Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment his Department has made of the impact of increases in gas and electricity standing charges on (a) single person households and (b) low-income households.
Answered by Greg Hands
The standing charge is a fixed charge that suppliers pass on to their customers to cover the cost of providing a live supply. The standing charge is passed on to consumers as a flat rate per day, rather than as a percentage charge, based on how much energy they use.
The Government has announced a package of help for consumers, including a £400 grant to domestic electricity customers’ bills as well as further payments targeted specifically at households on benefits, pensioner households and the disabled.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
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 facilitate access for scientists who wish to access the £50 million funding for motor neurone disease research announced in November 2021.
Answered by George Freeman
The committed funding can be accessed through applications to the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). We are working closely with DHSC, NIHR and UKRI to support the MND research community in submitting high quality applications to access funding. NIHR and Medical Research Council (part of UKRI) are also delivering a new £4.25 million partnership, co-funded by government and charity partners, to bring together the MND research community to coordinate research efforts, and develop programmes and proposals to boost access to research funds.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of calls to maintain British Summer Time throughout the calendar year.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government has no plans to change the daylight-saving arrangements. The Government believes that the current daylight-saving arrangements represent the optimal use of the available daylight across the UK.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether people living with cancer will qualify for the Government's proposed energy industry fund for low income disabled people at risk of fuel poverty.
Answered by Greg Hands
The Warm Home Discount is a key policy in the Government’s strategy to tackle fuel poverty. As announced in the Energy White Paper, the Government has consulted on reforming the scheme to better target fuel poverty and to provide the rebates automatically to households. The reforms include focusing support on households in receipt of qualifying means-tested benefits and with high energy costs.
However, some households currently eligible for a rebate would lose out. Recognising that some disabled people and people with long-term illness may not be eligible for a rebate and yet are struggling with the costs of heating their homes, the Government has proposed to work with energy suppliers and third-party organisations to provide alternative financial support to low-income disabled people at risk of fuel poverty under the Industry Initiatives element of the scheme and subject to sufficient interest from energy suppliers.
The Government will publish its response to the consultation in the spring, with the reforms coming into force from the 2022/23 scheme year.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment his Department has made of the effect of insolvency company charges on the payment of outstanding salaries of employees who have been made redundant following company liquidation.
Answered by Paul Scully
An insolvent company is unable to pay its creditors in full (including employees). The appointed Insolvency Practitioner will do their best to maximise the payments from realised assets, though it is unlikely that all creditors’ claims would be met in full.
It is for this reason that there are special arrangements for dismissed employees under the insolvency provisions of the Employment Rights Act 1996, which ensure that they receive a basic minimum of the debts owed by the employer from the National Insurance Fund. Former employees of an insolvent employer can, in certain circumstances, claim redundancy payments and other contractual amounts (subject to statutory limits) such as unpaid wages, notice pay and outstanding holiday pay from the National Insurance Fund.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
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 options available to his Department to ensure that people eligible for the Warm Home Discount receive it during the winter months.
Answered by Greg Hands
The Government sets the spending target for each Warm Home Discount scheme year. However, energy suppliers are responsible for administering rebate payments to eligible customers’ accounts.
Energy suppliers generally start issuing Warm Home Discount rebates in October in a scheme year and have until 31 March to apply the rebate to eligible customers’ energy bills. The Government encourages energy suppliers to make rebate payments as soon as possible once they have completed the checks on customers’ eligibility. They may, however, provide rebates at any time before the 31 March deadline, with most rebates being provided to customers by January in a scheme year. These timings allow for the data matching process and eligibility checks to be undertaken and the delivery of over 2.2 million £140 rebates to vulnerable households when they need it most, around wintertime.
The Government consulted last summer on reforms to the scheme that would enable the vast majority of customers to receive their rebate automatically, without the need to apply. This would reduce the time needed to verify customers’ eligibility. The government will publish its response in the spring, with the reforms coming into force from the 2022/23 scheme year.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
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 standardising the broader group eligibility criteria for the Warm Home Discount Scheme across suppliers.
Answered by Greg Hands
The Government consulted last summer on the future of the Warm Home Discount scheme. While the Core Group of low-income pensioners would be maintained, the Government has proposed to replace the Broader Group and instead identify households on low incomes with the highest energy costs through data matching. Eligibility would be the same across all participating energy suppliers and this would enable most rebates to be provided automatically without customers having to apply, including working-age households for the first time.
The Government will publish its response to the consultation in the spring, with the reforms coming into force from the 2022/23 scheme year.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the average response time was for his Department to respond to an enquiry from an MP once an enquiry had been received by the MP (a) hotline and (b) account management team in (a) 2019, (b) 2020 and (c) 2021.
Answered by George Freeman
The Government attaches great importance to the effective and timely handling of correspondence from MPs, either directly or on behalf of their constituents.
Data on the timeliness of responses to correspondence from MPs and Peers for 2019 and 2020 is published on Gov.uk here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/data-on-responses-to-correspondence-from-mps-and-peers. Data for 2021 will be published by the Cabinet Office in due course.