Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether periods when schools are closed to all but vulnerable pupils and children of key workers during the covid-19 outbreak are counted as pauses under the Agency Workers Regulation.
Answered by Paul Scully
An agency worker can qualify for equal treatment after working for 12 weeks in the same role with the same hirer.
The working patterns of agency workers can be irregular. The regulations set out the effect of different types of absence or breaks on the 12-week qualifying period and provide for several circumstances in which breaks do not prevent agency workers from completing the qualifying period or cause the qualifying clock to pause.
The qualifying clock will pause if there is a break in service for any reason, where the break is no longer than six calendar weeks and the agency worker returns to the same role with the same hirer.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
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 reduce the cost to people of disconnecting from gas supplies as part of decarbonising their homes.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government is planning to publish a Heat and Buildings Strategy in due course, which will set out the immediate actions we will take for reducing emissions from buildings. In the meantime, BEIS believes in a strong independent economic regulatory environment and support Ofgem in the core priority (amongst others) to help achieve Net Zero emissions by 2050 while maximising value for money for consumers.
As part of our commitment to the Future Homes Standard, which will ensure new build homes are future-proofed with low carbon heating and world leading levels of energy efficiency, we will consult on the feasibility of ending connections to the gas grid in new build homes.
We need to ensure the right legislation is in place to support the heating market through the transition to net zero. We will, therefore, review the overarching regulatory framework set out in the Gas Act 1995 to ensure the appropriate powers and responsibilities are in place to facilitate a decarbonised gas future that does not risk our energy security or lead to disproportionate impacts on consumers across the UK.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent discussions he has had with representatives of the hospitality industry on providing financial support to those businesses that have had to (a) close and (b) reduce trading capacity due to their staff having to self-isolate during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Department has and continues to regularly meet with representatives from across the Hospitality sector to discuss how it can recover and build back from the pandemic. We have provided an unprecedented support package of £352 billion including grants, loans, business rates relief, VAT cuts and the job retention scheme.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
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 Restart Grant Guidance for Local Authorities, updated 4 May 2021, for what reason animal boarding kennels are excluded from accessing support grants; and if he will reconsider that policy.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Restart Grant scheme aimed to support businesses in specific sectors to reopen as coronavirus restrictions eased across the country. One-off grants were given to eligible businesses in the non-essential retail, hospitality, leisure, personal care and accommodation sectors.
The Restart Grant scheme closed on 30 June. There are no plans to retrospectively change the eligibility criteria for this scheme.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
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 White Paper: Powering our Net Zero Future published December 2020, what steps he has taken to progress the planned consultation on opt-out tariff switching for energy customers.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government intends to publish its planned consultation on opt-in switching and testing of opt-out switching soon.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
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 requiring UK-facing online marketplaces to warn consumers before accepting payment that orders fulfilled from EU countries may be subject to (a) customs charges, (b) import VAT and (c) increased courier handling charges; and if he will ensure that those charges are made clear to the consumer at the point of order.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 requires traders to provide information on the total price of goods or services, inclusive of any applicable or additional taxes or delivery charges, at the point of sale. Where the total price of the goods or services, including any additional taxes or delivery charges cannot reasonably be calculated in advance, such as cross-border transactions, the manner in which the price is to be calculated must instead be communicated. This information must be given to the consumer in a clear and comprehensible manner, along with the right to cancel if this exists.
Any information that the trader gives the consumer as required by these requirements are to be treated as included as a term of the contract. Changes to any of this information, made before entering into the contract or later, are not effective unless expressly agreed between the consumer and the trader.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
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 February 2021 to Question 148866 on the hospitality sector, if he will make it his policy to provide financial assistance to invoice factoring schemes for suppliers in the hospitality sector.
Answered by Paul Scully
Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic the Government has provided a package of financial support to businesses, including those in the hospitality sector and suppliers to the sector. The total financial support package is over £407 billion.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will establish a Government-backed pandemic insurance scheme for wedding (a) businesses and (b) consumers.
Answered by Paul Scully
Since March of last year we have provided an unprecedented package of financial support to the economy, including the wedding sector, which we keep under regular review.
The Government recognises the essential role of the insurance industry in providing the cover businesses need to operate. We are working closely with insurers, trade bodies and regulators to understand what more the industry can do to support individuals and businesses.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether financial institutions are permitted to refuse offers of employment to people who have a poor credit history where that poor credit history is as a result of a period of ill health or a newly acquired disability.
Answered by Paul Scully
Employers should treat all job applicants courteously as well as being fair and objective in their selection of successful candidates.
The Government does not impose requirement on employers as to how they carry out recruitment. However, the law is clear that they must not discriminate unlawfully, for example on grounds of race, sex or disability.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what requirements there are for online marketplaces to check the safety of the products that are sold via their platforms.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government is committed to ensuring that only safe consumer products can be sold in the UK. Product safety legislation places obligations on distributors to act with due care to ensure products they are selling are safe. This includes online retailers selling goods via marketplaces. The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) has recently taken action to ensure that a number of non-compliant products being sold by overseas third-party sellers have been removed from sale and are recalled, including toys.
The OPSS is also engaging proactively with major online marketplaces to ensure that they are playing their part in protecting UK consumers from unsafe products. This includes developing a new voluntary commitment for online marketplaces to agree actions they will take to reduce the risks from unsafe products being sold online, enabling them to publicly demonstrate their commitment to the safety of their consumers in the UK.
In order to ensure that the UK’s Product Safety framework is flexible and fit for the future, the OPSS is conducting a review. The review will ensure we have a framework that delivers safety for consumers while supporting businesses to innovate and grow and will consider the impact on product safety of non-traditional business models, including third-party sales.