Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of introducing warning labels for ultra-processed foods to help consumers make more informed choices.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Food labelling rules require that information should not be misleading to consumers and should allow consumers to make informed choices. The rules include the requirement to list ingredients in detail on all prepacked food along with nutrition labelling which sets out the energy value and amounts of fat, saturates, carbohydrate, sugars, protein and salt. By viewing this information, consumers can know what is in a food and its key nutritional properties. A requirement to add a warning to food labels is reserved for cases where there is an identified and specific risk to all or a section of consumers, about which they need to be alerted. Such warnings are included in food information regulations relating, for example, to the presence of caffeine above certain levels or aspartame being a source of Phenylalanine as a warning for sufferers of Phenylketonuria (PKU). We are not considering warning labels for Ultra-processed food.
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an estimate of the number of people in Carmarthenshire living in areas supplied by mains gas who were eligible for the Alternative Fuel Payment but who have not applied for their entitlement.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The information requested is not held centrally.
The Alternative Fuel Payment (AFP) scheme delivered payments of £200 to households who use alternative fuels such as heating oil, liquefied petroleum gas, coal or biomass, helping around 2 million off-gas-grid households to meet their energy costs. The scheme particularly supported households in rural areas that are not connected to the gas grid.
Over 85% of eligible households received the payment automatically via their electricity supplier during February, and a small proportion of households needed to apply for the AFP, for example when households in their local area predominantly use electricity or mains gas for their heating.
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he plans to issue medals for nuclear test veterans before the Remembrance Sunday in November 2023.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 19 June 2023 to Question 189445 to the hon. Member for Luton South (Ms Hopkins).
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of reopening the Alternative Fuels Payment scheme for people who live in mains gas areas and use an alternative fuel but have not yet claimed their payment.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The AFP Alternative Fund was open to applications from 6 March to 31 May inclusive and the Government has no plans to re-open the scheme.
The Government is continually reviewing the financial support it provides for the differing energy needs within its communities. This includes the Help for Households campaign that has numerous Cost of Living support schemes in 2023/2024. You can visit the Help for Households webpage on GOV.UK which outlines details of the support offered: https://helpforhouseholds.campaign.gov.uk.
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending Ofcom's regulatory role to include courier services.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Postal Services Act 2011 provides Ofcom with powers to impose conditions on postal operators, including courier services. Ofcom consulted on consumer protection in the parcels market, as part of its 2022 review of postal regulation. As a result, new guidance came into effect in April 2023 on how Ofcom expects parcel operators to comply with their current obligations.
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what guidance her Department issues on whether Building Digital UK vouchers are transferable assets if a broadband company falls into administration.
Answered by John Whittingdale
Building Digital UK (BDUK) monitors the general health of the voucher suppliers it works with on the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme. Any vouchers issued under the scheme are owned by the beneficiary, rather than the supplier assigned to the project, however only the supplier assigned to the project by BDUK can claim the funding.
If a voucher supplier goes into administration, BDUK will review options for ensuring premises included in any of their voucher projects can be covered through one of our programmes. If the supplier is acquired by another company, the new owner may retain the vouchers projects through formal, mutual agreement. Alternatively, the premises covered by the vouchers could be incorporated into a Project Gigabit procurement or existing contract.
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of strengthening consumer protections for people in isolated properties in rural areas to which courier services do not deliver.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government imposes a Universal Service Obligation (USO) on Royal Mail, requiring delivery of parcels up to 20 kilograms 5 days-a-week at uniform rates throughout the UK, with-out any geographical restrictions. Outside of the USO, delivery practices remain commercial decisions for parcel operators. The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 and the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 require all retailers to provide up front information to consumers regarding any delivery restrictions.
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
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 geothermal energy potential of minewater in the South Wales Coalfield; and whether he has had recent discussions with the Welsh Government on this issue.
Answered by Graham Stuart
There is ongoing work to assess the potential contribution of geothermal heat in Wales. The Coal Authority is working closely with the Welsh Government to produce a full Mine Water Heat resource map for Wales, identifying key opportunity locations and an overall resource estimate. The map is scheduled for completion later this year.
Heat is a devolved policy area but the Department has funded studies for local authorities to explore minewater heat opportunities across South Wales.
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking with BT to ensure that consumers who do not have mobile signal in their homes will be able to contact emergency services during a power cut following the digital voice roll-out.
Answered by John Whittingdale
Communication Providers are required by the Communications Act (2003) to ensure the continuity of access to the Public Emergency Call Service, via the telephone numbers 999 and 112. These obligations are set out in the General Conditions of Entitlement and are regulated by Ofcom.
In 2018, Ofcom published guidance on how telecoms companies can fulfil this General Condition in light of the industry’s decision to retire the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) and replace it with Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology. The guidance states that in the event of a power outage at least one solution must be available for consumers, providing access for a minimum of one hour. The solution should be suitable for customers’ needs and should be offered free of charge to those who are at risk as they are dependent on their landline, such as those with no mobile phone signal. These are minimum standards, and in practice many providers are offering solutions which exceed them.
The Government and Ofcom regularly engage with the telecoms industry to monitor their migration process and ensure providers are taking appropriate steps to protect vulnerable consumers. In January, Minister Julia Lopez held a roundtable with the major Communications Providers to discuss how the telecommunications industry will support consumers as they transition to VoIP services.
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what recent discussions he has had with telephone providers on the transition from analogue to digital landlines.
Answered by John Whittingdale
Communication Providers are required by the Communications Act (2003) to ensure the continuity of access to the Public Emergency Call Service, via the telephone numbers 999 and 112. These obligations are set out in the General Conditions of Entitlement and are regulated by Ofcom.
In 2018, Ofcom published guidance on how telecoms companies can fulfil this General Condition in light of the industry’s decision to retire the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) and replace it with Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology. The guidance states that in the event of a power outage at least one solution must be available for consumers, providing access for a minimum of one hour. The solution should be suitable for customers’ needs and should be offered free of charge to those who are at risk as they are dependent on their landline, such as those with no mobile phone signal. These are minimum standards, and in practice many providers are offering solutions which exceed them.
The Government and Ofcom regularly engage with the telecoms industry to monitor their migration process and ensure providers are taking appropriate steps to protect vulnerable consumers. In January, Minister Julia Lopez held a roundtable with the major Communications Providers to discuss how the telecommunications industry will support consumers as they transition to VoIP services.