Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they intend to take following the closure of the UK product safety review: call for evidence on 17 June; and what are the timelines for those steps.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is committed to ensuring that only safe products can be sold in the UK and existing laws require that all consumer products, including toys sold online, must be safe before they can be placed on the UK market.
The national product safety regulator, the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS), and Local Authority Trading Standards have powers to take action against manufacturers, importers or distributors who sell unsafe and non-compliant toys, including through online marketplaces. These regulators have access to a national Product Safety Database to share information and to help prioritise and target activity.
The Government recognises the scale of the challenge in regulating online sales and OPSS is taking forward a programme of work to help ensure the safety of products sold online. This includes actively identifying products available online that pose a serious risk and ensuring that non-compliant products being sold by third-party sellers are removed from sale. Since April 2021, OPSS interventions have led to the withdrawal of more than 10,000 unsafe products, including toys, previously listed and available in the UK, via online marketplaces.
The Government’s review of the UK’s product safety framework aims to ensure it remains robust and is future-proofed so that it continues to protect consumers while enabling businesses to safely innovate and grow. This includes reviewing the impact of eCommerce on the product safety framework to ensure appropriate accountability and clear responsibilities throughout the supply chain.
The Government has analysed submissions to the Call for Evidence and is currently finalising its response which will be published in due course. OPSS officials continue to engage with stakeholders as the review progresses and any proposals for legislative change would be subject to public consultation.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what (1) steps they have taken, and (2) further plans they have, to ensure that children are protected from harm caused by toys sold in online marketplaces which are not compliant with UK safety regulations.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is committed to ensuring that only safe products can be sold in the UK and existing laws require that all consumer products, including toys sold online, must be safe before they can be placed on the UK market.
The national product safety regulator, the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS), and Local Authority Trading Standards have powers to take action against manufacturers, importers or distributors who sell unsafe and non-compliant toys, including through online marketplaces. These regulators have access to a national Product Safety Database to share information and to help prioritise and target activity.
The Government recognises the scale of the challenge in regulating online sales and OPSS is taking forward a programme of work to help ensure the safety of products sold online. This includes actively identifying products available online that pose a serious risk and ensuring that non-compliant products being sold by third-party sellers are removed from sale. Since April 2021, OPSS interventions have led to the withdrawal of more than 10,000 unsafe products, including toys, previously listed and available in the UK, via online marketplaces.
The Government’s review of the UK’s product safety framework aims to ensure it remains robust and is future-proofed so that it continues to protect consumers while enabling businesses to safely innovate and grow. This includes reviewing the impact of eCommerce on the product safety framework to ensure appropriate accountability and clear responsibilities throughout the supply chain.
The Government has analysed submissions to the Call for Evidence and is currently finalising its response which will be published in due course. OPSS officials continue to engage with stakeholders as the review progresses and any proposals for legislative change would be subject to public consultation.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of progress towards the globally agreed aim of limiting global heating to below 2°C; and pursuing efforts to limit heating to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
While we welcome progress made and new Nationally Determined Contributions and commitments made at the Climate Ambition Summit and since by many parties, we agree with assessments by the United Nations Environment Programme, the International Energy Agency, and the Climate Action Tracker that there remains a significant gap to achieving below 2°C and to 1.5°C.
The temperature goal of the Paris Agreement is just within reach, but to achieve it, further ambition is needed and must be acted on today. That is why we are asking all countries to come forward ahead of COP26 with enhanced and ambitious commitments to reduce emissions and scale up adaptation.
The UK is driving up global climate ambition and fostering a global, green, inclusive and resilient recovery from COVID-19 through our leadership in multilateral forum, our COP26 and G7 Presidencies, our international climate finance commitments and our International Energy Unit.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they plan to take to promote climate action and a green recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic ahead of COP26.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
As part of the Government’s commitment to build back better from the pandemic, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister set out in his Ten Point Plan for the UK to lead the world into a Green Industrial Revolution. This innovative programme set out ambitious policies and £12 billion of government investment to support up to 250,000 green jobs across the UK, accelerate our path to reaching net zero by 2050 and lay the foundations for our green recovery by building back greener from COVID-19.
We are making real progress in delivering the Ten Point Plan while setting out plans for further climate action. Since last November, we have secured new investments in offshore wind, electric vehicles and battery manufacturing and supply chains, and rolled out schemes to decarbonise homes and buildings - supporting green jobs across the UK. We have also published our Energy White Paper, North Sea Transition Deal, Transport Decarbonisation Plan, Industrial Decarbonisation and Hydrogen Strategy and consultation on Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) business models.
This November, the UK will host COP26 in Glasgow bringing together world leaders, climate experts, business leaders and citizens to agree ambitious action to tackle climate change. Ahead of COP26, we will bring forward further bold proposals, including a Net Zero Strategy, to cut emissions and create new jobs and industries across the whole country, going further and faster towards building a stronger, more resilient future and protecting our planet for this generation and those to come.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they plan to take to achieve (1) the UK’s Nationally Determined Contribution to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) under the Paris Agreement, and (2) the net zero target ahead of COP26.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
We will publish a comprehensive Net Zero Strategy ahead of COP26, setting out the Government’s vision for transitioning to a net zero economy. This will raise ambition as we outline our path to meet net zero by 2050, our Carbon Budgets and Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC).
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the financial value to the biomass industry of the zero carbon exemption for biomass within the UK's emissions trading scheme (ETS).
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The current treatment in the UK ETS of carbon emissions from biomass provides continuity for participants.
The UK only supports biomass which complies with strict sustainability criteria, and electricity generators receive subsidies only for compliant biomass.
The sustainability criteria, amongst other things, take into account the greenhouse gas emissions from collecting, transporting and turning biomass into a viable energy source (for example wood pellets), whether that is in the UK or elsewhere, to ensure that biomass delivers a carbon saving compared to fossil fuels.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the size the overseas carbon footprint is of the cutting down of trees, converting them into wood pellets, and shipping them to the UK to generate electricity for Britain.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The UK only supports biomass which complies with strict sustainability criteria, and electricity generators receive subsidies only for compliant biomass.
The sustainability criteria, amongst other things, take into account the greenhouse gas emissions from collecting, transporting and turning biomass into a viable energy source (e.g. wood pellets), whether that is in the UK or elsewhere, to ensure that biomass delivers a carbon saving compared to fossil fuels.
Generators must report against these criteria under the Renewables Obligation and the Contracts for Difference schemes on a monthly basis to Ofgem.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many financial institutions not approved by regulators have been accredited under loan schemes designed to support businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Details of lenders accredited to deliver the Covid-19 Loan Schemes were published on the British Business Bank’s website while the schemes were in operation.
Providing a list would incur a disproportionate cost to the Department. Each lender’s regulatory status is available on the relevant regulator’s website.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the level of business debt accrued during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
In February 2021, the stock of total loans outstanding, and held by monetary financial institutions, to UK non-financial businesses (seasonally adjusted), was £528 billion, up from £487 billion in February 2020 (Source: BoE Bankstats).
Within this, the stock of total loans outstanding owed by UK SMEs was £215 billion in February 2021, up from £167 billion in February 2020.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the devolved administrations about (1) the reduction in the number of available COVID-19 vaccines during April, and (2) the impact of that reduction on the UK’s vaccination programme.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
UK Government Ministers and officials are in weekly discussions with the Devolved Administrations regarding the supply of vaccines. This is in addition to the UK Government sharing a rolling 13-week forecast with the four nations each week, as well as a 6-month forward look which is shared each month. This helps to ensure that deployment can be planned effectively and aligned to forecast supply.
Our forthcoming scheduled deliveries will fully support our target of offering a first vaccine dose to the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) priority cohorts 1 to 9 by 15 April and all remaining adults by 31 July.
The UK Government is responsible for supplying vaccines to the Devolved Administrations. However, as health policy is a devolved matter, the vaccination programme in Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland is the responsibility of the respective Devolved Administrations.