Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
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 with Cabinet colleagues to provide an energy assistance payment for families of disabled children and young people who have a high energy usage.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government is delivering the Energy Bills Support Scheme, a £400 non-repayable grant to support families with their energy bills. Additionally, The Energy Price Guarantee (EPG) will save a typical household in Great Britain £900 this Winter. Families with disabled children are also entitled to a one-off £150 Disability Cost of Living Payment. The Government is currently reviewing the EPG. This consultation will explore the best ways to ensure that vulnerable high energy users, such as those with medical requirements, are not put at risk.
Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
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 provide additional statutory protections for night shift workers, in the context of the potential health risks associated with night shift work.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Working Time Regulations provide extensive protections to night workers. Before someone starts working at night, they must be offered a free health assessment to see if they are fit to work nights before they become a night worker and on a regular basis after that. A record of this must be kept by the employer. Employers must also make sure that night time workers do not work more than an average of 8 hours in a 24-hour period. Employers can make collective or workforce agreements to change or exclude this limit.
Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
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 create a departmental working group which brings together industry stakeholders to discuss conditions for night shift workers.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Working Time Regulations provide specific protections to night workers. Before someone starts working at night, they must be offered a free health assessment to see if they are fit to work nights before they become a night worker and on a regular basis after that. A record of this must be kept by the employer. Employers must also make sure that night time workers do not work more than an average of 8 hours in a 24-hour period. Employers can make collective or workforce agreements to change or exclude this limit.
Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he is taking steps with Cabinet colleagues to assess the health and wellbeing of the night shift workforce.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Working Time Regulations provide specific protections to night workers. Before someone starts working at night, they must be offered a free health assessment to see if they are fit to work nights before they become a night worker and on a regular basis after that. A record of this must be kept by the employer. Employers must also make sure that night time workers do not work more than an average of 8 hours in a 24-hour period. Employers can make collective or workforce agreements to change or exclude this limit.
Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
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 has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a legal requirement for employers with 250 or more employees to have a workplace Menopause Policy to protect and support people experiencing menopause.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government considers the best approach is to engage with employers to promote best practice and to support them to implement approaches that work for their own individual workplace. Through the Business Champion for Older Workers, and with external partners, Government is seeking to ensure that employers are aware of how best to support their staff experiencing menopause.
Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the liquidation of the Lamp Insurance Company Limited, if he will make an estimate of the value of the assets and liabilities of the Lamp Insurance Company Limited when it entered liquidation; and for what reason that company's liabilities were not assigned to an acquiring company.
Answered by Jane Hunt
The Official Receiver in Gibraltar is liquidator of Lamp Insurance Company Limited. Their preliminary report of 25 July 2019, available at www.lampinsurance.com detailed the company’s assets and liabilities. The treatment of a company’s assets and liabilities is a matter for Gibraltarian insolvency law and the decisions of the liquidator.
Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the case of the Lamp Insurance Company Limited, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the steps required of (a) liquidators and (b) regulatory bodies in (i) Gibraltar and (ii) the UK to ensure that (A) creditors and (B) consumers are protected when a company goes into liquidation.
Answered by Jane Hunt
LAMP Insurance Company Limited is a Gibraltar-incorporated and registered company which was authorised and regulated by the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission. The company was placed into liquidation in Gibraltar on 31 May 2019 in accordance with the Gibraltar Insolvency Act 2011. The UK Government has no involvement in the legal or regulatory functions of the authorities in Gibraltar.
LAMP Insurance Company Limited also operated in the UK and was authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. In the event that an authorised insurer fails operating in the UK or Gibraltar, there are consumer protections in place. Eligible policyholders can seek compensation from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme and refer claims disputes to the Financial Ombudsman Service. Creditors of the company who are not policyholders can lodge their claims and obtain further information via the Liquidator’s appointed agents, Grant Thornton Limited, who can be contacted by email at lampinsurance@gi.gt.com.
Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
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 plans to take to mitigate the potential effect of rising energy costs on health inequalities for people with kidney failure receiving home dialysis treatment, which uses large volumes of electricity; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Consumers in vulnerable situations due to health issues are protected by the energy price cap if they are on a supplier’s default or standard variable tariff. They will also receive a £200 discount on their electricity bill this autumn, as part of the Government’s package worth £9.1 billion to help domestic households with rising energy bills. The Government will continue to support eligible vulnerable and low-income households through the Warm Home Discount, Winter Fuel Payments and Cold Weather Payments.
Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps the Government plans to take to help ensure that people with kidney failure receiving home dialysis treatment, which uses large volumes of electricity, are able to maintain their energy requirements as energy costs rise; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Consumers in vulnerable situations due to health issues are protected by the energy price cap if they are on a supplier’s default or standard variable tariff. They will also receive a £200 discount on their electricity bill this autumn, as part of the Government’s package worth £9.1 billion to help domestic households with rising energy bills. The Government will continue to support eligible vulnerable and low-income households through the Warm Home Discount, Winter Fuel Payments and Cold Weather Payments.
Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
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 publish a list of UK companies who participate in the UK-China Green Finance Centre.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
UK-China Green Finance Centre Partners can be found on the UK China Green Finance Centre website: https://www.ukchinagreen.org/about-us/partners/