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Written Question
Construction: Training
Thursday 2nd February 2023

Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)

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 an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a new scheme to support the training of scaffolders, in addition to the Construction Industry Scaffolders Record Scheme; and if he will publish the eligibility criteria for grants funded by his Department for the training of scaffold instructors.

Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)

The Government supported the 2015 decision of the construction industry to adopt the SKILLCard scheme, following research commissioned by the HSE and Construction Industry Training Board, to ensure those working on construction sites possess a relevant qualification for their occupation. Whilst the Government is supportive of CSCS, the Government does not have the power to intervene in the operation of the CSCS, as an industry-led scheme. BEIS does not provide grant funding for the training of scaffolding instructors.


Written Question
Medical Equipment: Energy
Thursday 2nd February 2023

Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he is taking steps to provide financial support to users of at-home medical treatment equipment, in the context of the rising cost of energy.

Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

As set out in the Autumn Statement, the Government is developing a new approach to consumer protection in energy markets, which will apply from April 2024 onwards.

The Government has committed to work with consumer groups and industry to consider the best approach, including options such as social tariffs, as part of wider retail market reforms.


Written Question
Research: Finance
Friday 18th November 2022

Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of public sector funding for research and development; and if he will make an assessment of that funding on private sector investment in research and development at all stages of research.

Answered by George Freeman

BEIS has published research by Oxford Economics on the relationship between public and private funding of research and development (R&D) at which estimated the monetary impact of the long-run leverage rate, suggesting that each £1 of public R&D eventually stimulates between £1.96 and £2.34 of private R&D:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/research-and-development-relationship-between-public-and-private-funding.

Public investment in R&D underpins long-term economic growth, is a vital component in our plan for achieving Net Zero and ensures the long-term defence and security of the UK by keeping us at the forefront of technological capabilities. This is why, at the last Spending Review, the Government announced the largest ever sustained uplift in public R&D spending.


Written Question
Construction: Vacancies
Thursday 22nd September 2022

Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)

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 potential impact of the Construction Industry Scaffolders Record Scheme on labour supply in the construction sector; and what steps his Department is taking to help ensure sufficient labour supply in that sector.

Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price

The Government regularly reviews matters related to construction skills and labour supply. We are working closely with the industry, including representatives from the scaffolding sector, to support increased investment in skills development and to ensure that the industry can attract, retain and develop the skilled workforce it needs for the future.


Written Question
Employment Tribunals Service
Thursday 14th July 2022

Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)

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 7 July 2022 to Question 30022 on Employment Tribunals Service, whether his Department has taken recent steps to help increase the ability of Employment Tribunals to accept out of time applications.

Answered by Jane Hunt

Employment Tribunals have the discretion to allow claims submitted out of time, these decisions will be based on the individual circumstances of the case and applying the relevant law. We believe that this approach, taken on a case by basis, is the most proportionate at this time.


Written Question
Employment Tribunals Service
Monday 4th July 2022

Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the Answer of 25 October 2021 to Question 59782 on Employment Tribunals Service, when he plans to publish his Department's response to the report by the Law Commission entitled Employment Law Hearing Structures, published on 29 April 2020.

Answered by Paul Scully

The full response to the Law Commission’s recommendations will be available on the Law Commission website in due course.


Written Question
Energy: Billing
Monday 20th June 2022

Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)

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 support people whose direct debit for energy bills has been significantly increased by their energy provider without notice causing them to enter an unarranged overdraft.

Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

Suppliers must take all reasonable steps to ensure that customers’ direct debit payments are based on the best available information. A supplier should explain the reasons for changes made, with at least 10 days advance notice before the next payment is taken. The customer may challenge a proposed increase and renegotiate the payment level. Ofgem are undertaking a series of market compliance reviews to assess whether recent direct debit increases are justified.

The Government has announced a package of additional measures to provide immediate support, totalling over £37 billion this year, including a £400 grant to households to help with their energy bills.


Written Question
Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme: Insolvency
Monday 16th May 2022

Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)

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 help support people on the Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive scheme with monitoring payments where the firm providing the monitoring service has become insolvent.

Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

Participants in the Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (DRHI) have always been able to change their Metering and Monitoring Service Package (MMSP) to a new installer should their existing installer become insolvent. The recent legislation that closed the DRHI to new applicants streamlined this process.

The DRHI closed to new applications on 31 March 2022. However, the Department will continue to keep the scheme (including MMSP) under review to determine whether further changes to scheme operation are required, until the final DRHI payments are made in 2029. This will take into account market conditions such as installer availability.


Written Question
House Insurance
Monday 25th April 2022

Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether financial support is available to people who require home insurance where their home is built above a coal mine colliery.

Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

There is dedicated support available for anyone whose home is damaged through historic coal mining. Utilising the powerful remedies of the Coal Mining Subsidence Act 1991, the Coal Authority, one of BEIS Partner Organisations, will assess and carry out repairs to any properties damaged by coal mining subsidence.


Written Question
Research: South Yorkshire
Tuesday 29th March 2022

Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

What steps his Department is taking to support research and development in South Yorkshire as part of the Government’s levelling up agenda.

Answered by George Freeman

We are growing R&D clusters around the country and I recently had the pleasure of visiting the BioYorkshire cluster. The Levelling Up White Paper set a new mission to increase domestic public investment in R&D outside the Greater South East by at least one third over the Spending Review period and at least 40 percent by 2030.