To match an exact phrase, use quotation marks around the search term. eg. "Parliamentary Estate". Use "OR" or "AND" as link words to form more complex queries.


Keep yourself up-to-date with the latest developments by exploring our subscription options to receive notifications direct to your inbox

Written Question
Foreign Investment in UK: Renewable Energy
Tuesday 26th March 2024

Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to her Department's Inward investment results 2022 to 2023, published on 27 June 2023, what the value of the 67 foreign direct investments into renewable energy were, by technology type.

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

The Department for Business and Trade does not publish value and type information in the annual foreign direct investment publication at sector level due to data availability and confidentiality issues.

As there are gaps in the completeness of the value information across projects across sectors, DBT excludes value information to the publication. The impact of these gaps is greater when the data is divided into specific sector areas. However, at an aggregate level it is possible to add value related data.

Additional breakdowns describing the type or nature of an investment increase the opportunity to identify individual companies, to which DBT offer full confidentiality.


Written Question
Foreign Investment in UK: Renewable Energy
Tuesday 26th March 2024

Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to her Department's statistics entitled DBT inward investment results 2022 to 2023, published on 27 June 2023, if she will list the 67 Foreign Direct Investment renewable energy projects by value.

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

The Department for Business and Trade does not publish value and type information in the annual foreign direct investment publication at sector level due to data availability and confidentiality issues.

As there are gaps in the completeness of the value information across projects across sectors, DBT excludes value information to the publication. The impact of these gaps is greater when the data is divided into specific sector areas. However, at an aggregate level it is possible to add value related data.

Additional breakdowns describing the type or nature of an investment increase the opportunity to identify individual companies, to which DBT offer full confidentiality.


Written Question
Foreign Investment in UK: Renewable Energy
Tuesday 26th March 2024

Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to her Department's statistics entitled DBT inward investment results 2022 to 2023, published on 27 June 2023, if she will publish a breakdown by technology of the 67 Foreign Direct Investment renewable energy projects.

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

The Department for Business and Trade does not publish value and type information in the annual foreign direct investment publication at sector level due to data availability and confidentiality issues.

As there are gaps in the completeness of the value information across projects across sectors, DBT excludes value information to the publication. The impact of these gaps is greater when the data is divided into specific sector areas. However, at an aggregate level it is possible to add value related data.

Additional breakdowns describing the type or nature of an investment increase the opportunity to identify individual companies, to which DBT offer full confidentiality.


Written Question
P&O Ferries: Redundancy
Thursday 7th March 2024

Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent progress the Insolvency Service has made on its civil investigation of P&O Ferries' dismissal of 786 employees on 17 March 2022.

Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Insolvency Service’s civil investigation into the circumstances surrounding the redundancies made by P&O Ferries remains ongoing. As such no further comment or information can be provided at this time.


Written Question
Postal Services: Electric Vehicles
Tuesday 12th December 2023

Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many of Royal Mail's delivery routes have changed as a result of the adoption of electric vehicles.

Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

Royal Mail is a private company, and the Government does not have a role in its operational decisions including the deployment of electric vehicles and administration of delivery routes.


Written Question
Zero Hours Contracts
Tuesday 27th June 2023

Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what discussions she has had with (a) businesses, (b) devolved administrations and (c) Trade Union Congress on methods to reduce the number of workers on zero-hour contracts.

Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

Zero hours contracts are an important part of the UK’s flexible labour market, they are useful where there is not a constant demand for staff, allowing flexibility for both employers and individuals – like carers, people studying, or retirees. For this small group, a zero hours contract may be the type of contract which works best for them.

Research from CIPD found that 62% of zero hours contract workers are satisfied or very satisfied with their jobs, which is similar to the proportion of employees as a whole (66%)

(2022).


Written Question
Zero Hours Contracts: Scotland
Tuesday 27th June 2023

Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what discussions she has had with (a) the Scottish Government and (b) public bodies on the potential merits of changing procurement processes to reduce the use of zero-hour contracts in Scotland.

Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

Zero hours contracts are an important part of the UK’s flexible labour market, they are useful where there is not a constant demand for staff, allowing flexibility for both employers and individuals – like carers, people studying, or retirees. For this small group, a zero hours contract may be the type of contract which works best for them.

Research from CIPD found that 62% of zero hours contract workers are satisfied or very satisfied with their jobs, which is similar to the proportion of employees as a whole (66%) (2022).


Written Question
Zero Hours Contracts
Tuesday 27th June 2023

Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the Office for National Statistics report entitled EMP17: People in employment on zero hours contracts, published in May 2023, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of data on the number of people on a zero hours contract.

Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

Zero hours contracts are an important part of the UK’s flexible labour market, they are useful where there is not a constant demand for staff, allowing flexibility for both employers and individuals – like carers, people studying, or retirees. For this small group, a zero hours contract may be the type of contract which works best for them.

Research from CIPD found that 62% of zero hours contract workers are satisfied or very satisfied with their jobs, which is similar to the proportion of employees as a whole (66%) (2022).


Written Question
Zero Hours Contracts
Tuesday 27th June 2023

Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps she is taking to reduce the number of people on zero hours contracts in (a) the North East and (b) the UK.

Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

Zero hours contracts are an important part of the UK’s flexible labour market, they are useful where there is not a constant demand for staff, allowing flexibility for both employers and individuals – like carers, people studying, or retirees. For this small group, a zero hours contract may be the type of contract which works best for them.

Research from CIPD found that 62% of zero hours contract workers are satisfied or very satisfied with their jobs, which is similar to the proportion of employees as a whole (66%) (2022).


Written Question
Zero Hours Contracts
Tuesday 27th June 2023

Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps her Department is taking to support (a) young workers, (b) women and (c) workers not born in the UK that are subject to zero-hour contracts.

Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

Zero hours contracts are an important part of the UK’s flexible labour market, they are use-ful where there is not a constant demand for staff, allowing flexibility for both employers and individuals – like carers, people studying, or retirees. For this small group, a ze-ro hours contract may be the type of contract which works best for them.

To support lower paid workers we have extended the ban on exclusivity clauses, which restrict staff from working for multiple employers, to contracts where the guaranteed weekly income is equivalent to or below the Lower Earnings Limit of £123 a week. On 1 April 2023, the Government increased the National Living Wage (NLW) for workers aged 23 years and over by 9.7% to £10.42.