Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the number of small (a) cafes, (b) restaurants, (c) bars and (d) other hospitality businesses which will be unable to reopen because of social distancing rules due to the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Paul Scully
We recognise the challenges facing this industry during this time. Our extensive package of support continues to be available, including our furlough scheme which has been extended until October, 100% business rates holidays, and tens of bullions of pounds’ worth of business loans and guarantees.
Information regarding the number of hospitality businesses which are currently unable to reopen is not in the public domain and is, therefore, classed as commercially sensitive information.
We are working with the sector at pace to develop guidance on how these businesses can reopen safely. The Pubs and Restaurants working level Technical Group comprised stakeholders from a cross-section of the sector, with representation from trade bodies to small and medium sized operators, unions, as well as the supply chain, Public Health England and the Health and Safety Executive. We consulted these stakeholders due to their expertise and real-life knowledge and experience of the challenges faced by the industry during the COVID-19 outbreak.
This Guidance will be published ahead of time to allow the sector to prepare.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
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 3 March 2020 to Question 21910, whether his Department plans to make an assessment of the merits of including measures to decrease the qualifying period for unfair dismissal claims to one year in the Employment Rights Bill.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government has no plans to make an assessment of the merits of decreasing the qualifying period for unfair dismissal claims to one year. The qualifying period aims to strike the right balance between fairness for employees and flexibility for employers.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
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 27 February 2020 to Question 19784, whether his Department has evidence of a causal link between increasing the qualifying period for unfair dismissal claims to two years and employment and unemployment rates in the UK.
Answered by Paul Scully
There is a correlation between regulatory frameworks and how an economy performs but it is difficult to attribute a causal link to specific aspects of regulation within the UK’s labour market framework. The Government is committed to making the UK the best place in the world to work and grow a business. In the recent Queen’s Speech, we announced that we would bring forward an Employment Rights Bill to deliver the greatest reforms of workers’ rights in over 20 years.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
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 potential merits of reverting to a one-year qualifying period for unfair dismissal claims.
Answered by Paul Scully
At the time of increasing the qualifying period for unfair dismissal claims to two years, the policy intention was to increase business confidence in recruiting and retaining staff. The UK now has record levels of employment and the lowest rate of unemployment since 1975.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
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 pan-European DRIVES project, what steps he is taking with his EU counterparts to ensure that UK automotive engineering standards remain aligned with those in other parts of Europe after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
The UK automotive industry is one of our great success stories and global demand for UK designed, engineered and manufactured vehicles is strong. My rt. hon. Friend the Prime Minister has confirmed we are seeking a UK-EU free trade area underpinned by a common rule book for industrial goods and a new business-friendly customs model that avoids friction at the border.
Through the Automotive Industrial Partnership (AIP), working with Government, UK industry is leading the development of qualifications and programmes to upskill existing and future workforce, as well as supporting progression and talent retention. The AIP will take responsibility for, and to transform, the end-to-end skills system, enabling automotive employers to attract and develop the current and future skilled workforce that the sector needs to compete globally.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
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 in the last 12 months with the ATM Industry Association in Europe on interchange fees.
Answered by Margot James
The Department has had no such discussions.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many staff in his Department respond to Freedom of Information requests.
Answered by Margot James
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy does not have a specific number of staff tasked with responding to Freedom of Information (FOI) requests. On receipt FOI requests are allocated to officials in the area of the Department relevant to the subject of the request who provide the response.
The Department’s Information Rights Unit (IRU) processes all FOI requests and provides advice and assistance to policy officials on the application of information rights legislation. The IRU consists of eight members of staff.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, on how many occasions his Department took longer than 30 working days to respond to a freedom of information request in each month since July 2016.
Answered by Margot James
I refer the hon. Member to my Answer of 24 March to Question 68034:
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the average response rate was of his Department to individual Freedom of Information requests in each month since July 2016.
Answered by Margot James
Freedom of Information statistics are Official Statistics and are governed by the standards set out by the UK Statistics Authority (UKSA) in their Code of Practice. To publish information outside of the release timetable would be a breach of Protocol 2 of the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.
The latest Freedom of Information statistics were published in December 2016 and are available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/freedom-of-information-statistics-july-to-september-2016--2
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many public sector workers in further and higher education government posts received a redundancy package with a value of over £100,000 in each year since 2010.
Answered by Margot James
This information is not fully available due to HR system and service supplier changes since 2010.
There were three Department for Business, Innovation and Skills civil servants in higher and further education posts that received redundancy packages with a value in excess of £100,000 in 2011/12. There have been no other redundancy packages of this value since 2014 in these business areas.