Asked by: Lord Beecham (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they will take to improve the record of the increase of new jobs in the North East.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is committed to levelling up investment and opportunity across the country. We are working with partners across the North East, including both elected Mayors, where we have committed additional investment of over £1 billion in jobs and infrastructure.
We have also invested £505 million in Growth Deals with the Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) to improve economic performance, employment, and productivity across the region. This includes working with the North East LEP to create 100,000 additional jobs in the region by 2024. The North East LEP’s most recent report highlighted that the number of jobs in the North East has increased by 74,000 since 2014.
Asked by: Lord Beecham (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking and over what period to assist over 60’s living in fuel-poor properties, and to improve the energy efficiency of existing homes.
Answered by Lord Duncan of Springbank
Improving energy efficiency is the best long-term solution to tackle fuel poverty.
More than one quarter of fuel poor households in England include a resident over the age of 60. Government is taking steps to ensure low income, vulnerable households, including older people, are protected from living in a cold home.
The Energy Company Obligation Scheme provides support for low income and vulnerable households. Since ECO launched in January 2013, it has delivered energy efficiency measures to more than 2 million households. ECO, or a successor scheme, will continue to drive at least £640 million investment per year in home energy efficiency until 2028.
The Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards now require landlords spend up to £3500 improving their properties to energy efficiency Band E before renting them out. We intend to consult later this year on a long-term trajectory for improving Private Rented Sector homes to Band C.
In addition to receiving energy efficiency support, pensioners receive financial support to ensure they can keep their homes warm. Winter Fuel Payments provide pensioners with between £100 and £300 to keep their homes warm during the winter. Those on Pension Credit also receive a £140 Warm Home Discount rebate.
Our 2020 Fuel Poverty Strategy will detail our future plans to tackle fuel poverty.
Asked by: Lord Beecham (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they propose to take following the call of the Director of Labour Market Enforcement on 18 August for further measures to tackle violations of employment legislation.
Answered by Lord Henley
The Government is carefully considering all 37 recommendations contained within the Director’s Labour Market Enforcement Strategy 2018-19 and we will respond in due course.
Asked by: Lord Beecham (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Lord Keen of Elie on 26 April in relation to the backlog in Employment Tribunal cases, what action they are taking in relation to the staffing of Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service offices in the light of the difficulties experienced in Newcastle.
Answered by Lord Henley
Acas has recruited additional conciliators and has plans to further increase its conciliation workforce in the coming months.
Asked by: Lord Beecham (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the number of rented properties which they anticipate will benefit from the requirement for landlords to upgrade properties rated in energy bands F and G to at least band E; and what is their estimate of the number of such properties which will be exempted from the requirement on the grounds that the work would be at net cost to the landlord.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
Under the Energy Efficiency (Private Rented Property)(England and Wales) Regulations 2015, all landlords of domestic and non-domestic privately rented property in England and Wales will need to ensure that, from 1 April 2018, their properties reach at least an energy performance rating of E before granting a tenancy to new or existing tenants, unless a prescribed exemption applies.
Based on the most recent English Housing Survey data, BEIS has estimated that, as of 2017, there were approximately 278,000 domestic, and around 200,000 non-domestic privately rented properties in England and Wales with an energy performance rating below E. We have made no formal estimate of the number of landlords in the domestic sector who may seek an exemption from these requirements on grounds of cost.
Government announced recently in the Clean Growth Strategy that it will consult shortly on steps to make the domestic energy efficiency regulations more effective. We will also look at a longer term trajectory to improve the energy performance standards of privately rented homes, with the aim of upgrading as many private rented homes as possible to Energy Performance Certificate Band C by 2030 where practical, cost effective and affordable.
Asked by: Lord Beecham (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will institute a review of the practice of estate agents requiring pre-contract deposits in the process of purchasing homes.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
The Government has no plans to review the practices of estate agents. The conduct of estate agents is governed by legislation – Estate Agents Act 1979 - which sets out the duties estate agents owe to clients and third parties. Under the Act all estate agents in the UK engaged in residential estate agency work are required to join an approved redress scheme so that consumers can seek free and independent redress from an approved body.
Estate agents who are members of The Property Ombudsmen (TPO) are required to comply with the TPO’s Code. The Code sets out requirements in relation to pre-contract deposits. Breach of the Code could result in removal from the redress scheme – this will effectively prevent them from operating as an estate agent.
Estate Agents are also required to comply with other consumer legislation to prevent or prohibit unfair practices in their dealings with consumers.
Asked by: Lord Beecham (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 3 January (HL4167), whether all of the penalties and sums required to remedy underpayments have been paid; whether, and if so how many of, the employers subject to penalties or a requirement to remedy underpayments failed to do so; and what criteria are applied in determining whether or not to prosecute defaulting employers.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
HM Revenue and Customs maintains data on arrears recovered in all cases – and actively pursues recovery through the civil courts where this is not paid. Due to the way this data is maintained, the requested figures could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
The criteria for prosecuting National Minimum Wage offences are outlined in the Government’s minimum wage enforcement policy document, which can be found here:
Asked by: Lord Beecham (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 4 January (HL4265), what costs have been incurred in relation to the issue of warning notices; how many recipients of warning notices complied with them; what was the total amount of compensation paid by compliant employers; what costs have been incurred in relation to the issue of penalty notices; how many recipients of penalty notices complied with them; how much was recovered under the penalty notice process; and what steps are taken to advise and support claimants in relation to the failure of employers to comply with employment tribunal orders to pay compensation.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
Costs incurred in the issuing of warning letters and penalty notices are minimal because they are part of the administrative process delivered by the Employment Tribunal penalties team in the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
Of the 168 warning letters issued, 29 recipients have responded by making payments bringing the total previously unpaid awards recovered by the Department to just under £99,500.
60 penalty notices have been issued and one recipient has complied by paying the outstanding amount of £750 and a penalty of £187.50 which, under the arrangements of the regime, goes to the Government.
HM Courts & Tribunals Service issue booklet T426 to claimants, which accompanies every employment tribunal judgment, about the enforcement routes available to them to pursue unpaid compensation awards. The information can be found on page 6 of the attached booklet.
The option for claimants is to inform the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy’s Employment Tribunal penalties team of non-payment of their award, 42 days after the employment tribunal award was made to allow for appeal. For Acas conciliated settlements, the claimant can submit a complaint if payment has not been received by the date agreed as part of the settlement. The team will advise claimants on next steps to take to recover the unpaid awards.
Asked by: Lord Beecham (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 24 October (HL2341), how many penalties have been issued in respect of the failure of employers to pay employment tribunal awards since the new penalty system was introduced in 2016; and with what results.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
Since April 2016, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has issued 60 penalty notices as a result of 164 warning notices to employers for failure to comply with orders of employment tribunals to pay compensation to applicants.
As a result of the Employment Tribunal Penalty regime the department has secured over £83,000 in previously unpaid awards for applicants.
Asked by: Lord Beecham (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 24 October (HL2092), whether they will now answer the question concerning the number of criminal prosecutions that have been initiated in relation to the 700 employers "named and shamed" for failing to pay the minimum wage since October 2013; how many civil proceedings have been initiated; and what financial penalties were issued as a result of those proceedings.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Government has named 687 employers for failing to pay at least the appropriate minimum wage rate to their workers, since the inception of our naming scheme in October 2013. Civil proceedings were initiated against all 687 of these employers, resulting in almost £1.4 million of penalties being levied. In addition, over £3.5 million of underpayments were identified, which the employers are required to repay to workers. Public naming represents the final element of the civil enforcement process. No criminal prosecutions were initiated against these employers.
The Government’s priority is to ensure low paid workers receive the money they are owed, as quickly as possible. Civil proceedings are generally the most effective means of achieving this. However, where there is evidence that an offence has been committed the case will be considered for criminal investigation, which may lead to prosecution.