Asked by: Patricia Gibson (Scottish National Party - North Ayrshire and Arran)
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 will take to ensure that supplies of heating oil and LPG are covered by the same regulatory controls as electricity and gas supplies are, via OFGEM.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government believes it is essential that consumers of domestic fuels receive a fair deal. There is an open market for the supply of heating oil in the UK as the Government believes this provides the best long-term guarantee of competitive prices. A price cap is not necessary as consumers can shop around and switch supplier more easily than for gas and electricity.
Asked by: Patricia Gibson (Scottish National Party - North Ayrshire and Arran)
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 take steps to regulate the heating oil market to protect consumers in rural areas.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government believes it is essential that consumers of domestic fuels receive a fair deal. There is an open market for the supply of heating oil in the UK as the Government believes this provides the best long-term guarantee of competitive prices. A price cap is not necessary as consumers can shop around and switch supplier more easily than for gas and electricity.
Asked by: Patricia Gibson (Scottish National Party - North Ayrshire and Arran)
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 regulate sales of heating oil to help protect consumers.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government believes it is essential that consumers of domestic fuels receive a fair deal. There is an open market for the supply of heating oil in the UK as the Government believes this provides the best long-term guarantee of competitive prices. A price cap is not necessary as consumers can shop around and switch supplier more easily than for gas and electricity.
Asked by: Patricia Gibson (Scottish National Party - North Ayrshire and Arran)
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 OFGEM on the potential merits of removing standing charges for electricity.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The setting of the standing charge is a commercial matter for individual suppliers. Standing charges are capped under the Government’s price cap.
Asked by: Patricia Gibson (Scottish National Party - North Ayrshire and Arran)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans the Government has to extend dispute resolution to sectors other than second hand car sales and servicing and home improvement.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government considers that a number of factors are relevant in assessing whether to extend mandatory business participation in ADR to new sectors. These include the volume or value of consumer problems, the overall consumer experience, and the structure of the market.
The Government consulted on this matter in its Reforming Consumer and Competition Policy command paper and will set out next steps on dispute resolution in its response.
Asked by: Patricia Gibson (Scottish National Party - North Ayrshire and Arran)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if the Government will enable collective redress in consumer cases in line with competition cases.
Answered by Paul Scully
The UK has an established regime for addressing collective consumer harm and enabling consumers to gain collective redress when consumer law has been broken. This covers both public collective redress procedures, whereby regulators and the CMA can seek redress on behalf of consumers under Part 8 of the Enterprise Act 2002, and, to a certain extent, private collective redress, for example through Group Litigation Orders.
In July 2021, the Department published the Reforming Competition and Consumer Policy consultation. We sought evidence on whether there is a case for strengthening the UK’s collective redress regime, to make it easier to gather many individual claims together into a single lawsuit that can support the cost of litigation. The Department will respond to the consultation in due course.
Asked by: Patricia Gibson (Scottish National Party - North Ayrshire and Arran)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if the Government will bring forward legislative proposals to ensure that online marketplaces take greater responsibility for the safety of consumers using their platforms, including proactive measures to protect consumers from scams, fake reviews and unsafe products.
Answered by Paul Scully
There is already robust legislation in place that protects consumers when purchasing goods and services online. The Consumer Rights Act 2015 and the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancelling and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 set out the rights consumers enjoy while shopping online and in store.
The Department consulted in July of this year on advancing online consumer rights in its “Reforming Competition and Consumer Policy” consultation. A copy of the consultation can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/reforming-competition-and-consumer-policy. The consultation closed on 1 October and the department will publish a response in due course.
Existing laws also require that all consumer products, including those sold online, are safe before they can be placed on the UK market. The Office for Product Safety and Standards is currently reviewing the UK’s product safety framework, including the impact of changes brought by eCommerce, to ensure that it remains robust and is future proofed. The Government published its response to a recent Call for Evidence on 11 November at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/uk-product-safety-review-call-for-evidence. We intend to publish a consultation outlining proposals for reform in due course.
Asked by: Patricia Gibson (Scottish National Party - North Ayrshire and Arran)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the (a) adequacy of the (i) structure, (ii) powers and (iii) resources of Trading Standards and (b) ability of that organisation to effectively protect consumers from scams, rogue traders and other potential harms.
Answered by Paul Scully
Local authorities are responsible for determining their spending priorities, including with respect for trading standards, and are accountable to their local electorate. Funding is not ringfenced, so local authorities make decisions according to their individual needs.
In July 2021, the Department published the Reforming Competition and Consumer Policy consultation. We sought evidence on how national and local enforcement bodies can work better together to ensure consumers are best protected against unscrupulous rogue traders. The Department will respond to the consultation in due course.
Asked by: Patricia Gibson (Scottish National Party - North Ayrshire and Arran)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent changes her Department has made to regulations on the safe transport of nuclear flasks.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The most recent amendments to the Carriage of Dangerous Goods Regulations and Use of Transportable Pressure Equipment 2009 made by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy implemented emergency preparedness and response requirements in Council Directive 2013/59/EURATOM.
Nuclear and radiation safety is a top priority for Government and our arrangements are kept under regular review. We have a well-respected regulatory system which reflects international best practice. All operators are answerable to a robust and independent regulator – the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR). If the ONR considered that any nuclear site or nuclear transport was not safe or secure it would not be allowed to operate.
Asked by: Patricia Gibson (Scottish National Party - North Ayrshire and Arran)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent changes her Department has made to the regulations on the carriage of nuclear materials.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The most recent amendments to the Carriage of Dangerous Goods Regulations and Use of Transportable Pressure Equipment 2009 made by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy relating to the transportation of class 7 (radioactive) goods came into effect in April 2020 (The Carriage of Dangerous Goods (Amendment) Regulations 2019 No. 598). The changes implemented emergency preparedness and response requirements in Council Directive 2013/59/EURATOM.