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, if he will make a comparative assessment of the potential impact of the cost-of-living crisis on workers employed on (a) zero-hour and (b) other contracts.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government has supported UK households through cost of living challenges by ensuring households on the lowest incomes have proportionally benefited the most from support packages.
The Government has announced further funding for 2023-24 that will ensure over 8 million of the most vulnerable households across the UK will continue to be supported through next winter via additional Cost of Living Payments. This is on top the 10.1% increase in benefits from April 2023, and support provided to all households from the Energy Price Guarantee which will save the average UK household £500 in 2023-24.
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 communicate the changes implemented by the Exclusivity Terms for Zero Hours Workers (Unenforceability and Redress) Regulations 2022 to (a) employers and (b) employees.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The changes implemented by the above Regulations came into force on Monday 5 December and were accompanied by social media posts and a Government press release which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/millions-of-britons-to-be-able-to-request-flexible-working-on-day-one-of-employment.
We also provided an update on the Regulations to all those who had responded to our consultation on this reform and all stakeholders who we engage with regularly on employment rights issues.
Employers and employees will be able to find guidance on the new Regulations on the Acas website. Acas provides free and impartial information and advice to employers and employees on all aspects of workplace relations and employment law.
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, if he will make an estimate of the number of homes that have had under floor insulation installed in Ellesmere Port and Neston constituency as of 31 October 2022.
Answered by Graham Stuart
BEIS estimates that under the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) and Green Homes Grant (GHG) schemes, around 1,300 cavity wall insulation measures, 800 loft insulation measures and 57 under floor insulation measures have been installed in Ellesmere Port and Neston constituency.
Data for ECO covers January 2013 to September 2022. Data for the GHG schemes covers October 2020 to September 2022
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, if he will make an estimate of the number of homes with lofts that have had loft insulation installed in Ellesmere Port and Neston constituency as of 31 October 2022.
Answered by Graham Stuart
BEIS estimates that under the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) and Green Homes Grant (GHG) schemes, around 1,300 cavity wall insulation measures, 800 loft insulation measures and 57 under floor insulation measures have been installed in Ellesmere Port and Neston constituency.
Data for ECO covers January 2013 to September 2022. Data for the GHG schemes covers October 2020 to September 2022
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, how many homes in Ellesmere Port and Neston constituency had cavity wall insulation as of 31 October 2022.
Answered by Graham Stuart
BEIS estimates that under the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) and Green Homes Grant (GHG) schemes, around 1,300 cavity wall insulation measures, 800 loft insulation measures and 57 under floor insulation measures have been installed in Ellesmere Port and Neston constituency.
Data for ECO covers January 2013 to September 2022. Data for the GHG schemes covers October 2020 to September 2022
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, if he will make an estimate of the number of homes that have had heat pumps installed in Ellesmere Port and Neston constituency as of 31 October 2022.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Microgeneration Certification Scheme Installations Database shows that as of 31 October 2022, 63 heat pump installations were registered in the Ellesmere Port and Neston constituency.
The database does not include all heat pump installations, for example, those installed without Government funding support, such as in new buildings, which are not typically recorded in the Microgeneration Certification Scheme Installations Database.
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, if he will make an estimate of the number of homes that have had solar power panels installed in Ellesmere Port and Neston constituency as of 31 October 2022.
Answered by Graham Stuart
At the end of October 2022, there were 1,418 domestic installations of solar panels recorded in Ellesmere Port and Neston constituency.
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, with reference to the Office for National Statics data entitled People in Employment on Zero Hours contracts published on 15 November 2022, what assessment he has made of the reasons for the rise in the number of people recorded as looking for an additional job between April-June 2022 and July-September 2022.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Zero hours contracts are a small but important part of the UK’s flexible labour market. This Government is committed to putting more power into the hands of individuals and businesses to find and create work that suits their personal circumstances.
The Government has widened the ban on exclusivity clauses, to contracts where the guaranteed weekly income is equivalent to or below the Lower Earnings Limit of £123 a week. The reforms ensure that workers in this group that have exclusivity clauses can top up their income with extra work if they choose.
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, with reference to the letter of 8 November from the Minister for Enterprise, Markets and Small Business to the hon. Member for Ellesmere Port and Neston, what steps his Department is discussing with the Ministry of Justice to enhance the efficiency, resilience, and sustainability of the employment tribunal system.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Ministry of Justice and BEIS have introduced several measures to maximise capacity and efficiency in the Employment Tribunal to help respond to demand. This includes greater investment in Acas (to avoid the need for cases going to Tribunal) and greater support to ensure that those that do go to Tribunal are heard more quickly. For example, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister has recently announced an extra £2.85 million investment in the Employment Tribunal this year, allowing up to 1,700 more cases to come before judges by the end of March 2023.
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, if he will make an estimate of the number of people who have had requests for flexible working refused in the last 12 months.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
In September 2021, the Government published a Post Implementation Review of the 2014 Flexible Working Regulations. This considered evidence from a range of different sources, including the Management and Wellbeing Practices Survey.
The survey found that in 83% of workplaces, where a request had been made, the request was granted, with 9% of employers reporting turning down a flexible working request in 2018-19 (the remaining proportion had an unknown outcome). These numbers remain broadly unchanged since the right to request flexible working legislation was extended in 2014.