Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
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 prevent insolvency; and what assessment he has made of the disparity in insolvency rates between (a) regions of England and Wales and (b) men and women.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Government is committed to helping people make good financial decisions, establishing the Money and Pensions Service to provide free support and guidance on all aspects of people’s financial lives. It has increased funding for the provision of debt advice in each of the past two years rising to almost £56million this year in England, which will deliver 560,000 debt advice sessions.
Where individuals do get into problem debt the government has announced it will deliver its manifesto commitment for a Breathing Space scheme, which will protect debtors from creditor action, help them get professional advice on their debt problems, and enable them to find an appropriate and sustainable debt solution.
The regional personal insolvency rate increased in 2018, driven mainly by individual voluntary arrangements (IVAs), with all regions following the national trend.
Historically, males had a higher rate of insolvencies per 10,000 adults than females, but the gender gap noticeably narrowed from 2009 onwards and, by 2014, females began to have higher insolvency rates than males. This change coincided with a decline in the number of bankruptcies (where males have a higher rate of insolvency), the introduction and growth in the number of debt relief orders (where the rate for women is higher), and the narrowing and subsequent reversal of the gender gap for IVAs.
The latest data providing a breakdown of individual insolvencies can be found in Individual Insolvencies by Location, Age and Gender, England and Wales, 2018; released on 17th July 2019 on the GOV.UK website.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what progress has been made on ensuring that (a) people who purchased a defective Whirlpool tumble driers are compensated and (b) those dryers are made safe.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
Under the agreed terms of the recall that Whirlpool is carrying out, consumers with an unmodified affected tumble dryer are entitled to a new replacement machine. This will be delivered and installed, with the old one removed, all at no cost. Alternatively, consumers can choose to upgrade to a different model for a reduced fee. A refund based on product age or a modification will be available to those consumers who do not want to take up the offer of a free replacement dryer from Whirlpool.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
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 has taken to ensure that people employed on zero-hours contracts are able to take advantage of employment rights which are gained after a period of qualifying service.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
An individual’s eligibility for statutory employment protections in the UK is determined by their employment status and not the type of work they do, or label given to the arrangement. Individuals who are on a zero hours contract, part-time contract, or any other type of flexible arrangement can still be eligible for the same statutory employment rights as any permanent, full-time individual if they are doing the same work.
The latest figures show that the proportion of people on zero hours contracts remains small (2.6 per cent of the labour force). The number of people reporting being employed on a zero hours contract is 57,000 fewer than for a year earlier.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment the Government has made of the potential merits of providing a statutory entitlement to up to 10 days paid care leave.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Government recognises the challenges of balancing work and care. Improving support for carers to do so is a key part of the action plan that we published in June 2018.
The Department is working with colleagues across Government to consider the question of dedicated employment rights for carers alongside existing employment rights (such as the right to request flexible working and the right to time off for family and dependants).
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of providing the statutory right for employees taking longer-term unpaid care leave to return to their original employment after their caring duties have finished.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Government recognises the challenges of balancing work and care. Improving support for carers to do so is a key part of the action plan that we published in June 2018.
The Department is working with colleagues across Government to consider the question of dedicated employment rights for carers alongside existing employment rights (such as the right to request flexible working and the right to time off for family and dependants).
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
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 is taking to support community energy projects.
Answered by Claire Perry
In the Clean Growth Strategy, I announced the creation of a Local Energy Contact Group and a Local Energy Programme. The Contact Group is made up of representatives of communities, Local Authorities and local enterprise partnerships and provides local insight for policy teams across BEIS.
The Local Energy Programme has funded Local Energy Strategies in every Local Enterprise Partnership. These strategies will feed into the newly developed Local Energy Hubs, also funded by BEIS to create capacity and capability to help Local Authorities deliver low carbon energy projects at scale.
I have brought the Rural Community Energy Fund into my Department to allow it to integrate better with the other work we are doing on heat and local ownership. Together with the Local Energy Programme, that will be almost £20m committed by this Government to support local and community energy in the last three years. Alongside this we have launched Prospering from the Energy Revolution, a £100m innovation fund designed to support local areas in demonstrating integrated approaches to local energy systems.
In our consultation on a Smart Export Guarantee, Government sought views on our future approach and what measures might be taken to support the efforts of community organisations and education providers who want to invest in low-carbon energy installations. The consultation closed on 5 March 2019, the responses and evidence submitted are being carefully considered. Government will respond in due course.
The consultation is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/the-future-for-small-scale-low-carbon-generation
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether it is Government policy for energy companies to make it compulsory for customers to have smart meters installed if they wish to remain on a fixed tariff.
Answered by Claire Perry
Government policy does not prescribe particular requirements around smart metering and energy tariffs, and has made it clear that choosing to upgrade to a smart meter is not compulsory for households.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
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 upgrading of old SMETS1 meters so they have SMETS2 functionality, which types of SMETS1 meters will be enrolled into each phase of the upgrade programme; and which types of SMETS1 meters are not included in those plans.
Answered by Claire Perry
The Government expects all significant populations of SMETS1 meters to be enrolled into the national smart metering communications infrastructure run by the Data and Communications Company (DCC).
The Government has put an obligation on energy suppliers to ensure that all consumers with a smart meter will retain smart services upon switching by the end of 2020.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment the Department has made of the potential effect on the number of households choosing to install solar panels of the cessation of payment for excess electricity exported to the grid by solar households.
Answered by Claire Perry
This is publicly available information: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/767081/FITs_2018_Consultation__Response_Impact_Assessment_signed.pdf.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 14 November 2018 to Question 194025 on Housing: Solar Power, what steps his Department has taken to monitor whether the work undertaken by BRE National Solar Centre has led to the recommendations of that report being implemented by those relevant bodies.
Answered by Claire Perry
The BRE National Solar Centre, on behalf of the Department, discussed this interim report with relevant bodies, the Microgeneration Certification Scheme, British Standards Institute and the International Electrotechnical Commission, at a workshop on 20th November. Minutes from this meeting are yet to be finalised, and the Department will be engaging further with those relevant bodies on how best to implement the recommendations in due course.