Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of delivering the hydrogen village trial.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The early planning and detailed design work for the hydrogen village trial is being funded by Ofgem, with contributions from gas network shareholders. The Government anticipates that later stages will be funded by BEIS, Ofgem and the private sector. The final trial location and level of public funding will be decided later this year, following the submission of funding applications from the gas networks in March.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
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 16 December 2022 to Question 106432 on Zero Hours Contracts, if he will make an assessment of the reasons why there have been very few claims related to the regulations.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Exclusivity Terms in Zero Hours Contracts (Redress) Regulations post implementation review concluded that having a route of redress had improved the functioning of the labour market. Stakeholders representing workers stated that if a worker is raising an issue in this area, then it is often alongside a range of other concerns such as a reduction in shifts, short notice cancellation of shifts, or payment below National Minimum Wage, therefore, individuals may be more likely to raise a dispute in relation to another point of law rather than these regulations specifically.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
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 16 December 2022 to Question 106432 on Zero Hours Contracts, which stakeholders considered the regulations to be an important deterrent and an effective and proportionate means of realising the policy objective.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
As part of the Exclusivity Terms in Zero Hours Contracts (Redress) Regulations post implementation review we contacted a range of business representatives, worker representatives, employment agencies and legal representatives. We also contacted organisations in sectors where zero hours contracts are most common, including the health and social care sector. The publication of the review can be found here.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
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 16 December 2022 to Question 106433, if he will estimate how many workers who have a zero-hour contract in their main job have taken a second job since the introduction of the Exclusivity Terms in Zero Hours Contracts (Redress) Regulations 2015.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
BEIS published a post-implementation review for the regulations in 2021. The review includes analysis of the Labour Force Survey of people on zero-hour contracts in their main job who have a second job. The publication of the review can be found here.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
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 13 December 2022 to Question 106439, if he will make an assessment of the reasons for the rise in the number of people recorded as looking for an additional job between (a) April and June and (b) July and September 2022.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Zero-hour contracts provide workers with greater flexibility to adjust their working hours and take on multiple jobs if they wish to do so. The Government introduced a ban on exclusivity clauses for zero-hour contracts in 2015.
We monitor the available data on zero-hours contracts on an on-going basis. According to the ONS published data, the estimate of the number of people on zero-hour contracts looking for an additional job in July – September 2022 is based on a small sample size and should be used with caution. The ONS also caution against comparing consecutive three-month periods when data is not seasonally adjusted.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
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 13 December 2022 to Question 106436, whether his Department is taking steps to increase the rate of acceptance for flexible working requests.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
In December, the Government published its response to a consultation that considered changes to the right to request flexible working. The response commits to a range of measures that will help to maintain and increase acceptance rates. These include:
The response also commits to developing guidance on how to make and administer temporary requests for flexible working.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
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 (a) relevant industry stakeholders and (b) trade unions on minimum service levels during official industrial action.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Ministers and officials from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy engage regularly with our stakeholders on a variety of issues, and I met with representatives from the Confederation of British Industry and the Trades Union Congress today (12th January 2023) to discuss minimum service levels The passage of the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill will give stakeholders the opportunity, via Members of Parliament, to share any concerns or constructive suggestions they may have.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
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 had recent discussions with relevant stakeholders on the potential merits of providing additional support to households with renewable energy heating systems in the context of the rise in the cost of wood pellets.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government has doubled support to £200 for households using alternative fuels, including those using wood pellets, in recognition of the pressures caused by these rising fuel costs. The Government is committed to continued monitoring of prices over the coming months and will consider further intervention if required to protect UK households from extraordinary fuel prices.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
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 has formed a policy position on hydrogen heating in the home.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is coordinating a range of projects with industry, regulators and others to help assess the feasibility costs and benefits of using 100% hydrogen for heat. This will help ensure the necessary information is available to take decisions in 2026 on the role of hydrogen in heat decarbonisation.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
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 taking steps to increase the number of green jobs in Ellesmere Port and Neston constituency.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Net Zero Strategy sets out its plans to work with industry to create the skilled workforce needed to transition to a green economy and the Government have established the Green Jobs Delivery Group to drive this forward. The Group will support the delivery of up to 480,000 skilled green jobs by 2030.
Ellesmere Port is located within Hynet, one of two industrial clusters identified on the first track for the Government's Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage (CCUS) cluster sequencing programme. The Government estimates the carbon capture industry could support up to 50,000 jobs in the UK in 2030.