Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
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 statement by the Minister for Energy and Climate of 25 January 2023, Col 1026, what the eligibility criteria for energy support will be for households without a relationship to a domestic supplier; and what steps he is taking to communicate the criteria with relevant households.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The GOV.UK page in February 2023 will include an overview of eligibility for the Energy Bills Support Scheme Alternative Funding. This is likely to include care home residents, residents of park homes, tenants in certain private and social rented homes, residents of caravans and houseboats on registered sites, farmers living in domestic farmhouses, and off-grid households. The Government will announce when the new scheme is live and will work closely with stakeholder groups and representative bodies to give them an update on progress, ensuring eligible households are made fully aware of the scheme and encouraged to apply.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
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 8 November to Question 78634, when he will make an announcement in relation to eligibility, time scales and method of delivery.
Answered by Graham Stuart
I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave him on 8th November 2022 to Question 78634.
The Department will make an announcement as soon as possible.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
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 Energy Bills support scheme factsheet, updated on his Department's website on 1 November 2022, whether park home owners will receive support via the Energy Bill Relief Scheme where park home residents are not on a standard electricity contract; and if he will set out how those arrangements (a) will operate and (b) begin.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Energy Bill Relief Scheme will provide a discount on energy bills for eligible non-domestic customers. Where an eligible intermediary purchases electricity or gas on behalf of an end user, such as a park home site owner may do for their residents, the intermediary will be required to pass on any discount received to the end user. Further guidance on this has been published at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pass-through-requirements-for-energy-price-support-provided-to-intermediaries.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
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 his Department informed local authorities in England that they were responsible for making payments under the energy price support scheme to park home residents; and when his Department plans to publish details of (a) the timing of those payments and (b) how those payments can be accessed.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Alternative Funding will support households not eligible for the Energy Bills Support Scheme as they do not have a domestic electricity connection. The Government’s priority is to work with delivery partners to provide the £400 support to households at their primary residence. Eligibility, timescales and method of delivery will be announced in the coming weeks.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what his timescale is for outlining the details of the revenue cap on low carbon electricity companies; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government will provide an update on this matter in due course.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what (a) discussions and (b) other engagement his Department has had with the British Association of Removers since 26 July 2022, at which the issue of engagement was referred back to his Department by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.
Answered by Dean Russell
Ministers regularly meet with external stakeholders. Details of ministerial meetings with external organisations are published quarterly and can be found on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/beis-ministerial-gifts-hospitality-travel-and-meetings.
The latest published data covers April to June 2022, further data will be published in due course. In line with Cabinet Office Guidance organisations are listed instead of individuals.
Details of meetings held by officials are not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether domestic energy customers living in park homes will qualify for the £200 discount on energy bills in autumn 2022 in the event that the supply is delivered through the park home site owner; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government knows that there will be different considerations for consumers depending on their circumstances and the way in which they pay their energy bills, including park homes residents.
Households without a domestic supply contract are not eligible for this Scheme, but the Government is exploring options for other ways in which they might receive similar support.
The Government is currently analysing responses to the consultation ‘Technical Consultation - Energy Bills Support Scheme. Managing the impact of the energy price shock on consumer bills’ and will publish its response later in the summer.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the terms of the indemnity against product liability given to Pfizer for the manufacture and supply of covid-19 vaccines are conditional upon the provision of accurate information on the results of trials of that vaccine undertaken prior to the start of the contract with that company; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by George Freeman
We are not able to disclose the details of some clauses of contracts between the Government and vaccine manufacturers as this information is commercially sensitive.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the terms of the indemnity against product liability given to the manufacturers and suppliers of covid-19 vaccines are different for (a) booster vaccines and (b) first and second doses; and whether the same indemnity applies to all age groups.
Answered by George Freeman
We are not able to disclose the details of some clauses of contracts between the Government and vaccine manufacturers as this information is commercially sensitive.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
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 help ensure Government Departments comply with the Principles of the Better Regulation Framework, interim guidance, published in March 2020, on impact assessments; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Better Regulation Framework as agreed across government is clear on the requirements for impact assessments, and we continue to push departments to adhere to these requirements.
We do this through support from the Better Regulation Executive (BRE) in providing extensive support and guidance on better regulation and impact assessments, and through a Cross-Whitehall training delivered by jointly by BRE and the Regulatory Policy Committee (RPC), which covers everything from better regulation policy to conducting an impact assessment is also available and offered to departments.
We also encourage departmental engagement with the RPC in the early stages of the policy development process for their advice on the proposed analysis to support the policy.
We are confident that efforts by the Better Regulation Executive and the Regulatory Policy Committee will continue to improve the regulatory impact assessment process, while the impending reforms to the better regulation framework will also look to enhance the process.