Asked by: Ian Mearns (Labour - Gateshead)
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 review the Crown Estate’s licensing process for offshore wind farms to ensure that (a) employment and (b) port activity in the supply chain is reserved for UK based (i) workers and (ii) ports after the EU transition period expires.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
The Crown Estate is an independent commercial business, created by Act of Parliament, and the Department does not have powers to review their licensing process. However, Ministers and officials of the Department work closely with the Crown Estate to ensure that offshore wind leasing process are consistent with the Government’s renewable ambitions to achieve net zero by 2050 while boosting the UK economy.
Asked by: Ian Mearns (Labour - Gateshead)
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 amend the Contracts for Difference auction process for offshore wind farm projects on the UK Continental Shelf to weight the process in favour of developers who commit to use Tier 1-3 contractors who employ (a) seafarers and (b) other maritime workers in the domestic supply chain.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
The Government is currently consulting on proposals to strengthen Contracts for Difference (CfD) Supply Chain Plans, to align them more closely with government priorities. We propose to introduce consequences for non-delivery of commitments that developers put forward in their Supply Chain Plans and strengthen the monitoring process to support compliance.
These measures should be seen alongside my Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister’s recent announcement on £160 million of new funding towards investment to upgrade ports and infrastructure to ensure UK ports have the necessary facilities and capabilities to meet the future needs of offshore wind developers. Together with other commitments on offshore wind, this will enable the sector to support up to 60,000 jobs directly and indirectly by 2030 in ports, factories and the supply chains.
Asked by: Ian Mearns (Labour - Gateshead)
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 amend the Contracts for Difference auction process for offshore wind farm projects on the UK Continental Shelf to weight the process in favour of developers who commit to the exclusive use of UK ports by their Tier 1-3 contractors.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
The Government is currently consulting on proposals to strengthen Contracts for Difference (CfD) Supply Chain Plans, to align them more closely with government priorities. We propose to introduce consequences for non-delivery of commitments that developers put forward in their Supply Chain Plans and strengthen the monitoring process to support compliance.
These measures should be seen alongside my Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister’s recent announcement on £160 million of new funding towards investment to upgrade ports and infrastructure to ensure UK ports have the necessary facilities and capabilities to meet the future needs of offshore wind developers and remain competitive.
Asked by: Ian Mearns (Labour - Gateshead)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when he plans to launch revised local content methodology for the offshore wind industry; and whether that methodology will apply to supply chain contractors.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
The Offshore Wind Industry committed to updating its UK content methodology and a longer-term move towards increased transparency as part of the Offshore Wind Sector Deal. The industry has committed to reviewing the methodology and they will publish this once agreed.
The methodology applies to every developer, who are obliged to seek UK content data from their suppliers, using the same methodology, for all contracts above £10m.
Asked by: Ian Mearns (Labour - Gateshead)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans his Department has to review the (a) weekly income limit, (b) maximum number of qualifying years and (c) other eligibility criteria and limitations on the Statutory Redundancy Pay Scheme.
Answered by Paul Scully
Any employee who is dismissed due to redundancy and who satisfies certain qualifying conditions has a statutory entitlement to a lump sum from their employer, based on their age, length of service and contractual weekly earnings, subject to a statutory upper limit, payable at, or soon after, the dismissal date.
The statutory redundancy scheme is intended to provide a minimum “safety net” of entitlement for vulnerable employees, and the legislation leaves the parties free to negotiate and agree improvements on the statutory entitlement according to their own priorities, needs and circumstances.
We introduced new legislation which commenced on 31 July to ensure that furloughed employees who are subsequently made redundant receive statutory redundancy pay, statutory notice pay, unfair dismissal compensation and pay for short-time working based on the employee’s normal pay, rather than their furlough pay (potentially 80% of their normal wage). The Government has always urged employers to do the right thing and not seek to disadvantage furloughed employees who are facing redundancy.
Asked by: Ian Mearns (Labour - Gateshead)
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 any plans to increase the protections afforded to those who buy gift cards for businesses in cash, in line with those offered through the Chargeback scheme and Consumer Credit Act, in circumstances where businesses enter administration.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Department asked the Law Commission to examine the protection given to consumer prepayments, including gift vouchers, and consider whether such protections should be strengthened. The Law Commission concluded that gift voucher losses were relatively uncommon, and mandatory regulation on gift vouchers in an insolvency context would be disproportionate. Costs arising to businesses from regulation could also be passed on to consumers.
The Government has worked with the industry and consumer groups to publish better guidance for insolvency practitioners on the information that should be made available to consumers when a retailer becomes insolvent.
Asked by: Ian Mearns (Labour - Gateshead)
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 UK employment law applies to shipping companies contracted to (a) transport, (b) install, (c) construct and (d) maintain offshore wind farms on the UK Continental Shelf.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
Workers on offshore windfarms are entitled to the same protections as UK workers, including National Minimum Wage for all their work on the installation, construction and maintenance of the windfarms regardless of nationality or where they ordinarily work.
Workers on UK registered ships are entitled to National Minimum Wage for all their work on the ship wherever it is located, unless they work entirely outside the UK or are not ordinarily resident in the UK. BEIS and the DfT are working together to increase the scope of National Minimum Wage entitlement from those seafarers in internal waters to those working in the territorial sea, an area that extends up to 12 nautical miles from the mean low-water line.
This Government takes minimum wage enforcement seriously and is committed to ensuring all employers pay their workers correctly. We continue to invest heavily in minimum wage enforcement, increasing the budget to over £26 million for 2018/19, up from £13 million in 2015/16. In addition to following up on every worker complaint received, HMRC undertake proactive investigations and conduct awareness raising activities amongst both employers and workers. Last year, HMRC identified record arrears of £15.6 million, for over 200,000 workers.
Asked by: Ian Mearns (Labour - Gateshead)
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 an assessment of the effect of pre-construction agreements between offshore wind farm owners and contractors on employment (a) conditions, (b) practices and (c) levels.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
Terms and conditions of employment are for negotiation and agreement between employers and employees (or their representatives). Once agreed they form a legally binding contract of employment. While it is always open to either party to seek to renegotiate the terms of the contract, if the employer changes any of the terms without the employee’s agreement, the employee may be entitled to seek legal redress.
Importantly, workers on offshore windfarms are entitled to the same protections as UK workers, including National Minimum Wage for all their work on the installation, construction and maintenance of the windfarms regardless of nationality or where they ordinarily work.
Asked by: Ian Mearns (Labour - Gateshead)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent estimate he has made of the number of jobs that will be created for UK-resident (a) seafarers and (b) divers at the (i) transportation, (ii) installation, (iii) construction and (iv) maintenance phases of the Inch Cape Offshore Wind Farm; and what recent assurances he has sought from Red Rock Power regarding the contractors engaged to carry out each phase of work.
Answered by Claire Perry
No estimates have been made by the Government on the number of jobs that will be created by the Inch Cape Offshore Wind Farm.
Red Rock has publicly stated the Inch Cape project could create up to 1,900 jobs in the UK during construction. http://www.inchcapewind.com/news/Inch_Cape_Offshore_Wind_Development_announces_supply_chain_commitments
The project will also create long-term local jobs during the operations and maintenance of the windfarm.
The Department meets regularly with all offshore wind developers to understand their plans for delivering projects in the UK.
Asked by: Ian Mearns (Labour - Gateshead)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how regularly he meets with the Oil and Gas Authority; and when he last discussed with that authority regulatory issues affecting supply chain contractors from the shipping industry.
Answered by Claire Perry
My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and I meet regularly with the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA). These meetings include discussions about the oil and gas industry and more broadly, the challenges facing the supply chain. However, the OGA does not have regulatory responsibility for the shipping industry or its supply chains.