Asked by: Baroness Griffin of Princethorpe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what contribution will the British steel sector, including Speciality Steel UK, play in (1) delivering their Industrial Strategy, and (2) supporting growth in key sectors across the UK.
Answered by Lord Leong - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)
A strong British steel sector is fundamental to delivering the Industrial Strategy, strengthening national and economic security, and supporting growth in advanced manufacturing, clean energy, defence, infrastructure and digital technologies. Through the Steel Strategy, backed by up to £2.5 billion, the Government is working to rebuild the sector, attract investment, increase demand for UK-made steel and support clean, modern production. It is a major employer in one of the UK’s most deprived areas, and it occupies a unique place in our steel ecosystem. Working towards public acquisition will preserve strategic control and enable the Government to assess all credible future opportunities, including how SSUK’s specialist capabilities can support growth, skilled employment and resilient domestic supply chains.
Asked by: Baroness Griffin of Princethorpe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of maintaining continuity in specialist steel production in response to the lengthy accreditation and homologation processes required by customers in the (1) automotive, (2) aerospace, and (3) defence sectors.
Answered by Lord Leong - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)
The Government recognises that accreditation and homologation processes in the automotive, aerospace and defence sectors can take time, making the continuity of specialist steel capability important to customers and national resilience. We are working towards the public acquisition of Speciality Steel UK to preserve strategic control and enable all credible options for its future to be assessed. No final decisions have yet been taken. Options will be considered thoroughly, including on their economic and industrial benefits, contribution to regional growth and national resilience, and value for money.
Asked by: Baroness Griffin of Princethorpe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hanson of Flint on 27 April (HL16209), what steps they will take to implement the recommendations of the report by Liverpool City Council, A Review of Safety Related Matters: Liverpool Victory Parade: 26th May 2025, published on 6 March, to ensure that, during major events, local authorities have the power to prohibit (1) scaffolding and other equipment posing a height risk to spectators, and (2) the use of flares.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
Under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, event organisers must already conduct their activities in such a way that the public are not exposed to risk. They must also make suitable risk assessment, including assessing risks from crowd dynamics like climbing onto structures. Clients and contractors must ensure that unauthorised access onto scaffolding is prevented. Compliance is enforced by the HSE or local authorities.
Local authorities and the police have powers to tackle anti-social behaviour caused by misuse of pyrotechnics. The Government keeps the effectiveness and proportionality of the pyrotechnics framework under continuous review.
Asked by: Baroness Griffin of Princethorpe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that workers are able to meet their trade union in an accessible location when their trade union is granted access to the workplace.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
In our consultation, Make Work Pay: trade union right of access, we sought views on operational aspects of the new statutory access framework, including steps the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) must consider reasonable for employers to take to facilitate access.
Officials are currently reviewing responses, and the government will publish a response before finalising these details in secondary legislation.
We will also consult on a draft Code of Practice in due course which will provide detail on how statutory access should operate in different types of workplaces.
Asked by: Baroness Griffin of Princethorpe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of workers who work more than their contracted hours.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
There are no official data sources that provide readily available estimates of the number of contracted hours across the whole labour market. The Office for National Statistics regularly publishes estimates of the number of people on zero hours contracts, where all hours worked are additional to contracted hours: https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/datasets/emp17peopleinemploymentonzerohourscontracts.
The government has published a comprehensive assessment of the potential impacts of the zero hours contract measures in the Employment Rights Act 2025: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/employment-rights-bill-impact-assessments. We will publish further analysis in due course as we implement those measures.
Asked by: Baroness Griffin of Princethorpe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to setting the fines for employers that break rules on trade union access to the workplace as a percentage of global turnover.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
In our consultation, Make Work Pay: trade union right of access, we sought views on several elements of the new statutory access framework, including on the way that the policy is enforced.
Officials are carefully reviewing all responses, and the government will publish a response in due course. This will include next steps on the enforcement model.
Asked by: Baroness Griffin of Princethorpe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps are being taken to safeguard the right of trade union access to workplaces in the warehousing and logistics sector.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
In our consultation, Make Work Pay: trade union right of access, we sought views on several elements of the new statutory access framework, including steps the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) must consider reasonable for employers to take to facilitate access, as well as the details on the enforcement mechanism. These will apply to the warehousing and logistics sector.
Officials are currently reviewing all responses, and the government will publish a response before finalising these details in secondary legislation.