Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to encourage routes-to-market for new fire and electrical safety technologies.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Placing new or innovative products on the market requires the same product safety requirements to be met as is required for existing products. Guidance is available for businesses to help set what is required so that they have a clear route for getting their products to market.
Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), acts as the prime channel through which Government incentivises business-led technology innovation. It funds innovation through the allocation of competitively awarded grants and funding is available to all businesses undertaking innovation, irrespective of the technology or sector in which they are working. The UKRI Gateway, available via UKRI’s website, provides data on all funded research and innovation projects.
Innovate UK also helps to connect innovative businesses with the right partners and expertise to help them bring their ideas to market, and grow and scale their companies, through the Knowledge Transfer Network and Innovate UK EDGE.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what information they collect regarding electrical appliances purchased online that are (1) counterfeit, (2) poor quality, or (3) faulty.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Businesses have a legal duty to notify market surveillance authorities where they have identified a safety issue with a product they have placed on the market, including online. To support the best use of this information, in 2019, the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) launched the UK’s Product Safety Database. The database allows authorities to access and exchange data securely and effectively to ensure swift and appropriate action can be taken to protect consumers. If consumers have a concern about the safety of a product, or other consumer concerns relating to quality or faults, they can contact Citizens Advice in England and Wales, Advice Direct Scotland or Consumer Advice Service. They will refer suspected breaches of consumer law on to Trading Standards for enforcement action where appropriate.
In order to further support consumers, OPSS publishes alerts on GOV.UK about unsafe products and recalls using information from the database. This includes regular Product Safety Reports. These contain information about individual products, including electrical products, that have been investigated and found to present a risk to the health and safety of consumers. Reports include details about the product, photos of the product, the risks it presents (such as electrical shock), the details of distributor and/or manufacturer, whether it was sold on an online marketplace, details of non-compliance, and the corrective actions taken by businesses.
OPSS does not currently record information regarding electric shocks, or other injuries such as burns, caused by electrical items purchased online. However, OPSS is currently trialling information sharing with some NHS hospitals and continues to examine how we can make the best use of available data.
In relation to counterfeit goods, the Government works with industry and enforcement agencies on a range of initiatives. The Intellectual Property Office collects intelligence on counterfeit items and works in partnership with Trading Standards, law enforcement, and industry groups to reduce the sale of counterfeit goods on e-commerce stores and via links from social media channels such as Facebook and Instagram.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to recording of electric shocks, or other injuries such as burns, caused by electrical items purchased online.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Businesses have a legal duty to notify market surveillance authorities where they have identified a safety issue with a product they have placed on the market, including online. To support the best use of this information, in 2019, the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) launched the UK’s Product Safety Database. The database allows authorities to access and exchange data securely and effectively to ensure swift and appropriate action can be taken to protect consumers. If consumers have a concern about the safety of a product, or other consumer concerns relating to quality or faults, they can contact Citizens Advice in England and Wales, Advice Direct Scotland or Consumer Advice Service. They will refer suspected breaches of consumer law on to Trading Standards for enforcement action where appropriate.
In order to further support consumers, OPSS publishes alerts on GOV.UK about unsafe products and recalls using information from the database. This includes regular Product Safety Reports. These contain information about individual products, including electrical products, that have been investigated and found to present a risk to the health and safety of consumers. Reports include details about the product, photos of the product, the risks it presents (such as electrical shock), the details of distributor and/or manufacturer, whether it was sold on an online marketplace, details of non-compliance, and the corrective actions taken by businesses.
OPSS does not currently record information regarding electric shocks, or other injuries such as burns, caused by electrical items purchased online. However, OPSS is currently trialling information sharing with some NHS hospitals and continues to examine how we can make the best use of available data.
In relation to counterfeit goods, the Government works with industry and enforcement agencies on a range of initiatives. The Intellectual Property Office collects intelligence on counterfeit items and works in partnership with Trading Standards, law enforcement, and industry groups to reduce the sale of counterfeit goods on e-commerce stores and via links from social media channels such as Facebook and Instagram.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of households that are supplied by district heating systems; what assessment they have made of the geographic distribution of those households; and what estimate they have made of the (1) number, and (2) proportion, of those households that experience fuel poverty.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Experimental Statistics on Heat Networks published by the Government in 2018 showed that approximately 440,000 of all UK heat network customers are residential. The specific geographical distribution in terms of number of residential customers can be found in Figure 1 below.
Government Office Region | Number of customers |
East Midlands | 15,769 |
East of England | 25,147 |
London | 195,851 |
North East | 16,418 |
North West | 35,212 |
South East | 39,107 |
South West | 23,800 |
West Midlands | 29,436 |
Yorkshire and The Humber | 25,824 |
England | 406,566 |
Wales | 7,680 |
Scotland | 23,779 |
Northern Ireland | 1,524 |
UK | 439,549 |
The latest 2020 Fuel Poverty Statistics published shows that only 3% (i.e. 92,000) of all fuel poor households in England has central heating systems that use ‘other’ fuels, which consist of propane, bulk LPG and community heating or heat networks. Therefore, the proportion of fuel poor households served by district heating systems are likely to be much smaller than 3%.
The Government’s Heat Network Consumer Survey published in 2017 estimated that the proportion of heat network customers living in more energy efficient buildings such as flats or social housing are significantly higher than the general England and Wales population. Given most flats or social housing tend to have energy efficiency ratings higher than EPC Band D, it therefore indicates heat network customers are much less likely to experience fuel poverty in comparison to the wider population.
The Government is aware of the steep increases that some consumers on communal networks are facing. For this reason, the government is taking action worth more than £9.1bn supporting households through initiatives such as the Energy Bills Rebate, the Household Support Fund, Warm Home Discount, Winter Fuel Payments and Cold Weather Payments. These measures are intended to cover heat network consumers and the government is engaging closely with industry and consumer groups to understand the specific impacts in the heat network sector and continue to assess whether further options are needed to help households through this challenging period.
I refer the noble Lord to the answers given by my Rt. Hon. Friend the Minister of State for Business, Energy and Clean Growth to the Hon. Member for Battersea on 28 February to Questions 125466 and 125467. We need to ensure heat network consumers receive a fair price for their heating and that is why we are committed to legislating within this parliament to regulate the heat networks sector and in December 2021 we announced that Ofgem will take on the role of regulator. We will be giving Ofgem new powers to regulate prices in this sector as a matter of priority. This will enable equivalent protection for domestic heat network customers as well as ensuring heat network operators are securing good purchasing deals for their consumers. This will mean that consumers are charged a fair rate for heating whilst encouraging investment in heat networks.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to address the financial impact of rising energy prices on households with district heat systems that are not covered by the energy price cap; and what is their timetable for implementing those plans.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Experimental Statistics on Heat Networks published by the Government in 2018 showed that approximately 440,000 of all UK heat network customers are residential. The specific geographical distribution in terms of number of residential customers can be found in Figure 1 below.
Government Office Region | Number of customers |
East Midlands | 15,769 |
East of England | 25,147 |
London | 195,851 |
North East | 16,418 |
North West | 35,212 |
South East | 39,107 |
South West | 23,800 |
West Midlands | 29,436 |
Yorkshire and The Humber | 25,824 |
England | 406,566 |
Wales | 7,680 |
Scotland | 23,779 |
Northern Ireland | 1,524 |
UK | 439,549 |
The latest 2020 Fuel Poverty Statistics published shows that only 3% (i.e. 92,000) of all fuel poor households in England has central heating systems that use ‘other’ fuels, which consist of propane, bulk LPG and community heating or heat networks. Therefore, the proportion of fuel poor households served by district heating systems are likely to be much smaller than 3%.
The Government’s Heat Network Consumer Survey published in 2017 estimated that the proportion of heat network customers living in more energy efficient buildings such as flats or social housing are significantly higher than the general England and Wales population. Given most flats or social housing tend to have energy efficiency ratings higher than EPC Band D, it therefore indicates heat network customers are much less likely to experience fuel poverty in comparison to the wider population.
The Government is aware of the steep increases that some consumers on communal networks are facing. For this reason, the government is taking action worth more than £9.1bn supporting households through initiatives such as the Energy Bills Rebate, the Household Support Fund, Warm Home Discount, Winter Fuel Payments and Cold Weather Payments. These measures are intended to cover heat network consumers and the government is engaging closely with industry and consumer groups to understand the specific impacts in the heat network sector and continue to assess whether further options are needed to help households through this challenging period.
I refer the noble Lord to the answers given by my Rt. Hon. Friend the Minister of State for Business, Energy and Clean Growth to the Hon. Member for Battersea on 28 February to Questions 125466 and 125467. We need to ensure heat network consumers receive a fair price for their heating and that is why we are committed to legislating within this parliament to regulate the heat networks sector and in December 2021 we announced that Ofgem will take on the role of regulator. We will be giving Ofgem new powers to regulate prices in this sector as a matter of priority. This will enable equivalent protection for domestic heat network customers as well as ensuring heat network operators are securing good purchasing deals for their consumers. This will mean that consumers are charged a fair rate for heating whilst encouraging investment in heat networks.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Callanan on 1 November (HL3196), when they will make an announcement regarding the UK's future exhaustion of intellectual property rights regime.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is currently assessing the options for the UK’s future exhaustion regime and will provide an update on this consultation in due course.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - 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 impact of an international copyright exhaustion regime on author incomes; and what plans they have, if any, to publish this assessment.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government recently held a consultation on the UK’s future exhaustion of intellectual property rights regime. The potential impact of an international exhaustion regime on author incomes is likely to form part of the overall assessment, alongside the potential effect on other sectors of the economy. The Government will provide an update on this consultation in due course.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether (1) retail, and (2) industrial energy, consumers will contribute via a Regulated Asset Base model to the building of a new nuclear power station in the UK; and if so, how this will be calculated.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Nuclear Energy (Financing) Bill will require all GB-licenced suppliers to make contributions to a revenue collection counterparty under a Regulated Asset Base (RAB) model. We expect that suppliers’ contributions will be calculated based on their expected share of the energy market.
The Government will consult on draft regulations implementing the detailed requirements of RAB revenue arrangements before they are introduced.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the (1) lowest, and (2) highest, expected cost of power per kWh from Sizewell C, based on the assumptions in their impact assessment.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Impact Assessment published alongside the Nuclear Energy (Financing) Bill sets out the illustrative costs of building and financing a generic new nuclear power plant using a Regulated Asset Base (RAB) model.
Negotiations on the Sizewell C project are ongoing. These will determine its overall cost and value for money. No decisions have yet been made, but discussions to date have been constructive.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - 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 impact of an international copyright exhaustion regime on the UK's book exports; and what plans they have, if any, to publish this assessment.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government recently held a consultation on the UK’s future exhaustion of intellectual property rights regime. The potential impact of an international exhaustion regime on the UK’s book exports is likely to form part of the overall assessment, alongside the potential effect on other sectors of the economy. The Government will provide an update on this consultation in due course.