Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if the Government will make it his policy to bring forward legislative proposals on requiring UK companies to prevent abuse and environmental destruction in their overseas supply chains and operations.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government expects all businesses in the UK to respect human rights and the environment throughout their operations, in line with the UN Guiding Principles and the OECD Guidelines on Multinational Enterprises. The Modern Slavery Act requires businesses with a turnover of £36 million or more, to set out the steps they have taken to prevent modern slavery in their operations and supply chains. Financial penalties will be introduced through primary legislation, when parliamentary time allows, to increase compliance.
We have also introduced world-leading due diligence legislation through the Environment Act to tackle illegal deforestation in UK supply chains.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee West)
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 will take to hold to account companies that fail to prevent human rights and environmental abuse in their supply chains.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government expects all businesses in the UK to respect human rights and the environment throughout their operations, in line with the UN Guiding Principles and the OECD Guidelines on Multinational Enterprises. The Modern Slavery Act requires businesses with a turnover of £36 million or more, to set out the steps they have taken to prevent modern slavery in their operations and supply chains. Financial penalties will be introduced through primary legislation, when parliamentary time allows, to increase compliance.
We have also introduced world-leading due diligence legislation through the Environment Act to tackle illegal deforestation in UK supply chains.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what methods his Department has assessed for the delivery of the Energy Bills Support Scheme to domestic households on communal heating systems.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
If a household on a communal heating system has a domestic electricity meter, they should already be in receipt of the Energy Bills Support Scheme.
If a customer does not have a domestic electricity meter or a direct relationship with an electricity supplier, they may be eligible for the Energy Bills Support Scheme Alternative Funding. Further details have been recently announced on gov.uk: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/vital-help-with-energy-bills-on-the-way-for-millions-more-homes-across-great-britain-and-northern-ireland.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when heat network customers in domestic households will begin to receive the £400 Energy Bills Support Scheme discount.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
If a heat network customer has a domestic electricity meter, they should already be in receipt of the Energy Bills Support Scheme.
If a customer does not have a domestic electricity meter or a direct relationship with an electricity supplier, the Energy Bill Support Scheme Alternative Funding will provide a £400 support for energy bills. Eligibility and timescales will be announced shortly.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when his Department plans to provide the Energy Bill Support Scheme discount to heat network customers in domestic households who use the same billing agent for both heat and electricity.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
If a heat network customer has a domestic electricity meter, they should already be in receipt of the Energy Bills Support Scheme.
If a customer does not have a domestic electricity meter or a direct relationship with an electricity supplier, the Energy Bill Support Scheme Alternative Funding will provide a £400 support for energy bills. Eligibility, timescales and method of delivery will be announced shortly.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee West)
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 of the effect of the reduction in Official Development Assistance spending on the Tomorrow's Cities programme on the ability of vulnerable communities in Kenya, Nepal, and Ecuador to protect themselves from flooding and fires caused by climate change.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The challenging financial situation we face due to the Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in a temporary reduction in the UK’s aid spending target from 0.7% of GNI to 0.5%. This means making difficult decisions when it comes to prioritising how we spend aid money to deliver the most impactful outcomes.
BEIS published its R&D ODA allocations for financial year 2021/22 on May 27th. Our R&D ODA spend has been allocated in line with the priorities of the Strategic Framework for UK ODA, as outlined by my Rt. Hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary in his letter to the Chair of the International Development Committee on 2nd December 2020, whilst prioritising those projects with the most value-for-money and honouring existing legal commitments. Specifically, one of these Strategic Framework priorities is climate change, as you have outlined, which is why this Government has allocated £11.6bn from 2021-25 to support climate change activities in developing countries through our International Climate Finance portfolio.
The Government recognises the importance of supporting international research partnerships, and supporting the UK research sector. Our commitment to research and innovation has been clearly demonstrated by my Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer’s Budget announcement of increasing investment in R&D across government to £14.6bn in 2021/22.
We have been working with UKRI, and all our Global Challenges Research Fund Delivery Partners, to manage the financial year 2021/22 ODA allocations. UKRI have written to all impacted award holders setting out the next stage of the review of ODA funding this year, and to explore options for individual programmes. Full details of this process have been published on the UKRI website, and further information about the impact on the countries you refer to can be found on the Tomorrow’s Cities website.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee West)
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 whether all UK Official Development Assistance (ODA) programmes run by his Department fulfil the primary requirement that ODA supports the economic development and welfare of developing countries as its main objective.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
BEIS ODA Funds must act in compliance with the International Development Act (IDA) 2002. The primary purpose of the IDA requires that spend will help reduce poverty overseas. In parallel to ensuring my Department’s ODA spend is compatible with the IDA, the spend must be in line with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Development Assistance Committee (DAC) rules on ODA. BEIS officials work in close contact with counterparts in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) to ensure that all of our ODA spending meets this primary purpose requirement, and is accurately accounted for through the annual Statistics on International Development (SID) reporting process (published every April on gov.uk). All programmes employ relevant and robust mechanisms through programme design and implementation to ensure their primary development purpose is met.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee West)
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 is using to make decisions on UK Official Development Assistance funded programmes for 2021.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
All Government Departments with responsibility for spending Official Development Assistance took part in a cross-government process, led by my Rt. Hon. Friend the First Secretary of State, to review in detail how ODA is allocated between key priorities - recognising the difficult economic circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic.
On 2nd December last year, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary wrote to the Chair of the International Development Committee setting out the Strategic Framework for UK ODA, which details the UK’s foreign aid spending priorities. In line with these priorities, he confirmed each Department’s total ODA settlement on 26th January.
We are currently working with UKRI, and all our Global Challenges Research Fund and Newton Fund Delivery Partners to manage the Financial Year 2021/22 ODA allocations. UKRI have written to their award holders to set out the process for reviewing ODA funding next year, and to explore options for individual programmes. (Full details have been published on the UKRI website). Ongoing GCRF and Newton Fund programme activity will be prioritised according to the Strategic Framework for UK ODA priorities.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee West)
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 ensure that people most adversely affected by the covid-19 pandemic receive the warm home discount to which they are entitled.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
This winter (2020/21), around 1 million Pension Credit Guarantee Credit recipients will receive the rebate automatically on their energy bills, as a result of data matching between the Department for Work and Pensions and participating energy suppliers. A further 200,000 low income pensioners, who meet some of the eligibility criteria, will receive a letter from Government encouraging them to claim via a dedicated helpline if they meet the remaining criteria. Of these, over 45,000 have claimed a rebate through calling the helpline so far.
To make sure that all eligible pensioners claim the support to which they are rightly entitled, in 2020 Government ran a nationwide 12-week campaign to raise awareness of Pension Credit, and launched a new online claim service, which improves access.
In addition to the Core Group, over 1.1 million vulnerable and low income households will also receive a Warm Home Discount rebate through the Broader Group, which is administered by energy suppliers.
To help vulnerable energy customers during the pandemic, Government negotiated a Voluntary Agreement with energy suppliers, to support customers impacted by COVID-19 who may be struggling with their energy bills and help to keep them on supply. Additionally, the Energy Price Cap has continued to protect around 15 million households on default and prepayment meter tariffs. Government also operates other schemes, such as the Cold Weather Payments and Winter Fuel Payment, which help vulnerable households with their winter energy costs.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee West)
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 Law Commission and the Scottish Law Commission's 2015 Joint Consultation Paper, Unfair Terms in Contracts?, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the recommendations made in that Paper on protecting small businesses from unfair contract clauses.
Answered by Paul Scully
Following the joint consultation paper, the Department held two calls for evidence relating to the protection of small business when buying goods and services. As a result, it has decided not to intervene in the contractual relations agreed between businesses outside of certain sectors such as groceries and pubs. The second call for evidence led to the establishment of the Small Business Commissioner by the Department.