Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to promote the uptake of electric cars by Government departments..
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
Decarbonising road transport is critical to delivering the UK’s net zero ambitions and the Government has an important leadership role to play in driving this transition.
As of September 2022, over 25% of the cars and vans in the central government fleet were ultra-low emission vehicles, delivering this target well ahead of the Government’s December 2022 deadline. The Government is now going even further and has committed to its car and van fleet being fully zero emission at the tailpipe by 31 December 2027. Departmental officials are working with colleagues from the Crown Commercial Service and Energy Saving Trust to provide other government departments with advice and guidance to support them to deliver this commitment.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he held discussions with Cabinet colleagues on the potential impact of the provisions of the Windsor Framework on the Government's ability to zero rate or exempt new goods and services from VAT.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Windsor Framework establishes new freedoms for the UK to set VAT rates and thresholds in Northern Ireland that go far beyond those available before EU Exit. That includes the ability to zero rate additional goods for VAT and vary the VAT registration threshold.
All tax policy is a matter for the Chancellor, including how this applies in Northern Ireland, and any potential changes will be considered at future fiscal events.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has had discussions with Cabinet colleagues on the potential impact of the provisions of the Windsor Framework on the Government's ability to zero rate and exempt additional goods and services from VAT in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Windsor Framework establishes new freedoms for the UK to set VAT rates and thresholds in Northern Ireland that go far beyond those available before EU Exit. That includes the ability to zero rate additional goods for VAT and vary the VAT registration threshold.
All tax policy is a matter for the Chancellor, including how this applies in Northern Ireland, and any potential changes will be considered at future fiscal events.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has had discussions with his Cabinet colleagues on the potential impact of the provisions of the Windsor Agreement on his ability to vary the VAT registration threshold for Northern Ireland.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Windsor Framework establishes new freedoms for the UK to set VAT rates and thresholds in Northern Ireland that go far beyond those available before EU Exit. That includes the ability to zero rate additional goods for VAT and vary the VAT registration threshold.
All tax policy is a matter for the Chancellor, including how this applies in Northern Ireland, and any potential changes will be considered at future fiscal events.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has had discussions with his Cabinet colleagues on the potential impact of the provisions of the Windsor Agreement on his ability to vary the VAT registration threshold.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Windsor Framework establishes new freedoms for the UK to set VAT rates and thresholds in Northern Ireland that go far beyond those available before EU Exit. That includes the ability to zero rate additional goods for VAT and vary the VAT registration threshold.
All tax policy is a matter for the Chancellor, including how this applies in Northern Ireland, and any potential changes will be considered at future fiscal events.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether he has made an estimate of the additional grid capacity the UK will need in 10 years' time to meet the increased demand for electricity and increased renewable supply.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Analysis set out in the Electricity Networks Strategic Framework[1], jointly published by BEIS and Ofgem, suggests grid capacity would need to increase to accommodate a peak electricity demand of between 85-90GW by 2033, up from around 60 GW in 2023.
[1]BEIS, 2022, Electricity networks strategic framework, Appendix 1: Electricity Networks Modelling, section 2.1, p. 12, figure 2, https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/electricity-networks-strategic-framework
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what estimate his Department has made of retirement dates for existing nuclear power stations.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Shadow Minister (Energy Security and Net Zero)
EDF has recently announced that Heysham 1 and Hartlepool Nuclear Power Stations will continue to operate until March 2026, an extension of two years. Heysham 2 and Torness Power Station are currently planned to generate until 2028, and Sizewell B is expected to continue generation past 2028.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of how long it will take to place contracts to build new smaller nuclear power stations.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Shadow Minister (Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is committed to ensuring that the UK is one of the best places in the world to invest in new nuclear and intends to take one project to Final Investment Decision (FID) this Parliament and two projects to FID in the next Parliament, including Small Modular Reactors. As with any Government decision, this will be subject to value for money, relevant approvals, and technology readiness/maturity.
The Government also intends to initiate a selection process in 2023, with the intention to enter negotiations with the most credible projects to enable a potential Government award of support as soon as possible.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent estimate he has made of the level of (a) oil and (b) gas production in the UK in the next two years.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero does not estimate levels of future UK oil and gas production. Projections are made by the North Sea Transition Authority and are published here: https://www.nstauthority.co.uk/data-centre/data-downloads-and-publications/production-projections/.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Windsor Framework, published on 27 February 2023, CP 806, what EU requirements and rules on Excise taxes will apply to Northern Ireland under the Windsor Agreement.
Answered by Leo Docherty
The Windsor Framework secures substantive, legally binding changes, ensuring that Northern Ireland will benefit from the same VAT and alcohol taxes as apply in the rest of the United Kingdom. It specifically amends the legal text of the treaty to provide these critical freedoms and to lock in flexibility for the future.
Under these arrangements, the Government will restore the integrity of the UK internal market and UK VAT and excise area:
● The Windsor Framework enables the Government to bring forward legislation to ensure that Northern Ireland will be able to apply zero rates of VAT to the installation of energy-saving materials such as heat pumps and solar panels - rectifying the disparity between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
● It ensures that reforms to alcohol duties, due to take effect this summer, will apply right across the UK from the outset - meaning cheaper pints in pubs and a clearer set of duties overall.
● It removes the limit on the number of reduced and zero rates in Northern Ireland, ensuring parity across the United Kingdom.
● It delivers full flexibility on rates in the future, by establishing new categories that can be applied for VAT purposes where goods are connected to property or consumed in Northern Ireland.
● It protects Northern Ireland's second-hand car market into the future with a new scheme to take effect from 1 May 2023, ending two years of uncertainty for traders and consumers.
● It exempts Northern Ireland businesses from a range of bureaucratic EU rules: saving 2,000 Northern Ireland businesses from needing to register for VAT under a 2025 EU Directive; and avoiding a range of other new burdens on SMEs, and divergence with Great Britain.
● And it establishes a brand new mechanism, first proposed in the UK's 2021 Command Paper, enabling the UK and EU to look at future EU rule changes and make further legally binding changes to resolve any distortive impacts that new EU red tape could cause.