Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department has had discussions with Ofgem on ensuring that energy suppliers do not inappropriately raise customers Direct Debit amounts when customers are regularly in credit.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Ministers and officials regularly meet with Ofgem to discuss a range of issues relating to the energy market.
Ofgem has taken robust action requiring suppliers with moderate or severe weaknesses to review their direct debit arrangements, submit an action plan and make repayments if needed (https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/press-release-ofgem-requires-improvements-energy-suppliers-customer-direct-debits).
Following consultation, direct debit rules for suppliers have been strengthened (https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/decision-statutory-consultation-strengthening-fixed-direct-debit-rules).
Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that UK commercial supply chains do not include (a) products, (b) minerals and (c) organic matter looted from areas of Ukraine occupied by Russia.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
In response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the UK Government has prohibited the import of all goods that come from non-government controlled Ukrainian territory in Crimea, Luhansk and Donetsk.
HMRC is responsible for enforcement of UK Trade Sanctions and Strategic Export controls working closely with Border Force.
HMRC has implemented a number of measures which aim to prevent the exportation and importation of restricted goods and has a range of enforcement options.
The Government has published guidance pages on gov.uk to ensure business activities are compliant with the current and any forthcoming sanctions against Russia.
Businesses seeking advice should approach the Export Support Service (ESS), a single point of enquiry for businesses and traders in relation to trading with Ukraine, Russia or Belarus.
Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent discussions his Department has had with representatives of Ofgem on microgeneration feed-in tariff rates for domestic home producers.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Department works closely with Ofgem to discuss a range of topics, including microgeneration feed-in tariff, and matters discussed include areas of operations and policy. Further information regarding feed-in tariff rates can be found on Ofgem’s website:
https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/environmental-and-social-schemes/feed-tariffs-fit/tariffs-and-payments.
Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent discussions his officials have had with representatives of Ofgem on ensuring adequate support for customers capping gas mains to install carbon free energy solutions.
Answered by Graham Stuart
BEIS Ministers and officials regularly meet with Ofgem representatives to discuss a range of topics related to energy markets.
Gas meters are owned by Meter Asset Providers (MAPs). Energy suppliers pay a monthly fee to MAPs to rent each meter and the cost is passed onto consumers through the standing charge. If a consumer no longer wants to use gas the supplier can remove the meter and cap the supply. The cost for this service is a commercial matter because the supplier will incur costs from the MAP for removing the meter and supplying an engineer to undertake the work.
Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department has had recent discussions with representatives of the oil and gas industry on preventing third country purchasers from reselling UK oil and gas products to sanctioned Russian organisations as a means of enabling sanction evasion.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government has implemented multiple prohibitions on the export of energy-related goods and services to Russia, including on supply and delivery via third countries. The Government works routinely with both international partners and industry representatives to ensure sanctions are robustly enforced. The Government continues regular engagement with representatives from the oil and gas industry, including official level bilaterally and ministerially chaired monthly meetings of the Oil Taskforce, ensuring that industry is ready to comply with the ban on imports of all Russian oil and oil products by the end of 2022.
Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of a revenue cap and floor mechanism for Pumped Storage Hydropower facilities on levels of (a) long-term revenue certainty for Pumped Storage Hydropower and (b) private investment into the Pumped Storage Hydropower market.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
As part of the Government’s British Energy Security Strategy commitments, the Government is considering different policy options, such as cap and floor or an optimised Capacity Market, to enable investment for large-scale, long-duration electricity storage technologies, which includes pumped hydro storage. This will complement the evidence gathered during the recent call for evidence and external analysis on these technologies.
Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if his Department will hold discussions with representatives of delivery companies on ending surcharges for deliveries to the Highlands.
Answered by Jane Hunt
The Government recognises delivery costs can be higher in some parts of the UK and strongly encourages businesses to provide consumers with a range of affordable delivery options. The Royal Mail provides a universal parcel service at a uniform price throughout the United Kingdom thanks to rules the UK government put in place in the Postal Services Act 2011.
The Consumer Protection Partnership, which includes Ofcom, Government representatives, consumer advocates and training standards officials, runs a dedicated working group to collect evidence on the issue.
Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions his Department has had with Ofgem on energy companies' policies on informing people who are moved to meter estimates when Smart Meter data is unavailable as a result of signal problems.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Energy suppliers are required by their licence conditions to take all reasonable steps to ensure their customers’ smart meters are fully functional. Suppliers are also obligated to treat customers fairly and provide information that is complete and accurate. Ofgem is responsible for regulating energy suppliers against their licence obligations
Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of setting a price cap for domestic heating in winter 2022.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The energy price cap was introduced to address an issue where certain groups of customers in the domestic market were found to be paying too much for their energy through a loyalty penalty. It therefore only applies to domestic gas and electricity consumers who are on a default or standard variable tariff. The price cap rate is set by Ofgem.
Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment his Department has made of the impact of leaving the EU on the availability of construction materials.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government regularly reviews matters related to construction skills. The Government is working closely with the industry to ensure that it can attract, retain and develop the skilled workforce it needs for the future.
Overall, the availability of construction materials is improving. Whilst manufacturers are mostly keeping up with demand, demand for some materials continues to outstrip supply due to high levels of global construction activity, lack of stock and Coronavirus-related disruption to production facilities, shipping and logistics. The Government continues to work with the Construction Leadership Council’s Product Availability Group to monitor and manage the situation.