Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
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 help ensure that Ofcom takes effective and timely regulatory action in relation to Royal Mail when required.
Answered by Paul Scully
It is for Ofcom, as the independent regulator of postal services, to set and monitor Royal Mail’s service standards and decide how to use its powers to investigate and take enforcement action should Royal Mail fail to achieve its obligations without good justification.
Ofcom is preparing to review Royal Mail’s performance for the 2021/22 financial year and has stated that it will not hesitate to act where necessary.
The Government’s sets out its strategic priorities and desired outcomes for telecommunications, the management of radio spectrum and postal services in the Statement of Strategic Prioritise which is available online at www.gov.uk/government/publications/statement-of-strategic-priorities. Ofcom is required to have regard to the Statement when exercising its regulatory functions.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
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 significance of Newport Wafer Fab for the UK's semiconductor industry; and what assessment his Department has made of the implications for its policies of potential Chinese ownership of that factory.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government appreciates the vital role of the semiconductor sector in the global economy.
As an open economy, we welcome foreign trade and investment where it supports UK growth and jobs, meets our stringent legal and regulatory requirements and does not compromise our national security. Where we identify concerns, we will not hesitate to use our powers to protect national security.
We are unable to comment on the details of businesses' commercial transactions, or on national security assessments. The Government is considering the case and will continue to monitor the situation closely.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the launch date is for the builder upgrade scheme.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
BEIS does not offer a builder upgrade scheme.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many and what proportion of renters pay their gas and electric bills directly, rather than through their landlord.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government does not have data covering the energy billing arrangements of renters. Only energy suppliers and landlords will be able to identify the number of cases in which a tenant pays their gas and electricity bills directly
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
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 provide urgent insulation to low-income households in order to help with increased gas and electric bills in response to Ofgem's energy cap increase.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
In the Heat and Buildings Strategy, the Government set out a comprehensive package of measures to retrofit the nation’s buildings. The Government has also announced over £3.9 billion of new funding for decarbonising heat and buildings, bringing this Parliament’s commitment to £6.6 billion.
Much of this funding has gone towards grant schemes which improve the energy efficiency of low-income homes through measures such as insulation. These schemes include the Local Authority Delivery Scheme, the Home Upgrade Grant, and the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund, which will all deliver upgrades this year.
In addition, the government have committed to extending the Energy Company Obligation Scheme from 2022 to 2026, boosting its value from £640 million to £1 billion a year. This will help an extra 305,000 households with green measures including insulation.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
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 take steps to remove the fee charged by energy companies to consumers when switching from a pre-payment to a standard meter.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Rules around the amount energy suppliers can charge for switching meter types are set by Ofgem. Ofgem expect that customers should not be penalised because of their choice of payment method, whether by prepayment or standard credit meter, and any charges should be reflective of the cost to the supplier. Ofgem permits suppliers to charge less than the actual cost or to waive the charge of installing or removing a prepayment meter, particularly where this can benefit customers in vulnerable situations. The Government will continue to work with Ofgem to consider what reforms are needed for future retail market regulation.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
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 hold discussions with energy companies operating prepayment meters on the potential merits of increasing the (a) temporary credit and (b) extra temporary credit available to households with those meters.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Ofgem has robust rules in place to protect Prepayment meter customers. In December 2020 Ofgem introduced Licence Conditions that require energy suppliers to provide extra support for customers using prepayment meters. These include an obligation on suppliers to make emergency and friendly-hours credit available to all pre-payment meter customers.
In addition, where a supplier identifies that a prepayment customer is in a vulnerable situation, including where a customer is self-disconnecting or self-rationing their supply, they must also offer additional support credit. When assessing how a customer will repay any credit offered, suppliers must also consider their ability to pay.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
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 ask energy companies to equalise tariffs on a standard meter with those on pre-payment meters.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Supply Licence Conditions, as enforced by the independent energy regulator Ofgem, stipulate payments must reflect the cost to the supplier. The costs of supplying prepayment meters compared to standard meters are higher due to the different meter requirements and different payment systems. The Energy Price Cap ensures those on prepayment meters pay a fair price for their energy.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
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 incidents such as the Post Office Horizon scandal will not happen again.
Answered by Paul Scully
On 29 September 2020, BEIS formally launched the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry which will establish a clear account of the implementation and failings of Horizon over its lifetime, as well as ensuring lessons are learnt so that a similar situation will not be repeated in the future.
The Post Office’s Chief Executive is leading a programme of improvements to overhaul the culture, practices and operating procedures throughout every part of its business. The Government continues to closely monitor delivery of these improvements. Ministers and officials are holding the Post Office to account for taking on board the lessons learned through the litigation and will want to see clear evidence that real change has taken place.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the 555 litigants who won civil proceedings against Post Office Ltd in 2018-19 will be included in the Post Office Horizon compensation scheme.
Answered by Paul Scully
The 555 subpostmasters involved in the Group Litigation Order (GLO) agreed a settlement of £42.75m plus costs. My officials have recently met their representatives to understand the harms which they have experienced.
Postmasters who have had their Horizon-related conviction overturned are eligible for interim compensation payments of up to £100k. This includes postmasters with quashed convictions who were also part of the GLO.