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Written Question
Warm Home Discount Scheme
Monday 30th January 2023

Asked by: Naz Shah (Labour - Bradford West)

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 is taking steps to provide support to people whose property was previously eligible for a Warm Home Discount payment but is no longer eligible and has a low energy performance certificate rating.

Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

Households not receiving rebates under the Warm Home Discount may still be able to receive assistance under the Industry Initiatives element of the scheme. This can include benefit entitlement checks, financial assistance, debt-write off, energy advice as well as energy efficiency measures. Over 327,000 households were helped under that route last winter.

For longer-lasting reductions in their energy bills, low-income households may be eligible for energy efficiency measures through government schemes including the Energy Company Obligation (ECO), Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund and Home Upgrade Grant. Over 39% of households in Bradford West have benefitted from energy efficiency measures installed under ECO since 2013.


Written Question
Warm Home Discount Scheme: Disability
Monday 30th January 2023

Asked by: Naz Shah (Labour - Bradford West)

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 ensure that the Warm Home Discount helpline is accessible for users with disabilities.

Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

Ofcom requires all landline and mobile telephone communications providers to provide a number of services for customers with disabilities, including access to an approved text relay service. The Warm Home Discount helpline has operators trained in taking calls from text relay services. The helpline also has a step-by-step Interactive Voice Response interface at the beginning of calls to help users navigate the service.

In addition to the telephone service, users can write to the Warm Home Discount helpline at: 110552 Warm Home Discount Scheme, PO Box 26965, Glasgow, G1 9BW.


Written Question
Energy Bills Rebate
Tuesday 17th January 2023

Asked by: Naz Shah (Labour - Bradford West)

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 ensure that people who do not have a direct relationship with an energy supplier benefit from the Energy Support Scheme.

Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Energy Bills Support Scheme Alternative Funding will provide support of £400 for energy bills for around 900,000 households without a domestic electricity supply. Those eligible for the Energy Bills Support Scheme Alternative Funding will need to submit a short online form via the Government’s GOV.UK pages, with the application portal due to open this month.


Written Question
Solar Power
Monday 14th March 2022

Asked by: Naz Shah (Labour - Bradford West)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what support is in place for home owners with 25 year leases on solar panels, who are unable to get any equity from a Mortgage lender, or able to buy out or amend their solar panel leases.

Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Government is aware that homeowners have leased their roof space to receive free solar panels under commercial “rent a roof” schemes.  Under these arrangements, the panel providers remain owners of the equipment and receive the Feed-in Tariffs (FIT) payments from the energy supplier, while the homeowner benefits from the savings they make on their electricity bills.

The FIT scheme allowed for such assignment of rights to FIT payments, but it did not prescribe how such arrangements should work: it was for the parties involved to arrive at a mutually beneficial agreement. While the FIT was a government scheme which provided the framework for an investment opportunity, the various marketing approaches and offers that commercial ‘rent a roof’ companies employed were not government schemes.


Written Question
Fireworks: Regulation
Monday 8th November 2021

Asked by: Naz Shah (Labour - Bradford West)

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 review the existing laws on supply and distribution of fireworks.

Answered by Paul Scully

The Government takes the issues associated with the sale and use of fireworks seriously. That is why there is a comprehensive regulatory framework already in place for fireworks that controls the sale, availability and use.

We have no current plans to place further restrictions on the sale of fireworks to the public but we continue to monitor the situation. We are committed to promoting the safe and considerate use of fireworks through our programme of action, including through education and awareness raising.


Written Question
Coronavirus: Vaccination
Monday 8th November 2021

Asked by: Naz Shah (Labour - Bradford West)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when the Janssen covid-19 vaccine will be administered in the UK.

Answered by Paul Scully

The UK Government announced on 30 October that it will donate all 20 million Janssen doses it has ordered to COVAX. Eighty percent of the adult population in the UK is now double vaccinated and a winter boost campaign is well underway. Given the maturity of our vaccination programme and strength of existing supplies to meet domestic requirements, we have been able to identify these as doses we are able to reallocate to COVAX to distribute to those most in need.

Janssen aim to prioritise deliveries to countries based on need, so COVAX will receive the much-needed vaccines as soon as they come off the production line.


Written Question
Hospitality Industry: Coronavirus
Monday 20th July 2020

Asked by: Naz Shah (Labour - Bradford West)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has made to ensure that (a) banqueting halls and (b) wedding venues can reopen to serve food and entertainment whilst adhering to covid-19 guidelines; and whether the Government has made an assessment of the potential merits of allocating additional funding from the public purse to businesses in those sectors where adherence to those guidelines is not possible.

Answered by Paul Scully

The Government has provided an unprecedented package of financial support to help businesses across the country during the COVID-19 outbreak, including those in the weddings industry.

My Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister has announced that from 1 August celebratory meals or receptions of up to 30 people for weddings and civil partnerships will be allowed to take place. Over time, we will assess whether gatherings of this type for other purposes can be made possible and when larger wedding receptions can take place.

We continue to advise against live entertainment performances at weddings, due to the risks of people singing or shouting over loud music, which create risks of transmission.


Written Question
Personal Care Services: Coronavirus
Monday 13th July 2020

Asked by: Naz Shah (Labour - Bradford West)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he categorises aesthetics and wellbeing businesses in the beauty industry; what businesses it categorises in the beauty industry; and what his timetable is for those businesses reopening.

Answered by Paul Scully

Government has published a list of business types that fall under the close contact services guidance. All businesses that provide cosmetic procedures or treatments for aesthetic and beauty purposes fall into the definition of a beauty salon.

We have now provided close contact services in England, except Leicester, with the certainty they need to reopen from Monday 13 July, subject to them following the COVID-secure guidelines.


Written Question
Physiotherapy: Coronavirus
Monday 13th July 2020

Asked by: Naz Shah (Labour - Bradford West)

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 Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on the reopening of soft tissue therapist businesses.

Answered by Paul Scully

My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy discusses a wide range of topics and policy issues with ministers across Government, including the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care.

We have now provided other close contact services like massage therapists, reflexologists and other therapeutic services in England except Leicester with the certainty they need to reopen from Monday 13 July, subject to them following the COVID-secure guidelines.


Written Question
Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Islam
Friday 1st November 2019

Asked by: Naz Shah (Labour - Bradford West)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many staff in her Department reported their religion as Islam in the latest period for which figures are available; what the reported ethnicity of those staff was; and how many of those staff were employed at each grade.

Answered by Nadhim Zahawi

BEIS is proud of our diversity and Inclusion policy and has a good record of employing staff from various religious background. The number of staff in BEIS who reported their religion as Islam is 90. This total is a mixture of all staff whose background is from Indian subcontinent (Bangladesh, India, Pakistan), African and European origin (English and other White background). The breakdown by grade is shown below:

Grade Breakdown of staff who declared Islam as Religion

Number of employees

Administrative Officer (AO)

3

Executive Office (EO)

26

Higher Executive Officer (HEO)

26

Senior Executive Officer (SEO)

11

Grade 7 Officer (G7)

17

Grade 6 Officer (G6)

2

Senior Civil Servant – (SCS1)

5

Grand Total

90