Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what contact his Department has had with regulatory agencies on the business practices of Yell Ltd.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Department has not been in contact with regulatory agencies in connection with the business practices of Yell Ltd.
Business-to-business contract disputes are generally a matter for the parties involved, except in a small number of regulated sectors.
We would encourage any business that is being offered a service to read the contract carefully, and research the reputation of the service provider before making any commitment.
Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
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 increase the number of lenders accredited to provide revolving finance and overdraft facilities under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme.
Answered by Paul Scully
Accredited Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) lenders offer a wide range of business finance products including term loans, overdrafts, invoice finance and asset finance. The British Business Bank has put in place substantial additional resource to accredit new lenders to CBILS as quickly as possible, which will further widen the choice of finance options for smaller businesses.
Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if she will commission an inquiry into the events around the recent collapse in the share price of Sirius Minerals PLC.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is the regulator responsible. If the FCA suspects serious misconduct, it has the powers to launch investigations and to hold companies or individuals to account.
Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many reports have been lodged on the Director Conduct Reporting Service under section 7A of the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 in each quarter since that service commenced.
Answered by Margot James
The number of reports lodged on the Director Conduct Reporting Service (DCRS) each quarter since the service went live on 6 April 2016 is as follows:
Quarter | Total DCRS Reports |
6 April 2016 – 30 June 2016 | 239* |
1 July 2016 – 30 September 2016 | 3,412 |
1 October 2016 – 31 December 2016 | 3,810 |
1 January 2017 – 31 March 2017 | 4,081 |
Total | 11,542 |
*The initial low figure is because office holders were only required to use the DCRS for new appointments from 6 April and have 3 months to report.
Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many insolvency practitioners are registered to use the online Director Conduct Reporting Service.
Answered by Margot James
1,015 licensed insolvency practitioners are registered to use the online Director Conduct Reporting Service.
Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what contribution he has made to EU negotiations to reform EU copyright law.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
The Government has been fully participating in the Digital Single Market negotiations, in good faith, and in the national interest, whilst taking into account the UK’s planned exit from the European Union.
Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
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 effect of proposed changes to EU copyright law on UK firms engaged in the digital economy.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
The Government has examined the Commission’s impact assessment and has carried out its own call for views in order to gather evidence from interested parties. The Government has also held a number of meetings with various sectors of industry, including roundtable meetings which I have hosted. The negotiations are still at an early stage and the Government is engaging with stakeholders to ensure that the copyright system works in the interests of UK creative and digital businesses.
Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
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 address the downgrading of the UK's rating for energy security in the World Energy Council's 2015 Energy Trilemma Index, published in November 2015.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government takes energy security very seriously, and our energy security has not been downgraded. According to the World Energy Council’s Energy Trilemma index, the UK scored an ‘A’ for the energy security element and increased its country ranking for energy security from 9th in 2014 to 4th in 2015 after there was a downgrade on a point of Energy Equity.
Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate she has made of the cost of establishing the Green Deal Finance Company in (a) payments to consultants and (b) other costs.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
DECC has made no payments to consultants in establishing the Green Deal Finance Company, but in other costs payments of £10,294.26 in legal support were made in 2014/15.
The Green Deal Finance Company has not been closed. It is not currently issuing new loans, but continues to collect repayments from its existing loan book. In July 2015, DECC took the decision that the case for further investment was not strong enough in terms of value for money. This decision has no impact on existing Green Deal Finance Plans or existing Green Deal Home Improvement Fund applications and vouchers.
The Green Deal Finance Company is a private company and has its own internal costs which are not included in this estimate.
Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the cost is of closing the Green Deal Finance Company in (a) payments to consultants and (b) other costs.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
DECC has made no payments to consultants in establishing the Green Deal Finance Company, but in other costs payments of £10,294.26 in legal support were made in 2014/15.
The Green Deal Finance Company has not been closed. It is not currently issuing new loans, but continues to collect repayments from its existing loan book. In July 2015, DECC took the decision that the case for further investment was not strong enough in terms of value for money. This decision has no impact on existing Green Deal Finance Plans or existing Green Deal Home Improvement Fund applications and vouchers.
The Green Deal Finance Company is a private company and has its own internal costs which are not included in this estimate.