3 APPG memberships (as of 8 Apr 2024)
Abraham Accords, Blood Cancer, Vulnerable Groups to Pandemics9 Former APPG memberships
Adult Social Care, Caribbean, Commonwealth, Get Refusal, Holocaust Memorial, Sovereign Wealth Funds, Stem Cell Transplantation and Advanced Cellular Therapies, Veterans, War CrimesDivision Voting information
Lord Mendelsohn voted Aye - against a party majority and against the House
One of 10 Labour Aye votes vs 104 Labour No votes
Tally: Ayes - 155 Noes - 326
Debates during the 2019 Parliament
Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.
Sparring Partners
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
(3 debate interactions)
Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
(2 debate interactions)
Department Debates
(8 debate contributions)
(7 debate contributions)
(4 debate contributions)
(4 debate contributions)
Legislation Debates
(3,793 words contributed)
(3,213 words contributed)
(2,855 words contributed)
(1,898 words contributed)
Lords initiatives
These initiatives were driven by Lord Mendelsohn, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.
1 Bill introduced by Lord Mendelsohn
A bill to make provision to amend the statutory limits for payment of invoices; make provision for a statutory time limit for resolving payment disputes; amend interest for late payments and penalties for persistent late payments and non-compliance; prohibit specified payment practices, on-boarding and pay-to-stay; require payments becoming due under public sector construction projects to be held in project bank accounts; amend the remit, role and powers of the Small Business Commissioner in regard to late payments; provide for a duty on auditors to publish late payment data; and for connected purposes
Lord Mendelsohn has not co-sponsored any Bills in the current parliamentary sitting
Latest 50 Written Questions
(View all written questions)The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Noble Peer’s Parliamentary Question of 29 March is attached in the answer.
The Rt Hon. the Lord Mendelsohn
House of Lords
London
SW1A 0PW
31 March 2023
Dear Lord Mendelsohn,
As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking why COVID-19 has been placed in the same Office for National Statistics reporting group as influenza; and, given that decision, why the provision of COVID-19 vaccinations is being treated differently to the provision of influenza vaccinations (HL7017).
In answering this Parliamentary Question, we have answered under the assumption that you are referring to our Influenza and other respiratory viruses pilot study, Coronavirus (COVID-19) Infection Survey, UK: October 2022 to February 2023 [1] release of 27 March 2023.
The Covid-19 Infection Survey published its final release on 24 March 2023 as the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) works to confirm its approach to infection surveillance. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) plans to work with existing survey participants to continue gathering valuable insight into the experiences of COVID-19, long-COVID and other respiratory infections. In the immediate future this will gather data such as symptoms that people are experiencing but will not include testing for infectious diseases.
From October 2022 to February 2023, the ONS used a small sample from the Covid-19 Infection Survey to pilot the feasibility of testing participants for other respiratory infections and its report was published on 27 March 2023. This pilot study separately reported experimental results on the number of participants who tested positive for influenza and Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) while the latest Covid-19 infection results were reported in the regular statistical bulletin (released on Fridays at noon) [2].
The ONS has announced no plans on the future reporting of data on respiratory infections. In terms of the provision of COVID-19 vaccinations, this would fall under the remit of the UKHSA who are responsible for vaccination policy in the UK.
Yours sincerely,
Professor Sir Ian Diamond
[1] https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/healthandlifeexpectancies/articles/influenzaandotherrespiratoryvirusespilotstudycoronaviruscovid19infectionsurveyuk/october2022tofebruary2023
[2] https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/conditionsanddiseases/bulletins/coronaviruscovid19infectionsurveypilot/24march2023
Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have, therefore, asked the Authority to respond.
Professor Sir Ian Diamond | National Statistician
The Lord Mendelsohn
House of Lords
London
SW1A 0PW
22 November 2021
Dear Lord Mendelsohn,
As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking how many people who are immunocompromised or immunosuppressed have died due to COVID-19 in England since 2 September (HL4024).
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes statistics on deaths registered in England and Wales. Mortality statistics are compiled from information supplied when deaths are certified and registered as part of civil registration. National Records for Scotland (1) and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (2) are responsible for publishing statistics on deaths registered in Scotland and Northern Ireland respectively.
The mortality statistics published by the ONS are based on the causes of death provided by the certifying doctor (or in some cases coroner). The death certificate lists only those health conditions or circumstances which led directly to the death or otherwise contributed to it but does not include any other health conditions the deceased suffered from if the certifier did not consider them relevant to the death. Immunosuppression can arise directly from a diagnosed health condition or from the side-effects of treatment, and there is no definitive list of causes of death linked to immunosuppression. Therefore, we are able to provide the number of deaths due to COVID-19 where certain health conditions commonly associated with immunosuppression were also mentioned on the death certificate, but this does not provide a comprehensive count of all deaths due to COVID-19 where immunosuppression might have been involved.
Table 1 shows the number of deaths registered due to COVID-19, where diseases of the blood and blood-forming organs and certain disorders involving the immune mechanism were mentioned on the death certificate, in England and Wales between 2 September to 5 November 2021.
Yours sincerely,
Professor Sir Ian Diamond
Table 1: Number (3) of deaths (4) registered (5) due to COVID-19 where diseases (6) of the blood and blood-forming organs and certain disorders involving the immune mechanism (7) were mentioned on the death certificate, England and Wales, 2 September to 5 November 2021 (8).
Due to COVID-19 | Of which, diseases of the blood and blood-forming organs and certain disorders involving the immune mechanism mentioned |
| 114 |
Source: Office for National Statistics
(1) https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/
(2) https://www.nisra.gov.uk/
(3) Figures are provisional.
(4) Deaths for England and Wales exclude non-residents.
(5) Based on date a death was registered rather than occurred.
(6) The International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Edition (ICD-10) definitions are as follows: coronavirus (COVID-19) (U.071, U.072, U.099, U.109) and Diseases of the blood and blood-forming organs and certain disorders involving the immune mechanism (D50 to D89).
(7) Deaths where diseases of the blood and blood-forming organs and certain disorders involving the immune mechanism were mentioned includes deaths that have these causes mentioned on the death certificate but not as the underlying cause of death.
(8) These figures are calculated using the most up-to-date data we have available to get the most accurate estimates.
Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
The Office of the Small Business Commissioner administers the Prompt Payment Code (the Code) on behalf of BEIS. The Office of the Small Business Commissioner is an independent public body set up by Government under the Enterprise Act 2016. The Code is a voluntary code of practice which any private or public sector organisation may sign up to. If an organisation chooses to sign up to the Code, they must demonstrate they meet the Code standards.
However, public sector organisations in scope of Reg 113 of the PCRs 2015 are required to meet payment standards as set out in legislation. This requires contracting authorities to include contractual provisions to make payments due to a contractor no later than 30 days from the point it is declared valid and undisputed, and for that verification to take place in a timely fashion and without undue delay.
Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
Section 113(7) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 requires contracting authorities to publish their performance against the 30 day obligation to pay their suppliers within 30 days, together with details of interest payable/paid where they fail to do so. It does not place any obligations or responsibilities upon external auditors in the event of a reporting failure.
The Cabinet Office has included proposals in its Green Paper on Procurement Rules Reform to strengthen the reporting requirements of Section 113(7).
The proposals include legislating to align public and private sector reporting requirements and publishing public sector payment performance in a single location which will allow greater scrutiny and challenge of public sector payment performance.
The outcome of the consultation will be published in due course.
Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
Section 113(7) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 requires contracting authorities to publish their performance against the 30 day obligation to pay their suppliers within 30 days, together with details of interest payable/paid where they fail to do so. It does not place any obligations or responsibilities upon external auditors in the event of a reporting failure.
The Cabinet Office has included proposals in its Green Paper on Procurement Rules Reform to strengthen the reporting requirements of Section 113(7).
The proposals include legislating to align public and private sector reporting requirements and publishing public sector payment performance in a single location which will allow greater scrutiny and challenge of public sector payment performance.
The outcome of the consultation will be published in due course.
Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
The National Cyber Security Strategy supported by a £1.9 billion investment through the National Cyber Security Programme, is delivering transformational change, building new capabilities and intervening to protect the UK from cyber attacks.
We established the National Cyber Security Centre in October 2016 as part of the National Cyber Security Strategy to bring together our best intelligence and expertise into a single national technical authority, driving improvements in detection, defence and incident management.
Our manifesto committed to investing more in cyber security, embracing new technologies and legislating to make the UK the safest place in the world to be online.
Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
From September 2019, any supplier who bids for a Government contract above £5m per annum will be expected to pay 95% of invoices in 60 days across all their business. Any supplier who is unable to demonstrate a fair and responsible approach to the payment of their supply chain may be excluded from bidding.
A small number of suppliers have been excluded to date for not achieving the expected standards. However, our aim is to drive improvement in performance and ensure subcontractors are paid promptly.
Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
The Warm Home Discount prioritises people who are most at risk of being in fuel poverty. Fuel poverty is a combination of low incomes and high energy costs, so the scheme is targeted at those on means tested benefits whose homes are expensive to heat. Stem cell transplant and CAR-T therapy recipients do not automatically fall into that category.
These households may be able to speak to their energy supplier about being added to their Priority Services Register, which provides additional support for vulnerable households, such as priority support in an emergency.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Discussions have taken place with a number of charities and businesses regarding increased energy costs and the Government is fully aware of the impact this is having on the hospice sector.
This is why the Energy Bill Relief Scheme was introduced, shielding eligible non-domestic customers from soaring energy prices. Following an HMT-led review, the new Energy Bill Discount Scheme will run from April until March 2024, and continue to provide a discount to eligible non- domestic customers, including the hospice sector.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
40 Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Questions
(View all Lord Mendelsohn's BEIS questions)We are committed to strengthen the powers of the Small Business Commissioner to support small businesses.
We are working through the impact of any new powers with the Commissioner to better understand resourcing implications of each option and also working through the impact on businesses.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Articles of Association of Post Office Limited entitle my Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State to remove either the Post Office Limited’s directors or the chair of the company by notice in writing, but he must act reasonably in doing so and give reasons for such a decision.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
UKRI is currently funding one study of direct relevance to these areas. UKRI has allocated an initial £1.8 million to the OCTAVE study, led by Professor Iain McInnes, University of Glasgow, for a twelve-month period, and is considering a case for additional funding beyond this. OCTAVE is supporting research on vaccine responses in groups of immune-supressed individuals, including those with inflammatory disorders, high risk cancer patient groups, and patients with severe kidney and liver disease. Cancer patient groups include chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, myeloma, acute leukaemia, and bone marrow transplants. As the OCTAVE study is being managed as a single project it is not possible to give costs for the individual groups.
In addition, there are proposals on vaccine responses in high-risk clinical groups under consideration as part of the UKRI COVID-19 Agile call, with announcements to be made shortly. Furthermore, UKRI continues to accept applications for COVID-19 related research, including on this topic, through its active calls, which can be found on the UKRI website.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
UKRI is currently funding one study of direct relevance to these areas. UKRI has allocated an initial £1.8 million to the OCTAVE study, led by Professor Iain McInnes, University of Glasgow, for a twelve-month period, and is considering a case for additional funding beyond this. OCTAVE is supporting research on vaccine responses in groups of immune-supressed individuals, including those with inflammatory disorders, high risk cancer patient groups, and patients with severe kidney and liver disease. Cancer patient groups include chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, myeloma, acute leukaemia, and bone marrow transplants. As the OCTAVE study is being managed as a single project it is not possible to give costs for the individual groups.
In addition, there are proposals on vaccine responses in high-risk clinical groups under consideration as part of the UKRI COVID-19 Agile call, with announcements to be made shortly. Furthermore, UKRI continues to accept applications for COVID-19 related research, including on this topic, through its active calls, which can be found on the UKRI website.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is funding research on vaccine responses in groups of immune-supressed individuals as part of its support for the OCTAVE study in the National Core Studies (NCS) Immunity Programme. The NCS was established in October 2020, guided by an Oversight Committee, chaired by Sir Patrick Vallance (Government Chief Scientific Adviser), to increase research scale and ultimately maintain resilience against Covid-19.
The NCS Oversight Committee members are:
- Professor Sir John Bell (Regius Chair of Medicine, University of Oxford)
- Sir Jeremy Farrar (Director, Wellcome Trust)
- Professor Sir Mike Ferguson (Regius Professor of Life Sciences, University of Dundee)
- Professor Dame Anne Johnson (Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, UCL)
- Sir Harpal Kumar (President, GRAIL Europe)
- Professor Dame Ottoline Leyser (CEO, UKRI)
- Dr Lynda Stuart (Lead COVID-19 Discovery and Translational Vaccine Response Team, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation)
- Professor Chris Whitty (Chief Medical Officer and Head of the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR))
Plus, representatives of the Devolved Administrations, NIHR and Health and Safety Executive.
Further expert insights are provided by an international panel comprising Peggy Hamburg (Chair of the Board of the American Association for the Advancement of Science), Gagandeep Kang (Professor, Division of Gastrointestinal Sciences, Christian Medical College Vellore) and Gabriel Leung (Dean of Medicine, Hong Kong University).
The OCTAVE study, led by Professor Iain McInnes, University of Glasgow, has a budget of c. £2.3 million, is designed to deliver in twelve months, and is supporting research on vaccine responses in groups of immune-supressed individuals, including those with inflammatory disorders, high risk cancer patient groups, and patients with severe kidney and liver disease. Cancer patient groups include chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, myeloma, acute leukaemia, and bone marrow transplants. In addition, there are proposals on vaccine responses in high-risk clinical groups under consideration by UKRI’s Medical Research Council (MRC) as part of the UKRI COVID-19 Agile call, including in haematological cancers. These submissions will be reviewed by the MRC’s Agile Panel, which draws on members of the MRC’s Research Boards and Panels, and if supported will be coordinated with the OCTAVE study.
The Government Office for Science, acting as the NCS secretariat, establishes the formal links between the NCS and the policymakers and delivery partners in government (including No 10, Cabinet Office, Department of Health and Social Care, Public Health England and devolved equivalents, and the Joint Biosecurity Centre), ensuring that study outputs support informed policy and operational responses.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department’s R&D settlement has increased to £11.1 billion for 2021/22. This includes an ambitious three year settlement for core research funding for National Academies and UK Research and Innovation’s (UKRI) core research budgets. In line with the Haldane Principles, UKRI will determine how funding will be allocated across research councils.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is funding research on vaccine responses in groups of immune-supressed individuals as part of its support for the OCTAVE study in the National Core Studies (NCS) Immunity Programme. The NCS was established in October 2020, guided by an Oversight Committee, chaired by Sir Patrick Vallance (Government Chief Scientific Adviser), to increase research scale and ultimately maintain resilience against Covid-19.
The NCS Oversight Committee members are:
- Professor Sir John Bell (Regius Chair of Medicine, University of Oxford)
- Sir Jeremy Farrar (Director, Wellcome Trust)
- Professor Sir Mike Ferguson (Regius Professor of Life Sciences, University of Dundee)
- Professor Dame Anne Johnson (Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, UCL)
- Sir Harpal Kumar (President, GRAIL Europe)
- Professor Dame Ottoline Leyser (CEO, UKRI)
- Dr Lynda Stuart (Lead COVID-19 Discovery and Translational Vaccine Response Team, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation)
- Professor Chris Whitty (Chief Medical Officer and Head of the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR))
Plus, representatives of the Devolved Administrations, NIHR and Health and Safety Executive.
Further expert insights are provided by an international panel comprising Peggy Hamburg (Chair of the Board of the American Association for the Advancement of Science), Gagandeep Kang (Professor, Division of Gastrointestinal Sciences, Christian Medical College Vellore) and Gabriel Leung (Dean of Medicine, Hong Kong University).
The OCTAVE study, led by Professor Iain McInnes, University of Glasgow, has a budget of c. £2.3 million, is designed to deliver in twelve months, and is supporting research on vaccine responses in groups of immune-supressed individuals, including those with inflammatory disorders, high risk cancer patient groups, and patients with severe kidney and liver disease. Cancer patient groups include chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, myeloma, acute leukaemia, and bone marrow transplants. In addition, there are proposals on vaccine responses in high-risk clinical groups under consideration by UKRI’s Medical Research Council (MRC) as part of the UKRI COVID-19 Agile call, including in haematological cancers. These submissions will be reviewed by the MRC’s Agile Panel, which draws on members of the MRC’s Research Boards and Panels, and if supported will be coordinated with the OCTAVE study.
The Government Office for Science, acting as the NCS secretariat, establishes the formal links between the NCS and the policymakers and delivery partners in government (including No 10, Cabinet Office, Department of Health and Social Care, Public Health England and devolved equivalents, and the Joint Biosecurity Centre), ensuring that study outputs support informed policy and operational responses.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is funding research on vaccine responses in groups of immune-supressed individuals as part of its support for the OCTAVE study in the National Core Studies (NCS) Immunity Programme. The NCS was established in October 2020, guided by an Oversight Committee, chaired by Sir Patrick Vallance (Government Chief Scientific Adviser), to increase research scale and ultimately maintain resilience against Covid-19.
The NCS Oversight Committee members are:
- Professor Sir John Bell (Regius Chair of Medicine, University of Oxford)
- Sir Jeremy Farrar (Director, Wellcome Trust)
- Professor Sir Mike Ferguson (Regius Professor of Life Sciences, University of Dundee)
- Professor Dame Anne Johnson (Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, UCL)
- Sir Harpal Kumar (President, GRAIL Europe)
- Professor Dame Ottoline Leyser (CEO, UKRI)
- Dr Lynda Stuart (Lead COVID-19 Discovery and Translational Vaccine Response Team, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation)
- Professor Chris Whitty (Chief Medical Officer and Head of the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR))
Plus, representatives of the Devolved Administrations, NIHR and Health and Safety Executive.
Further expert insights are provided by an international panel comprising Peggy Hamburg (Chair of the Board of the American Association for the Advancement of Science), Gagandeep Kang (Professor, Division of Gastrointestinal Sciences, Christian Medical College Vellore) and Gabriel Leung (Dean of Medicine, Hong Kong University).
The OCTAVE study, led by Professor Iain McInnes, University of Glasgow, has a budget of c. £2.3 million, is designed to deliver in twelve months, and is supporting research on vaccine responses in groups of immune-supressed individuals, including those with inflammatory disorders, high risk cancer patient groups, and patients with severe kidney and liver disease. Cancer patient groups include chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, myeloma, acute leukaemia, and bone marrow transplants. In addition, there are proposals on vaccine responses in high-risk clinical groups under consideration by UKRI’s Medical Research Council (MRC) as part of the UKRI COVID-19 Agile call, including in haematological cancers. These submissions will be reviewed by the MRC’s Agile Panel, which draws on members of the MRC’s Research Boards and Panels, and if supported will be coordinated with the OCTAVE study.
The Government Office for Science, acting as the NCS secretariat, establishes the formal links between the NCS and the policymakers and delivery partners in government (including No 10, Cabinet Office, Department of Health and Social Care, Public Health England and devolved equivalents, and the Joint Biosecurity Centre), ensuring that study outputs support informed policy and operational responses.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The contents of the Shareholders Agreement between Her Majesty's Government, Bharti and other minority shareholders are commercially sensitive.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The UK Space Agency has supported some research and development activities undertaken by OneWeb and its eligible supply chain through its subscription to the European Space Agency’s Advanced Research in Telecommunications Satellites (ARTES) programme.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The procurement of OneWeb is not a Defence matter.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
In advance of Her Majesty's Government’s investment, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State took advice from experts both across government and externally commissioned to provide detailed scrutiny of the commercial, financial, and scientific rationales for investment and to ensure its compliance with the policy on High Risk Vendors.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
OneWeb presents a significant commercial opportunity and we will work closely with the company and other partners to raise additional private investment.
Further information on the future financing of OneWeb remains subject to commercial sensitivities.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government has committed to invest $500m in OneWeb, and will continue to work with OneWeb and consortium partners to ensure this is being used to best support the UK investment.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
As of 7th September 2020, 1,152,511 of the total 1,157,956 Bounce Back Loans offered (99.5%) had been paid out to small and micro businesses.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
As of 15 November 2020, £42.18 billion of loans have been provided under the Bounce Back Loan Scheme.
The BEIS Annual Report published on 30 September contained information on all debt loan schemes and potential loss estimates.
The initial indicative loss ranges are based on historic losses observed in prior programmes which most closely resemble the current Covid-19 interventions. However, no two programmes (or two economic downturns) are completely alike, and the estimate will be revised as more data becomes available.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
We have always been clear that businesses are responsible for repaying any finance they take out. However, we recognise that some borrowers will benefit from flexibility for their repayments. That is why we announced the Pay as you Grow measures.
Pay as You Grow will provide Bounce Back Loan borrowers more time and flexibility over their repayments by giving them the option to:
- Extend the length of the loan from six years to ten.
- Make interest-only payments for six months, with the option to use this up to three times throughout the loan.
- Once six payments have been made, have the option of a six-month repayment holiday.
Businesses will be able to use these options either individually or in combination with each other. In addition they have the option to fully repay their loan early and will face no early repayment charges for doing so.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
There were 20 referrals to the Pre-Pack Pool between 1 May 2020 and 27 October 2020.
The table below shows the number of referrals for each week where referrals were received. For all other weeks there were zero referrals.
Referrals made to the Pre-Pack Pool between 1 May 2020 and 27 October 2020
Week commencing | Number of pre-pack referrals |
1 June 2020 | 1 |
8 June 2020 | 1 |
15 June 2020 | 1 |
29 June 2020 | 1 |
6 July 2020 | 4 |
13 July 2020 | 5 |
10 Aug 2020 | 1 |
24 Aug 2020 | 2 |
28 Sept 2020 | 2 |
19 Oct 2020 | 2 |
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Pre-Pack Pool was established in 2015. Since then, the Insolvency Service has had numerous meetings and communications (in the form of e-mails, letters and telephone conversations) with the directors of Pre-Pack Pool Ltd and the Pre-Pack Pool Oversight Group. The Oversight Group comprises the Pool directors and representatives from the insolvency regulatory bodies, R3 the trade body for insolvency professionals and other interested stakeholders.
My reply to the noble Lord on 3rd August 2020 to Question HL7302 advised that officials from the Insolvency Service had attended three meetings with the Pre-Pack Pool Oversight Group in 2019 and one in 2020. Since that reply, they have had one further meeting with the directors of Pre-Pack Pool Limited.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
We have received over 400 responses to our survey on suggested reforms of the Prompt Payment Code and officials are currently analysing those responses.
We plan to publish the new Code principles before the end of the year but only after the views of those who took the time to respond have been given the consideration they deserve.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The report on the findings of the first statutory review of the Pubs Code and the Pubs Code Adjudicator will be published and laid before Parliament as soon as practicable.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
There were 16 referrals to the Pre-Pack Pool between 1 February 2020 and 24 July 2020. The table below provides a weekly break down of referrals for the period in question.
Referrals made to the Pre-Pack Pool between 1 February 2020 and 24 July 2020
Week commencing | Number of pre-pack referrals |
9 March 2020 | 1 |
13 April 2020 | 2 |
1 June 2020 | 1 |
8 June 2020 | 1 |
15 June 2020 | 1 |
29 June 2020 | 1 |
6 July 2020 | 4 |
13 July 2020 | 5 |
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Applications to the Pre-Pack Pool are made in confidence and the Insolvency Service does not hold this information. However, if a company subsequently enters administration, details of amounts owed to unsecured creditors must be set out in a statement of affairs of the company, which must be filed at Companies House and made available on the company’s public record as soon as reasonably practicable by the administrator.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Pre-Pack Pool’s operation is overseen by the Pre-Pack Pool Oversight Group, which comprises representatives from the creditor community, the insolvency profession, insolvency regulators and officials from the Insolvency Service. The Insolvency Service also provides secretariat support to the Oversight Group.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Officials from the Insolvency Service attended three meetings of the Pre-Pack Pool Oversight Group in 2019 and one meeting so far in 2020. The Pre-Pack Pool Oversight Group includes representatives from the Pre-Pack Pool. The meetings attended by officials discussed the operation of the Pre-Pack Pool and the Insolvency Service’s review of voluntary measures to reform pre-pack sales in administration.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is fully committed on fulfilling its manifesto commitment to?strengthen the powers of the Small Business Commissioner. We?still?plan to consult on?extending?those powers, to allow the Commissioner to advocate for and support small businesses,?as soon as we?are able to do so.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Insolvency Service has carried out an assessment of the impact of voluntary measures introduced in 2015 to improve transparency and confidence in pre-pack sales to connected parties in administration. The findings will be published in due course.
There is some protection in insolvency legislation for unsecured creditors in the form of the “prescribed part”, which is the amount of a company’s assets that must be reserved for the benefit of unsecured creditors when it enters administration.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
There has been no assessment by Government of the use of pre-pack administrations by businesses that have previously extracted large dividends through subsidiaries based in tax havens.
The Insolvency Service has, however, carried out an assessment of the impact of voluntary measures introduced in 2015 to improve transparency and confidence in pre-pack sales in administration. The findings will be published in due course.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government has not carried out a specific assessment of the impact of prepacks on SMEs. However, the Insolvency Service has reviewed the impact of voluntary measures introduced in 2015 to improve transparency and confidence in pre-pack sales in administration, including the impact on creditors and its findings will be issued in due course.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
There has been a very low number of referrals to the Pre-Pack Pool which was set up by industry to provide opinions on a voluntary basis on pre-pack sales in administration to connected parties.
However, the Government continues to work with regulators and industry stakeholders to discuss options for strengthening the professional standards for insolvency practitioners to give greater assurance to creditors where a sale is to a connected party.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Insolvency Service continues to work with regulators and industry stakeholders to discuss options for strengthening the professional standards for insolvency practitioners and give greater assurance to creditors where a sale in a prepack administration is to a connected party.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Pre-Pack Pool is one of a number of voluntary measures introduced in November 2015 to improve transparency and confidence in pre-pack sales in administration. The Insolvency Service has carried out an assessment of the impact of these measures and will publish its findings in due course.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Data provided by the Chartered Institute of Credit Management states that (1) 6% of Code signatories (153 of 2,472) have provided their procurement and purchasing policy; (2) 49% (1,205 of 2,472) have provided their ‘how to get paid’ details; and 54% (1,329 of 2,472) have provided their responsible board director information for inclusion on the Prompt Payment Code website.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Payment Performance of the companies reinstated to the Prompt Payment Code will remain under review. The administration of the Code will shortly be transferred to Office of the Small Business Commissioner. Post-transfer, the Office of the Small Business Commissioner will continue to challenge signatories to the Code if their Payment Practice Reporting data suggests that their practices are not compliant with the Code. Following a suspension, signatories will only be reinstated once they have demonstrated that they have achieved compliance.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Payment Practices Reporting Duty data is used to monitor compliance with the Code, where companies are legally required to report their payment practices. The legal duty to submit data does not require differentiation in reports between payments to SMEs and payments to large companies. It requires them to report on payments of all invoices across the company. Additionally, the voluntary Code requires signatories to pay 95% of all invoices in 60 days and signatories are not required to provide information on payment terms and payment performance relating to SMEs as a separate requirement. Therefore, this data is not available.
We will shortly begin engagement with current signatories on the reform and strengthening of the Code.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government does not hold precise figures on the number of large businesses signed up to the Prompt Payment Code.
The Government has not set Code sign-up targets, but we are fully committed to ensure as many businesses as possible sign up to the Code. We will shortly begin engagement with current signatories on the reform and strengthening of the Code.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is committed to delivering our manifesto commitment to strengthen the powers of the Small Business Commissioner and clamp down on late payments. Strengthening these powers will support small businesses who struggle to cover financial shortfalls and find temporary finance more expensive to obtain.
Good progress is being made on the policies announced in the Government Response to the Call for Evidence to assess what further steps and intervention may be needed to create a responsible payment culture.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
We are working with the Interim Small Business Commissioner to transfer the administration of the Code by the end of the financial year.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Data provided by the Chartered Institute of Credit Management states that 53% of Code signatories (1,317 of the 2,472) have provided their standard payment terms for inclusion on the Prompt Payment Code website.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)