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Written Question
Energy Bills Rebate: Caravan Sites
Tuesday 24th January 2023

Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when the Energy Bill Support Scheme will be made available to people living in caravan parks.

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

As an extension to the Energy Bills Support Scheme, alternative funding is being provided to around 900,000 households without a direct relationship with a domestic electricity supplier. This will be a payment of £400 per eligible household and is expected to include park home residents. On 19 December, the Government announced that the application portal for this extension to the Energy Bills Support Scheme will open later in January, with a dedicated customer helpline available to assist customers without online access. Further details will be published shortly.


Written Question
Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Civil Servants
Monday 21st November 2022

Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the civil service headcount for their Department was on (a) 15 November 2022 and (b) 1 February 2020.

Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Civil Service headcount for the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on 1 February 2020 and 31 October 2022* was:

31 October 2022: 5876

1 February 2020: 4577

*Date changed to 31 October 2022 as per our latest monthly Official Statistics publication.


Written Question
Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Coronavirus
Friday 18th November 2022

Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many employees in his Department work on matters related to covid-19.

Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy have 49 Employees (including contingent) who are currently working on matters related to Covid-19.


Written Question
Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Public Expenditure
Monday 4th April 2022

Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)

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 detail the losses and special payments valued at under £300,000 for his departmental group as defined by section A4.10.7 in HM Treasury's Managing Public Money for (a) 2018-19, (b) 2019-20 and (c) 2020-21.

Answered by George Freeman

The Department has disclosed information about losses and special payments in its annual report and accounts. The attached workbook holds details of remaining items disclosed in aggregate in the annual reports for the above periods.


Written Question
Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Coronavirus
Thursday 3rd March 2022

Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)

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 ensure that his Department and its agencies remove all internal covid-19 related policies, restrictions and mask mandates.

Answered by George Freeman

On 21 February 2022, the Government published COVID-19 Response: Living with COVID-19. This document sets out how and when the remaining restrictions will be lifted in England. Government guidance was subsequently amended, including the Working Safely guidance and BEIS will continue to follow this guidance and align its policies accordingly.


Written Question
Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Protective Clothing
Thursday 9th September 2021

Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what his current policy is on the wearing of face coverings in his (a) Department, (b) departmental agencies and (c) related bodies during the covid-19 outbreak.

Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

In line with Government guidelines and the Department’s risk assessment staff in BEIS offices are not required to wear face coverings but do have individual discretion to wear one should they wish to do so. It is the responsibility of individual employers to undertake a risk assessment and advise on the need for additional mitigations to be put in place within their buildings.

BEIS sponsors 5 Executive Agencies and 23 arm’s length bodies (Non-Departmental Public Bodies and Non-Ministerial Departments). They have organisational independence to set their own policies regarding the use of face covering which considers the risk assessment, the devolved administrations guidance and legislation that impacts on their location and operational need.


Written Question
Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Training
Tuesday 29th June 2021

Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)

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 Written Statement of 15 December 2020, HCWS652, what steps he has taken to phase out unconscious bias training in his Department.

Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

The Written Ministerial Statement referred to in the question can be seen here: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2020-12-15/hcws652.

Since the removal of Unconscious Bias training from the core Civil Service learning offer in January 2021, BEIS no longer monitors activity or provides reports on completion.

Unconscious Bias is not on BEIS’s list of mandatory training courses and is not part of our forthcoming Diversity & Inclusion Curriculum.

Unconscious Bias training does not form part of BEIS’s Diversity & Inclusion Strategy.


Written Question
Retail Trade: Measurement
Tuesday 1st June 2021

Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)

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 bring forward legislative proposals to allow packaged and loose goods to be displayed in imperial measurements only.

Answered by Paul Scully

The Government recognises that some people have a preference to use imperial units in their day to day lives. At the same time, it recognises that many others are not familiar with imperial units and that the use of metric is a necessity for British businesses to compete in markets around the world. Therefore, the UK system allows for information to be provided in imperial units alongside metric.

While the majority of trade in the UK is conducted using metric units to ensure consistency in commerce and science, there are already some limited exemptions that allow for certain traditional imperial measures to be used, without metric alongside, for specific uses. Now we have left the EU we will consider whether further limited exemptions can be applied for other traditional uses.


Written Question
Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: International Men's Day
Wednesday 2nd December 2020

Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)

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 took to mark International Men's Day on 19 November 2020.

Answered by Nadhim Zahawi

This Government is committed to levelling up opportunity and ensuring fairness for all - regardless of gender or background. International Men’s Day offers an opportunity to highlight where we need to do more to improve outcomes for men and boys and to talk about some of the work taken across the Government to support this work.

This work ranges from the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities, looking at outcomes for the whole population. This includes ethnic minorities and White British people, as well as preparation for an Employment Bill which, subject to further consultation, will make flexible working the default unless employers have good reason not to. We are also delivering the Suicide Prevention Workplan, which sets out action that is being taken across Government departments and the NHS to reduce suicides, including amongst men.

The Department marked International Men’s Day with an online ‘Being Real About Men’s Mental Health’ event, which all staff were invited to attend. We also shared resources with all Departmental staff on Movember and men’s health via the intranet, with links to websites offering advice and support.


Written Question
Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Pay
Thursday 15th October 2020

Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the biggest pay rise given to someone in his Department was in (a) percentage and (b) cash terms in the last 12 months.

Answered by Nadhim Zahawi

The biggest pay rise given to an employee of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy in the last 12 months in percentage and cash terms was (a) 4.85%, and (b) £4,500.