Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
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 prevent unsafe toys being sold by third party sellers on online marketplaces.
Answered by Paul Scully
The UK has a strong product safety system which requires that products, including toys, should be safe before they can be placed on the market, including those sold online.
The Office for Product Safety and Standards works proactively with major online platforms to ensure that they are playing their part in protecting UK consumers from unsafe goods.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he plans to restrict European Economic Area address for service rules at the Intellectual Property Office in the event that there are no reciprocal rights of representation before the EU Intellectual Property Office at the end of the transition period; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Amanda Solloway
The Government is aware that this is an important issue for stake holders, in particular UK-based patent and trade mark attorneys.
Rights of representation before EU institutions and courts are the preserve of the Single Market and so do not form part of the UK Approach to negotiations with the EU.
This means that UK representatives will no longer have the right to represent before the EUIPO at the end of the Transition Period. This is without prejudice to the Withdrawal Agreement (WA) which ensures that UK legal representatives can continue to represent their clients before the EUIPO in procedures that are ongoing at the end of the transition period.
Officials at the Intellectual Property Office and the Ministry of Justice are having ongoing conversations with stakeholders on representation rights and address for service once the transition period ends.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
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 estimated the number of jobs at risk in the event that the Government grants European Economic Area intellectual property practitioners unrestricted access to the UK Intellectual Property Office without reciprocal access for UK practitioners to the EU Intellectual Property Office at the end of the transition period.
Answered by Amanda Solloway
The Government is aware that this is an important issue for stake holders, in particular UK-based patent and trade mark attorneys.
Officials at the Intellectual Property Office are having ongoing conversations with representative bodies over how to best address this matter once the transition period ends.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme will be extended to include (a) NHS and (b) private dental practices.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) is open to eligible businesses in most sectors, including private dentists. In order to be eligible for the CBILS, businesses must:
Businesses also need to show that they:
As with any other borrower, these businesses would need to meet the eligibility criteria for the Scheme which would be assessed by the lender on a case by case basis.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
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 telephone line for non-key workers to inform the Government in the event that their employer forces them to travel to and work in their workplace during the covid-19 pandemic.
Answered by Paul Scully
In this unprecedented time, we would urge employers to take socially responsible decisions and listen to the concerns of their workforce.
Employers should be taking all efforts to allow people to work from home, but where this is impossible, employees are able to travel to and be at work. This can include those who have not been designated as key workers. Our clear message for people to stay at home where they can will help lessen the risk for those who must go to work.
Employers and employees should discuss their working arrangements and work together to adhere to the guidance from Public Health England on working safely. If individuals need advice they should approach ACAS where they can get impartial advice about in work dispute. The Acas website is at www.acas.org.uk.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
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 businesses do not compel people who are not key workers, and who rely on public transport, to travel to work.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Government has advised that people should be working from home where it is possible to do so. If it is impossible for someone to work from home, then they can go to work. We understand that certain jobs require people to travel to their work for instance if they operate machinery, or are delivering front line services, such as train and bus drivers, construction workers, restaurant workers handling deliveries or health and social care workers.
Employers and employees should discuss their working arrangements. There is a duty on all employers to make every effort to facilitate their employees working from home, including providing suitable IT and equipment to enable remote working.
Existing employment law already gives employees the right to request flexible working, which includes remote working. Where work must be done in the workplace, we have published tailored advice for how social distancing measures can be implemented by employers in England to help protect their workforce and customers from Coronavirus while continuing to trade.
Businesses and employees can get advice on employment issues, including the latest on homeworking, at: www.acas.org.uk. For further advice and support, businesses can also ring the Department’s Business Support Helpline on 0300 456 3565.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
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 ability of small and medium-sized businesses to access the Business Interruption Loan Scheme to help cover the costs of coronavirus.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) is now live. Eligible businesses can apply for a loan or other form of finance through one of 40-plus providers accredited by the British Business Bank to offer the scheme. These include all the major UK banks. The application process is typically online for smaller amounts and the lending decision is made by the provider concerned.
Full guidance, including eligibility criteria, is available on the British Business Bank website at www.british-business-bank.co.uk/cbils and this information is being widely disseminated online, through the Government’s Business Support Helpline and by accredited providers.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the Government's policy is on (a) international and (b) EU recognition of the United Kingdom Accreditation Service after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Andrew Griffiths
The United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) is the UK’s National Accreditation Body. We are working closely with UKAS to ensure that its future relationships with international and European bodies continue to support a productive, open and competitive business environment in the UK. The UK Government recognises the valuable role of accreditation and conformity assessment in providing business confidence.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what meetings his Department has held with providers of terrorism insurance in the last 12 months.
Answered by Andrew Griffiths
BEIS Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery.
Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/beis-ministerial-gifts-hospitality-travel-and-meetings