Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
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 plans to publish a communications campaign in respect of the UKCA marking regime to raise awareness of that regime among businesses.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy continues to deliver a comprehensive programme of communication with industry on the implementation of the UKCA marking. The Government will continue this work, with further communications and in person engagement, following our recent announcement of measures to make the UKCA regime easier for businesses.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much his Department spent on consultancy fees in each of the last five years.
Answered by George Freeman
The table below shows the spend on consultancy fees in the core department in each of the last five years. The Consultancy spend is published in BEIS Annual Report & Accounts and spend relating to financial year 21/22 will be published in line with the timetable agreed with HM Treasury.
Financial Year | Consultancy Spend (£m) |
16/17 | £115 |
17/18 | £101 |
18/19 | £142 |
19/20 | £164 |
20/21 | £208 |
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much his Department has paid on average for each vaccine dose purchased from (a) AstraZeneca, (b) Moderna and (c) Pfizer BioNTech.
Answered by George Freeman
We are not able to disclose specific costs of individual vaccines procured to date, as details of contracts between the Government and vaccine manufacturers are commercially sensitive.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
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 publish (a) any assessment undertaken and (b) the methodology of any such assessment on the cost and productivity differential between civil servants working from home and working in Whitehall.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government is committed to encouraging flexible working, which has many benefits for both individuals and employers. The Review of the Flexible Working Regulations 2014 showed that flexible working can reduce vacancy costs; increase skill retention; enhance business performance; and reduce staff absenteeism rates.
To help organisations realise the benefits of flexible working, we issued a consultation and accompanying impact assessment on “making flexible working the default” in Autumn of last year. The consultation closed on 1 December 2021, receiving over 1,600 responses. We will be publishing our consultation response in due course.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
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 publish in full his Ministerial diary for 20 May 2020.
Answered by George Freeman
Ministers regularly meet with departmental officials and external stakeholders. Details of ministerial meetings with external organisations are published quarterly and can be found on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/beis-ministerial-gifts-hospitality-travel-and-meetings.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when a statutory entitlement to carer's leave will be introduced.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government response to the consultation on carer’s leave, published in September 2021, confirmed the Government’s intention to deliver on the manifesto commitment to introduce a new entitlement to one week of leave for unpaid carers.
This will be a day 1 right, available to all employees who are providing care for a dependant with a long-term care need. Eligible employees will be entitled to 5 days of unpaid leave per year, which will be available to take flexibly in individual or half days.
Legislation to introduce carer’s leave will be brought forward when parliamentary time allows.