Asked by: Andrea Leadsom (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
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 minimise the impact of domestic firework displays on (a) vulnerable residents and (b) domestic animals; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade
The Government endorses the considerate use of fireworks. We recognise that people want to enjoy fireworks while reducing the risks and disturbances to individuals, animals, and property.
Existing legislation controls the sale, availability, and use of fireworks. The Government has no current plans to change the law, however, we continue to engage with a wide range of stakeholders, including animal welfare organisations such as the RSPCA, to listen to and understand their views.
Asked by: Andrea Leadsom (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what his Department’s policy is on (a) how and (b) when the £400 support under the Energy Bills Support Scheme will be paid to people who use electricity from a shared meter but receive individual bills.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Energy suppliers are delivering the Energy Bill Support Scheme (EBSS) to households with a domestic electricity contract in monthly instalments over six months from October. The Energy Prices Act 2022 includes provisions to require landlords and other intermediaries to pass this to end users. In addition, Alternative Funding will provide equivalent support for the small percentage of households who are not reached through the main EBSS fund. This includes those who do not have a direct relationship with an electricity supplier. Further details on this will be announced in the coming weeks.
Asked by: Andrea Leadsom (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
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 support individuals on shared energy meters with the Energy Bills Support Scheme.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government has announced an unprecedented package of support to help households with the cost of living crisis, including support of £400 for energy bills for those who do not have a domestic electricity meter or a direct relationship with an energy supplier, such as heat network consumers on a private wire system.
The Government is working with a range of organisations to finalise the details of the Alternative Funding and have the process up and running for applications this winter.
Asked by: Andrea Leadsom (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
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 support people who rely on heating oil for domestic use.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Households reliant on oil to heat their homes will receive the Alternative Fuel Payment (AFP).
Households eligible for these payments in Great Britain will receive £100 as a credit on their electricity bill this winter. Households who are eligible but do not have a relationship with an electricity supplier will receive the £100 via the AFP Alternative Fund. These payments will limit the average user's heating cost increase to a similar percentage to those using on grid gas.
Asked by: Andrea Leadsom (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department has taken recent steps to help support small business switch from fixed rate to variable rate energy contracts without penalties; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Small businesses who have energy supply contracts with a fixed-rate (agreed on or after 1 April 2022 irrespective if the contract has commenced before 1st October 2022) or a standard variable rate will receive support through the government’s Energy Bill Relief Scheme. Charges for switching tariffs are a commercial matter between suppliers and their business customers.
Asked by: Andrea Leadsom (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to help mitigate the potential economic impact of staff shortages in the hospitality sector in the short-term.
Answered by Paul Scully
I recognise that staff shortages remain an issue, and we are supporting the sector to understand what more we can do domestically. We want to see employers make long-term investments in the UK domestic workforce instead of relying on labour from abroad. The Government encourage all sectors to make employment more attractive to UK domestic workers by offering training, career options, wage increases, and investment. This Department’s Hospitality Strategy focuses on domestic solutions to support the sector’s recovery. I intend to publish an update shortly to set out the progress made against the Strategy so far and proposed next steps.
Asked by: Andrea Leadsom (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to help ensure that energy suppliers' environmental and social obligation costs are distributed effectively to help households on lower incomes.
Answered by Greg Hands
Environmental and social obligations on energy suppliers fund vital support schemes and energy efficiency measures which benefit low income and vulnerable households.
Suppliers are free (but not obliged) to pass the cost of these obligations through to consumers. Preventing suppliers from passing on costs to certain groups of consumers could lead to suppliers being disincentivised from attracting these groups of consumers through beneficial services and increased costs to non-exempt groups.
In order to support low-income households struggling with energy bills there are a range of schemes offering support, for example the Warm Homes Discount and the recently expanded Energy Bills Support Scheme
Asked by: Andrea Leadsom (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make a statement on potential measures under consideration for households to opt out of the £200 energy bill reduction.
Answered by Greg Hands
The Energy Bills Support Scheme, as announced by my Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer on 3 February, is currently the subject of a government consultation issued on 11 April.
The implementation of the policy will be reviewed following the conclusion of the consultation. Allowing consumers to opt out of receiving the reduction on their bills would likely increase the administrative costs and complexities of the scheme.
Asked by: Andrea Leadsom (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make it his policy to (a) start the (i) CBILS 12-month interest free period and (ii) capital repayment holiday when lockdown is lifted and (b) reduce the CBILS rate.
Answered by Paul Scully
Many businesses have already begun making capital repayments relating to their Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) facility. While the Government covers the interest payments and any lender-levied fees due on CBILS loans for the first twelve months of the loan, via a Business Interruption Payment, repayments of capital are required during this period unless a lender chooses to grant additional forbearance measures.
Lenders are able to extend the repayment period for CBILS facilities beyond 6 years (up to a maximum of 10 years) where this is needed in connection with the provision of forbearance. CBILS term extensions are offered at the discretion of lenders.
The Government does not set interest rates in connection with CBILS facilities, as CBILS operates as a delegated scheme. All final lending decisions including on pricing are at the discretion of the lender, and the rate varies in line with the lender’s own policies, as would be the case with any commercial facility.
However, as part of the accreditation process undertaken by the British Business Bank, lenders are required to demonstrate that the economic benefit of the guarantee is passed on to consumers through a proportionate reduction in their pricing for CBILS facilities.
Asked by: Andrea Leadsom (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to ensure equity of support for (a) medium sized and (b) large hospitality businesses.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government has provided an unprecedented package of support for both medium size and large businesses in the hospitality sector. Measures include the extension of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme until March 2021, grant and loan schemes, the ability for businesses to defer VAT payments, and business rates holidays.