Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
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 that electrical goods offered for sale by third party sellers on online marketplaces are safe for use in the UK.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government is committed to ensuring that only safe electrical goods can be sold in the UK. All distributors have a duty to act with due care to ensure products they are selling are safe, this includes online retailers selling goods via marketplaces.
The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) is engaging proactively with major online marketplaces to ensure that they are playing their part in protecting UK consumers from unsafe products. The OPSS has recently taken action to ensure that a number of non-compliant products being sold by overseas third-party sellers have been removed from sale, including electrical appliances.
The OPSS is also developing a new voluntary commitment for online marketplaces to agree actions they will take to reduce the risks from unsafe products being sold online. This will enable online marketplaces to demonstrate their commitment to the safety of their consumers in the UK by publicly promising to work with UK regulators.
In order to ensure that the UK’s Product Safety framework is flexible and fit for the future, the OPSS is conducting a review. This will ensure we have a framework that delivers safety for consumers while supporting businesses to innovate and grow and will consider the impact on product safety (including electrical goods) of new business models such as third-party sales through online marketplaces.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much funding under the Additional Restrictions Grant has been allocated to Harlow Council.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) was announced in November 2020 to support businesses in England that are not mandated to close but are severely affected by Covid-19 restrictions. An initial £1.1 billion was allocated to Local Authorities to deliver to businesses under this scheme, and a further £500 million in top-up ARG funding was announced in response to the national restrictions that began on 5 January.
This funding is shared between all Local Authorities and they have the discretion to use the ARG scheme to help businesses in the way they see fit. We are working closely with Local Authorities to ensure that support is delivered to businesses that are in scope as quickly as possible. We are not able to share a breakdown of the funding allocated and distributed by Harlow Council at this stage. We will publish information on the scheme as a whole in due course.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what progress his Department is making on meeting the 2.3 per cent public sector apprenticeship target; and when his Department will meet that target.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Department gives full regard to the public sector apprenticeship target. The Department, and each of the Executive Agencies that contribute to our target, have apprenticeship plans that focus on specific capability needs and skills.
Departmental progress towards the 2.3% target is published annually on GOV.UK.
Data for 2017-18 is published at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-apprenticeship-data-2017-to-2018.
Data for 2018-19 is published at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-apprenticeship-data-2018-to-2019.
Data for 2019-20 will be published at the end of September 2020.
We are committed to increasing the number of apprentices and we are working towards the 2.3% target. The impact of the current pandemic has slowed recruitment due to priority work and logistics. With the current strategy and targets coming to an end in April 2021, the Department is already focusing on how best to support the apprenticeship agenda and drive forward apprentice recruitment.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
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 support the beauty industry during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has worked closely with representatives from the hair and beauty industry to ensure that they could reopen safely as soon as it was possible to do so and based on the evolving science. We are pleased that the industry has now reopened.
While the industry was forced to close, the Government put in place an unprecedented package of financial support which was available to those working in the beauty industry.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
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 make an assessment of the potential merits of allowing retrospective claims for the green homes grant scheme to support businesses that will have work delayed until the scheme is introduced.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
The Green Homes Grant scheme will be available from the 30th September. The scheme has been designed to encourage homeowners to consider improving the energy efficiency of their homes (something we know lots of households put at the bottom of their list of priorities because of the cost), and focus on those measures which give greatest thermal benefits and carbon reductions, but which consumers are typically less likely to install on their own. Therefore, retrospective claims will not be eligible.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
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 reach the public sector apprenticeship target.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Department gives full regard to the public sector apprenticeship target. The Department, and each of the Executive Agencies that contributes to the Department’s target, have apprenticeship plans that focus on their specific capability needs and skills.
Together, we are promoting apprenticeships as a means of recruiting new and diverse talent. This includes exploring which roles are suitable for apprentices, and broadening our reach by advertising apprentice vacancies on the Government’s ‘Recruit an Apprentice’ service. The Department also promotes and encourages apprenticeships as a route for existing staff to build capability and develop new skills.
The Department, our Executive Agencies, and our wider public sector Partner Organisations, share our ideas and experience of delivering against the apprenticeship agenda, to build our apprentice numbers.
The Department offers a wide range of apprenticeships from Level 3 to Level 7. This week, our Permanent Secretary held a virtual “Meet and Greet” with apprentices, celebrating the great work that they do for the Department. We also celebrate the work of our apprentices and promote further use of apprenticeships through an annual Apprenticeship Awards ceremony.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
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 for the reopening of (a) beauty and (b) tanning salons as covid-19 restrictions are eased.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government has published safer working guidance on 23 June for close contact services, including beauty and tanning salons. Following my Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister’s announcement, hairdressers and barbers in England will be able to reopen from 4 July, to offer hairdressing services, once they are following the COVID-secure guidelines. Other close contact services, like beauty and tanning salons, remain closed until further notice.
We are taking a phased, cautious approach to reopening our economy, working with businesses, trade associations and medical experts on the safest way to reopen close contact services like beauty and tanning salons where there is often greater risk of transmission due to prolonged periods of face-to-face contact and close proximity between staff and customers. We intend to allow close contact services to re-open as soon as it is safe to do so.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has to reopen tanning salons as covid-19 lockdown restrictions are eased.
Answered by Paul Scully
We have been taking a phased, cautious approach to reopening our economy, so that we do not risk a second peak of the virus. On 23 June, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister announced details of businesses which would be allowed to reopen on 4 July, provided they are COVID-secure.
For those close contact businesses not opening on 4 July, such as tanning salons, we will be working closely to support those sectors and will set out further information in due course.
On 23 June, we published COVID-19 secure guidance for businesses in close contact services which will help businesses such as tanning salons prepare for reopening.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when his Department will publish guidance on the safe reopening and operation of tanning and beauty salons that operate from home.
Answered by Paul Scully
On 13 May, five ministerial-led taskforces were set up to develop plans for how closed sectors could reopen safely, including Close Contact Services such as tanning and beauty salons.
As part of this work, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is engaging constructively with the Close Contact Services industry to develop guidance for them to reopen safely, given the higher risk of transmission in these environments where long periods of person to person contact is required. This work is progressing well.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the social distancing measures require (a) beauty salons, (b) nail parlours and (c) hairdressers to close to the public.
Answered by Paul Scully
In order to further reduce the spread of the virus, on Friday 20 March, the Government told all businesses and venues in which activity necessitates prolonged social contact to close. This decision reflected clinical advice that the spread of infection is likely where people are in close contact for more than 15 minutes.
That is why, on 23 March, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister announced increased measures to reduce social contact and expanded the list of business that should close immediately to include hairdressers, beauty and nail Salons.