Asked by: Lord Fox (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether it was their policy that tenants’ confidential commercial information used as evidence in arbitration could then be used in rent reviews or renewals under the terms of the Commercial Rent (Coronavirus) Act 2022.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Confidential information disclosed as part of the arbitration proceedings should be used only for the purposes of the proceedings and the making of the arbitration award. However, there are exceptions to the general principles of confidentiality applying to arbitration, including where disclosure to a third party is reasonably necessary to protect legitimate interests, which could include disclosure reasonably necessary to establish or protect a party’s legal rights.
Asked by: Lord Fox (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether it was their policy that arbitrators direct tenants to divulge trading information to their commercial landlords, under the terms of the Commercial Rent (Coronavirus) Act 2022.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Confidential information disclosed as part of the arbitration proceedings should be used only for the purposes of the proceedings and the making of the arbitration award. However, there are exceptions to the general principles of confidentiality applying to arbitration, including where disclosure to a third party is reasonably necessary to protect legitimate interests, which could include disclosure reasonably necessary to establish or protect a party’s legal rights.
Asked by: Lord Fox (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask His Majesty's Government what communication they have had with the Approved Arbitration bodies established as a result of the Commercial Rent (Coronavirus) Act 2022.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy engaged with the arbitral bodies and with stakeholders to keep oversight of uptake of the scheme and to determine if initial stakeholder concerns about cost and capacity had any substance. We reminded parties in August of the closing deadlines for the submission of cases.
The deadline for the submission of cases recently passed on 23 September 2022 and arbitrators are in the process of considering the cases submitted and will be publishing the outcomes as required by the Act. The assessment of the impact of the Act is ongoing and will be published in due course.
Asked by: Lord Fox (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made as to whether the aim of the Commercial Rent (Coronavirus) Act 2022 to “share in the impacts of pandemic” has been achieved; and what evidence they used to reach their conclusion.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy engaged with the arbitral bodies and with stakeholders to keep oversight of uptake of the scheme and to determine if initial stakeholder concerns about cost and capacity had any substance. We reminded parties in August of the closing deadlines for the submission of cases.
The deadline for the submission of cases recently passed on 23 September 2022 and arbitrators are in the process of considering the cases submitted and will be publishing the outcomes as required by the Act. The assessment of the impact of the Act is ongoing and will be published in due course.