Asked by: Lord Stevenson of Balmacara (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to assist the Construction Leadership Council in achieving zero retentions within the construction sector by the target date of 2025.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government, in conjunction with the Construction Leadership Council, is working to identify a sustainable strategy on retentions for the whole construction sector.
Through the Business Models workstream of the Council, the practice of cash retentions and route to achieving zero retentions is being taken forward. This includes the options available, or could be developed, to provide an alternative to cash retentions and for the industry to reduce or eliminate defective construction work and having a procurement and delivery model that recognises, incentivises and rewards good quality work.
Asked by: Lord Stevenson of Balmacara (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to communicate with (1) the public, (2) businesses, and (3) charities, about the forthcoming switch-off of the Public Switched Telephone Network; and what assessment they have made of the impact the switch-off will have for (a) alarm manufacturers, and (b) vulnerable users of analogue technology enabled care products.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
The retirement of the public switched telephone network (PSTN), and its replacement with Internet Protocol technology, is being led by Openreach and Virgin Media, as the relevant infrastructure owners. Openreach and Virgin Media have publicly set out their plans to withdraw these services by the end of 2025. The migration is likely to affect all fixed exchange lines, of which there are 31.3 million in the UK.
In June 2020, the Broadband Stakeholder Group, a Government advisory forum on telecoms policy, launched the ‘Future of Voice’ website. This consumer-facing website is designed to inform the public and businesses of the PSTN switchover process and was developed with the support of telecoms companies, Ofcom and DCMS. The website will also be a useful resource for charities, trade associations and public sector bodies to inform their members of the change.
Ofcom estimates that 81% of UK households have a landline service, with 4% of UK adults living in a home with a landline and no mobile phone, while 3% of UK households have only a landline without any broadband.
Asked by: Lord Stevenson of Balmacara (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies Who is excluded from the government's Self Employment Income Support Scheme and what could the government do about it?, published on 27 January; and what plans they have to introduce targeted support to freelance workers in the creative industries who do not qualify for the Self Employment Income Support Scheme (1) who became self-employed after 2019, and (2) who are on zero-hour contracts.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) has provided and will continue to provide generous support to self-employed people who meet the eligibility criteria.
The Government has recognised taxpayers have faced immense challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. It has prioritised delivering support to as many people as possible while guarding against the risk of fraud or abuse.
The design of the SEISS, including the eligibility requirement that an individual’s trading profits must be no more than £50,000 and at least equal to their non-trading income, means it is targeted at those who most need it, and who are most reliant on their self-employment income.
The SEISS is among the most generous schemes for the self-employed in the world. The claims window for the third grant closed on 29 January 2021. As of 31 December, it received claims from 1.9 million individuals so far, amounting to £5.4bn.
The fourth grant will cover February to April 2021. The Government will set out further details at the Budget in March.
The SEISS continues to be just one element of a substantial package of support for the self-employed which includes Bounce Back loans, tax deferrals, rental support, mortgage holidays, self-isolation support payments and other business support grants.
The Government recognises the value of the cultural sector and creative professionals and has announced a £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund to protect the cultural sectors through the COVID-19 pandemic. To date, more than £790m of grants and loans have been allocated to over 3,000 cultural organisations in England. Organisations supported include galleries, theatres, museums, orchestras, music venues, comedy clubs and festivals. This funding will help to support jobs and organisations across the country.
Asked by: Lord Stevenson of Balmacara (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government (1) how many applications were approved for, and (2) what was the total amount awarded through, the Green Homes Grant scheme in 2020
Answered by Lord Callanan - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As of 31 December 2020:
(1) 11,298 applications were approved, corresponding to 12,849 vouchers issued;
(2) The vouchers issued represents £52.1 million of approved funding. This will not be awarded until the scheduled works are completed and vouchers are redeemed.
Asked by: Lord Stevenson of Balmacara (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many vouchers were sent out by email to successful applicants to the Green Homes Grant scheme in 2020.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As of 31 December 2020, 11,298 applications were approved, with 12,849 vouchers issued by email to successful applicants.
Asked by: Lord Stevenson of Balmacara (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have (1) to review the effectiveness of the Electronic Communications Code contained within the Digital Economy Act 2017, and (2) to revise that code in order to address any barriers identified.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
We are committed to consulting on whether further reforms to the Electronic Communications Code are necessary to support the delivery of digital connectivity. Timings for this consultation are still to be finalised, and we will confirm this as soon as possible.
Asked by: Lord Stevenson of Balmacara (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 Lord Callanan on 3 August (HL7046), whether the OneWeb offering has changed to include defence specific applications since 3 August.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
While Her Majesty's Government has a stake in the company, it will operate as a commercial entity. The point raised is a commercial matter and should be directed to the company.
Asked by: Lord Stevenson of Balmacara (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they intend to consult on the operation of the Electronic Communications Code.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
We are committed to consulting on whether further reforms to the Electronic Communications Code are necessary to support the delivery of digital connectivity. Timings for this consultation are still to be finalised, and we will confirm this as soon as possible.
Asked by: Lord Stevenson of Balmacara (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Baroness Barran on 9 November (HL Deb, col 808), what proportion of the £119 million of funding available through Arts Council England has been paid directly to individual freelance workers; and what is the breakdown of payments by (1) art form, and (2) category of freelance worker.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
Of the £119m available through Arts Council England as part of their Covid emergency support, over £26m has been distributed to individuals, including freelance workers, and organisations via the Emergency Relief Fund and Project Grants Funding (as of 5 November 2020).
Within the £26m, £17m has been distributed to individuals via ACE’s Emergency Response Fund (now closed) and c.£9m has so far been distributed to both organisations and individuals via Project Grants (out of a total of c.£80m available until April 2021).
In addition to the two Funds above, the £119m also includes the following:
£6 million distributed by a series of Benevolent Funds focused on self employed individuals; and
£18 million available through their Developing Your Creative Practice Fund
The split by art form and category of freelance worker will be made available in due course.
Asked by: Lord Stevenson of Balmacara (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much they have spent on (1) developing, and (2) trialling, the Job Support Scheme.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
HM Treasury, along with other Government departments including HMRC, developed the Job Support Scheme through the usual government processes using a range of Civil Service policy expertise and experience. It is not possible to determine the cost of developing individual policies. The Chancellor postponed the Job Support Scheme and has announced the extension of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme until the end of March 2021 for all parts of the UK. HMG will review the policy in January to consider whether any changes to the policy are appropriate in light of the economic and health situation at that time.