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Written Question
Fuel Oil
Wednesday 23rd March 2022

Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)

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 households his Department estimates are reliant on heating oil; and if he will provide those data for households (a) by region in England, (b) in Scotland and (c) in Wales.

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

Analysis of the English Housing Survey (2018/19), Scottish House Condition Survey (2019) and Welsh Housing Conditions Survey (17/18) suggests that around 3%, 5% and 10% of households in England, Scotland and Wales respectively are estimated to have oil as their main form of heating.


Written Question
Small Modular Reactors: Scotland
Friday 25th February 2022

Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)

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 Scottish Government on the building of small modular reactors in Scotland.

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

The Government has noted the growing local and regional interest in a number of sites for further nuclear development.  The Government welcomes conversations with stakeholders who are considering if their assets are potentially suitable for the deployment of nuclear facilities. I discussed the Scottish Government’s lack of support for new civil nuclear power in my call with Michael Matheson on 13 January.


Written Question
Energy: Billing
Tuesday 22nd February 2022

Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans his Department has in place to ensure that people who are not in receipt of the Government's £200 energy bill loan will be exempt from repayment levies in future years.

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

As announced by my Rt hon Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer on 3 February, the £200 assistance for energy bills will be provided through all energy bills from October 2022. This will be recouped through all energy bills from April 2023. The details for this process are currently being established.


Written Question
Fossil Fuels: Climate Change
Friday 19th November 2021

Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)

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 merits of tightening the definition of what counts as a new fossil fuel extraction project for the purposes of ensuring the effectiveness of the Government's climate compatibility checkpoint.

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

The UK is the only major economy to have published a blueprint to transition it’s oil and gas sector to the green economy. The Government's landmark North Sea Transition Deal could support up to 40,000 high-quality direct and indirect supply chain jobs and sets a world-leading example for other countries who need to decarbonise their economies.

The Government’s recent review into the future of offshore oil and gas licensing concluded that a formal climate compatibility checkpoint, building on current practice, should be established. This will help ensure that any future licences are only awarded following an assessment of their compatibility with the Government’s broad climate change ambitions, including the UK’s target of reaching net zero by 2050.

BEIS will consult on the design of the checkpoint in due course.


Written Question
Consumer Goods: Electrical Safety
Thursday 15th July 2021

Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)

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 adopting as Government policy the recommendations of Electrical Safety First's campaign on (a) improving the regulation of electrical goods on online marketplaces and (b) bringing the regulation of those goods on online marketplaces into line with the regulation of those goods on the physical high street.

Answered by Paul Scully

The Government is committed to ensuring that only safe products can be sold in the UK.

Existing laws require that all consumer products, including electrical goods sold online, must be safe before they can be placed on the UK market. The national product safety regulator, the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS), and Local Authority Trading Standards have powers to take action against manufacturers, importers or distributors who sell unsafe consumer products through online marketplaces.

The OPSS also actively identifies products available online that pose a serious risk, ensuring that non-compliant products being sold by third-party sellers are removed from sale. Between February and April 2021, OPSS interventions led to the withdrawal and recall of more than 5,000 unsafe products previously listed and available in the UK via online marketplaces.

The OPSS is currently conducting a review of the UK’s product safety framework, including in relation to e-commerce, to ensure it remains fit for purpose, protects consumers, and enables businesses to innovate and grow. Through the review, officials are engaging with a wide range of stakeholders to ensure we have the broadest possible evidence base to inform future policy. This includes Electrical Safety First who participated in recent roundtable discussions on the review.

The Government issued a public Call for Evidence to support the review which closed on 17 June. Officials are currently reviewing the evidence received and we will publish a response in due course.


Written Question
Employment: Coronavirus
Tuesday 15th December 2020

Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)

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 able to take in response to reports of eligible employees being refused furlough by their employers during the covid-19 outbreak.

Answered by Paul Scully

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) has been designed to be a comprehensive, flexible and generous support for jobs and incomes. The guidance clearly sets out who is eligible for the scheme, and the Government encourages all businesses experiencing a reduction in business demand due to COVID make use of the scheme to protect jobs. Whether to place employees on the CJRS remains a business decision to be made by employers. When employers make decisions about which staff to furlough, equality and discrimination laws apply in the usual way.


Written Question
Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme
Tuesday 15th December 2020

Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)

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 compliance with the guidance on the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme for employees eligible for that scheme who have been refused furlough by their employer.

Answered by Paul Scully

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) has been designed to be a comprehensive, flexible and generous support for jobs and incomes. The guidance clearly sets out who is eligible for the scheme, and the Government encourages all businesses experiencing a reduction in business demand due to COVID make use of the scheme to protect jobs. Whether to place employees on the CJRS remains a business decision to be made by employers.

Should businesses opt against placing employees on the CJRS, it should be noted that employees retain all their usual employment rights


Written Question
Employment: Coronavirus
Thursday 10th December 2020

Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)

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 employers are maintaining a duty of care when deciding which of their employees to put on furlough during the covid-19 outbreak.

Answered by Paul Scully

In relation to mental health and preventing work-related stress, we would encourage employers to talk to their employees to identify issues that may impact on their wellbeing and to jointly agree steps to mitigate them.

Employers have a duty of care when considering how decisions can impact on their employees’ health and wellbeing. Although placing employees on the CJRS remains a business decision, the Government has enabled employers to furlough staff in certain situations, such as the Clinically Extremely Vulnerable.


Written Question
Employment: Coronavirus
Thursday 10th December 2020

Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)

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 employers are not neglecting their duty of care and their responsibility to article 14 of the Human Rights Act 1998 when deciding which of their employees receive furlough during the covid-19 outbreak.

Answered by Paul Scully

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme is a comprehensive, flexible and generous package of support for businesses. Any use of the scheme is a business decision to be made by employers.

Should businesses make use of the CJRS – or indeed choose not to use it – employees retain all their usual employment rights, including protection against discrimination of any form. All employers must honour all their legal obligations, and the Government will continue to use normal channels to ensure laws such as the Human Rights Act 1998 are respected.


Written Question
Copyright
Monday 16th November 2020

Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department is being consulted as part of the Intellectual Property Office’s consultation into the UK’s future copyright exhaustion regime.

Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

The Intellectual Property Office is an executive agency of the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and is working closely with its parent department and other government departments with an interest in this area, to ensure they can feed into the process to develop the UK’s future exhaustion regime.