Richard Holden

The Government has asked the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to conduct an urgent review of the fuel market, as well as a longer-term market study under the Enterprise Act 2002, to explore whether the retail fuel market has adversely affected consumer interests. As part of this, the Government has asked for the CMA’s advice on the extent to which competition has resulted in the fuel duty cut being passed on to consumers and the reasons for local variations in the price of road fuel.

The Queen’s Speech on 10^th May, confirmed that the Government has now committed to legislating to regulate the heat networks market in this parliamentary session as part of the Energy Security Bill. The legislation will provide the BEIS Secretary of State with powers to introduce a price cap should it be necessary to protect consumers from anti-competitive behaviour. The Government has announced a package of support to help households with rising energy bills: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cost-of-living-support/cost-of-living-support-factsheet-26-may-2022.

The Government recognises that, as a result of volatile international crude oil prices as well as the conflict in Ukraine, heating oil and liquefied petroleum gas prices have risen steeply over the past year.

The Government has carefully considered calls to introduce a price-cap for these fuels. The heating oil, liquefied petroleum gas and solid fuel markets are not natural monopolies with high fixed and start-up costs and are not difficult for customer switching. The Government does therefore not deem it appropriate to introduce a price cap at this point in time. Nevertheless, the Government recognises the pressures people are facing with the cost of living and has set out a generous £22 billion package of support.

It has not proved possible to respond to my hon Friend in the time available before Prorogation.

It has not proved possible to respond to my hon. Friend in the time available before Prorogation.

Energy consumers are not subject to a day-to-day connectivity charge for having a smart meter.

Energy suppliers may apply standing charges, a fixed charge that suppliers pass on to cover the cost of providing a live supply, for each metering point whether for a smart or traditional meter.

The standing charge is a fixed charge that suppliers pass on to their customers to cover the cost of providing a live supply. One component of these costs relates to transmission and distribution costs, which have increased recently, as the Supplier of Last Resort (SoLR) levy is paid via network costs. The SoLR levy covers the unrecoverable costs of a supplier taking on the customers of a failed supplier and reflects the significantly higher costs of purchasing wholesale energy since August. The standing charge is passed on to consumers as a flat rate per day, rather than as a percentage charge, based on how much energy they use.

The Government is not aware of any applications for hydraulic fracturing for oil.

While the 2019 Written Ministerial Statement setting out the Government’s effective moratorium on hydraulic fracturing refers to shale gas, the definition of hydraulic fracturing used is as set out in the Petroleum Act 1998. This definition does not differentiate between gas or oil and therefore applies to both.

This statement makes clear that on the basis of current scientific evidence, the Government will take a presumption against issuing any further Hydraulic Fracturing Consents, which are required before hydraulic fracturing operations can take place.

Future applications for Hydraulic Fracturing Consents, whether for oil or gas, will be considered on their own merits but industry should consider the position taken in relation to shale gas when considering any new developments.

The Government has been clear that shale gas development must be safe and sustainable – both for local communities and the environment. On the basis of the current scientific evidence, the Government has confirmed that it will take a presumption against issuing any further Hydraulic Fracturing Consents, which are required before hydraulic fracturing operations can take place. This position, an effective moratorium, will be maintained unless compelling new evidence is provided which addresses the concerns around the prediction and management of induced seismicity.

Even if the current moratorium were lifted, development would also need to secure environmental permitting and planning consents, and it would take some years of exploration and development before commercial quantities of gas could be produced. Oil and gas is unlikely to become available in sufficient quantities to address the high prices currently affecting all of western Europe.

We have already made significant progress in bringing forward legislation to protect workers’ rights, including:

• Giving all workers the right to receive a statement of their rights from day one;
• Introducing new rights to workers to receive a payslip and for payslips for hourly paid workers to include the numbers of hours worked;
• Quadrupling the maximum additional penalty fine that Employment Tribunals can use for employers who treat their workers badly;
• Closing a loophole which sees agency workers employed on cheaper rates than permanent workers;
• Extending the holiday pay reference period from 12 to 52 weeks, ensuring those in seasonal or atypical roles get fair holiday pay; and
• Announcing a new naming scheme for employers who fail to pay Employment Tribunal awards.

Future reforms will build on this record. These reforms will form part of the Government’s plan to build back better, enabling a high skilled, high productivity, high wage economy that delivers on our ambition to make the UK the best place in the world to work and grow a business.

The Government believes that, overall, the current arrangements for parental leave and pay in the UK are generous and flexible. This includes offering 52 weeks of maternity leave, of which 39 are paid, which is more than three times the EU minimum requirement.

Employment legislation sets out minimum employment rights which employers must offer to their employees. Many employers choose to offer more generous contractual provisions for their staff because they recognise the benefits this brings to their business as well as to their employees.

In 2019, the Government consulted on high-level options and principles for reforming the parental leave and pay system. We are also carrying out an evaluation of the Shared Parental Leave and Pay scheme. We intend to publish our response to the consultation and the findings of the evaluation later this year.

If residents are off the gas grid, but on a default tariff for their electricity only supply they will still be protected by the Energy Price Cap. Providing they are eligible, they will be able to access Warm Home Discount.

The Government believes it is essential that consumers get a fair deal.  There are open markets for the supply of heating oil and LPG in the UK as we believe this provides the best long-term guarantee of competitive prices. These markets are subject to UK competition law to ensure they operate efficiently for the consumer.

Changes in the price of crude oil are the main drivers for the price of heating oil although other factors including more local supply and demand for the refined products can have an impact on prices. LPG used in the UK is produced primarily as a by-product from the refining of crude oil. The LPG price is therefore also influenced by the price of crude oil.

We consider energy efficiency upgrades to be the best way to tackle fuel poverty in the long term. Energy efficiency upgrades will contribute to reduced energy bills and a warmer, safer living environment.

We are supporting low income and vulnerable households in rural areas through the Home Upgrade Grant, which will support low-income households by upgrading the most energy inefficient off gas grid homes in England. On 19 October we announced additional funding of £950m for the Home Upgrade Grant.

Further, through the Energy Company Obligation, an obligation placed on larger energy suppliers, which requires them to reduce home heating costs by installing energy efficiency and heating measures to people’s homes in England, Scotland and Wales. We recently consulted on the successor scheme from 2022 and proposed incentives for delivery in rural areas where additional grant funding is not available.

The Department does not hold this information.

The Department does not hold this information.

There is a comprehensive regulatory framework already in place for fireworks that controls who can purchase them, their availability and use, curfews, and their safety as a product. While the safety and sale of fireworks is reserved to Westminster, controls on misuse and discharge are devolved to Scotland.

Enforcement powers exist for local authorities to take action when fireworks are unsafe, sold illegally, or misused. Local authorities and the police also have powers to tackle anti-social behaviour caused by the misuse of fireworks, where it arises.

We have no current plans to place further restrictions on the sale of fireworks to the public. Evidence provided by the National Fire Chiefs Council and the National Police Chiefs Council to the Petition Committee’s Fireworks Inquiry raised concerns that additional controls could see an increase in supplies from illegitimate or unsafe suppliers.

The Government continues to work with the Devolved Administrations, business, charities, and local authorities to promote the safe and considerate use of fireworks.

The Government will shortly consult on proposed changes to the Energy Company Obligation scheme, including any changes to first time central heating.

The modelled impacts of the successor scheme will be set out in the accompanying Impact Assessment. This will include the associated carbon savings and the number of homes that are expected to be treated through the scheme.

Parents who are eligible for Shared Parental Leave and Statutory Shared Parental Pay have the flexibility to share up to 50 weeks of Leave and 37 weeks of Statutory Pay between them, as they see fit. Both parents can use Shared Parental Leave to take leave in blocks separated by periods of work, or take it all in one go. They can also choose to be off work together or to stagger the leave and pay. For both parents, Shared Parental Pay is paid at the rate of £151.20 a week or 90% of their average weekly earnings, whichever is lower.

Some employers may wish to offer occupational parental schemes for men and women taking shared parental leave, beyond the statutory requirements. The Shared Parental Leave and Pay: Employer’s technical guide published on gov.uk (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/shared-parental-leave-and-pay-employers-technical-guide) clearly states that it if an occupational scheme is offered to a mother on Shared Parental Leave, it could constitute sex discrimination if such an occupational scheme were not offered to fathers/a mother’s partner.

The Government has run significant communications campaigns to promote Shared Parental Leave to parents and employers. We are also currently developing a new online tool to help parents plan Shared Parental Leave and Pay. The tool will be available in the coming months and will make it easier for parents to access the scheme.

In addition, the Government is currently evaluating the Shared Parental Leave and Pay scheme in order to better understand the barriers and enablers to parents taking Shared Parental Leave. This evaluation has included commissioning and interrogating information collected through large scale, representative, surveys of employers and parents and a qualitative study of parents who have used the scheme. We intend to publish our findings later this year.

The Government is currently conducting an evaluation of the Shared Parental Leave and Pay scheme which has included commissioning and interrogating information collected through large scale, representative, surveys of employers and parents and a qualitative study of parents who have used the scheme. We intend to publish our findings later this year and will then be in a position to share detailed data on the scheme.

The On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme is available to all local authorities in the UK, including town and parish councils, who can apply directly for funding.

The On-street Residential Chargepoint Scheme guidance for local authorities can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/grants-for-local-authorities-to-provide-residential-on-street-chargepoints/grants-to-provide-residential-on-street-chargepoints-for-plug-in-electric-vehicles-guidance-for-local-authorities.

Individuals with certain medical conditions are not specific trial groups, but safety data will be coming from all trials to set out how the COVID-19 vaccines work in different types of people.

The NHS Covid-19 vaccine research registry, developed in partnership with NHS Digital, will help facilitate the rapid recruitment of large numbers of people into trials. The Government has been encouraging a diverse pool of people to volunteer to help researchers better understand the effectiveness of each vaccine candidate.

BEIS does not hold data linking the source of coal to its final use. Overall volumes are published in the Digest of UK Energy Statistics and Energy Trends.

The table below shows the volumes of coal imported from Russia, Columbia and produced by the UK and the total supply and demand for 2015 to 2019.

Thousand tonnes

Source: Digest of UK Energy Statistics 2020, table 2.4:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/solid-fuels-and-derived-gases-chapter-2-digest-of-united-kingdom-energy-statistics-dukes

Energy Trends table 2.4:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/solid-fuels-and-derived-gases-section-2-energy-trends

All pubs, restaurants, bars, and cafes in England can begin to offer on-site services to customers from Saturday 4 July, as long as they follow the COVID-secure guidelines, found at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-coronavirus-covid-19/updates. This includes both outdoor and indoor spaces.

The Government has also announced measures to ease pavement licensing as part of the Business and Planning Bill, which will allow businesses to provide outdoor seating in order to serve more customers while following the COVID-secure guidelines.

The Department continues to engage with businesses and their representatives from across the hospitality sector and the support available is kept under review.

Information on UK coal trade is published in the Digest of UK Energy Statistics (DUKES) table G.2.

Source: H.M. Revenue and Customs

In this table coal includes steam coal, coking coal, coke and anthracite. Data for 2019 will be published on 30 July 2020.

Employees who are dismissed due to redundancy and who satisfy certain qualifying conditions are statutorily entitled to a lump sum from their employer, based on their age, length of service and contractual weekly earnings, subject to a statutory upper limit.

As per the latest updates to the guidance for the Coronavirus Job Retention scheme, grants cannot be used to substitute redundancy payments. Please visit the GOV.UK page for updates to the scheme: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-for-wage-costs-through-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme.

The Department does not hold information by Parliamentary constituency as the entitlement management database used by the Department’s contractor does not hold beneficiary information in this format as it is not required for operational delivery of the scheme.

Below is a table of concessionary scheme numbers by Postcode Area:

Of the total of C40,000 current beneficiaries under the National Concessionary Fuel Scheme at 31 March 2020, 34,800 have opted for the cash alternative at an average cost per beneficiary of £779 per annum; the average annual cost of solid fuel for the remaining 5,200 is £1,147 per beneficiary excluding delivery costs and VAT.

In 2019/20 the National Concessionary Fuel Scheme outturn was c.£36.6m including administrative cost.

The scheme is forecast to run to 2062 with a total cost of c.£326m.

On 11th May the Government published its COVID-19 recovery strategy, which sets out a roadmap to a phased recovery. This included the setting up of five ministerial-led taskforces. The taskforces will help oversee the development of guidance for reopening businesses, to ensure they can operate in a safe way for employees and customers, as long as the evidence shows it is safe to do so.

In step two of the roadmap, the Government has considered the reopening of non-essential retail. Updated guidance for shops and branches was published on 25 May after consultation with businesses, unions leaders, Public Health England and the Health and Safety Executive. The updated guidance takes into account the best practice demonstrated by the many retailers which have been allowed to remain open and have applied social distancing measures in store.

Showrooms are now able to reopen from 1 June as long as they can adhere to the social distancing guidelines.

Manufacturing is a critical part of our economy?and?we are engaging with the industry and its suppliers to ensure that we can support them?during and after the Covid-19 pandemic.

We have created an unprecedented package of Government support to help, including:

- £330 billion of Government-backed and guaranteed loans to support UK businesses.

- The Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme to help small and medium-sized businesses to access vital financial support.

- Our new Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme to allow more firms to benefit from Government-backed support during this difficult time.

- Deferring VAT payments for firms to the next quarter, until the end of June 2020, which represents a £30 billion injection into the economy.

- Our Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, where small and large employers will be eligible to apply for a Government grant of 80% of workers’ salaries up to £2,500 a month, backdated to 1 March 2020 and available for at least three months.

Ensuring free trade and resilient supply chains through open markets will be crucial to the global economic recovery as the crisis passes. We are working with the Devolved Administrations to support the manufacturing industry by continuing the flow of critical freight for the whole of the UK.

The Government is also supporting industry-led research to map UK supply chain capability, which creates substantial new opportunities for UK suppliers.

The regulation of the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) supply market for domestic suppliers is a matter for the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) exercising its role as an independent competition authority.

Domestic bulk LPG providers are subject to regulation under the CMA Statutory Orders: The Domestic Bulk Liquefied Petroleum Gas Market Investigation Order, 13 October 2008 and The Domestic Bulk Liquefied Petroleum Gas Market Investigation (Metered Estates), Order 6 May 2009. The CMA continues to monitor compliance with these Orders.

More information is available at www.gov.uk/government/publications/liquefied-petroleum-gas-lpg-market-orders-and-calculator

Separately, customers supplied by member companies of Liquid Gas UK (the trade association for LPG suppliers) have access to free independent arbitration as a route to dispute resolution (see https://www.liquidgasuk.org/advice/ombudsman-scheme).

The UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory publishes an annual assessment of greenhouse gas emissions by source. It includes estimates of greenhouse gas emissions from domestic combustion of coal and oil, of which the vast majority will be used for heating. In 2018, the most recent year for which we have published data, the estimated level of carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions was (a) 1.5 MtCO₂ from domestic combustion of coal and (b) 6.1 MtCO₂ from domestic combustion of oil.

It is in both the UK and the EU’s interests to have a future relationship which maintains the flow of goods, the provision of services, and the continuity of business.

We are committed to levelling up access to opportunity across the country, investing in the infrastructure, skills, and technology we need to improve economic performance in all parts of the UK.

We will continue to work with companies over the next 9 months to ensure they are well prepared for the end of the Transition Period.