Lord Coaker

1128921

registered interest
date	03/06/2019
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	Post Offices
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 discussions he has had with Post Office Ltd on the retention of the existing network; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Gedling
tabling member printed	Vernon Coaker
uin	258994
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2019 answer text <p>BEIS Ministers and officials engage regularly with representatives of Post Office Limited on a range of strategic issues of mutual interest. While the Post Office is publicly owned, it is a commercial business operating in competitive markets. The Government sets the strategic direction for the Post Office – to maintain a national network accessible to all and to do so more sustainably for the taxpayer – and allows the company the commercial freedom to deliver this strategy as an independent business. Therefore, issues relating to the Post Office network, including Crown Post Offices and franchising agreements with WHSmith, are all operational matters for Post Office Limited.</p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst question first answered 10/06/2019 08:50:47 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
tabling member	360 label Biography information for Lord Coaker

1128938

registered interest
date	03/06/2019
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	Electricity (Connection Offer Expenses) Regulations 2018
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 assessment he has made of the potential merits of updating the Electricity (Connection Offer Expenses) Regulations 2018, Regulation 2(4) to prevent repeated expenses charges being applied to applicants by distributors for distribution quotations without renewed written warning that those charges may be incurred.
tabling member constituency	Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey
tabling member printed	Drew Hendry
uin	259312
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/06/2019 answer text <p>Distribution network operators (DNOs) must notify connection applicants that they may be required to pay connection offer expenses under the Electricity (Connection Offer Expenses) Regulations 2018, Regulation 2(4) before those expenses are incurred. Unless they have done so, DNOs may not require the applicant to pay. There are established complaint procedures should applicants feel they that a DNO is not acting in accordance with the Regulations. Details are available on all DNO websites.</p> answering member constituency Kingswood answering member printed Chris Skidmore question first answered 06/06/2019 13:20:14 answering member 4021 label Biography information for Chris Skidmore
tabling member	4467 label Biography information for Drew Hendry

1129013

registered interest
date	03/06/2019
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	Delivery Services: Scotland
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 he has made of the effect of excess delivery charges on people in the far north of Scotland; and what steps he is taking to reduce those charges.
tabling member constituency	Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross
tabling member printed	Jamie Stone
uin	259389
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/06/2019 answer text <p>As a Government we have ensured that everyone, including retailers, has access to an affordable postal service for deliveries across the UK via the Universal Service.</p><p> </p><p>The Consumer Protection Partnership is engaging with industry to understand their pricing models and how to reduce costs for consumers in Scotland and Northern Ireland but ultimately these are commercial decisions for each business. Wayfair’s decision to scrap delivery charges on purchases over £40 anywhere in the UK is the type of commercial decision that will drive competition and lead to lower costs.</p><p> </p><p>Through the CPP’s engagement, industry is showing signs of shifting with marketplaces such as Amazon and eBay currently looking at how they can improve the transparency of their delivery options. Menzies Distribution also took a commercial decision to launch a new delivery service (HighlandParcels.com) last year enabling residents in the Highlands and Islands to register and receive their parcels for a fixed fee of £4.99 per delivery.</p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst question first answered 06/06/2019 13:00:19 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
tabling member	4612 label Biography information for Jamie Stone

1129014

registered interest
date	03/06/2019
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	Delivery Services: Fees and Charges
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 steps he is taking to ensure business accountability to online guarantees of delivery costs.
tabling member constituency	Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross
tabling member printed	Jamie Stone
uin	259390
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/06/2019 answer text <p>We have been clear to retailers the need to comply with legislation by ensuring information about delivery conditions or restrictions is clear and up front at the point of purchase so consumers can make an informed choice and if appropriate choose to shop elsewhere.</p><p> </p><p>We have issued revised guidance for business and both the Competition and Markets Authority and the Advertising Standards Authority have undertaken compliance reviews and taken action as a result. The “delivery.law” website launched by Highland Trading Standards last year enables consumers to register a complaint for referral onto the relevant authority to consider enforcement action where there has been a breach of consumer law. The portal also provides guidance to business and consumers.</p><p> </p><p>Government has ensured that everyone, including retailers, has access to an affordable postal service for deliveries across the UK via the Universal Service.</p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst question first answered 06/06/2019 13:00:26 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
tabling member	4612 label Biography information for Jamie Stone

1129021

registered interest
date	03/06/2019
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	Carbon Emissions: Environment Protection
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 funding is available for communities that wish to become carbon neutral.
tabling member constituency	Stroud
tabling member printed	Dr David Drew
uin	258956
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/06/2019 answer text <p>Community and local energy projects are an important element of carbon reduction and government continues to support communities who wish to become carbon neutral or reduce their carbon footprint.</p><p> </p><p>At the end of May, the Rural Community Energy Fund reopened to support communities seeking to develop a wide range of low carbon activities. The £10m fund provides grants to communities for the feasibility studies into their ideas for action and where viable another grant to help develop the project to investment readiness.</p><p> </p><p>The Rural Community Energy Fund will be delivered through the local energy hubs, created as part of the BEIS Local Energy Programme. The 5 hubs cover all the Local Enterprise Partnerships and the South West hub is managed by the West of England Combined Authority. The hubs provide wider commercial, technical and project management support to Local Authorities on their low carbon energy projects.</p> answering member constituency Kingswood answering member printed Chris Skidmore question first answered 11/06/2019 15:50:01 answering member 4021 label Biography information for Chris Skidmore
tabling member	252 label Biography information for Dr David Drew