Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
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 net negative generator payments on the Contracts for Difference Scheme.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Under the Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme, a generator is paid the difference between the ‘strike price’ – a price for electricity reflecting the cost of investing in a particular low carbon technology – and the ‘reference price’ – a cost measure of the average GB market price for electricity. Generators have to pay back the difference to the Low Carbon Contracts Company (LCCC) when market prices are higher than the strike price.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
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 take steps with Cabinet colleagues to prevent the use of fire and rehire practices in the food production and processing sector.
Answered by Paul Scully
This Government has been clear that we expect employers to treat their employees fairly and in the spirit of partnership. Using threats about firing and rehiring as a negotiation tactic is unacceptable. We expect employers and employees to negotiate new terms and conditions and there are laws around how this must be done, and legal protections in place when firms are considering redundancies.
We asked Acas to conduct an evidence-gathering exercise to improve our evidence base. We welcome Acas’ report on this work which was published on 8 June.
The Acas report demonstrated that there are different views on whether the practice can ever be justified. For some of the organisations consulted by Acas, it is never acceptable. For others, in its most legitimate form ‘fire and rehire’ is a route for employers to avoid redundancies and business failures, after negotiations have been exhausted.
I have asked Acas to produce better, more comprehensive, clearer guidance to help employers explore all the options before considering ‘fire and rehire’ and encourage good employment relations practice.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
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 take steps to ensure that businesses receiving Government covid-19-related support do not make staff redundant.
Answered by Paul Scully
Throughout this crisis, the Government has sought to protect people’s jobs and livelihoods whilst supporting businesses and public services across the UK.
The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) is specifically designed to protect jobs, and it has been used by 1.2 million employers to support 9.9 million jobs.
The legal position in relation to redundancy and dismissal remains the same whether or not an employee has been furloughed or whether or not the employer has received Government funding. Any redundancy process should be fair and reasonable with appropriate equalities considerations. Employees with the necessary qualifying service who believe that they have been unfairly selected for redundancy, or that the redundancy was unfair in some other way, may be able to complain to an employment tribunal.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what direct financial support or grants the Government plans to make available for food and drink wholesalers as a result of those wholesalers not qualifying for support as they are not categorised as retail.
Answered by Paul Scully
Food and drink wholesalers are able to benefit from additional financial support recently announced by my Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, including the extension of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme until the end of March 2021,?extension of the existing loan schemes?and Future Fund?to the end of January 2021, with an ability to top-up bounce back loans, and?increased support through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme Grant Extension.
Additionally, £1.1bn is being given to Local Authorities, distributed?on the basis of?£20 per head, for one-off payments to enable them to support businesses more broadly.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
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 will take to ensure that trade unions organising (a) seafarers, (b) port workers and (c) offshore oil and gas workers are consulted as part of the work of the Green Jobs Taskforce.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
The Green Jobs Taskforce brings together the views of businesses, employees and the skills sectors to support the Government’s ambitious plans to build back greener and achieve net zero emissions by 2050.
The core membership of the Taskforce includes representatives from the Trade Union Congress and Prospect. We are committed to hearing from a diverse range of voices and there will be opportunities for other stakeholders to contribute.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
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 the Green Jobs Taskforce, how many jobs he plans to create in the offshore wind supply chain by 2030.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
The number of jobs supported by the sector between now and 2030 will depend on the rate of build, the profile and level of investment, and the level of UK content in the supply chain. The offshore wind sector could support around 60,000 direct and indirect UK jobs by 2030, on the basis of 40GW of offshore wind being deployed, and the sector deal raising UK content in new projects to the target of 60%.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with the Department for Transport on the role of the Green Jobs Taskforce in creating employment across public transport modes to 2030.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
The Green Jobs Taskforce forms part of the Government’s ambitious plan to build back greener and achieve net zero emissions by 2050, which will require action across Government.
Ministers and officials engage regularly with other departments, including counterparts at the Department for Transport, on tackling climate change and delivering our net zero commitments. Department for Transport officials have been involved in cross-Government discussions to support the work of the Taskforce. We will continue to work together across Government as the work of the Taskforce progresses.