Asked by: Anne McLaughlin (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, on what date he or his predecessor delegated the initial review of mis-selling allegations against HELMS to the Financial Ombudsman Service under section 32 of the Energy Act 2011.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
The then Secretary of State Greg Clark delegated initial reviews of complaints about mis-selling to the Financial Ombudsman Service under section 32 of the Energy Act 2011 on 24th October 2018, and as such the Department does not hold data on the total value of Green Deal Loans, whether taken out with Home Energy and Lifestyle Management Ltd (HELMS) or any other Green Deal Provider.
The Financial Ombudsman Service’s consideration of complaints is part of the wider review process. Responsibility for deciding whether a breach has occurred and, if so, whether a sanction should be imposed rests with the Secretary of State, in line with the requirements of the Framework Regulations.
Under this delegation the Financial Ombudsman Service has made recommendations regarding 143 complaints about HELMS. Recommendations may cover whether to cancel or reduce loans, or cover other matters, such as whether to conclude that there have been breaches of the Green Deal Framework regulations. For 69 of these complaints, the Financial Ombudsman Service recommended cancellation.
Asked by: Anne McLaughlin (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many recommendations the Financial Ombudsman Service has made to him in relation to HELMS complaints in its role delegated under section 32 of the Energy Act 2011 to carry out the initial review of mis-selling allegations against a green deal provider.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
The then Secretary of State Greg Clark delegated initial reviews of complaints about mis-selling to the Financial Ombudsman Service under section 32 of the Energy Act 2011 on 24th October 2018, and as such the Department does not hold data on the total value of Green Deal Loans, whether taken out with Home Energy and Lifestyle Management Ltd (HELMS) or any other Green Deal Provider.
The Financial Ombudsman Service’s consideration of complaints is part of the wider review process. Responsibility for deciding whether a breach has occurred and, if so, whether a sanction should be imposed rests with the Secretary of State, in line with the requirements of the Framework Regulations.
Under this delegation the Financial Ombudsman Service has made recommendations regarding 143 complaints about HELMS. Recommendations may cover whether to cancel or reduce loans, or cover other matters, such as whether to conclude that there have been breaches of the Green Deal Framework regulations. For 69 of these complaints, the Financial Ombudsman Service recommended cancellation.
Asked by: Anne McLaughlin (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many recommendations of loan cancellation the Financial Ombudsman Service has made in relation to HELMS complaints in its role delegated under section 32 of the Energy Act 2011 to carry out the initial review of mis-selling allegations against a green deal provider.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
The then Secretary of State Greg Clark delegated initial reviews of complaints about mis-selling to the Financial Ombudsman Service under section 32 of the Energy Act 2011 on 24th October 2018, and as such the Department does not hold data on the total value of Green Deal Loans, whether taken out with Home Energy and Lifestyle Management Ltd (HELMS) or any other Green Deal Provider.
The Financial Ombudsman Service’s consideration of complaints is part of the wider review process. Responsibility for deciding whether a breach has occurred and, if so, whether a sanction should be imposed rests with the Secretary of State, in line with the requirements of the Framework Regulations.
Under this delegation the Financial Ombudsman Service has made recommendations regarding 143 complaints about HELMS. Recommendations may cover whether to cancel or reduce loans, or cover other matters, such as whether to conclude that there have been breaches of the Green Deal Framework regulations. For 69 of these complaints, the Financial Ombudsman Service recommended cancellation.
Asked by: Anne McLaughlin (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the total value is of all Green Deal loans taken out by consumers (a) without fees and interest and (b) including fees and interest.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
The Department does not hold data on the total value of Green Deal loans, whether taken out with Home Energy and Lifestyle Management Ltd (HELMS) or any other Green Deal Provider.
The then Secretary of State Greg Clark delegated initial reviews of complaints about mis-selling to the Financial Ombudsman Service under section 32 of the Energy Act 2011 on 24th October 2018. Their consideration is part of the wider review process. Responsibility for deciding whether a breach has occurred and, if so, whether a sanction should be imposed rests with the Secretary of State, in line with the requirements of the Framework Regulations.
Under this delegation the Financial Ombudsman Service has made recommendations regarding 143 complaints about HELMS. Recommendations may cover whether to cancel or reduce loans, or cover other matters, such as whether to conclude that there have been breaches of the Green Deal Framework regulations. For 69 of these complaints, the Financial Ombudsman Service recommended cancellation.
Asked by: Anne McLaughlin (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the average response time is from the Green Deal Ombudsman on a complaint about Green Deal mis-selling once an acknowledgement has been received.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
Where mis-selling complaints have not been dealt with to the consumer’s satisfaction by the Green Deal Provider, they are routinely handled by the Financial Ombudsman Service. We do not hold data on response times for either the Green Deal Ombudsman or the Financial Ombudsman Service.
Asked by: Anne McLaughlin (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what time targets his Department has for acknowledging complaints from people about Green Deal mis-selling.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
In line with departmental targets, we aim to respond to correspondence within 15 working days. This includes acknowledging complaints about Green Deal mis-selling.
Asked by: Anne McLaughlin (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North 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 his Department is taking to assist food and drink wholesalers who had their trade credit limits (a) reduced or (b) withdrawn by insurers in advance of the full re-opening of the hospitality sector.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government’s Trade Credit Reinsurance Scheme will see the majority of Trade Credit Insurance coverage maintained for businesses across the UK. The Scheme operates as a reinsurance arrangement which will see trade credit insurers continuing to write and maintain cover to business throughout the Covid-19 crisis.
We expect to finalise details of the scheme with both insurers and the European Commission soon. Contractual agreements with insurers will be signed shortly afterwards allowing cover that has previously been reduced or withdrawn to be reinstated. If a business feels that their coverage has been withdrawn unfairly they should contact either their previous insurer about reinstating cover, or look to arrange new cover under the same conditions as their previous coverage.
Asked by: Anne McLaughlin (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North 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 effect on the hospitality sector of many of their suppliers going out of business; and what further support is available to prevent this.
Answered by Paul Scully
We have been in regular contact with representatives from the hospitality sector, including suppliers, to ensure that we support them during and after the Covid-19 crisis. A number of measures are available to support suppliers to the hospitality industry, such as access to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and government backed loans. Suppliers to badly hit sectors such as hospitality may also be able to access the Discretionary Grant Fund which provides business support grants to businesses affected by the Covid-19 crisis at the discretion of Local Authorities.
The Government is providing additional measures to support the hospitality sector itself, including a VAT reduction to 5% and the Eat Out to Help Out Scheme.
Asked by: Anne McLaughlin (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what criteria were used to draw up the list of approved installers under the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Capita, as the scheme administrator for the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund (GDHIF), received information on registered installers from the Green Deal Oversight and Registration Body (GD ORB), which managed the authorisation scheme for participants. A company was listed on the GDHIF Register if it was on the Green Deal Register.
Asked by: Anne McLaughlin (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many firms have been removed from the approved list of Green Deal installers in each calendar year of the scheme to date.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The table below shows the number of firms that have been removed from the Green Deal (GD) Participants Register each calendar year since the GD scheme began.
Year | Installers Withdrawn by CBs |
2012 | 99 |
2013 | 11 |
2014 | 191 |
2015 | 410 |
2016 | 206 |
2017 | 14 |
Total | 931 |