Asked by: Stephen Hammond (Conservative - Wimbledon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when will an update to the Energy National Policy Statement will be published.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
In his Autumn Statement, my Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer said that ”the Government will continue to ensure that all infrastructure is delivered quickly through reforms to the planning system, including through updating National Policy Statements for transport, energy and water resources during 2023, and through sector-specific interventions.” The Government aims to publish the revised Energy NPSs shortly, but does not yet have a specific date for publication.
Asked by: Stephen Hammond (Conservative - Wimbledon)
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 plans to review the potential merits of creating a single National Policy Statement for Infrastructure.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
At present, the Government has no plans to create a single National Policy Statement for Infrastructure. Our strategies for infrastructure investment and performance are set out in the National Infrastructure Strategy (NIS) and Transforming Infrastructure Performance: Roadmap to 2030. The NIS includes ambitious reforms to the planning system for nationally significant infrastructure projects. Proposed infrastructure investments during the next decade are set out in the National Infrastructure and Construction Pipeline 2021, which identifies a pipeline of projects with a value of over £600 billion. The Pipeline is updated on a regular basis.
Asked by: Stephen Hammond (Conservative - Wimbledon)
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 plans to review the potential merits of creating a single National Policy Statement for Energy.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
A review of the energy National Policy Statements is underway and the draft documents and their structure have been subject to consultation and scrutiny by Parliament. In the British Energy Security Strategy the Government committed to improve the energy planning system, including by strengthening the energy National Policy Statements. This is being taken forward as a matter of urgency and the Government will publish revised energy National Policy Statements in due course.
Asked by: Stephen Hammond (Conservative - Wimbledon)
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 regulate umbrella companies.
Answered by Paul Scully
Agency workers’ rights are protected by legislation that covers employment businesses and employment agencies. Umbrella companies are not covered by this legislation, and they fall outside the remit of the Employment Agency Standards (EAS) Inspectorate, which is the body responsible for enforcing these protections.
The Government has committed to expand state enforcement for agency workers to cover umbrella companies. This will enable inspectors to investigate relevant complaints involving umbrella companies and take action where necessary. This will require primary legislation, which the Government will bring forward in due course.
Asked by: Stephen Hammond (Conservative - Wimbledon)
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 ensure that disinfectant products sold on the market (a) meet the highest clinical standards and (b) do not make misleading and unsubstantiated claims about their efficacy.
Answered by Paul Scully
Disinfectant products must comply with the relevant laws, depending on the products’ intended use, function, composition and how they are described and marketed. Consumer law requires traders to provide consumers with information on the main characteristics of goods. This information must be accurate and not mislead.
In May, the Office for Product Safety and Standards worked with the HSE to publish guidance for manufacturers and importers on hand cleaning and sanitising products. In order to ensure effective enforcement, the Office for Products Safety and Standards has provided training for trading standards enforcement officers on hand cleansing products and access to technical and scientific advice.
If consumers believe there has been a breach of the legislation then they should report the matter in the first instance to the Citizens Advice consumer service on 0808 223 1133; www.citizensadvice.org/.
Asked by: Stephen Hammond (Conservative - Wimbledon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions the Government has had with representatives of the business travel sector during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government holds regular discussions with businesses and others to assess the impact of the covid-19 outbreak. The Government is working to find a balanced and a coordinated solution to the difficulties to the sector that have arisen as a result of covid-19.
Asked by: Stephen Hammond (Conservative - Wimbledon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of expanding the (a) Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund and (b) Small Business Grants Fund so that businesses that pay business rates through their rent can directly benefit.
Answered by Paul Scully
Businesses are eligible for the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund if they are based in England with a property that has a rateable value of up to £51,000 and is wholly or mainly being used for the purposes of retail, hospitality and/or leisure. The Small Business Grant Fund is available to businesses with a property that on the 11 March 2020 were eligible for Small Business Rate Relief Scheme or Rural Rate Relief Scheme.
The Government has announced an additional discretionary fund to support small businesses that fall outside the scope of the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grants Fund and the Small Business Grants Fund, including those in shared spaces who do not have their own business rates assessment, which have under 50 employees and have seen a significant drop of income due to Coronavirus restriction measures.
Asked by: Stephen Hammond (Conservative - Wimbledon)
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 expand the (a) Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund and (b) the business rate holiday to all businesses involved in the retail, hospitality and leisure supply chain during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Paul Scully
Businesses are eligible for the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund and the business rate holiday scheme if they are based in England with a property that is wholly or mainly being used for the purposes of retail, hospitality and/or leisure.
The Government has announced an additional discretionary fund to support small businesses that fall outside the scope of the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grants Fund and the Small Business Grants Fund, which have under 50 employees and have seen a significant drop of income due to Coronavirus restriction measures.
The Government is also providing an unprecedented package of wider support available to SMEs. This includes business interruption loan schemes, job retention and self-employed income support schemes, as well as a bounce back loan scheme. The full details of all these measures have been published at: https://www.businesssupport.gov.uk/coronavirus-business-support/.
Asked by: Stephen Hammond (Conservative - Wimbledon)
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 expand the (a) Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund and (b) the business rate holiday due to the outbreak of covid-19 to (a) dentists, (b) osteopaths, (c) physiotherapists, (d) veterinary surgeries, (e) providers of shared office space, (f) financial advisors in retail premises and (g) language schools.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Small Business Grant Fund and the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund have?been designed to support smaller?businesses and some of the sectors which have been hit hardest by the measures taken to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
The schemes have been tied to the business rates system and rating assessments, which together provide a framework for Local Authorities to make payments as quickly as possible. Businesses in the business rates system are also likely to face particularly high fixed costs.
Through the Covid-19 crisis we have continued to look at the performance of business support scheme and introduce changes, including the recently announced Bounce Back Loans.
On the 1 May 2020 the Business Secretary announced that a further up to £617 million is being made available to local authorities. This additional fund is aimed at small businesses with ongoing fixed property-related costs. We are asking local authorities to prioritise businesses in shared spaces, regular market traders, small charity properties that would meet the criteria for Small Business Rates Relief, and bed and breakfasts that pay council tax rather than business rates. But local authorities may choose to make payments to other businesses based on local economic need. The allocation of funding will be at the discretion of local authorities.
Asked by: Stephen Hammond (Conservative - Wimbledon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether event hire companies that pay business rates are eligible for the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Paul Scully
Businesses in England that would have been in receipt of the Expanded Retail Discount (which covers retail, hospitality and leisure) on 11 March with a rateable value of less than £51,000 are eligible for support via the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund.
The Government has published guidance on the types of businesses that would be eligible for the Expanded Retail Discount. The list is not exhaustive and it is for local authorities to determine whether particular properties not listed are broadly similar in nature to those that are included and, if so, to consider them eligible for the relief.
In addition, on the 1 May 2020 the Business Secretary announced that a further up to £617 million is being made available to local authorities as a discretionary fund so that they can address cases that are out-of-scope from the Small Business Grants Fund and Retail Hospitality and Leisure Grants Fund, including business sectors that weren’t previously covered and businesses that occupy space and pay rent and rates through a landlord.