Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
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 merits of reviewing the regulation of the parcel delivery sector in order to increase public satisfaction with that sector.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Minister without Portfolio
The Postal Services Act 2011 designates Ofcom as the independent regulator for the postal sector with the powers to impose and enforce regulatory requirements on postal operators to fulill its functions in relation to postal services.
In its review of postal regulation in 2022, Ofcom committed to ongoing monitoring of operators’ performance and keep under review the need for additional regulation to protect consumers.
The Government has no plans to seek change to the statutory requirements in this sector.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
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 merits of reviewing the regulation of the parcel delivery sector in response to the recent performance of companies operating in that sector.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Minister without Portfolio
The Postal Services Act 2011 designates Ofcom as the independent regulator for the postal sector with the powers to impose and enforce regulatory requirements on postal operators to fulill its functions in relation to postal services.
In its review of postal regulation in 2022, Ofcom committed to ongoing monitoring of operators’ performance and keep under review the need for additional regulation to protect consumers.
The Government has no plans to seek change to the statutory requirements in this sector.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
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 merits of publishing service performance against expectations targets for (a) Royal Mail and (b) non-Universal Service Obligation parcel operators.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Minister without Portfolio
The Postal Services Act 2011 designates Ofcom as the independent regulator for the postal sector with the powers to impose and enforce regulatory requirements on postal operators to fulill its functions in relation to postal services. The Government has no plans to seek change to the statutory requirements in this sector.
Ofcom requires Royal Mail to publish quarterly reports and an annual summary of its performance against its delivery standards.
In its review of postal regulation in 2022, Ofcom committed to ongoing monitoring of operators’ performance and keep under review the need for additional regulation to protect consumers.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the maximum timescale is for households to receive a payment upon completion of an application in the Energy Bills Support Scheme Alternative Funding application portal.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Applications for the Energy Bills Support Scheme Alternative Funding (EBSS AF) are expected to open later in January and be available until the end of April. Those who are eligible for the EBSS AF will need to submit a short form via the Government's GOV.UK pages. These details will be shared with local authorities across England, Scotland, and Wales, which will deliver the one-off, non-repayable support this winter. The exact date that an eligible household will receive support will depend on when the application is made and when the payment can be processed by the relevant local authority.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
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 on household finances of any delay in implementing the Energy Bills Support Scheme Alternative Funding programme.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Department has made no such assessment. However, the Energy Bills Support Scheme Alternative Funding will provide support of £400 for energy bills for around 900,000 households without a relationship to a domestic electricity supplier. On 19 December the Government announced that the application portal is due to go live in January, with the one-off, non-repayable support being delivered by local authorities. The exact date that an eligible household will receive support will depend on when the application is made and when the payment can be processed by the relevant local authority.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department will take to maximise uptake of payments under the Energy Bills Support Scheme Alternative Funding scheme.
Answered by Graham Stuart
On 19th December, the Government publicly announced that the Energy Bills Support Scheme Alternative Funding (EBSS AF) will launch in January 2023 to eligible households in Great Britain. The Government will communicate when the new scheme is live and work closely with stakeholder groups and representative bodies to ensure those eligible are made fully aware of the offer and encouraged to apply.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to his oral contribution of 16 January 2023, Official Report, column 55, if he will publish details of all ministerial meetings held by his Department with representatives of the International Labour Organisation since 2010.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Minister without Portfolio
The Department has not had any meetings or correspondence with the ILO about this specific legislation. However, the ILO has been clear over many years that minimum service levels can be appropriate in public services of fundamental public importance. Accordingly many countries in Europe and around the world who are signatories to the ILO have had these in place for many years.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to his oral contribution of 16 January 2023, Official Report column 55, whether he has had discussions with the International Labour Organisation on introducing minimum service levels in workplaces.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Minister without Portfolio
The Department has not had any meetings or correspondence with the ILO about this specific legislation. However, the ILO has been clear over many years that minimum service levels can be appropriate in public services of fundamental public importance. Accordingly many countries in Europe and around the world who are signatories to the ILO have had these in place for many years.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, for what reasons his Department did not submit an Impact Assessment for the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill to the Regulatory Policy Committee in advance of its First Reading.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Minister without Portfolio
The Department is currently finalising an impact assessment of the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill. This will be published shortly.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
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 30 November 2022 to Question 93695, on Energy: Meters, if he will require Ofgem to collect and publish data on (a) numbers of customers whose energy suppliers have switched their smart meters from credit mode to prepayment in the past year and (b) numbers of customers who have been left without energy supply as a result of an energy supplier's decision to switch smart meters from credit mode to prepayment in the past year.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The independent regulator Ofgem collects and publishes a range of data on prepayment meters. It has also provided data on the number of customers whose energy suppliers have switched their smart meters from credit mode to prepayment in the past year. I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave the Hon. Member for Newport East on 9th November 2022 to Question 75843.
Ofgem is responsible for ensuring suppliers comply with their regulatory obligations, which include particular protections for vulnerable consumers, or those in payment difficulty. The Government supports the steps Ofgem is taking to ensure compliance, including in response to its Market Compliance Review into customers struggling with bills.