Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps her Department is taking to (a) identify and (b) prevent any potential conflicts of interest for (i) Cabinet Ministers and (ii) Ministers in her Department in relation to the UK-India free trade negotiations.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department for Business and Trade manages ministerial conflicts of interest through an established system set out in the Ministerial Code and led by the Cabinet Office. This ensures that steps are taken to avoid or mitigate any potential conflicts of interest.
The Permanent Secretary, together with the Prime Minister’s Independent Advisor for Ministers’ Interests, have reviewed the interests of DBT Ministers and, where necessary, have proposed mitigations to manage any potential conflicts of interest. These mitigations have been agreed and implemented with the relevant Minister.
We do not manage conflicts of interest for Ministers outside of the Department for Business and Trade.
The Ministerial Code is available on GOV.UK at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ministerial-code.
Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer on 24 April 2023 to Question 180639 on Health: Working Hours, what is meant by a regular basis in the context of the working time regulations; what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the implementation of health checks on a regular basis by employers of night workers; and whether her Department plans to amend the working time regulations to define what a regular basis is for health checks.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Working Time Regulations provide specific protections to night workers. Before someone starts working at night, they must be offered a free health assessment to see if they are fit to work nights before they become a night worker and on a regular basis after that. Regulation 7(1)(b) of the Working Time Regulations 1998 states “An employer… shall ensure that each night worker employed by him has the opportunity of a free health assessment at regular intervals of whatever duration may be appropriate in his case.”
We are consulting on proposals to improve how the Working Time Regulations 1998 operate without impacting the rights that really matter to workers.
Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent discussions she has had with Royal Mail on the closure of customer service points.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Decisions on the provision of Royal Mail customer service points are an operational matter for the business, provided they meet Ofcom’s regulatory requirement on Royal Mail, as the Designated Universal Service Provider, to provide access points for the universal postal service.
However, I understand Royal Mail has completed the first stage of its review of customer service points and decided to maintain the current estate.
Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer on 27 March 2023 to Question 169324 on Health: Working Hours, what plans her Department has to (a) ensure health protections for night-time workers in addition to those in the Working Time Regulations, (b) review the existing Working Time Regulations to ensure they are sufficient in ensuring health protections for night workers and (c) set out plans to institute mandatory periodic reviews of night shift workers to ensure their wellbeing while in that employment.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Working Time Regulations provide specific protections to night workers. Before someone starts working at night, they must be offered a free health assessment to see if they are fit to work nights before they become a night worker and on a regular basis after that. A record of this must be kept by the employer. Employers must also make sure that night-time workers do not work more than an average of 8 hours in a 24-hour period. Employers can make collective or workforce agreements to change or exclude this limit.
Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer on 30 March 2023 to Question 167151 on Health: Working Hours, what assessment her Department has made of (a) levels of adherence by employers to the Regulations with regard to night-work and (b) the level of effectiveness of the Working Time Regulations in ensuring health protections for night workers.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Working Time Regulations provide specific protections to night workers. Before someone starts working at night, they must be offered a free health assessment to see if they are fit to work nights before they become a night worker and on a regular basis after that. A record of this must be kept by the employer. Employers must also make sure that night-time workers do not work more than an average of 8 hours in a 24-hour period. Employers can make collective or workforce agreements to change or exclude this limit.
Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer on 27 March 2023 to Question 169324 on Health: Working Hours, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of night shift working on the health and well-being of health workers; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Working Time Regulations provide specific protections to night workers. Before someone starts working at night, they must be offered a free health assessment to see if they are fit to work nights before they become a night worker and on a regular basis after that. A record of this must be kept by the employer. Employers must also make sure that night-time workers do not work more than an average of 8 hours in a 24-hour period. Employers can make collective or workforce agreements to change or exclude this limit.
Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps her Department plans to take to protect night-shift workers from health risks linked to night-shift work in her review of the Future of Work.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Working Time Regulations provide specific protections to night workers. Before someone starts working at night, they must be offered a free health assessment to see if they are fit to work nights before they become a night worker and on a regular basis after that. A record of this must be kept by the employer. Employers must also make sure that night time workers do not work more than an average of 8 hours in a 24-hour period. Employers can make collective or workforce agreements to change or exclude this limit.
Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether her Department plans to take steps to review the health and wellbeing impact of night-time shift working; and if she will take steps to create a working group on this issue with industry stakeholders.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Working Time Regulations provide specific protections to night workers. Before someone starts working at night, they must be offered a free health assessment to see if they are fit to work nights before they become a night worker and on a regular basis after that. A record of this must be kept by the employer. Employers must also make sure that night time workers do not work more than an average of 8 hours in a 24-hour period. Employers can make collective or workforce agreements to change or exclude this limit.