Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham 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 introduce a requirement for energy suppliers to include at least one tariff with a zero standing charge in their core tariffs for domestic customers.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Decisions about standing charges are a commercial matter for energy suppliers. The standing charge is a fixed charge that suppliers pass on to their customers to cover the cost of providing a live supply.
The Ofgem price cap sets a limit on unit rates and standing charges, and the Energy Price Guarantee subsidises the unit rate.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham 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 impact of the report by Ofgem entitled Retail Market Review, published in 2013, on the cost of energy for low income energy consumers.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The 2013 Retail Market Review proposed a set of rules to make it easier for consumers to make better choices over their supply. Those aims were superseded in 2014 when Ofgem referred the energy markets to the Consumers and Markets Authority (CMA). As a result of this, Ofgem introduced a price cap for PPM customers. The Government introduced a market-wide price cap on all default tariffs to protect the least engaged consumers. The price cap provides protection to all consumers, including low-income households.
The Government is developing a new approach to consumer protection which will apply from April 2024.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham 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 improve the energy efficiency of homes in Nottingham East constituency.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government remains committed to improving the energy performance of homes and reducing Fuel Poverty across the country, including in Nottingham East. Therefore the Government is investing £12 billion in Help to Heat schemes to make sure homes are warmer and cheaper to heat.
This investment will benefit tens of thousands of households and deliver savings between £300 and £700 a year on average on their energy bills, based on the recent price cap announcement.
Help to Heat covers the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, Local Authority Delivery Scheme, Home Upgrade Grant, Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund, and the Energy Company Obligation.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
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 relevant stakeholders on the divestment of the Pension Fund Committee from fossil fuel companies that have links with Russia.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Ministers regularly meet with external stakeholders. Details of ministerial meetings with external organisations are published quarterly and can be found on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/beis-ministerial-gifts-hospitality-travel-and-meetings.
The latest published data covers July to September 2021. Data for October to December 2021 will be published in due course.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham 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 he is taking to help ensure that workplaces provide statutory bereavement leave to both parents after baby loss.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government recognises that losing a child or a much-wanted baby at any stage is deeply upsetting and we expect employers to respond with compassion and understanding.
Parental Bereavement Leave and Pay provides parents with a statutory right to two weeks off work following the death of their child or the loss of a baby stillborn after 24 weeks of pregnancy. The policy establishes a statutory baseline for employers, and it is the Government’s hope that employers will go beyond this minimum in supporting employees who suffer this kind of loss.
The Government also commissioned guidance from the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) on managing a bereavement in the workplace. This guidance has been updated to include new sections on supporting employees after the loss of a baby and to highlight employers’ good practice.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
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 plans to return to a centrally-funded Green Home Grant Scheme.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government commitment to investing in decarbonising buildings remains unwavering, and to the importance of long-term funding to sustainable grow the green installer base and supply chain.
In order to deliver on net zero ambitions and support a thriving building retrofit industry, the Government will be expanding its funding commitment for both the Home Upgrade Grant scheme and the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund with up to £950m and £800m in additional funding respectively over 2022/23 to 2024/25.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham 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 introduce a specific grant for taxi drivers whose incomes have suffered as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Paul Scully
Grant support for Taxi Drivers may be available through the Additional Restrictions Grant, a discretionary scheme administered by Local Authorities. Local Authorities are encouraged to support businesses from all sectors that may have been severely impacted by restrictions but are not eligible for the Restart Grant scheme. Local Authorities can use their local expertise to target businesses to support in their local area.
My Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer has announced an additional £425m will be made available via the Additional Restrictions Grant meaning that more than £2bn has been made available to Local Authorities since November 2020.
Guidance for the scheme can be found at GOV.UK: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/971482/additional-restrictions-grant-la-guidance.pdf.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham 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 plans to make small business grants available to taxi drivers.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Restart Grant and Local Restrictions Support Grant Schemes provides support for those businesses who have been mandated to close under National Restrictions. Grant support for Taxi Drivers may be available through the Additional Restrictions Grant. Local Authorities have discretion to provide support that suits their local area including to support those businesses not required to close but which have had their trade severely affected by the restrictions.
My Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer has announced an additional £425m will be made available via the Additional Restrictions Grant meaning that more than £2bn has been made available to Local Authorities since November 2020.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham 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 he is taking to reduce unregulated carbon emissions produced by the construction industry.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are working with the construction sector to reduce its emission contributions to help meet our net zero target, with a focus on construction processes including transport and the plant and machinery it uses, and in the built environment. We are also working with the sector to reduce embodied carbon and are looking at a range of means for doing so.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham 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 she has made of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to amend regulations in respect of fireworks to strengthen controls on who can purchase them.
Answered by Paul Scully
This Government is committed to taking further action to promote the safe and considerate use of fireworks. There is a comprehensive regulatory framework already in place for fireworks that controls who can purchase them, their availability and use, curfews and their safety as a product.
We agree with the conclusion of the Petition Committee’s 2019 inquiry into fireworks, that any further restrictions on fireworks sold to the public by retail outlets could lead to more individuals buying products inappropriately, through online social media sources or from outside the UK. This could drive individuals to source fireworks from illegitimate or unsafe suppliers, where products may not meet the UK’s safety requirements.