Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the adequacy of legislation regulating street trading in England.
Answered by Lord Henley
The rules relating to the licensing of street traders give local authorities the discretion to decide how to regulate street trading in their own area. The Government does not issue guidance to local authorities on this matter. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy does not currently have plans to assess or amend this legislation.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps, if any, they are taking to support and increase street trading.
Answered by Lord Henley
The Government supports entrepreneurs and vibrant town centres by promoting local markets, for instance through the successful Love Your Local Market campaign and Small Business Saturday. Officials in the Department for Communities and Local Government chair the Retail Markets Forum to facilitate discussion with experts from across the markets industry and help understand how best to support it. The rules relating to the licensing of street traders gives local authorities the discretion to decide how to regulate street trading in their own area. This includes decisions such as where street trading can take place and overseeing the licence application process.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking to increase the use of rooftop solar power.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
Solar PV is a UK success story. In 2013 we estimated that solar capacity would reach 10-12GW by 2020. We now expect Government support to bring forward around 13 GW by 2020. The Feed-in Tariff remains open to solar PV which provides an incentive for businesses to invest in rooftop solar.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of the Groceries Code.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
The effectiveness of the Groceries Code is being assessed as part of the on-going Statutory Review of the Groceries Code Adjudicator which will be published in due course.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of legislation in protecting consumers from fraudulent activity by builders.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPRs) prohibit traders, including builders, from engaging in unfair commercial practices against consumers. The regulations apply across all business sectors and set out a framework for how businesses must deal with consumers. Enforcement of the CPRs is by local authority trading standards services.
The Government amended the CPRs in 2014 to give consumers a new private right, making it simpler to bring their own civil actions for certain breaches. The Government also enhanced consumer protection through the Consumer Rights Act 2015, which clarifies consumer rights and remedies when contracting with traders for the provision of services. Traders are required to carry out a service with reasonable care and skill, within a reasonable time and at a reasonable cost where the price has not been agreed upfront. Where a service is not carried out in compliance with these requirements, the consumer is entitled to ask for a repeat performance of the service, or if appropriate, get a price reduction up to the full amount paid.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they last reviewed the effectiveness of the Estate Agents Act 1979.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
In 2012, the then Government consulted on a proposal to amend the scope of the Estate Agents Act 1979 (EAA) to help businesses to innovate and grow and allow new business models to emerge.
The EAA regulates the conduct of estate agency work and lays down the duties agents owe to clients and third parties.
Enforcement is carried out by The National Trading Standards Estate Agency Team who regularly reviews the redress mechanisms.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment have they made of the risk to consumers from energy scams.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
National Trading Standards (NTS) work with various bodies including the police to tackle mass marketing frauds across all sectors, including energy.
The NTS scams team works with local authorities to provide support to victims. The team currently has agreements with nearly two hundred local authorities to provide additional support for victims in their areas to them rebuild their lives.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what land or buildings owned by, leased by, or under the control of, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy they are seeking to dispose of, and for what purposes.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
Following the Machinery of Government changes, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is currently considering how best to align the reform agendas of its two predecessor Departments. This will include considering what the right footprint for the Department should be, in order to best deliver its objectives.
To contribute to the Government’s commitment to release surplus land to deliver up to 15,000 housing starts this Parliament, the Department is tasked with identifying surplus land to support 1,000 housing units. We have already identified land to support 977 housing units.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 23 January (HL Deb, col 421), which individuals sit on the working group on product recalls and safety; when it first met; when the next meeting is due to take place; and what is the scope and scale of its review.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
The Working Group on Product Recalls and Safety was announced by my hon. Friend the Minister for Small Business, Consumers and Corporate Responsibility in October 2016. The Group first met on 1 November 2016. It has subsequently met on 14 December and 8 February and the next meeting is due to take place on 13 March.
The Working Group is tasked to develop options to improve the system of product recalls and safety with an immediate focus on recommendations to improve the safety of white goods such as tumble dryers.
The Group is chaired by Neil Gibbins, Former Deputy Chief Fire Officer, Devon and Somerset. Membership of the Working Group is drawn from:
More detailed information on the activities of the Working Group, its initial recommendations and meetings notes can be found on the following website https://www.gov.uk/guidance/product-safety-working-group. The Group is due to report back to my hon. Friend in March.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have received regarding the publication of the letter they sent to Nissan regarding investment in its Sunderland plant.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
I refer the noble Lord to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy’s evidence to the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Select Committee on 14 December 2016, HC 566.