Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent discussions he has had with (a) the Welsh Government and (b) National Grid ESO on how to support grid access for small-scale renewable energy generation in Wales.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department regularly engages with the Welsh Government and the Electricity System Operator on electricity networks, including renewable energy connections.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many meetings he has held with the (a) Development Bank of Wales and (b) Scottish National Investment Bank in 2022.
Answered by Jane Hunt
My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy regularly meets a variety of stakeholders.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
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 the (a) Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and (b) Welsh Government on the rollout of rural broadband to encourage smart meter use.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The national smart metering system in Great Britain is not reliant on broadband for connectivity. The Data Communications Company operates the national communications network for smart metering, which is separate from the internet and uses a variety of technologies, including cellular mobile technology, wireless mesh radio and long-range radio. This dedicated, secure network ensures that only authorised parties, such as energy suppliers, can communicate with meters.
The Government wants to ensure that households and small businesses across Great Britain can benefit from smart metering and has required energy suppliers to establish Smart Energy GB, which is responsible for coordinated consumer engagement activities and working alongside energy suppliers to support consumer uptake.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what support the Government is providing to rural areas to (a) encourage the adoption of smart meters and (b) increase broadband connectivity.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The national smart metering system in Great Britain is not reliant on broadband for connectivity. The Data Communications Company operates the national communications network for smart metering, which is separate from the internet and uses a variety of technologies, including cellular mobile technology, wireless mesh radio and long-range radio. This dedicated, secure network ensures that only authorised parties, such as energy suppliers, can communicate with meters.
The Government wants to ensure that households and small businesses across Great Britain can benefit from smart metering and has required energy suppliers to establish Smart Energy GB, which is responsible for coordinated consumer engagement activities and working alongside energy suppliers to support consumer uptake.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
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 impact of rural broadband connectivity on smart meter uptake.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The national smart metering system in Great Britain is not reliant on broadband for connectivity. The Data Communications Company operates the national communications network for smart metering, which is separate from the internet and uses a variety of technologies, including cellular mobile technology, wireless mesh radio and long-range radio. This dedicated, secure network ensures that only authorised parties, such as energy suppliers, can communicate with meters.
The Government wants to ensure that households and small businesses across Great Britain can benefit from smart metering and has required energy suppliers to establish Smart Energy GB, which is responsible for coordinated consumer engagement activities and working alongside energy suppliers to support consumer uptake.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
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 assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to require companies to conduct (a) human rights and (b) environmental due diligence assessments across their (i) operations, (ii) subsidiaries and (iii) value chains.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government supports and encourages the current voluntary approach to due diligence by UK businesses as set out in international frameworks such as the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the OECD Guidelines on Multinational Enterprises.
Whilst the Government keeps this approach under review, we currently have no plans to require companies to conduct due diligence assessments for human rights and environmental protection on top of their existing corporate annual reporting on these issues.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many cases brought to the Competition Appeal Tribunal within the last five years have taken over nine months to complete.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Tribunal is resourced to deal with these cases as quickly as due process allows. The parties before the Tribunal need time to prepare for the hearing, and the Tribunal will set a timetable for this taking account of the parties' resources, the need for a fair hearing and the need to resolve cases as expeditiously as possible.
Further detail covering the period October 2010 to October 2020 was set out in the Call for Evidence for the recent post-implementation review of the Competition Appeal Tribunal Rules published in May 2021.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
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 adequacy of the performance of the Competition Appeal Tribunal in completing cases in a timely manner.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Post Implementation Review of the Competition Appeal Tribunal Rules 2015 was published in April 2022. This sets out that the intended objectives of the Rules, that is, to streamline procedures in the CAT and minimise the length and cost of CAT cases while ensuring access to recourse for affected parties, have largely been achieved.
The Competition Appeal Tribunal reports on all of their cases in their annual report and they provide regular updates on the case pages on their website.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
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 including unpaid carers in the eligibility criteria for the Warm Home Discount.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Warm Home Discount is a key policy in the Government’s strategy for tackling fuel poverty. The Government consulted on reforming the Warm Home Discount scheme to better target fuel poverty and to provide the rebates automatically to households, as announced in the Energy White Paper. The Government’s response to the consultation will be published in the coming weeks.
The reforms include focusing support on households on the lowest incomes who are struggling to heat their homes. Eligibility would therefore be linked to receipt of a qualifying means-tested benefit and having high energy costs. Unpaid carers in receipt of one of the qualifying means-tested benefits and with high energy costs would therefore be eligible for a rebate.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
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 adequacy of the compensation available for homes that experience power cuts in severe weather; and whether it is his policy that those who experience a power cut for 24 hours as a result of a Category 2 Storm should be eligible for compensation.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Ofgem, the independent regulator for the UK’s energy networks, sets service levels which Distribution Network Operators must meet, with rules on how and when compensation payments are issued to consumers if the standards are not met. This is set out in the Quality of Service Guaranteed Standards.