Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Professional Qualifications Bill, which minister is responsible for the assistance centre.
Answered by Lord Grimstone of Boscobel
The assistance centre supports professionals with overseas qualifications intending to work in the UK, and UK qualified professionals seeking to practise overseas. Its website and telephone advice service help professionals identify the right regulators, which may not always be clear.
Some regulators are pursuing recognition arrangements with EU counterparts, and the Government is agreeing new trade deals with provisions on the recognition of professional qualifications. The assistance centre will be useful to UK professionals as they make use of these provisions to work or provide services overseas.
Finally, the assistance centre provides support and guidance to authorities responsible for regulating professions in the UK. Many authorities use the assistance centre as a source of information on international recognition agreements.
My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is responsible for making arrangements in relation to the assistance centre.
The current assistance centre, the UK Centre for Professional Qualifications, has 2.5 full time equivalent staff and is provided at a very modest cost. The exact terms of the contract for the service are commercially sensitive.
The UK had a National Contact Point for Professional Qualifications in 2007 when the legislation implementing the Recognition of Professional Qualifications Directive 2005/36/EC came into force. It was initially housed within government before a contract to run the service was awarded to ECCTIS Limited in December 2008.
The Recognition of Professional Qualifications Directive 2013/55/EU changed the requirement from each EU Member State having a National Contact Point to having an assistance centre. When the implementing legislation for this Directive came into force, the UK National Contact Point for Professional Qualifications changed to the UK National Assistance Centre in January 2016. The requirement for the assistance centre was preserved in retained EU law at the end of the Transition Period.
Providing a statutory basis for the continued existence of an assistance centre in the Bill includes placing a duty on competent authorities to cooperate with it. This is to ensure that the assistance centre has the necessary information to help support the delivery of its functions, rather than relying on voluntary information sharing arrangements. The information shared by regulators with the assistance centre is limited in nature, so this is not an onerous duty for regulators.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Professional Qualifications Bill, what are the objectives and responsibilities of the assistance centre.
Answered by Lord Grimstone of Boscobel
The assistance centre supports professionals with overseas qualifications intending to work in the UK, and UK qualified professionals seeking to practise overseas. Its website and telephone advice service help professionals identify the right regulators, which may not always be clear.
Some regulators are pursuing recognition arrangements with EU counterparts, and the Government is agreeing new trade deals with provisions on the recognition of professional qualifications. The assistance centre will be useful to UK professionals as they make use of these provisions to work or provide services overseas.
Finally, the assistance centre provides support and guidance to authorities responsible for regulating professions in the UK. Many authorities use the assistance centre as a source of information on international recognition agreements.
My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is responsible for making arrangements in relation to the assistance centre.
The current assistance centre, the UK Centre for Professional Qualifications, has 2.5 full time equivalent staff and is provided at a very modest cost. The exact terms of the contract for the service are commercially sensitive.
The UK had a National Contact Point for Professional Qualifications in 2007 when the legislation implementing the Recognition of Professional Qualifications Directive 2005/36/EC came into force. It was initially housed within government before a contract to run the service was awarded to ECCTIS Limited in December 2008.
The Recognition of Professional Qualifications Directive 2013/55/EU changed the requirement from each EU Member State having a National Contact Point to having an assistance centre. When the implementing legislation for this Directive came into force, the UK National Contact Point for Professional Qualifications changed to the UK National Assistance Centre in January 2016. The requirement for the assistance centre was preserved in retained EU law at the end of the Transition Period.
Providing a statutory basis for the continued existence of an assistance centre in the Bill includes placing a duty on competent authorities to cooperate with it. This is to ensure that the assistance centre has the necessary information to help support the delivery of its functions, rather than relying on voluntary information sharing arrangements. The information shared by regulators with the assistance centre is limited in nature, so this is not an onerous duty for regulators.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress they have made on securing exemptions to visa requirements for (1) UK nationals performing short-term paid work in the EU, and (2) EU nationals undertaking such work in the UK.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) already includes measures for short-term business visitors, who can perform a list of 11 activities without requiring a work-permit, subject to a limited number of Member State reservations. EU Member States may allow more activities without a work-permit than those specified in the agreement. This will vary country to country.
Visa-free travel is not usually part of Free Trade Agreements, although the UK and EU both allow visa-free visits in their domestic laws. EU nationals can visit the UK for up to 6 months and perform a wide range of business activities (which can be found under the ‘Permitted Activities’ of the Immigration Rules). UK nationals can visit the EU for 90 days in every 180 days and also perform a range of visitor activities, although these will vary from Member State to Member State.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Callanan on 5 May (HL3252), which paragraph of the?Government guidance on the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme clarifies that pregnant employees can be furloughed under the Scheme if they and their employer agree, and provided they meet the normal eligibility requirements.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Job Retention Scheme has been designed to help employers retain staff during the coronavirus outbreak. The guidance explains that anyone who meets the eligibility requirements can be considered for the Scheme - where the employee and employer agree. That includes pregnant women. The limited number of exclusions are explicitly set out in the guidance.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of EU State Aid rules on large charity retailers seeking support through the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Although the UK has left the EU, under the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement, the EU State Aid rules continue to apply in the UK until the end of the Transition Period.
As a result of the Coronavirus pandemic, the European Commission has introduced some welcome flexibilities into the rules to deal with the impacts of the Coronavirus, in the form of a Temporary Framework. This facilitates aid going to the businesses who need it most, quickly and more efficiently.
A business can receive up to EUR 800,000 of Temporary Framework aid. Other support can be given under the normal de minimis rules. These allow up to EUR 200,000 to be given to a business in a three-year period. De minimis aid can be received in addition to Temporary Framework aid.
The Retail, Hospitality & Leisure Grant Fund is under the provisions of the Temporary Framework. A grant for a specific shop would come out of a charity’s €800,000 allowance if that charity were considered to control that retail shop. A case by case analysis of each charity retailer’s company structure and activities would be necessary to determine this. The number of shops each charity would be considered to control boils down to whether it exercises sufficient control (either legally or factually) over shops such that they ought to be considered for state aid purposes to be one organisation.
The combination of these and other measures constitute an unprecedented programme of Government support for business to address the impacts of the Coronavirus pandemic.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to issue further guidance on the process and deadlines for applying to the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Detailed guidance for businesses about the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund is published on GOV.UK setting out the process, eligibility and deadlines for applying to the scheme. This guidance is updated regularly to include additional information where necessary.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what advice has been given by the Office for Product Safety and Standards to online marketplaces following the product recall of Hotpoint and Indesit washing machines in December 2019.
Answered by Lord Duncan of Springbank
The Government is committed to protecting consumers from unsafe products. The Chief Executive of the Office for Product Safety and Standards wrote to online platforms when the recall was announced by Whirlpool requesting them to take steps to ensure affected washing machines and other recalled items were not available on their platforms to protect public safety.
My hon. Friend the Minister for Small Business, Consumers and Corporate Responsibility, has previously written to the UK heads of Amazon, Alibaba, eBay, Facebook and Gumtree to ensure they are playing their part in protecting UK consumers from unsafe goods and is closely monitoring the situation.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) had with Whirlpool in advance of the company issuing a product recall of its Hotpoint and Indesit washing machines in December 2019; and whether Whirlpool issued the product recall at the request of the OPSS.
Answered by Lord Duncan of Springbank
The Government is committed to protecting consumers from unsafe products. Legislation is in place to require that manufacturers only place safe products on the market and take action where they identify a safety issue with products already on the market.
Whirlpool informed OPSS in October 2019 that it was investigating a potential issue with door locks on some models of washing machine. OPSS required the company to provide detailed data on this issue in order to have clarity on the nature and scale of the problem and to identify the appropriate response to protect public safety. Following assessment of the issue, it was agreed that a full recall should be instigated and the recall programme was announced on 17 December 2019.
OPSS is now monitoring the recall closely and will hold the company to account if it does not an effective recall.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what legislation, if any, prevents the (1) selling, and (2) re-selling, of recalled electrical goods.
Answered by Lord Duncan of Springbank
The law is clear: only safe products may be placed on the market.
Under the Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 2016 any distributor, including those selling second-hand goods online, must act with due care to ensure that electrical products are safe. Where a product is found not to be in conformity with essential safety requirements, they have a duty to take corrective action. This may include withdrawing the electrical equipment or issuing a recall.
The General Product Safety Regulations 2005 (GPSR) also place a requirement on distributors not to supply products for sale that they know, or should know, are dangerous.
The Government is clear that anyone involved in the supply of goods should take the necessary action to ensure public safety. If a product is recalled because it is unsafe it should not be supplied second hand or made available for resale. Information on current recalls is available online on the Government's product recall campaign website.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what, if any, recent advice has been given to local authorities on regulating the sale of second hand electrical goods.
Answered by Lord Duncan of Springbank
Local Authorities are responsible for enforcing a wide range of legislation and ensuring their staff are suitably trained and competent to enforce it. The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) funds the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) to provide learning and development activities to front line officers. The current planned programme of training for 2020 includes regulation of the sale of second hand electrical goods.