Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
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 employees identical rights from their first day of employment as someone has worked for 2 years for the same employer.
Answered by Dean Russell
The current qualifying periods for employment rights contribute to jobs creation and economic growth through giving businesses more confidence when they consider taking on people. They also give more time to get the employment relationship right. The Government has no plans to change policy.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many businesses in the UK have between 250 and 500 employees.
Answered by Dean Russell
Latest available data, referencing the start of 2022, showing the number of UK businesses with between 250 and 499 employees are given in the table.
Table 1: Number of UK businesses with between 250 and 499 employees,
start of 2022.
Whole economy | Private Sector | Central and local government | Non-profit organizations |
5,030 | 3,880 | 580 | 570 |
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
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 implications for his policy of the National Grid's announcement of 6 October 2022 that the UK may experience power cuts lasting 3 hours per day during winter 2022; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Power cuts are highly unlikely. The UK has a secure and diverse energy system. The Government is confident in its plans to protect households and businesses in the full range of scenarios this winter, despite the impact of Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine. The Government is working closely with Ofgem, National Grid and other key industry organisations to monitor the energy supply horizon and prepare for the upcoming winter.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
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 with Cabinet colleagues to mandate (a) existing and (b) new commercial warehouses to install rooftop solar panels.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government is encouraging businesses to install solar panels on their existing roof stock, for example through business rate exemptions and tax relief. However, a blanket requirement to deploy solar photovoltaic panels on every existing roof is impractical. Some roofs are not suitable because of shading, orientation and location.
In December 2021, the Government introduced an uplift in energy efficiency standards for new builds, which came into force on 15 June 2022. We expect that to meet the new standards, most new warehouses are likely to be built with renewables, principally roof mounted solar panels.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent discussions he had with representatives of the energy sector on reducing standing charges.
Answered by Graham Stuart
BEIS Ministers have regular discussions with representatives of the energy sector on a range of energy issues, including standing charges.
Standing charges are a commercial matter for individual suppliers, which reflects the necessary costs to provide and maintain a live supply to a customer’s premises.
Ofgem limits standing charges under the price cap which they set and ensure millions of households pay a fair price for their energy. Ofgem’s review of standing charges concluded that retaining the current methodology would protect users with greater energy needs, such as disabled users and users with electric heating in areas off the gas grid.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
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 environmental impact of lifting the moratorium on fracking.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Development of shale gas needs to meet rigorous safety and environmental standards set by regulators including the Environment Agency, the Health and Safety Executive and the North Sea Transition Authority.
Domestic gas typically has less than half the production emissions of imported LNG and, therefore, when substituted for imports, contributes to the UK’s carbon emission reduction goals.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
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 the Government has permitted a significant proportion of investment in Sizewell C nuclear power station to come from foreign investors.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government welcomes investment into the UK’s nuclear sector and values the important role of overseas investors in large-scale infrastructure projects. The Regulated Asset Base model will help attract the significant investment needed from UK and international pension funds, insurers and other institutional investors, reducing reliance on overseas developers for finance which led to the cancellation of potential projects. Investment involving critical nuclear infrastructure needs to satisfy our robust national security, and other legal and regulatory requirements.
The Government has also declared its preparedness to invest directly in the Sizewell C project, subject to ongoing negotiations and all relevant approvals.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
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 make an assessment of the adequacy of funding awarded to households under the Energy Bills Support Scheme.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Energy Bills Support Scheme is an £11.7bn scheme which forms part of the previously announced £37bn cost of living package for consumers. The package will see millions of the most vulnerable households receive at least £1,200 of support this year, with all domestic electricity customers receiving £400 to help with their bills.
This scheme is part of the ambitious support the Government is providing this winter. On 8 September, the Government announced the Energy Price Guarantee which will reduce the unit cost of energy in household bills from 1st October to ensure that a typical household in Great Britain pays, on average, no more than £2,500 a year on their energy bill.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if his Department will take steps to stop the burning of wood imported from the US at the Drax power station.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The UK Government supports the use of sustainable biomass and generators only receive subsidies for biomass that complies with strict sustainability criteria. Generators must demonstrate to the regulator that they meet the criteria, and their evidence is independently audited.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, for what reason the Government decided not to have a bank holiday in the event that the England Women's National Football Team won the 2022 UEFA Women's Euro Championship.
Answered by Dean Russell
The Government is extremely proud of the England Women's National Football Team and their success in winning the 2022 UEFA Women’s Euro Championship.
The current pattern of public and bank holidays is well established, and while an additional bank holiday may benefit some communities and sectors, the overall cost to the economy is considerable. The latest analysis estimates the cost to the UK economy for a one-off bank holiday to be around £2bn.