Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of remaining on British Summer Time all year round; and what plans they have, if any, to make such a change.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government believes that the current daylight-saving arrangements represent the optimal use of the available daylight across the UK.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to progress (1) the replacement of the UK’s nuclear reactors, and (2) action on hydrogen as an alternative low carbon fuel; what are their timelines for any such steps; and how might these timelines be accelerated.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
My Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister’s 10 Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution included nuclear and hydrogen among the 10 priority areas of the £1bn Net Zero Innovation Programme. Low carbon hydrogen and nuclear could both play a key role in meeting our legally binding commitment to achieving net zero by 2050, with potential to help decarbonise vital UK industry sectors and provide flexible energy across heat, power and transport.
(1) The Government’s commitment to advancing large, small and advanced nuclear reactors was confirmed as part of the 10 Point Plan. Alongside entering negotiations in relation to Sizewell C and continuing to engage other nuclear developers on proposals for future projects, we have created a £385m Advanced Nuclear Fund to deploy Small Modular Reactors and an Advanced Modular Reactor demonstrator by the early 2030s. Some AMR designs suggest the production of hydrogen as an end-use, and all nuclear reactor technologies, current and future, have the potential to feed into the hydrogen market either by producing low carbon electricity or heat for increasingly efficient electrolysis production.
(2) The Prime Minister’s 10 Point Plan confirmed our aim, working with industry, for 5GW of low carbon hydrogen production capacity by 2030 for use across the economy. As we progress towards this ambition, we would hope to see around 1GW of hydrogen production capacity by 2025.
The UK has expertise and assets to support both electrolytic (green) and Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) enabled (blue) hydrogen. Our twin track approach to enable both routes will drive cost effective supply volumes in the 2020s in line with our 2030 5GW ambition, whilst scaling up green hydrogen.
The ambition will be supported by a package of measures, including:
Timelines are ambitious whilst allowing sufficient time for evidence-based policy decisions that will benefit taxpayers and consumers.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - 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 the £10,000 cap on the value of claims brought to the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court Small Claims Track; and what consideration they have given to raising that cap.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The IPO commissioned external research into the functioning of the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court, including the value caps, in 2015. The IPO has also facilitated a series of working groups over the last year looking at the enforcement framework. The cost and accessibility of court processes for IP disputes was considered as part of this review, and questions on these topics were included in the call for views which closed in November this year. The IPO is currently considering the responses received from that exercise and will carry out further assessment as necessary before any recommendations are taken forwards.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they plan to bring forward proposals to include registered designs within the scope of the small claims track of the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government recently sought stakeholder views on the inclusion of registered designs in the small claims track of the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court and is currently considering the responses received and the best way to take this work forward.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to introducing criminal provisions for intentional unregistered design infringement.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government has considered this issue in detail in recent years. There were - and continue to be - mixed views on criminal sanctions for unregistered designs, and many design-intensive industries have argued against their introduction.
Taking account of all views, the Government remains of the view that it is not appropriate to extend criminal penalties to unregistered designs.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to amend the relevant legislation in order to limit rights of representation at the UK Intellectual Property Office for new UK trade mark and design applications and existing UK trade mark and design rights, to persons with a UK or Channel Islands address for service, following the end of the transition period, if there is no reciprocity.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Officials are having ongoing conversations with representative bodies over how to best approach the issues surrounding address for service once the transition period ends.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of how much firms in construction supply chains have lost in unpaid retentions since they announced the review of the retention system in October 2015, subsequently published in October 2017.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The 2017 retentions consultation impact assessment estimated the total amount of retention monies unpaid to construction contractors across the whole construction contracting sector in England due to upstream insolvency at £229m per year in 2015 prices.
We continue to work with the construction industry and its clients to achieve a consensus on how to resolve the problems associated with cash retentions.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, in relation to Whirlpool’s washing machine recall, whether the recall was enforced by the Office for Product Safety and Standards or whether it was undertaken voluntarily by Whirlpool.
Answered by Lord Duncan of Springbank
Whirlpool is responsible for the safety of the products it places on the market and for effective action when unsafe products are discovered. OPSS, as the national regulator, has assessed and agreed the company’s proposal for a recall is proportionate to the risk identified, including ensuring timely notification of consumers as to the action they need to take. OPSS is monitoring the recall closely and will hold the company to account if the recall is not effective.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, in relation to Whirlpool’s washing machine recall, how the Office for Product Safety and Standards will contact affected Whirlpool customers to ensure that the company is handling its recall effectively.
Answered by Lord Duncan of Springbank
It is Whirlpool’s responsibility to contact consumers and undertake an effective recall. The Office for Product Safety and Standards is closely monitoring the progress of the Whirlpool washing machine recall and the actions of the company. We have required Whirlpool to keep us fully updated on the progress of the recall, by providing a range of metrics including consumer engagement. OPSS regularly checks Whirlpool’s customer contact on this issue. OPSS will publish regular updates of data on the recall, including on the time taken for customers to receive a remedy.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that Whirlpool tumble dryers are still a fire risk, after the company reported that the fault has been fixed.
Answered by Lord Henley
The Government’s priority is to keep consumers safe.
The review by the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) published on 4th April found that there is a low risk of harm or injury from lint fires in modified Whirlpool tumble dryers. The evidence indicates that the modification reduces the risk of fire.
OPSS has published specific requirements for Whirlpool to act on and issued a Decision Letter requiring that Whirlpool take further actions, including improving its management of risk and setting up a more rigorous system of quality assurance to ensure modifications are correctly installed and remain effective over time.
OPSS will hold Whirlpool to account in regard to these requirements as part of the company’s obligations with regard to the safety of products.