Asked by: Lord Stone of Blackheath (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what action they are taking against energy suppliers who issue exaggerated gas and electricity back-bills where the calculation is based on (1) incorrect readings, or (2) readings not submitted or approved by the tenant being charged.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Ofgem are responsible for enforcing supplier licence conditions. Tenants should take a meter reading as soon as they move into a property. Customers will not be responsible for energy bills with incorrect meter readings and can request a new bill from their supplier if they have been billed incorrectly.
Residential tenants are responsible for paying energy bills from the start date of their tenancy only. For non-domestic tenants, Ofgem's recent non-domestic market review found some issues with changing of tenancies, including debt repayment issues from previous tenants. The Retail Energy Code Company is working on new rules in this area.
Asked by: Lord Stone of Blackheath (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential impact of (1) improved water flow at the Sunbury lock weir system, and (2) increased river volume capacity that would arise from dredging of the non-tidal Thames below Eton, upon likely levels of flooding and damage to homes and businesses; and whether the River Thames Scheme will be used to achieve this.
Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The River Thames Scheme has assessed the impact of increasing the capacity of the weirs on the lower part of the Thames, including at Sunbury. Increasing the capacity of the weir will reduce flood risk in the Sunbury Reach and the capacity will be increased as part of the River Thames Scheme.
The River Thames Scheme will reduce flood risk by creating a flood alleviation channel in two sections, increasing the capacity of three weirs at Sunbury, Molesey and Teddington, and channel deepening on the Thames near Walton. Widespread dredging was considered as one of the options during the appraisal phase of the scheme, but it was found to only have a very modest reduction in flood risk and was not an economically viable option.
Asked by: Lord Stone of Blackheath (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the risk that energy suppliers may collude with landlords in a way which is detrimental to tenants, and what steps they are taking to prevent this.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Ofgem has guidance for tenants, setting out their energy rights, and includes rules regarding the resale of energy to third parties, such as tenants. Landlords, being the property owners, are the legal parties in contracts with energy suppliers. The Department's energy policy does not regulate landlords.
Asked by: Lord Stone of Blackheath (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the case for recognising the actions by the Young Turk and Kemalist regimes against Pontic Greeks between 1914 and 1923 as a genocide.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK's longstanding position is that determining whether a situation amounts to genocide is an issue for competent national and international courts after consideration of all of the available evidence, rather than a decision by Governments or non-judicial parties. For this reason, the UK has not made an assessment of this case.
Asked by: Lord Stone of Blackheath (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they are planning to provide mental health support to the descendants of Pontian refugees who suffered a genocide between 1914 and 1923, as recognised by the International Association of Genocide Scholars.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Mental health support is available to anyone in England experiencing mental ill health including as a result of these past events.
Asked by: Lord Stone of Blackheath (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Murray of Blidworth on 26 September (HL10323), in view of the current backlog of asylum cases, what plans they have to allow asylum seekers to work if their claim has been outstanding for nine months or more, as opposed to 12 months or more.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
Whilst we keep all policies under review, there are no plans to change the existing policy, which allows asylum seekers with pending claims to work after 12 months, restricted to jobs on the Shortage Occupation List. Our policy position distinguishes between those who need protection and those seeking to work here who should instead apply for a work visa under the Immigration Rules. Individuals in need of protection should not make perilous journeys in order to seek employment in the United Kingdom, instead they should claim asylum in the first safe country they reach.
There are also various legal routes for those seeking to work in the UK under the Points-Based System. These routes include Skilled Worker, Global Talent, and Health and Care routes, which are supporting UK businesses to recruit workers with the skills and talent they need from around the world.