Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether people who live in charitable accommodation and pay their rent through an all-inclusive service charge will receive the £400 payment under the Energy Bills Support Scheme (a) directly or (b) through the charity that operates the scheme.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
People living in charitable accommodation paying all-inclusive service charges will be eligible for support depending on the type of contract existing between the accommodation provider and the energy supplier.
If the accommodation provider has a domestic energy account, they will receive the EBSS discount and should pass this to their tenants. The Government is introducing legislation to ensure this happens.
If the accommodation provider has a business energy account, they will not receive EBSS. However, tenants will be able to apply for equivalent funding through the EBSS Additional Fund, details of which are to be announced in due course.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what support his Department is offering to (a) high energy usage small business and (b) small convenience stores in the context of the rising cost of energy.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The recently announced Energy Bill Relief Scheme (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-outlines-plans-to-help-cut-energy-bills-for-businesses) ensures that all businesses and other non-domestic customers are protected from excessively high energy bills over the winter period. A review of the scheme, to be published in three months, will identify the most vulnerable non-domestic customers and how the government will continue assisting them with energy costs after the initial six months.
The Government is also providing support via freezing alcohol duty rates on beer, cider, wine and spirits, and increasing the employment allowance. Government is also providing a 50% business rates relief for businesses across the UK and reducing employer national insurance. This is in addition to the billions in grants and loans offered throughout the pandemic.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he is taking steps for (a) breach of contract and (b) enforcing appropriate financial remedies against Fujitsu for supplying faulty computer software in the Horizon Programme.
Answered by Paul Scully
We have established the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry chaired by Sir Wyn Williams to find out what happened. We can look at accountability in relation to the Post Office and Fujitsu only when we have Sir Wyn’s findings.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)
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 Post Office Horizon scandal, if the Government will take steps to commence directors disqualification proceedings under the Directors Disqualification Act against those directors in post at the Post Office during that scandal.
Answered by Paul Scully
We have established the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry chaired by Sir Wyn Williams to find out what happened. We can look at accountability in relation to the Post Office and Fujitsu only when we have Sir Wyn’s findings.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)
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 take steps to recover bonuses paid to company directors during the Post Office Horizon scandal.
Answered by Paul Scully
We have established the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry chaired by Sir Wyn Williams to find out what happened. We can look at accountability in relation to the Post Office and Fujitsu only when we have Sir Wyn’s findings.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)
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 allocated resources to recover the money lost to fraud as part of the Bounce Back Loan Scheme; and what his planned timeframe is for recovering those funds.
Answered by Paul Scully
BEIS is committed to recovering money from fraudulent applications under the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) as soon as reasonably practicable given the nature and stage of the scheme. We seek recoveries in numerous ways.
Lenders are responsible for undertaking recovery action once it becomes due in the first instance, whether fraud or otherwise.
Whilst lenders are the first line of defence, the National Intelligence Service (NATIS) supplements our capacity to investigate the most serious cases of fraud. In the current financial year, NATIS (for all matters including BBLS) has already recovered over £3 million. HM Treasury has also recently announced an additional £13.2m for NATIS which will double their investigative capacity on Bounce Back Loans.
The enforcement strategy also includes utilising Insolvency Service (INSS) resource to investigate misconduct in relation to insolvency and corporate abuse which, like NATIS, is designed to drive recoveries and set a deterrent to those who intend to abuse the scheme. For cases arising out of Bounce Back Loan abuse this includes director disqualification, bankruptcy restrictions, winding up companies operating against the public interest and criminal prosecution.
We are also taking steps to prevent companies attempting to dissolve with an outstanding BBL by blocking such applications, forcing companies to use legitimate liquidation processes thus improving recovery prospects.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)
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 held discussions with the UNK Accreditation Service regarding the provision of accreditation services to companies owned by the Myanmar military.
Answered by Paul Scully
UKAS is appointed by Government as the National Accreditation Body for the United Kingdom to assess, against nationally and internationally agreed standards, organisations that provide conformity assessment services such as certification, testing, inspection, calibration and verification.
UKAS has stated they do not operate in Myanmar or provide accreditation services to companies owned by the Myanmar military. UKAS treats these matters very seriously and would investigate any such claims thoroughly.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)
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 implications for his policies on battery energy storage systems of the fire at the Victoria Big Battery project in Australia on 30 July 2021.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is aware of the incident in Australia. The Department will continue to work with the industry-led electricity storage health and safety governance group to analyse incidents around the world and derive conclusions, as soon as these become available.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the membership is of the Business Innovation Forum; and when it will meet.
Answered by George Freeman
As announced in the Innovation Strategy, in early 2022 we are establishing a Business Innovation Forum to galvanise action from the business community, drive implementation and to hold government to account on delivery.
The Forum will include representatives from the UK's largest R&D intensive businesses, smaller innovative businesses, and experts on innovation more broadly.
The Forum will meet at least quarterly, with the first meeting expected to take place soon. The full attendee list will be confirmed and published online in due course.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what powers the Business Innovation Forum will have to scrutinise the implementation of the Innovation Strategy.
Answered by George Freeman
As announced in the Innovation Strategy, in early 2022 we are establishing a Business Innovation Forum to galvanise action from the business community, drive implementation and to hold government to account on delivery.
The Forum will support the Government in the implementation of the ‘UK Innovation Strategy’, galvanising action from the business community and reviewing progress against actions set out in the UK innovation Strategy.
I will attend each Forum meeting to receive members’ views directly