Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to tackle energy poverty.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Sustainable Warmth Strategy, published in February 2021, details the Government’s approach to tackling fuel poverty in England.
The Government recognises more immediate support is needed for energy bills and is providing financial support through established schemes including the Warm Home Discount, Winter Fuel Payment and Cold Weather Payment. Additional support has also been announced including a doubling of the Household Support Fund to £1 billion to be delivered through local authorities, a £200 payment through household energy bills for domestic electricity customers in Great Britain, and a £150 non-repayable reduction in Council Tax bills for all households in Bands A-D in England.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, is his Department will take steps to ensure that energy and utility companies suspend disconnections of customers unable to afford payment of their bills.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The energy regulator Ofgem prohibits energy suppliers from disconnecting customers who are of pensionable age during the winter months (October to March). Ofgem takes all reasonable steps during winter to avoid disconnecting premises where the occupants include a person who has a disability or a chronic sickness or is a person of pensionable age.
Suppliers must not disconnect customers for unpaid charges unless they have offered a range of repayment options and have exhausted all available means to recover a debt. In addition, suppliers are also required to identify and support pre-payment meter (PPM) customers at risk of self-rationing or self-disconnection through provision of emergency/friendly-hours credit and additional support credit.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
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 Autumn 2021 Budget, how much and what proportion of the £63 million committed to Companies House reform has been spent as of 17 March 2022.
Answered by Paul Scully
The £63 million allocated to Companies House at the Autumn 2021 Budget is to be spent across the Spending Review period of 2022-2025, which will begin at the start of the forthcoming financial year.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many full-time equivalent staff were employed by Companies House in each year since 2015.
Answered by Paul Scully
The average full time equivalent of staff employed by Companies House since 2014/15, including projections until 2024/25 are:
Financial Year | 2014-15 | 2015-16 | 2016-17 | 2017-18 | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 |
FTE | 854 | 810 | 832 | 849 | 884 | 928 | 999 | 1040 | 1199 | 1182 | 1143 |
2021/22 is provided as a year to date average to the end of February 2022
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the annual budget for Companies House (a) was in each year since 2015 and (b) is for each year until 2024.
Answered by Paul Scully
The total departmental expenditure limits for Companies House since 2014/15 until 2024/25 are
Financial Year | 2014-15 | 2015-16 | 2016-17 | 2017-18 | 2018-19 | 2019- 20 | 2020- 21 | 2021- 22 | 2022-23 | 2023- 24 | 2024- 25 |
Budget | £ 6.00m | £ 5.40m | £ 9.40m | £ 7.50m | £ 7.40m | £ 14.30m | £ 34.20m | £ 33.10m | £ 38.40m | £ 33.90m | £ 40.80m |
Companies House recovers the majority of its costs through fees, therefore it’s departmental expenditure limits are set net of its income.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what his timetable is for implementing the changes to Companies House proposed in the Corporate Transparency and Register Reform White Paper.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government has committed to legislating on register reform in the next session of this parliament. The proposed changes will be implemented as expeditiously as possible thereafter.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential impact of the covid-19 outbreak on the pay gap for ethnic minority groups.
Answered by Paul Scully
The economic impacts of Covid-19 are still playing out and it is difficult to draw firm conclusions as to whether any groups have been disproportionately impacted.
The ONS publish official data on ethnicity pay and the first set of data covering the pandemic will be published in due course. Data for 2019 is available here:
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
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 causes of women of colour being more likely than white men and women to be employed on zero-hours contracts.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government is committed to building a fairer Britain and ensuring that equality and opportunity is available for all.
Overall, individuals on zero-hours contracts represent a very small proportion of the workforce – just 3%. For this small group, this may be the type of contract which works best for them. The majority of people (62%) on zero-hours contracts say that they do not want more hours.
Zero-hours contracts remain an important part of the UK’s flexible labour market, for both employers where there is not a constant demand for staff and for individuals who may need to balance work around other commitments such as childcare and study.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to protect the intellectual property of digital works.
Answered by George Freeman
The UK’s IP framework is consistently rated as one of the best in the world. A good IP framework alongside an effective enforcement regime provides the best environment for creators of digital works to thrive.
Officials from the Intellectual Property Office have been holding roundtable meetings with representatives from social media businesses, alongside the creative industries, to discuss the protection of digital works on their platforms. These roundtable discussions have further enhanced our ability to fight piracy on social media platforms.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
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 made an assessment of the potential merits of the provision of bereavement leave to (a) mothers and (b) partners who have experienced a (i) miscarriage and (ii) stillbirth.
Answered by Paul Scully
We recognise that losing a child at any age can be deeply upsetting. We encourage employers to provide appropriate support to women who have suffered a miscarriage or stillbirth.
In April 2020, we legislated to give parents who lose a child under the age of 18 a right to take up to 2 weeks off work in the 56 weeks following the death of their child. This right extends to parents of babies stillborn after 24 completed weeks of pregnancy. It is too early to conduct an evaluation of this policy.
Individuals who do not feel able to return to work following a miscarriage may be entitled to Statutory Sick Pay while off work. All employees are also entitled to 5.6 weeks of Annual Leave a year and many employers also offer ‘Compassionate Leave’. We encourage employers to respond sensitively to each individual’s specific needs.