Asked by: Matt Rodda (Labour - Reading East)
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 help ensure that customers are consulted with before being moved onto a prepayment meter.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Ofgem, the independent regulator, is responsible for setting the rules regarding prepayment meter transfers. These rules require that suppliers can force-fit a prepayment meter by warrant only after they have taken all reasonable steps to agree payment with customers. It should be a last resort to avoid disconnecting supply. Suppliers cannot force-fit a prepayment meter under warrant for people in very vulnerable situations without their consent. For Smart meters, the rules require suppliers to give at least seven days’ notice before moving a customer remotely to prepayment meters. Traditional meters can only be switched manually and require customer consent or a court warrant.
Asked by: Matt Rodda (Labour - Reading East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has made an estimate of the numbers of consumers switched to prepayment meters without consultation in 2022.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department does not collect this data. Moving a customer to a prepayment meter without consultation is a breach of Ofgem’s regulation and should be reported. Ofgem rules set out clear guidance on how suppliers need to consult customers before switching them to prepayment meters, and the processes suppliers have to go through before such a switch.
Asked by: Matt Rodda (Labour - Reading East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent steps the Government has taken to help tackle the global climate emergency.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The net zero target remains a Government priority and the net zero transition will provide huge opportunities for jobs, investment, innovation and exports.
The UK continues to lead internationally in pursuit of our climate goals. The Government drives global climate ambition through leadership in multilateral forums, including the COP26 Presidency, as well as the recent Global Clean Energy Action Forum in the United States.
Asked by: Matt Rodda (Labour - Reading East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 24 June 2021 to Question 18566, on Merchant Navy Officers Pension Fund Scheme, what estimate he has made of the projected average entitlement for members of the Merchant Navy Ratings Pension Fund pension scheme through the Natural Environment Research Council and British Antarctic Survey.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Merchant Navy Ratings Pension Fund (MNRPF) is a multi-employer pension scheme and it is therefore not possible for any single participating (current or past) employer to estimate it’s share of any liabilities. This is a closed pension scheme and we do not know for certain if there are either active or deferred members of MNRPF who were previously employees of UK Research Innovation (UKRI) (or its predecessor organisations - NERC/BAS/NOC). However, it is possible, as not all of the former employees who were members of this pension scheme will have reached the scheme retirement age yet. As they are no longer employees, UKRI have no record of their current pension scheme memberships or entitlements.
Asked by: Matt Rodda (Labour - Reading East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 24 June 2021 to Question 18565 on the Merchant Navy Officers Pension Fund Scheme, if he will make an estimate of the future cost to the public purse in the (a) short-term and (b) long-term in relation to the Natural Environment Research Council and British Antarctic Survey’s role as a sponsoring employer of the Merchant Navy Ratings Pension Fund pension scheme.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Merchant Navy Ratings Pension Fund (MNRPF) is a multi-employer pension scheme and it is therefore not possible for any single participating (current or past) employer to estimate it’s share of any liabilities. This is a closed pension scheme and we do not know for certain if there are either active or deferred members of MNRPF who were previously employees of UK Research Innovation (UKRI) (or its predecessor organisations - NERC/BAS/NOC). However, it is possible, as not all of the former employees who were members of this pension scheme will have reached the scheme retirement age yet. As they are no longer employees, UKRI have no record of their current pension scheme memberships or entitlements.
Asked by: Matt Rodda (Labour - Reading East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the projected average entitlement for members of the Merchant Navy Ratings Pension Fund pension scheme through the Natural Environment Research Council and British Antarctic Survey.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) no longer have any employees enrolled in the Merchant Navy Officers Pension Fund Scheme. There are no anticipated upcoming costs to these organisations related to this scheme with their share of the fund’s future deficit having been paid in full. As there are no active members of the scheme who are current employees of NERC or BAS an estimate cannot be made of entitlements as records of current pensions scheme memberships are not held.
Asked by: Matt Rodda (Labour - Reading East)
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 future cost to the public purse in the (a) short term and (b) long term in relation to the Natural Environment Research Council and British Antarctic Survey’s role as a sponsoring employer of the Merchant Navy Ratings Pension Fund pension scheme.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) no longer have any employees enrolled in the Merchant Navy Officers Pension Fund Scheme. There are no anticipated upcoming costs to these organisations related to this scheme with their share of the fund’s future deficit having been paid in full. As there are no active members of the scheme who are current employees of NERC or BAS an estimate cannot be made of entitlements as records of current pensions scheme memberships are not held.
Asked by: Matt Rodda (Labour - Reading East)
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 the tiered covid-19 public health restrictions on the ability to trade of (a) the 60 pubs in Reading East and (b) other pubs throughout the country.
Answered by Paul Scully
Scientific evidence shows that hospitality venues can be higher risk environments than other indoor settings, and people who are consuming alcohol tend to be less likely to comply with health guidance. Through tiering we are making these venues safer and reducing transmission of the virus.
Whilst tiered restrictions have reduced the ability of pubs to trade, the Government has implemented a comprehensive and generous package of business support, worth £280 billion. This includes a new one-off grant worth up to £9,000, VAT relief, a business-rates holiday, and the extended furlough scheme. A further grant of £1,000 was made to support wet-led pubs in Tier 2, 3 and 4 areas, including Reading East, over the Christmas period.
Asked by: Matt Rodda (Labour - Reading East)
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 representative organisations for pubs and breweries on the effect of tier 2 and tier 3 public health restrictions on businesses in that sector.
Answered by Paul Scully
Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic the Government has worked closely with the hospitality sector to understand the impact of the pandemic on their businesses. Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic the Government has worked closely with the hospitality sector to understand the impact of the pandemic on their businesses. The new Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has met with representative organisations from across the hospitality sector since taking on the role on 11 January.
Hospitality businesses have been able to benefit from Government support, including the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, Government-backed loans, Local Restrictions Support Grants, additional funding provided to Local Authorities to support businesses and the Cultural Relief Fund.
On 5 January, when the new national lockdown began, the Chancellor announced a one-off top up grant for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses worth up to £9,000 per property to help businesses through to the spring. A £594 million discretionary fund has also been made available to support other impacted businesses.
Asked by: Matt Rodda (Labour - Reading East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what happens to funding allocated to local authorities as part of the Local Restrictions Support Grant (LRSG) and Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) which is not distributed to businesses.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government has put forward an unprecedented package of support for businesses in recognition of the disruption caused by Covid-19. This support includes extensive grant funding for businesses that have been required by law to close as a result of, or have been severely impacted by, localised and national restrictions.
Local authorities should pay businesses in line with the restriction period to which the funding is allocated to ensure local economies are supported during restrictions. Any unspent funding allocated to local authorities under a mandatory grants scheme will be recovered after a reconciliation process. It is not expected that discretionary schemes, such as the ARG, will have any unallocated funding as we would expect local authorities to apportion this funding to businesses. We are working closely with local authorities to ensure funding gets out the door to businesses as quickly as possible and to avoid any unnecessary underspend.