Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent progress he has made on a steel sector deal; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
Government remains committed to a strong steel industry. We are actively working with UK Steel to pursue a sector deal whilst in parallel also discussing the investment plans of individual companies to enable them to secure a sustainable future.
We have commissioned independent research which has identified future domestic market opportunities for the UK steel sector worth an additional £3.8 billion per year by 2030. We are actively encouraging the UK steel sector to come forward with their plans to exploit these opportunities and improve their competitiveness. .
We will continue to work closely with the sector, their supply chain, the trade unions, and the devolved administrations.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to faulty engines of the Ford Ecoboost, what steps the Office of Product Safety and Standards plans to take to support both the recall of that vehicle and consumers that have been affected.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Office for Product Safety and Standards was established in January 2018 to further improve the UK’s leading product safety system. It covers general consumer product safety, but not vehicles, food, medicines, medical devices, construction products or workplace equipment which are all covered by separate bodies.
The Department of Transport has policy responsibility for vehicle safety and the Driver and Vehicles Standards Agency, an executive agency of the Department for Transport, is responsible for automotive safety defect and recall matters.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much money from the public purse has been spent on the Post Office franchising programme since 2013.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
Government has invested over £2 billion in the Post Office since 2010. Funding has been split between subsidy funding to support branches that are not economically viable and investment funding to modernise the post office, including transforming branches and franchising some directly managed branches. The split for the current funding package between April 2018 to March 2021 is £210 million in investment funding and £160 million in subsidy.
While the Government sets the strategic direction for the Post Office, it allows the company the commercial freedom to deliver this strategy as an independent business. Thus, the precise allocation of funding to different programmes is an operational matter for Post Office Limited and is reported in their annual report and accounts which can be found on their website at http://corporate.postoffice.co.uk/.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to paragraph 27 of the White Paper, The future relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union, Cm 9593, published on 12 July 2018, what steps the Government plans to take to maintain consumer standards for goods after the UK leaves the EU; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
Voluntary standards are developed by the British Standards Institution (BSI), which is the UK member of the European standards organisations (ESOs). BSI is independent of the Government and the ESOs are independent of the EU.
Voluntary standards, including those for consumer goods, may be used to support regulations, and the adoption of a common rulebook would mean that the same standards are used in the UK and the EU, ensuring consumers are not confused by multiple standards for the same products.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
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 (a) effectiveness of the product safety and the enforcement regime in the UK; and (b) effect on the product safety enforcement regime of the UK leaving the EU.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Government published its strategy for product safety “Strengthening national capacity for product safety: Strategy 2018-2020” on 10 August. This includes an analysis of the product safety landscape and sets out our plan to further strengthen the UK approach.
Ensuring the UK retains an effective product safety regime on EU exit remains a priority and the Office for Product Safety and Standards will continue to work with Local Authority Trading Standards and businesses to ensure that products being placed on the UK market are safe.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what representations he has made to Ofgem regarding its Targeted Charging Review and the effect of that review on (a) the steel sector and (b) energy intensive industries in the UK.
Answered by Claire Perry
Network charging is a matter for Ofgem as the independent regulator, and decisions on the outcome of the Targeted Charging Review are for it to make. However, Government is working to understand the policy implications of any review proposals across a broad range of interests, including the steel sector and energy intensive industries.
Ofgem has not yet decided on any option, and plans to consult on a proposed approach later this year. It is continuing to undertake widescale stakeholder engagement, and we are encouraging all interested parties to engage with Ofgem to ensure their perspectives and evidence can be taken into account.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to ensure that the brewing industry has an adequate supply of CO2 to service (a) pubs and (b) retail outlets with (i) beer and (ii) cider in the next three months.
Answered by Andrew Griffiths
The Government recognises the importance of the industrial gases sector, which underpins a number of sectors including food and drink. We understand the concerns of the food and drink sector due to the international carbon dioxide (CO2) shortage.
I have spoken with UK producers and suppliers on a regular basis highlighting the need to restore supplies as quickly as possible and encouraged them to raise with the Government any issues where we may be able to help overcome any obstacles.
We have been assured CO2 producers are working as fast as they can to get the remaining UK plant producing again, CO2 distribution from previously disrupted plants is already reaching the supply chain and the overall CO2 supply has increased this week. Any residual disruption should be resolved in the coming days as the sector returns to business as usual.
I have had discussions with pub and retail outlets about the situation and their concerns. BEIS and DEFRA officials have also been in regular contact with food and drink industry stakeholders via DEFRA’s long-established Food Chain Emergency Liaison Group and other interested stakeholders, including alcoholic drink, pub and retailer trade associations.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make it his policy to help reduce energy prices for (a) the UK steel industry and (b) other energy intensive industries in the UK to bring them in line with their EU counterparts.
Answered by Claire Perry
We recognise that our industrial electricity costs are currently higher than some of our EU counterparts, but we already provide substantial compensation to eligible energy intensive industries (EIIs), including sectors such as steel, for the cumulative cost of energy and climate change policies, reducing the impact of these policies on their electricity bills by up to around 80%. This package of relief for EIIs is worth over £800 million since 2013. Ensuring that the UK is competitive on the energy costs faced by manufacturing industry is an important element of our Industrial Strategy.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of regulation 41 of the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013.
Answered by Andrew Griffiths
The Department is undertaking a review of the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, including Regulation 41 (the provision of basic rate customer helplines), and will publish a report by in due course as required under the Regulations.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 6 February 2018 to Question 126973, if he will urgently respond to the steel sector deal proposal.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
Sector Deals have proven to be a popular concept since suggested in the Industrial Strategy Green Paper in January 2017.
A number of other sectors, including the steel sector, have expressed interest in a Sector Deal and, as set out in the White Paper, we expect to progress with further Deals that best meet the expectations set out in the White Paper, in due course.
We continue to work with the sector, the unions and devolved administrations to support the development of a long-term viable solution for the UK steel industry.