Asked by: Angela Crawley (Scottish National Party - Lanark and Hamilton East)
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 has taken to support liquified petroleum gas off grid gas users with the rising cost of fuel.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Energy Price Guarantee will benefit all Great Britain households who are grid connected and buy gas or electricity directly from a supplier. Where equivalent support is needed the Government will provide it to those whose homes are powered differently, including park homes, heat networks and, off grid households.
Asked by: Angela Crawley (Scottish National Party - Lanark and Hamilton East)
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 had with Ofgem on (a) differing forms of power production, (b) their differing costs to produce power and (c) the influence of those on setting the market price of a MWHr.
Answered by Greg Hands
The Renewables Obligation Order (RO) and Contracts for Difference (CfD) sustainability criteria require that electricity generation from biomass does not exceed a set greenhouse gas threshold and produces life-cycle emission savings:
https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/renewables-obligation-sustainability-criteria.
Asked by: Angela Crawley (Scottish National Party - Lanark and Hamilton East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with Ofgem on the (a) energy price cap rise and (b) its criteria of setting the price of a MWHr.
Answered by Greg Hands
It is Ofgem’s role, as the independent regulator, to set a fair level for the price cap. Legislation sets out that Ofgem must review the level of the cap at least once every 6 months to ensure the cap appropriately reflects the underlying costs of energy, and the need to ensure that energy suppliers who operate efficiently are able to finance their activities.
Ofgem robustly developed and widely consulted on their methodology for determining the cap level, which was last published on 4 February 2022.
Asked by: Angela Crawley (Scottish National Party - Lanark and Hamilton East)
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 mitigate the impact the energy price cap increase on customers.
Answered by Greg Hands
The Government is committed to ensuring that support is provided to help consumers deal with the impact of high wholesale energy costs.
In response to the recent energy price cap increase, my Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer has announced a package of support to help households with rising energy bills, worth £9.1 billion in 2022-23. This includes a £200 rebate for households delivered via their energy bill this autumn, a £150 non-repayable reduction in Council Tax bills for all households in Bands A-D in England and £144 million of discretionary funding for Local Authorities to support households who need support but are not eligible for the Council Tax reduction. In Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, delivery of the council tax rebate will depend on how the Devolved Administrations choose to structure their support; they have flexibility to determine how they use their Barnett funding.
In addition to these measures, the Government will continue to provide support to vulnerable consumers through the Warm Home Discount Scheme, which this winter is providing over 2 million households a £140 rebate off their energy bill each winter. The Government has announced that the rebate will be increasing to £150 and will help an extra 780,000 households next winter. Further, Winter Fuel Payments and Cold Weather Payments help ensure the most vulnerable are better able to heat their homes over the colder months.
Asked by: Angela Crawley (Scottish National Party - Lanark and Hamilton East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions his Department has had with Ofgem on the rise in the energy price cap.
Answered by Greg Hands
Decisions on the level of the price cap are for Ofgem. The government is in regular contact with Ofgem and industry to discuss the impact of unprecedented global gas prices and will continue to monitor the situation closely to ensure consumers are protected.
Asked by: Angela Crawley (Scottish National Party - Lanark and Hamilton East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what organisations and stakeholders he has met to discuss the potential merits of a four-day working week.
Answered by Paul Scully
A four-day working week may work well for some workers and employers. However, the Government does not believe there can be a ‘one size fits all’ approach to work arrangements. That is why we put individual agency and choice at the heart of our consultation on “making flexible working the default”, which closed on 1st December 2021. We are currently reviewing the responses and will respond in due course.
BEIS Ministers attend the Flexible Working Taskforce, which is co-chaired by senior officials and the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development. This considers how to support flexible working in all its forms. The Taskforce’s membership comprises representatives from 16 external organisations including trade unions, voluntary sector organisations, and business groups.
Asked by: Angela Crawley (Scottish National Party - Lanark and Hamilton East)
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 contribution of a four-day working week to the Government’s wider strategy for flexible working.
Answered by Paul Scully
A four-day working week may work well for some workers and employers. However, the Government does not believe there can be a ‘one size fits all’ approach to work arrangements. That is why we put individual agency and choice at the heart of our consultation on “making flexible working the default”, which closed on 1st December 2021. We are currently reviewing the responses and will respond in due course.
BEIS Ministers attend the Flexible Working Taskforce, which is co-chaired by senior officials and the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development. This considers how to support flexible working in all its forms. The Taskforce’s membership comprises representatives from 16 external organisations including trade unions, voluntary sector organisations, and business groups.
Asked by: Angela Crawley (Scottish National Party - Lanark and Hamilton East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has to implement trials of a four-day working week in the UK public sector on similar basis to those underway in Scotland and Ireland.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government has no plans to implement trials of a four-day working week in the UK Civil Service.
Asked by: Angela Crawley (Scottish National Party - Lanark and Hamilton East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when he plans to publish the Government's proposed Employment Bill.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Employment Bill is a core part of Building Back Better, supporting the Government’s aim to build a high skilled, high productivity, high wage economy that delivers on our ambition to make the UK the best place in the world to work and grow a business. COVID-19 is having a profound impact on the labour market, so it is right that we introduce the Employment Bill when we are sure it will address the needs of businesses and workers in the post-Covid economy. We will bring forward the Employment Bill when the Parliamentary time allows it. In the meantime, we will continue to take necessary action to support businesses and protect jobs.
Asked by: Angela Crawley (Scottish National Party - Lanark and Hamilton East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps the Government is taking to counter the practice of intentionally shortening the lifespan of consumer products through planned obsolescence.
Answered by Paul Scully
Subject to the outcome of two public consultations, later this year, the Government plans to introduce ecodesign measures that promote the repairability of consumer products, such as household fridges, washing machines and televisions, in order to increase their lifespan. These measures aim to improve the resource efficiency of energy related products and this will include ensuring that spare parts are available for a minimum of seven years after the placing of new products on the market. They will also ensure that parts can be replaced with the use of commonly available tools, tackling premature obsolescence. We are also seeking powers through the Environment Bill that will enable government to require products to carry information for example relating to product lifetimes, durability and reparability.
Our forthcoming world class energy-related products framework will push products to use even less energy and material resources, in order to reduce carbon emissions and consumer bills, and improve resource productivity.