Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many people have received support through the Energy Bill Support Scheme for (a) prepayment and (b) direct debit in Glasgow Central constituency.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Delivery data by region, local authority and Westminster parliamentary constituency will be published in the coming weeks.
Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to regulate communal heat networks; and whether his Department plans to introduce price caps for consumers on communal heat networks.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Energy Bill, introduced to Parliament in June 2022, contains measures that will introduce consumer protection regulations for heat networks across the UK and will appoint Ofgem as the regulator in Great Britain, including communal networks.
Ofgem will have powers to introduce rules and/or guidance on fair and consistent pricing, take enforcement action against disproportionately high pricing, and the ability to set price comparison and benchmarking methodologies.
The Secretary of State will hold powers to introduce a price cap into the market, balancing out the benefits of a price cap with the risks inherent in a nascent market.
Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, on what dates the procurement exercise for an ID verification contract for Companies House (a) opened and (b) closed.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
Companies House is unable to procure an identity verification provider until the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency (ECCT) Bill has received Royal Assent. As such, the tendering exercise to procure an identity verification service has not yet begun.
To note, entirely separate to any ID Verification procurement exercises, Companies House did advertise a Digital Delivery Partner opportunity on GOV.UK Digital Marketplace from 10th October to 24th October 2022. This contracting opportunity relates to internal system changes that will move Companies House from the current model of multiple account services to a single log-in portal. Whilst this activity is an enabler for ID Verification, it is wholly distinct from any identity verification provider procurement exercise.
Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many fines have been levied in each of the past ten years for the offence of false filing to companies house, and what estimate he has made of the value of those fines.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
In cases prosecuted by the Insolvency Service, the total number and value of fines imposed on a defendant, in each of the past ten years, for a General false statement offence, contrary to Section 1112 Companies Act 2006 is:
2012 - nil
2013 - nil
2014 - nil
2015 - nil
2016 - nil
2017 - nil
2018 - 1 x £1,602.00
2019 - 1 x £15,000.00
2020 - nil
2021 - nil
2022 - (up to 31 October) 1x £500.00
Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many qualifying Scottish Limited partnerships have not registered a person of significant control in each year since the requirement to do so came into force.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
Further to the answer given to the Hon. Member on this topic on 3rd March 2022 to Question 131219, as of 31 October 2022, Companies House considers 8,204 of the Scottish Limited Partnerships (‘SLPs’) on the register to be active. Of these, 201 had no PSC information. This compares to 203 SLPs as of 31 January 2022, 213 SLPs in October 2021, 828 in January 2021, 948 in January 2020, 2,019 in January 2019 and 7,078 in January 2018 that had failed to register PSC information.
Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what (a) the value, and (b) number of fines levied have been levied against Scottish Limited Partnerships for failing to register a Person of Significant Control in each month since the relevant regulations came into force.
Answered by Dean Russell
One fine has been levied against a Scottish Limited Partnership for failing to register people with significant control since the Scottish Partnerships (Register of People with Significant Control) Regulations 2017 came into force. That fine was levied in the 2021/2022 Financial Year. A fine of £210 was imposed by the court.
Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent discussions he has with Odey Asset Management in 2022.
Answered by Dean Russell
Ministers regularly meet with external stakeholders. Details of ministerial meetings with external organisations are published quarterly and can be found on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/beis-ministerial-gifts-hospitality-travel-and-meetings.
The latest published data covers April to June 2022, further data will be published in due course.
Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, on what basis the registered business address of STARYNX LP (LP022561) was amended to a Companies House default address by the Companies House Registrar.
Answered by Dean Russell
The Registrar of Companies has no legislative power to move the principal place of business of a Limited Partnership to the Companies House default address. The address for Starnyx LP was changed by the Registrar in error. The Registrar is now urgently exploring options with the relevant parties to remedy the situation.
Whilst the Registrar is unable to do this now, the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill, which was introduced to Parliament on 22 September 2022, proposes changes to provide the Registrar with a power to move the registered office of a Limited Partnership to the Companies House default address.
Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of bringing forward proposals to strike off company directors who have been subject to economic sanctions.
Answered by Paul Scully
In the Corporate Transparency and Register Reform White Paper published on 28 February 2022, the Government confirmed that it will introduce measures to void the appointment, and prevent the registration, of individuals acting as directors where they are subject to sanctions by virtue of being ‘designated persons’ under section 9 of the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018. The Government has committed to legislating on economic crime in the next session of this parliament.
Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential national security risks linked to the abuse of (a) Scottish Limited Partnerships and (b) Limited Partnerships.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government does not comment on the manner in which it monitors the activities of those who are, or may be, associated with hostile regimes. I would, however, like to assure the hon. Member that BEIS is working closely across Government to identify and mitigate any national security risks which might emanate from Russian activity in the UK.