Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions he has had with the Welsh Government on the Strategic Defence Review.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Welsh Government was invited to respond to the public consultation through a letter from Lord Robertson. I have also held a call with the Cabinet Secretary for Transport and North Wales to brief the Welsh Government on the content of the Strategic Defence Review (SDR) and its significance for Wales. We will continue engagement with Welsh Government Colleagues on a range of Ministry of Defence matters including the SDR.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of the ban on employment for women seeking asylum on levels of gender-based violence and exploitation.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer I gave on 3 June to Question 53862.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether any of the six munitions and energetics factories announced in the Strategic Defence Review will be built in Wales.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Wales already contributes to munitions development, and we hope businesses based in Wales will continue to do so as we build our always on defence munitions strategy. We will set out that detail in due course, but our overall munitions investment will help support jobs and growth across every nation of the UK. We already have important facilities across the UK, supporting thousands of jobs. This new investment will be used to build at least six munitions and energetics factories across the UK, creating hundreds of skilled jobs and supporting the Government's Plan for Change by driving growth in every region and nation of the UK.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the work ban for people seeking asylum on future employment opportunities.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
Our primary responsibility remains to crack down on illegal working, and ensure that those employers and employees who play by the rules are not undercut by those who are not.
Asylum seekers who have had their claim outstanding for 12 months or more, through no fault of their own, can currently apply for permission to work in jobs on the Immigration Salary List (ISL). The Home Office keeps all aspects of the immigration and asylum system under regular review, and recently published a White Paper setting out the Government’s plans for reform in relation to the exploitation and abuse of migrant workers, and a wide range of other areas.
The Home Office also continues to invest in a programme of transformation to speed up asylum decision making and therefore reduce the time people spend in the asylum system. This approach will ensure that genuine asylum seekers can be accepted quickly and gain access to the labour market, and those who are not can be removed to their home country.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an estimate of the number of radio teleswitch service meters in use in (a) Wales, (b) Gwynedd and (c) Dwyfor Meirionnydd constituency in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Most recent figures provided to the Department from Ofgem indicates that as of 2nd May there were c.9,500 RTS meters remaining in Wales.
Ofgem does not collect constituency level data on RTS meters from suppliers.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment has he made of the accuracy of the list of RTS Switch off Identified Properties for properties in Gwynedd which have storage heaters as their primary source of heating.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department is not aware of a list of RTS properties that separately identifies premises with and without storage heaters.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department will take to support households unable to access Energy Company Obligation 4 before its expiration on 31 March 2026.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Eligibility for the Energy Company Obligation 4 (ECO4) and the Great British Insulation Scheme (GBIS) does not guarantee assistance, the Department cannot direct who receives support. ECO4 and GBIS have already supported an estimated 292,490 households to February 2025, with around 9,000 homes per month in the last quarter. We are committed to meeting fuel poverty and Net Zero targets, and we are currently considering what policy mix will best achieve that, including what role energy company obligations should play post-2026.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of delaying the Radio Teleswitch Service switch off.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The industry-led Radio Teleswitch Service (RTS) is reaching the end of its operational life and can no longer be adequately maintained.
The switch-off will start from the end of June, and the Government and Ofgem have called on suppliers to rapidly increase the pace of RTS replacements, so that there is a smooth transition and consumers are protected. We continue to closely monitor progress.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what estimate he has made of the number of households on Economy 7 tariffs in Gwynedd impacted by the Radio Teleswitch service switch off.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department does not receive information from energy suppliers on the number of households on specific tariffs, such as Economy 7.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of Ofgem's data on Smarter Meter Switch off Identified Properties on the number of properties in Gwynedd with storage heaters as their primary source of heating.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Smart meters, and the communication services that support smart metering, will not be switched off.
The Department does not receive information from energy suppliers about the number of households with storage heaters.