Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when the Advanced Research and Invention Agency will be fully operational.
Answered by George Freeman
Dr Ilan Gur and Matt Clifford MBE took up post as Advanced Research and Invention Agency’s (ARIA) founding Chief Executive Officer and Chair on 15 August 2022. Under their leadership, recruitment of ARIA Board members and management roles is currently underway. The Department expects ARIA to become legally established and fully operational in early 2023.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent steps he has taken to ensure parents on parental leave are adequately supported on their return to the workplace.
Answered by Dean Russell
Existing parental leave rights give employees who have taken parental leave the right to return to the same or similar job. For example, a woman has the right to return to the same job after ordinary maternity leave (the first 26 weeks of leave). The Government has committed, when Parliamentary time allows, to extend redundancy protections into a period of return to work for particular forms of parental leave. The Government announced a Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) returners programme on International Women's Day to encourage those who have taken breaks to care for others back into STEM, building on previous Government returner initiatives.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
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 role of energy efficiency in meeting the UK’s climate targets.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government believes that improving insulation measures in homes is one of the best long-term solutions for reducing household energy costs and fuel poverty. Improving insulation across the UK’s housing stock also aligns with commitments to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
The Government has committed £6.6 billon across the lifetime of this Parliament to decarbonise heat and buildings.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
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 press release entitled Ofgem requires improvements from energy suppliers on customer direct debits, published on 13 July 2022, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the finding that there are moderate to severe weaknesses in the direct debit and charging processes used by some energy suppliers.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The independent regulator Ofgem has a duty to protect energy consumers by ensuring they are treated fairly. Ofgem has said it expects the five suppliers with moderate or severe weaknesses to review their direct debit arrangements, submit an action plan, and make repayments if needed. More detail can be found here: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/press-release-ofgem-requires-improvements-energy-suppliers-customer-direct-debits.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what information his Department holds on the business and employment practices of Sensee; and whether he has received representation on that companies practices on (a) unpaid work, (b) working hours, (c) statutory leave and (d) provision of work equipment.
Answered by Jane Hunt
Sensee Ltd were named on 15 February 2017 for failing to pay National Minimum Wage of £252.00 to 1 worker.
Further information is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/record-number-of-employers-named-and-shamed-for-underpaying.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the Government plans to remove restrictions on executive director remuneration.
Answered by Jane Hunt
The Government is reviewing whether there are any unnecessary restrictions on remunerating directors, particularly non-executive directors, in shares. This is about how directors are remunerated, not how much. The Government has no plans to amend the statutory reporting and other requirements covering directors’ remuneration under the Companies Act 2006
If it is concluded that there is a case in principle for amending existing provisions of the UK Corporate Governance Code relating to remuneration, any changes to the Code would be subject to consultation by the Financial Reporting Council.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the Government has plans to remove restrictions on non-executive director remuneration.
Answered by Jane Hunt
The Government is reviewing whether there are any unnecessary restrictions on remunerating directors, particularly non-executive directors, in shares. This is about how directors are remunerated, not how much. The Government has no plans to amend the statutory reporting and other requirements covering directors’ remuneration under the Companies Act 2006
If it is concluded that there is a case in principle for amending existing provisions of the UK Corporate Governance Code relating to remuneration, any changes to the Code would be subject to consultation by the Financial Reporting Council.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment he has made of the trends in the level of pay among people of different ethnicities.
Answered by Jane Hunt
The ONS publish official data on ethnicity pay. Data for 2019 is available here:
There is also detailed information on ethnicity pay at the following link: https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/work-pay-and-benefits/pay-and-income/average-hourly-pay/latest.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
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 impact of the rise in energy prices on (a) households and (b) businesses.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Strangford on 28th June 2022 to Question 21184, and to the answer given by my noble Friend the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State to the noble Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown on 9th June 2022 to Question HL493.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
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 trends in the levels of real-terms research funding since 2010.
Answered by George Freeman
The Office for National Statistics publishes data on UK gross expenditure on research and development (GERD). Its latest published figures show £38.5 billion in 2019 compared to £25.9 billion in 2010, a nominal increase of about 49%. Adjusted for changes in the GDP deflator, this suggests an increase in constant prices of about 26% over the same period.