Asked by: Bernard Jenkin (Conservative - Harwich and North Essex)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the decision to make a protective award to former employees of MADE.COM, what steps she is taking to help tackle the delays in processing redundancy payments by the Redundancy Payments Service.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
My officials at the Insolvency Service’s Redundancy Payments Service have confirmed that due to uncertainties around the period detailed in the Protective Award consent order, legal advice was required before payments could be made. All other redundancy related payments due to the former employees of MADE.COM, which total £436,000, have already been paid. I am pleased to confirm that following resolution, payments under the Protective Award have now commenced.
Asked by: Bernard Jenkin (Conservative - Harwich and North Essex)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many road traffic accidents have occurred on the A120 between Horsley Cross and Harwich in each of the past five years; and if he will publish details of (a) the location, (b) fatalities and (c) serious injuries in each case.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department holds information on reported personal injury road collisions only.
The number of reported personal injury road collisions on the A120 between Horsley Cross and Harwich between 2018 and 2022 (the last five years for which figures are available) can be found in the table below.
Reported road collisions, A120 between Horsley Cross and Harwich, 2018 to 2022 | |
Source: DfT, STATS19 | |
Year | Collisions |
2018 | 6 |
2019 | 5 |
2020 | 11 |
2021 | 8 |
2022 | 6 |
The number of fatalities and seriously injured casualties on the A120 between Horsley Cross and Harwich between 2018 and 2022 can be found in the table below.
Reported road casualties, A120 between Horsley Cross and Harwich, 2018 to 2022 | ||
Source: DfT, STATS19 | ||
Year | Fatal | Serious (adjusted) |
2018 | 1 | 2 |
2019 | 0 | 2 |
2020 | 0 | 5 |
2021 | 1 | 3 |
2022 | 3 | 5 |
Data containing location and severity of all reported collisions and casualties involved is published at a record level on data.gov.uk.
Asked by: Bernard Jenkin (Conservative - Harwich and North Essex)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has received representations on the practice of house builders prohibiting in perpetuity new homeowners from installing solar panels on their homes.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
I am grateful to my Hon Friend for bringing correspondence about housebuilders prohibiting the fitting of solar panels post-sale to my attention. Renewable energy, such as that generated from solar panels, will contribute to the objective of getting to net zero, so we are grateful for you flagging this concern. The Department will review this matter further.
Asked by: Bernard Jenkin (Conservative - Harwich and North Essex)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of Royal Mail's postal service in the CO postcode area.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
I am aware that Royal Mail continues to have particular service challenges in some postcode areas. I note that Royal Mail management accepts its performance needs to be much better and has started to address this, for example, by recruiting an additional 3,000 postmen and women so far with a further 500 permanent delivery positions a week going forwards.
Ofcom sets and monitors Royal Mail’s service standards and has powers to investigate and take enforcement action where there are reasonable grounds for concluding Royal Mail has failed to achieve its obligations. I note that the regulator recently fined the business £5.6m for failing to meet its service delivery targets in 2022-23.
Asked by: Bernard Jenkin (Conservative - Harwich and North Essex)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent assessment she has made of fhe adequacy of Ofcom's enforcement of the postal services obligation on Royal Mail.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Ofcom is the designated independent regulator for the postal sector and the Government has no role in its regulatory decisions. It is for Ofcom to decide how to respond should Royal Mail fail to meet its obligations and I note that the regulator recently fined the business £5.6m for failing to meet its service delivery targets in 2022-23.
Asked by: Bernard Jenkin (Conservative - Harwich and North Essex)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State of 5 September 2023 on Energy Bill [Lords], Official Report, column 281, when he plans to (a) publish the first annual report to Parliament on the community energy sector and (b) launch the consultation on the barriers the sector faces when developing projects.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Government is working with the Community Energy Contact Group on the content of the annual report and consultation. Until these discussions have concluded, the Government is unable to outline a definitive timeline.
Asked by: Bernard Jenkin (Conservative - Harwich and North Essex)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what her planned timetable is for the National Grid Electricity System Operator becoming the Future Systems Operator; whether the Future Systems Operator will be required to follow procedures as set out in the Treasury's Green Book when making recommendations to National Grid Electricity Transmission on investment in electricity transmission infrastructure; and if she will require the Future Systems Operator to take account of the potential impact of any new infrastructure on the (a) environment and (b) value of nearby property.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Our aim is for the FSO to be operational in 2024, depending on the Energy Bill and agreeing timelines with key parties.
The FSO will take a strategic whole system approach to network planning, delivered initially by a Centralised Strategic Network Plan (CSNP) for electricity transmission. Ofgem are currently consulting on the CSNP and expect to publish a decision later this year. It is expected the FSO will lead the development of CSNP methodology (approved by Ofgem), and this should consider deliverability, cost, environmental and community impacts, as well as how to utilise the Green Book guidance issued by HM Treasury.
Asked by: Bernard Jenkin (Conservative - Harwich and North Essex)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, when she plans to respond to the recommendations on (a) a Strategic Spatial Energy Plan, (b) lump sum payments for individual households close to new lines and (c) other issues in the Winser report on accelerating electricity transmission network deployment; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government welcomes the Electricity Networks Commissioner’s report and will publish an Action Plan in response by the end of this year.
In his speech on Net Zero on 20 September, the Prime Minister announced that the government will shortly bring forward reforms to energy infrastructure including setting out the UK’s first spatial plan.
Government wants to ensure communities hosting transmission network infrastructure can benefit from supporting the delivery of cheaper, secure and low-carbon energy for Great Britain. We consulted on this earlier this year and are developing guidance, which we intend to publish in 2023.
Asked by: Bernard Jenkin (Conservative - Harwich and North Essex)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what estimate her Department has made of the potential increase in (a) green levies, (b) market balancing and transmission costs and (c) other non-commodity costs that will be required to meet the 2035 target to decarbonise the electricity system; what assumptions her Department has made in making these estimates; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department has produced a range of whole economy costs estimates to support decisions about energy transition and produces value for money assessments as part of every major decision. Minimising cost to consumers is at the heart of our strategy to deliver a reliable and decarbonised electricity system by 2035. The best way of protecting households and businesses is by lowering the costs of the energy we consume and reducing the volumes used. This means increasing energy efficiency and building out a low-cost, low-carbon energy system which reduces our reliance on fossil fuels.
Asked by: Bernard Jenkin (Conservative - Harwich and North Essex)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he expects the A12 Chelmsford to A120 widening scheme for junctions 19 to 25 to be completed; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The A12 Chelmsford to A120 Widening scheme (Junctions 19 to 25) is scheduled to open for traffic in December 2027.
National Highways reports on delivery, regularly updating progress on their website.