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 business accountability to online guarantees of delivery costs.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
We have been clear to retailers the need to comply with legislation by ensuring information about delivery conditions or restrictions is clear and up front at the point of purchase so consumers can make an informed choice and if appropriate choose to shop elsewhere.
We have issued revised guidance for business and both the Competition and Markets Authority and the Advertising Standards Authority have undertaken compliance reviews and taken action as a result. The “delivery.law” website launched by Highland Trading Standards last year enables consumers to register a complaint for referral onto the relevant authority to consider enforcement action where there has been a breach of consumer law. The portal also provides guidance to business and consumers.
Government has ensured that everyone, including retailers, has access to an affordable postal service for deliveries across the UK via the Universal Service.
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 (a) plans and (b) timetable he has to review the (i) Hydro Benefit Replacement Scheme and (i) Common Tariff Obligation.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
There is a statutory requirement to review the Hydro Benefit Replacement Scheme every three years. As part of the latest review, the Government will be shortly publishing a consultation document on the retention of both the Hydro Benefit Replacement Scheme and the Common Tariff Obligation, reflecting their importance in helping to protect consumers in the North of Scotland from the high costs of electricity distribution there. The consultation will also set out detailed proposals for spreading the costs of a cross-subsidy for Shetland across Great Britain. This would have the effect of reducing electricity costs for all consumers across the North of Scotland from 2020 onwards.
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 has taken to apply tariff caps on electricity suppliers since the Domestic Gas and Electricity (Tariff Cap) Act 2018 received royal assent in July 2018.
Answered by Claire Perry
On 6 November, Ofgem set out their decision on the level of the cap, following a period of thorough consultation. This means the cap will come into force by the end of the year as we promised.
The cap will protect 11 million households on standard variable tariffs. As a result, the average household on a standard variable tariff will save £76 and customers on the most expensive tariffs will save over £130. Overall the cap will save consumers in the UK an estimated £1 billion per year.
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 the process of accreditation is for (a) traders and (b) employees of companies installing new central heating systems paid for with (a) Government grants, (b) levy schemes and (c) other green energy initiatives.
Answered by Claire Perry
For the domestic Renewable Heat Incentive scheme, traders must be certified under the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS), or equivalent quality assurance body. All installations must be carried out by an MCS (or equivalent) installer and certified as having been installed in accordance with the MCS installation standard specified in the regulations (or an equivalent standard). Details of the certification process for traders can be found at: https://www.microgenerationcertification.org/installers-manufacturers/
The RHI accreditation process is set out on the Ofgem website, and can be found at: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/environmental-programmes/non-domestic-rhi and https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/environmental-programmes/domestic-rhi
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 Alternative Dispute Resolution procedures are available to people that have bought central heating systems using (a) Government grants, (b) levy schemes and (c) other green energy initiatives.
Answered by Claire Perry
It is an eligibility requirement for the domestic Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme, which supports the installation of domestic renewable heating systems, that both the product and installation are covered by the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS), which is the nationally recognised quality assurance scheme for microgeneration renewable heating technologies. MCS standards require installations to a defined quality, using products that have met testing standards. For the installation to qualify for RHI, the installer must be a member of MCS, use a product that is certified by MCS and the product must be on the RHI Product Eligibility List: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications-and-updates/domestic-renewable-heat-incentive-product-eligibility-list-pel
MCS and its certification bodies have a consumer protection process in place in case there is a problem with an installation. Installers also have to be members of a consumer code, either the Renewable Energy Consumer Code (RECC) or Home Insulation and Energy Systems Contractors Scheme (HIES). These are approved by the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI). The standards that installers must meet when contracting with consumers are set out by these codes. They also cover advertising and promotion, behaviour of sales staff, proposals, estimates and quotes, terms of business, cancellation rights, deposits and prepayments, guarantees, maintenance and service agreements and service and repair. Both RECC and HIES have accredited Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) procedures. The ADR processes for RECC and HIES can be found at: https://www.recc.org.uk/consumers/how-to-complain and https://www.hiesscheme.org.uk/how-to-complain/
New central heating systems can be installed under the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) with any system having to meet relevant building regulations, the publicly available specification (PAS) or other relevant requirements to be eligible. Further guidance can be found on the Ofgem website at: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications-and-updates/energy-company-obligation-2017-18-eco2t-guidance-delivery
Government is supporting the implementation of the Each Home Counts review of quality and standards in the energy efficiency and renewable energy sector. This will involve the introduction of a new quality mark standard and Government has said that it intends to apply that to ECO.
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 protections are available to consumers that have purchased new central heating systems through (a) Government grants, (b) levy schemes and other (c) green energy initiatives that are in excess of the £42 covered by the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013.
Answered by Claire Perry
It is an eligibility requirement for the domestic Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme, which supports the installation of domestic renewable heating systems, that both the product and installation are covered by the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS), which is the nationally recognised quality assurance scheme for microgeneration renewable heating technologies. MCS standards require installations to a defined quality, using products that have met testing standards. For the installation to qualify for RHI, the installer must be a member of MCS, use a product that is certified by MCS and the product must be on the RHI Product Eligibility List: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications-and-updates/domestic-renewable-heat-incentive-product-eligibility-list-pel
MCS and its certification bodies have a consumer protection process in place in case there is a problem with an installation. Installers also have to be members of a consumer code, either the Renewable Energy Consumer Code (RECC) or Home Insulation and Energy Systems Contractors Scheme (HIES). These are approved by the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI). The standards that installers must meet when contracting with consumers are set out by these codes. They also cover advertising and promotion, behaviour of sales staff, proposals, estimates and quotes, terms of business, cancellation rights, deposits and prepayments, guarantees, maintenance and service agreements and service and repair. Both RECC and HIES have accredited Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) procedures. The ADR processes for RECC and HIES can be found at: https://www.recc.org.uk/consumers/how-to-complain and https://www.hiesscheme.org.uk/how-to-complain/
New central heating systems can be installed under the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) with any system having to meet relevant building regulations, the publicly available specification (PAS) or other relevant requirements to be eligible. Further guidance can be found on the Ofgem website at: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications-and-updates/energy-company-obligation-2017-18-eco2t-guidance-delivery
Government is supporting the implementation of the Each Home Counts review of quality and standards in the energy efficiency and renewable energy sector. This will involve the introduction of a new quality mark standard and Government has said that it intends to apply that to ECO.
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 the adequacy of installation services provided by companies installing new central heating systems paid through (a) Government grants, (b) levy schemes and (c) other green energy initiatives.
Answered by Claire Perry
It is an eligibility requirement for the domestic Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme, which supports the installation of domestic renewable heating systems, that both the product and installation are covered by the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS), which is the nationally recognised quality assurance scheme for microgeneration renewable heating technologies. MCS standards require installations to a defined quality, using products that have met testing standards. For the installation to qualify for RHI, the installer must be a member of MCS, use a product that is certified by MCS and the product must be on the RHI Product Eligibility List: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications-and-updates/domestic-renewable-heat-incentive-product-eligibility-list-pel
MCS and its certification bodies have a consumer protection process in place in case there is a problem with an installation. Installers also have to be members of a consumer code, either the Renewable Energy Consumer Code (RECC) or Home Insulation and Energy Systems Contractors Scheme (HIES). These are approved by the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI). The standards that installers must meet when contracting with consumers are set out by these codes. They also cover advertising and promotion, behaviour of sales staff, proposals, estimates and quotes, terms of business, cancellation rights, deposits and prepayments, guarantees, maintenance and service agreements and service and repair. Both RECC and HIES have accredited Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) procedures. The ADR processes for RECC and HIES can be found at: https://www.recc.org.uk/consumers/how-to-complain and https://www.hiesscheme.org.uk/how-to-complain/
New central heating systems can be installed under the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) with any system having to meet relevant building regulations, the publicly available specification (PAS) or other relevant requirements to be eligible. Further guidance can be found on the Ofgem website at: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications-and-updates/energy-company-obligation-2017-18-eco2t-guidance-delivery
Government is supporting the implementation of the Each Home Counts review of quality and standards in the energy efficiency and renewable energy sector. This will involve the introduction of a new quality mark standard and Government has said that it intends to apply that to ECO.
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 recent progress his Department has made being made on establishing a site for a UK space launch facility.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
Our Industrial Strategy recognises the role of new markets like space launch in driving growth across the UK. The Government is delivering a major programme to enable companies to offer small satellite launch and sub-orbital spaceflight from UK spaceports.
The UK Space Agency has considered 26 proposals for grant funding to kick-start satellite launch and spaceflight operations in the UK.
On Monday we announced £31.5 million in funding to enable satellites to be launched from Sutherland, Scotland, which aims to be the first vertical spaceport to launch satellites into space from mainland Europe.
Alongside this, we have also announced plans, subject to business case, for up to £2 million of funding for airports such as Newquay, Glasgow Prestwick and Snowdonia planning to build the market for horizontal spaceflight using air-launched rockets and sub-orbital spaceplanes.
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 effect of the development of (a) Dounreay TrÍ, (b) Forthwind and (c) Kincardine offshore wind projects on the (i) the UK and (ii) Scottish economy.
Answered by Claire Perry
The potential effect on the UK and Scottish economy would depend upon a number of factors including the size of the projects, their individual procurement plans and the levels of local content achieved. For example, it has been reported that equipment and components for certain elements of these projects could be sourced from a range of locations, including Europe and the Far East.
Whilst floating offshore wind is still at a relatively early stage of development, it could have a role in the long-term decarbonisation and contribute to our Industrial Strategy, if it can demonstrate that it can bring down costs and compete with other forms of low carbon generation.
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 to the Scottish manufacturing sector of the development of floating offshore wind technology.
Answered by Claire Perry
Offshore wind is a success story for the UK. Government support has enabled investment, cost reduction and building a supply chain across different parts of the UK including Scotland. We will look to build on this success as part of our Industrial Strategy.
Floating offshore wind is still at a demonstration phase. However, the technology is eligible to compete in the Contracts for Difference auctions which incentivise developers and supply chains to innovate and reduce costs. If the technology can demonstrate that it can compete with other forms of generation, the manufacturing sector may be able to benefit from UK deployment and potential exports.