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Written Question
Business: Regulation
Monday 23rd January 2023

Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Callanan on 17 November 2022 (HL3179), what was the rationale for the decision to abolish the one-in-three-out policy.

Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Government does not think a one-in-three-out rule is consistent with delivering world-class regulation to support the economy in adapting to a new wave of technological revolution or to achieving net zero.

We absolutely want to reduce costs to business wherever we sensibly can, though we intend to do that by looking at the merits of each case rather than using a one-in, three-out system.


Written Question
Housing: Energy
Monday 23rd January 2023

Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Callanan on 17 November (HL3182), what arrangements they have put in place to ensure that those who (1) do not have the digital literacy skills, and (2) are without internet access, can access the same impartial and tailored advice that users of the digitally led service can receive.

Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Government has provided a digital assist service for the energy advice tool on GOV.UK for those without digital literacy skills or internet access. Later this year, we will provide further support through a free retrofit phoneline for consumers in England to access tailored and impartial information about how to improve the energy performance of their homes. In addition, the Government will launch a series of local demonstrator projects, which will test various approaches to delivering in-person advice, with a particular focus on harder-to-treat properties and digitally excluded consumer groups. Lessons learnt from these projects will inform further action post-2025.


Written Question
Housing: Energy
Thursday 17th November 2022

Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is their policy on (1) identifying, and (2) retrofitting, the most energy inefficient homes with insulation and other energy saving adaptions.

Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Heat and Buildings strategy, published in 2021, confirmed the need to upgrade the worst performing homes first. The Government is providing £3.2 billion in targeted support for social housing residents, low income and fuel poor household through the Local Authority Delivery scheme, the Home Upgrade Grant, and the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund. The Energy Company Obligation has been extended from 2022 to 2026, boosting its value from £640 million to £1 billion a year

The Government has also launched a digitally led service ‘find energy improvements suitable for your home’ on GOV.UK to provide impartial and tailored advice helping people make their homes greener and cheaper to run.


Written Question
Business: Regulation
Thursday 17th November 2022

Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Callanan on 1 November (HL2670), in each of the successive years since the ending of the one-in-three out policy, how many regulations were (1) abolished, and (2) brought in by force.

Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The one-in-three out policy came into force in March 2016 and was abolished in June 2017. We do not have a record of regulations which were abolished or brought into force under the one-in-three out policy during this period. Individual departments are responsible for maintaining a record of their regulatory measures.

The one-in-three out policy was abolished by the then Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Member for Tunbridge Wells.

We are unable to give a breakdown of the number of regulations which have been abolished or brought into force in the subsequent years since the one-in-three out policy was abolished. The "Statement of new regulation" which provided this information for previous policies was not produced for one-in-three out. However, the annual Business Impact Target (BIT) report does cover regulations that came into force, with a total of 691 introduced in the successive years since the ending of the one-in-three out policy.


Written Question
Business: Regulation
Thursday 17th November 2022

Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Callanan on 1 November (HL2670), what was the duration of the one-in-three out policy; and during that time, how many regulations were (1) abolished, and (2) brought in to force.

Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The one-in-three out policy came into force in March 2016 and was abolished in June 2017. We do not have a record of regulations which were abolished or brought into force under the one-in-three out policy during this period. Individual departments are responsible for maintaining a record of their regulatory measures.

The one-in-three out policy was abolished by the then Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Member for Tunbridge Wells.

We are unable to give a breakdown of the number of regulations which have been abolished or brought into force in the subsequent years since the one-in-three out policy was abolished. The "Statement of new regulation" which provided this information for previous policies was not produced for one-in-three out. However, the annual Business Impact Target (BIT) report does cover regulations that came into force, with a total of 691 introduced in the successive years since the ending of the one-in-three out policy.


Written Question
Business: Regulation
Thursday 17th November 2022

Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Callanan on 1 November (HL2670), which Ministers ended the one-in-three out policy; and on what basis that decision was taken.

Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The one-in-three out policy came into force in March 2016 and was abolished in June 2017. We do not have a record of regulations which were abolished or brought into force under the one-in-three out policy during this period. Individual departments are responsible for maintaining a record of their regulatory measures.

The one-in-three out policy was abolished by the then Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Member for Tunbridge Wells.

We are unable to give a breakdown of the number of regulations which have been abolished or brought into force in the subsequent years since the one-in-three out policy was abolished. The "Statement of new regulation" which provided this information for previous policies was not produced for one-in-three out. However, the annual Business Impact Target (BIT) report does cover regulations that came into force, with a total of 691 introduced in the successive years since the ending of the one-in-three out policy.


Written Question
Business: Regulation
Tuesday 1st November 2022

Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether it is still their policy to apply a one-in-three-out rule for regulation on business.

Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

No. The Government discontinued the one-in-three-out policy in 2017.


Written Question
Natural Gas: Storage
Tuesday 1st November 2022

Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Callanan on 25 January (HL5285), what changes they have made to their policy on gas storage; and when they expect increased storage capacity to be available.

Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

Energy security is an absolute priority for this government. It is sensible for the Government to explore all possible options to maintain security of gas supply, this includes exploring the future of the clean energy storage landscape. The department has and will continue to engage with the sector to explore options for storage capacity expansion in the longer term.

The Government recognises the increased capacity the Rough gas storage site could provide and hence welcomes Centrica taking the necessary steps to re-open a proportion of the Rough site for this winter. It is Centrica’s commercial decision to apply for regulatory approvals, and to invest in re-opening the site, and management of injection and production rates is at their discretion.


Written Question
Digital Technology and Training
Tuesday 12th July 2022

Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (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 survey conducted by the Institute of Directors in April which found that six in ten employers thought that digitisation, upskilling and professional training would have the greatest impact on the future productivity of their firm and only one in ten cited additional investment in plant and machinery; what steps they plan to take as a result of the survey; and what assessment they have made of the case for tax credits for investment in digitisation and training.

Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

Government is helping businesses to invest in digitisation and training through our Help to Grow programmes. Help to Grow Digital aims to support up to 100,000 SMEs to boost their performance by providing financial discounts of up to £5,000, to cover up to half the costs of approved digital technologies, along with advice and support on the learning platform. Help to Grow Management, meanwhile, is an intensive national training programme designed to improve leadership and management skills. Delivered by leading business schools across the UK, the programme is 90% subsidised by government, with participants contributing £750. It will support up to 30,000 SME business leaders to increase productivity, seize investment opportunities and grow their businesses, developing skills in areas such as financial management, innovation and staff engagement.


Written Question
Small Businesses
Tuesday 12th July 2022

Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they plan to take to reverse the fall in the number of small businesses in the UK.

Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

Small businesses are the backbone of our economy and government aims to make the UK one of the best places in the world to start and grow a business. The government provides a range of support that all businesses can access. These include information on starting up and running a business on GOV.UK, one to one advice via our free Business Support Helpline and through 38 Growth Hubs across England, government backed Start-Up Loans, and businesses with 5 or more employees can access our Help to Grow schemes.

Small businesses will also benefit from the £15 billion of targeted support to help with the rising cost of living. This brings the total cost of living support measures announced to £37 billion this year. Government has cut fuel duty for 12 months, raised the Employment Allowance to £5,000, and is zero-rating VAT on energy-saving materials. This builds on existing support, including business rates relief worth £7 billion over five years.