Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that more skilled workers are employed in the infrastructure sectors by the end of 2022.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
BEIS continues to work with the Department for Education, the Department for Work and Pensions, and representatives of the construction sector through the Construction Skills Delivery Group, which aims to drive increased investment in construction skills, including those relevant to the infrastructure sector. To date, the Group has made good progress in supporting a greater number of apprenticeship starts, encouraging pledges to transfer unspent Apprenticeship Levy funding, and to provide better information and easier routes into the industry for those seeking careers in construction.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking (1) to support the UK manufacturing industry, and (2) to introduce a new post-Brexit industrial policy.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is safeguarding and enhancing our manufacturing base by providing substantial funding for projects in important sub-sectors such as aerospace, automotive and life sciences. We have committed nearly £1 billion to fund the High Value Manufacturing Catapult centres and the Made Smarter programme.
The Government recognises that for UK manufacturing to remain internationally competitive it must continue investing to keep the sector at the forefront of net zero innovation. We will launch a new Manufacturing Investment Prospectus to showcase UK manufacturing, the policies which demonstrate our commitment to the sector and to help promote investment in UK manufacturing.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to review all retained EU law on the UK statute book, by the end of 2023.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Work is already taking place in each department to draw up plans for each piece of REUL in scope of the sunset, including an SI program.
The process of cataloguing retained EU law across government has been ongoing, and a dashboard was published on 22 June 2022, as part of the cross-Whitehall substance review of REUL.
The dashboard presents an authoritative catalogue of retained EU law, not a comprehensive list of retained EU law. We will continue to work across government to develop this catalogue where EU-derived legislation remains on our statute book and the data will be updated on a quarterly basis.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to introduce new energy efficiency standards; and when they expect those standards to be introduced.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is considering a number of options for increasing energy efficiency standards. For the domestic Private Rented Sector, the Government has consulted on raising the standard to EPC Band C for new tenancies from 1 April 2025, and for all tenancies by 1 April 2028. The Government has also consulted on raising the minimum energy efficiency standard of privately rented non-domestic buildings to EPC C by 1 April 2027, and EPC B by 1 April 2030.
The Department have analysed the responses, and we will publish the Government Responses in due course.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to protect the (1) pay, (2) conditions, and (3) employment rights, of workers in the hospitality sector, given increasing energy costs.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Over the past year, the Government has supported workers across the UK and in the hospitality sector to improve pay, conditions, and employment rights.
On pay and facing increasing energy costs, we have helped people and businesses with their energy bills. The Energy Bills Support Scheme is supporting millions of households with rising energy costs until April next year. We have also raised the national living wage which will be £10.42 in April 2023. This is the largest ever cash increase and will ensure the lowest paid are fairly rewarded for their contribution to the economy.
On employment rights and conditions, the Government is backing five Private Members’ Bills to support workers. This includes the Employment (Allocation of Tips) Bill, which will ensure that all tips go to hospitality staff and allows staff to bring a claim to an Employment Tribunal if businesses do not distribute well-earned service charges fairly.
The Government has also been working closely with the hospitality sector. The Hospitality and Tourism Skills Board is developing guidance for employers on good practice regarding working conditions and employee wellbeing and progression
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much has been claimed in energy efficiency grants for energy retrofit programmes by each local authority in each year since 2008.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Providing breakdowns of energy efficiency allocations for every local authority for each year since 2008 could only be provided at disproportionate cost. However, the most recent allocations to LAs from the Home Upgrade Grant, Green Homes Grant – Local Authority Delivery, Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund and Public Sector Decarbonisation schemes can be found on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential impact on small businesses of introducing the Accelerator Programme Grants provided by Westcott Accelerator and Incubation Programme.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Accelerator Programme Grants provided by Westcott Accelerator and Incubation Programme has been devised by the Satellite Applications Catapult and is funded by the Buckinghamshire Enterprise Zone. It is a locally resourced and evaluated initiative designed to support the Westcott Space Cluster.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether it is still their intention to update employment law to amend the rates for national minimum wages and statutory pay; and if so, when they intend to do so.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
In March 2022, the Government published the Low Pay Commission’s remit asking them to make recommendations for minimum wage rates that should apply from April 2023. The Government will continue to consider the Low Pay Commission’s advice when setting wage floors in order to ensure that minimum wage rises are balanced between rewarding workers whilst minimising the impact on the economy and employers.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to improve the current funding system for start-up companies.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Start Up Loans Company, part of the British Business Bank, provides loans to new businesses of between £500 and £25,000 at a fixed interest rate of 6 per cent. Since 2012, the Start Up Loans programme has delivered over 98,000 loans across the UK, with a total value of over £913 million (September 2022).
At the Spending Review in 2021, my Rt. Hon. Friend the then Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer announced an expansion of the scheme with funding for around 11,000 loans a year. Eligibility has also been enhanced, with access to Start Up Loans for businesses up to three years old and follow-on loans for businesses up to five years old.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to (1) tackle climate change, and (2) reduce emissions.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Net Zero Strategy, published in October 2021, is a cross-economy strategy which keeps the UK on the path to net zero tackling climate change and emissions.