Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much electricity was consumed in each month in 2015-16.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
Information on UK electricity consumption by month can be found in Energy Trends table 5.5, available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/electricity-section-5-energy-trends. The information requested is shown below:
UK electricity consumption
2015 |
|
Month | Electricity consumed (TWh) |
January | 29.87 |
February | 27.36 |
March | 28.35 |
April | 25.17 |
May | 24.74 |
June | 23.44 |
July | 24.48 |
August | 23.55 |
September | 24.18 |
October | 25.57 |
November | 26.82 |
December | 27.45 |
2016 |
|
Month | Electricity consumed (TWh) |
January | 28.96 |
February | 27.27 |
March | 27.88 |
April | 25.19 |
May | 23.86 |
June | 23.04 |
July | 23.53 |
August | 23.38 |
September | 23.75 |
October | 25.87 |
November | 28.11 |
December | 28.43 |
Source: Energy Trends table 5.5
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, at what time of the day the main use of electricity in domestic homes was by (a) day and (b) month in 2015-16.
Answered by Margot James
Domestic electricity consumption is not collected at this level of detail. However, National Grid statistics show a regular weekday peak demand between 5pm and 7pm in winter from all sectors of the economy. The maximum peak usually occurs on the coldest weekday: in 2015-16, it was Monday 18 January 2016.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
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 is taking to ensure that suppliers of second-hand electrical goods do not sell unsafe electrical goods.
Answered by Margot James
Product safety is a Government priority. We have legislation in place that requires suppliers of second hand electrical items to ensure the products they sell are safe. Enforcement of these requirements is undertaken by local authority Trading Standards Departments. They have the powers to remove from sale any second-hand electrical equipment that is unsafe.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what progress he has made on addressing concerns relating to tumble dryer safety; and what recent discussions he has had with manufacturers on that matter.
Answered by Margot James
The Working Group on Product Recalls and Safety that I set up last year to further improve the safety of white goods and the recalls system, made its final recommendations in July.
Actions are already underway to implement a number of the Group’s recommendations including tasking BSI (British Standards Institution) with making available a code of practice on recalls by the end of the year. We are also considering the framework for a national body to support consumers on product safety.
The Department is in regular contact with white goods manufacturers and AMDEA (the Association of Manufacturers of Domestic Appliances) were members of the Working Group on Product Recalls and Safety.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
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 Home Secretary on the potential correlation between periods of high electricity usage and electrical fires in the home.
Answered by Margot James
Consumer safety is a priority for the Department and we are taking steps to further improve the safety of white goods and the recalls system. The Department is in regular contact with the Home Office on a range of issues related to fire safety.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he plans to protect and strengthen consumer rights when the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Margot James
The UK has a strong history of protecting consumer rights, and this will continue after we leave the EU.
UK consumer protections that are based on EU law will be retained through the EU Withdrawal Bill. This means that when buying from traders based in the UK British consumers will be able to rely on the same rights they have now.
The way consumer protections apply internationally in future (for example when purchasing goods online from an EU trader) is a matter for negotiations. We are carefully considering how best to cooperate on these issues with our EU partners after our exit.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much funding his Department has allocated to Welsh trading standards offices to tackle counterfeit electrical goods being imported into Wales.
Answered by Margot James
National Trading Standards receive £13.24 million per year from BEIS to prioritise and coordinate national and cross-local authority boundary enforcement in England and Wales, including action to stop the sale of counterfeit electrical goods.
National Trading Standards ‘Operation Jasper’ resulted in the seizure of over £1m in counterfeit goods including luxury brands, dangerous electrical equipment and unsafe cosmetic products in 2016. This included an operation by Swansea Trading Standards to target commercial vehicles carrying counterfeit goods.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
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 how many and what proportion of constituents in Swansea East constituency will be covered by the Government's proposals to safeguard customers on the poorest value tariff.
Answered by Margot James
The Department has not undertaken any estimate of the number, or proportion of customers in individual constituencies, who would be protected by proposals to safeguard customers on the poorest value tariffs. Ofgem is considering options to protect vulnerable consumers and has yet to announce a formal proposal. Alongside this Ofgem has announced a package of measures to help consumers move away from poor value tariffs.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
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 a statement on how best to ensure that fridge freezers and other white goods are safe for use.
Answered by Margot James
The UK system of product safety requires white goods to meet strict safety requirements before they are put into use. Where faults occur, Trading Standards have powers to order recalls or other corrective actions.
Consumers can check for the latest information on recalls on the GOV.UK website searching for ‘product recall campaign’.
The Working Group on Product Recalls and Safety submitted its final report in April 2017. I had intended to publish the report then, but the announcement of the General Election prevented me from doing so.
Following the Grenfell Tower fire tragedy, I asked the Working Group to urgently review their findings and their report has been published today.
I have also asked the Working Group to look at further potential areas of product safety and recalls where action might be required, in light of the tragic events at Grenfell Tower.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what his policy is on the provision of safety tests for white goods which are located in tower blocks.
Answered by Margot James
The UK has one of the highest sets of product safety requirements in the EU which requires goods to meet strict safety rules before they are put into use.
The Working Group on Product Recalls and Safety submitted its final report in April 2017. I had intended to publish the report then, but the announcement of the General Election prevented me from doing so.
Following the Grenfell Tower fire tragedy, I asked the Working Group to urgently review their findings and their report has been published today.
I have also asked the Working Group to look at further potential areas of product safety and recalls where action might be required, in light of the tragic events at Grenfell Tower.