Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to reissue the (1) Dad's Army, and (2) Parliament, stamps with a barcode, in light of the new rules requiring stamps to contain a barcode to be usable after 31 January 2023.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The development of stamp products is an operational matter for Royal Mail, a private company. The Government is not involved in Royal Mail’s operational or commercial decisions.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will rescind the decision to refuse to accept stamps purchased after 31 January 2023 if they do not contain a barcode.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The development of stamp products is an operational matter for Royal Mail, a private company. The Government is not involved in Royal Mail’s operational or commercial decisions.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, whether they can outline what the (1) operational efficiencies, (2) security features, and (3) innovative services, are that will be introduced for stamps requiring barcodes after 31 January 2023.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The development and administration of stamp products, including special stamps, is an operational matter for Royal Mail, a private company. The Government is not involved in Royal Mail’s operational or commercial decisions.
Royal Mail’s management is best placed to set out the operational benefits of its products.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to introduce legislation (1) to allow organisations (a) to dismiss, or (b) to refuse to employ, any person who has refused to be vaccinated against COVID-19, and (2) to protect any such organisation from claims of unfair dismissal.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
I refer the noble Lord to the statement made by my Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 22nd February 2021, Official Report, Column 625-628.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether COVID-19 vaccines must be stored in glass vials; if so, why; and if not, what plans they have to use plastic containers to address any shortage of glass vials.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Vaccines are currently approved for storage in glass vials, rather than plastic. This is due to glass generally providing better shelf life and being more resistant to sterilisation processes. Plastics can be made sterile, but often do not have as good barrier properties reducing shelf life. It should be noted that the UK has a sufficient number of glass vials available, due to orders already placed.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to mandate that all company accounts must include (1) the amount of taxpayer loans received, (2) the amount received through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, and (3) how many employees were made redundant, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Annual company accounts are prepared and filed on the basis of material items and in line with accounting standards governed by the Companies Act 2006. As part of this, companies are required to make disclosure on all matters that will enable their shareholders to gain a proper understanding of the company’s assets, liabilities and shareholder equity. In order to help companies ensure accounts give a true and fair view, the law allows companies to provide additional information where this is material.
At the present time we have no plans to change the requirements in relation to the Covid-19 pandemic. The Government wishes to avoid placing additional burdens on management at a time when their focus should be on maintaining the well-being of their businesses and employees. Directors will be required to record items material to the company’s finances within their accounts. This would include any Covid-19 financial support measures that are material to the company’s finances.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to establish a database of businesses which have (1) retained as many workers as possible, (2) dismissed workers and are claiming taxpayer help, (3) volunteered to assist in the COVID-19 pandemic by developing new technology or services, and (4) been found to have profited illegally or unethically, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Officials in this department are engaging regularly with industry and the business community to discuss preparedness planning and to gather data, feedback and to ensure the best policy response is developed.
A wide range of UK and international businesses have offered to help provide services, including designing and building new devices, manufacturing components or transporting them to NHS hospitals.
The Government has received an overwhelming number of offers from the UK supply base in response to Covid-19. Suppliers are keen to offer a range of goods and services to help organisations and departments stay operational. The offers are coming through a number of different routes and the Crown Commercial Service is now coordinating these offers to create one central log.
We are aware that, in a small minority of cases, cyber criminals and fraudsters are attempting to exploit opportunities around the coronavirus outbreak and so the Government have issued appropriate guidance to follow to identify fraudulent activities and scams, through Action Fraud. We are also working with social media to combat disinformation.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans, if any, they have to encourage businesses to manufacture goods and components and source supplies in the UK.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The UK’s manufacturing sector plays a vital role in the UK economy by driving innovation, exports, job creation, and productivity. The Government is taking steps to help drive increased competitiveness in UK manufacturing to anchor investment and production. This includes:
Through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, we have invested £2.5 billion to drive cutting-edge research and innovation, from world-leading battery design to new light-weight composite materials. We are investing up to £167 million into Made Smarter, the UK’s national industrial digitalisation programme, to boost manufacturing productivity through the development and adoption of cutting-edge digital technology.
Furthermore, the Chancellor announced at the 2020 Budget the UK’s largest and fastest expansion of support for research and development (R&D) across the economy. Spending is set to reach £22 billion by 2024/2025 and businesses will receive an increase in R&D tax credit from 12% to 13%. To ensure this investment in R&D also helps anchor production in the UK, we have invested over £350 million in the High Value Manufacturing Catapult network to support the commercialisation of new manufacturing technologies. We will be investing a further £600 million by the end of 2023.
It is worth noting that in these difficult and unprecedented times, caused by the Coronavirus outbreak, we are focusing all efforts on tackling the pandemic. This includes mitigating its impacts by protecting jobs, so manufacturers can continue to provide essential goods and services.
An unprecedented package of support has been announced for businesses and workers to protect against the economic emergency caused by the Coronavirus.
The Government has made an initial £330 billion of loans and guarantees available, which is equivalent to 15% of UK GDP, to support firms and help them manage cashflows through this period. The Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, delivered by the British Business Bank, went live on 23 March. It will support smaller businesses, including unincorporated businesses such as partnerships and sole traders. Full guidance and eligibility criteria can be found at: www.british-business-bank.co.uk/cbils.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports of shortages of toilet paper; and what discussions they have had with newspaper operators about whether newspapers can be printed to be used as an alternative to toilet paper.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is in regular contact with businesses, including retailers, to discuss the impact of Coronavirus on industry, including supply chains, and preparedness planning.
On 9 March, we announced an extension of delivery hours for supermarkets and other food retailers, to help the industry respond to Coronavirus. The new measures enable food retailers to increase the frequency of deliveries to their stores, so they can move stock quickly from warehouses across the country to replenish their shelves.
The Government has also introduced new measures to support businesses to keep food supply flowing on to shelves and into homes. For example, we have temporarily relaxed competition laws, allowing supermarkets to work together. The rules on driver’s hours have also been flexed to allow a higher frequency of deliveries to stores, so shelves can be replenished at pace.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to review the practice of naming Atlantic winter storms.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Met Office reviews the naming of storms on an annual basis, in conjunction with its partners at the national meteorological services of Ireland and the Netherlands. The review takes into account feedback from partners and stakeholders in government, the resilience community, in media and from the general public.