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Written Question
Charities: Energy
Thursday 19th January 2023

Asked by: Barbara Keeley (Labour - Worsley and Eccles South)

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 a social energy tariff for charities.

Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Energy Bill Relief Scheme provides a discount on the wholesale element of gas and electricity bills to ensure that all eligible charities are protected from excessively high energy costs over the winter period. The new Energy Bill Discount Scheme will run from April 2023 until March 2024 and will continue to provide support to eligible charities.

Wider support is available to help charities with costs. This includes a reduction in VAT, from 20% to 5% and exclusion from the main rates of the Climate Change Levy on some of the energy they use.


Written Question
Energy Bill Relief Scheme: Reviews
Monday 9th January 2023

Asked by: Barbara Keeley (Labour - Worsley and Eccles South)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many meetings his Department has had with charities on its review of the Energy Bill Relief Scheme.

Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

HM Treasury is leading the review of the Energy Bill Relief Scheme. To support this review, BEIS has had 13 direct meetings with an estimated 20 charity organisations. Colleagues from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport also have regular meetings with stakeholders from the civil society sector, through which additional evidence and insight has been submitted to HM Treasury.


Written Question
Charities: Energy
Monday 9th January 2023

Asked by: Barbara Keeley (Labour - Worsley and Eccles South)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what criteria his Department has put in place to assess whether charities will receive support with their energy bills after 31 March 2023.

Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

HM Treasury is leading the review of the Energy Bill Relief Scheme. To support this review, BEIS has had 13 direct meetings with an estimated 20 charity organisations. Colleagues from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport also have regular meetings with stakeholders from the civil society sector, through which additional evidence and insight has been submitted to HM Treasury.


Written Question
Energy Bill Relief Scheme: Reviews
Monday 9th January 2023

Asked by: Barbara Keeley (Labour - Worsley and Eccles South)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many meetings his Department has had with the Civil Society team in the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on its review of the Energy Bill Relief Scheme.

Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

HM Treasury is leading the review of the Energy Bill Relief Scheme. To support this review, BEIS has had 13 direct meetings with an estimated 20 charity organisations. Colleagues from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport also have regular meetings with stakeholders from the civil society sector, through which additional evidence and insight has been submitted to HM Treasury.


Written Question
Postal Services: Standards
Tuesday 11th January 2022

Asked by: Barbara Keeley (Labour - Worsley and Eccles South)

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 adequacy of the Royal Mail’s current service standards for the delivery of letters.

Answered by Paul Scully

Ofcom, the independent regulator, monitors Royal Mail’s performance and has powers to investigate and take enforcement action if Royal Mail fails to achieve its service standards. Ofcom is consulting on the future regulatory framework for post and plans to issue a statement in Summer 2022.


Written Question
Royal Mail: Standards
Wednesday 5th January 2022

Asked by: Barbara Keeley (Labour - Worsley and Eccles South)

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 Ofcom on Royal Mail's current service standards for the delivery of letters in response to reports to Citizens Advice of increased postal delays.

Answered by Paul Scully

The Department has regular discussions with Ofcom on a wide range of issues, including its duty to ensure the provision of a financially sustainable and efficient universal postal service.

Ofcom monitors Royal Mail’s performance and has powers to investigate and take enforcement action if Royal Mail fails to achieve its service delivery targets.


Written Question
Social Services: Minimum Wage
Thursday 25th March 2021

Asked by: Barbara Keeley (Labour - Worsley and Eccles South)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the Supreme Court judgement in the case of Royal Mencap Society v Tomlinson-Blake and Shannon v Rampersad and another dated 19 March 2021, whether he has plans to bring forward legislative proposals to amend National Minimum Wage regulations to clarify that sleep-in shifts for care staff should be counted for the purposes of calculating the minimum wage.

Answered by Paul Scully

The Supreme Court has upheld the Court of Appeal judgment of July 2018 and provided legal clarity following years of evolving court judgments and legal uncertainty.

The Government welcomes the legal clarity and is considering the implications of the judgment, also with care commissioners and providers, to consider what action, if any, is needed.


Written Question
Business: Coronavirus
Thursday 12th November 2020

Asked by: Barbara Keeley (Labour - Worsley and Eccles South)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 3 November 2020 to Question 110766 on Business: Coronavirus, if his Department will take steps to monitor the number of office-based businesses who are still requiring staff to work from the office during the covid-19 outbreak.

Answered by Paul Scully

When employers consider whether workers should come into the office, this will need to be reflected in the COVID-19 workplace risk assessment and actions taken to manage the risks of transmission in line with this guidance.

The decision to return to the workplace must be made in meaningful consultation with workers (including through trade unions or employee representative groups where they exist). It is vital employers engage with workers to ensure they feel safe returning to work, and they should not force anyone into an unsafe workplace.

Safer working guidance for offices and contact centres can be found at www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-coronavirus-covid-19/offices-and-contact-centres. This guide clarifies for employees how they, should they need to, can escalate a concern regarding a return to work.

Anyone who feels they are incorrectly being asked to go into their place of work should contact their employee representative or trade union if they have one, or contact the Health and Safety Executive on 0300 790 6787 or using the online working safely enquiry form.


Written Question
Business: Coronavirus
Monday 9th November 2020

Asked by: Barbara Keeley (Labour - Worsley and Eccles South)

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 monitor compliance with covid-19 guidance among office-based businesses.

Answered by Paul Scully

Across all industries, 97% of UK businesses say they are aware of the government safer workplace guidance. Source: ‘Business Impact of Covid-19 Survey’, ONS, October 2020.

Across all industries, only 2% of UK businesses said that they have not implemented any safety measures in the workplace. Source: ‘Business Impact of Covid-19 Survey’, ONS, October 2020.

A survey of the public found that almost two thirds of employees (63%) in Great Britain had been consulted on safer working practices by their employer, whilst a similar proportion (62%) said that their employer is displaying a covid-secure poster in their workplace. Source: ‘Coronavirus and the social impacts on Great Britain’, ONS, October 2020.


Written Question
Remote Working: Coronavirus
Wednesday 4th November 2020

Asked by: Barbara Keeley (Labour - Worsley and Eccles South)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent estimate he has made of the number of employers contravening Government guidance by prohibiting staff from working from home during the covid-19 outbreak.

Answered by Paul Scully

Compliance by employers across the nation with the BEIS guidance is high. Across all industries, 97% of UK businesses say they are aware of the government safer workplace guidance (Business Impact of Covid-19 Survey’, ONS, October 2020).

Further, the BEIS guidance make it clear that by law, from 28 September employers must not knowingly require or encourage someone who is being required to self-isolate to come to work.