Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent Central)
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 is taking to increase the number of women from black and minority ethnic backgrounds at (a) FTSE 100 boards and (b) the highest level of business.
Answered by Andrew Griffiths
Diversity and inclusion in the boardroom and the workplace is a hugely important element of building an economy that works for all. The Government is committed to a cohesive society, where everyone – no matter what their background – has the opportunity to enter into and progress at work and achieve on merit.
Sir John Parker’s business-led diversity review into ethnic minorities on FTSE boards published in November 2017, showed that only about 8% of FTSE 100 Directors were from an ethnic minority background, and just over 2% were British citizens from an ethnic minority background.
That is why Government supports and has been promoting the recommendation made by Sir John that all FTSE 100 companies should have at least one director of colour by 2021. Baroness McGregor-Smith's 'Race in the workplace' review also set out a range of actions for business and Government. We have been working with Business in the Community and others to support employers to make these changes, including through sharing of good practice and guidance material.
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has created a Business Diversity and Inclusion Group, chaired by me, to provide strategic leadership on this agenda, and to help deliver a clear and coordinated message to the business community on what they need to do.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent Central)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent progress his Department has made on implementing the recommendations of the Parker Review on corporate boards.
Answered by Margot James
Sir John Parker’s review is a business-led diversity initiative. He consulted on draft recommendations from November 2016 to February 2017, which the Government has endorsed.
Diversity and inclusion in the boardroom and the workplace is a hugely important element of building an economy that works for all. That is why I have created a Business Diversity and Inclusion Group to provide strategic leadership on this agenda, and to help deliver a clear and coordinated message to the business community on what they need to do. I have invited Sir John to participate alongside Sir Philip Hampton and Dame Helen Alexander, who are chairing a review aimed at increasing female leadership in FTSE companies, and Baroness Ruby McGregor-Smith, who led a review examining the obstacles faced by businesses in developing BME talent from recruitment through to the executive level.
The Government will keep a close eye on how things develop and consider whether it needs to take further action once Sir John has finalised his recommendations later this year.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent Central)
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 role the Government is playing in facilitating technological transfer to smaller countries to grow their renewable energy sectors and reduce dependence on fossil fuels.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
The Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy prepares biennial reports to the United Nations on the UK’s progress in tackling climate change, which include an assessment of the technical and financial support that HMG provides to other countries to assist them to deploy clean energy. The most recent report can be found on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) website: http://unfccc.int/files/national_reports/biennial_reports_and_iar/submitted_biennial_reports/application/pdf/20151218_uk_biennial_report_2_web_accessible.pdf. Chapter 5 sets out an overview of the financial and technical support provided and Table 7 in Annex 1 provides details of individual projects.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent Central)
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 is taking to support the transfer of technology to Jamaica in relation to the renewable energy programme in that country.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
The UK has provided 9% of donor funding to the 6th replenishment of the Global Environment Facility (GEF6). Total funding for GEF6 including projected investment income and other sources of finance is expected to be $4.43bn (2014-2018). The GEF is currently providing $2.3m to the Low Greenhouse Gas Emissions (LGGE) Project, a programme which is promoting Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy in Buildings in Jamaica.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent Central)
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 take steps to reduce the difference in cost paid for energy between customers with prepayment meters and other energy customers.
Answered by Jesse Norman
On 7 December 2016, the Competition and Markets Authority published a final order that requires suppliers to cap the amount they can charge pre-payment customers. The cap will come into effect in April this year.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent Central)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the Government plans to bring forward legislative proposals to require energy companies to give the lowest tariff to their customers.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government is carefully considering the recommendations of the Competition and Market Authority report on the energy sector, and will be setting out its response in due course.Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent Central)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent progress has been made on introducing a cap on the cost of energy supplied through prepayment meters.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Competition Market Authority has recently consulted on a draft order which set out the technical details of how the safeguard tariff cap for prepayment meters will be calculated and implemented. The consultation closed on 11 November, and the tariff cap is expected to come into force in April next year.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent Central)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many equality impact assessments his Department carried out in 2016; and how many such assessments the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills carried out in each year since 2010.
Answered by Margot James
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) is placing equality at the heart of all policy and decision making.
To comply with the Equality Act 2010, BEIS, and the former Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), assesses all key policies and decisions for any likely impact on individuals or groups with protected characteristics, and decisions are recorded.
There is no requirement for public bodies to keep a record of the number of assessments carried out. However, those that were published, for former BIS, can be found located alongside technical and economic Impact Assessments at:
No equality impact assessments have been published since the inception of BEIS.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent Central)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many equal pay cases were not taken forward after post-claim conciliation in each year since 2010.
Answered by Margot James
We are currently collating this information and will place this in the Libraries in due course.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent Central)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what support the Government gave to Lord Davies during his work to produce his report on women on boards.
Answered by Margot James
Lord Davies chaired the independent and business-led Women on Boards review from 2010 to 2015 to increase the representation of women on FTSE 100 boards to 25% by 2015.
The former department (BIS) provided a small secretariat to support his work. A number of sponsors and stakeholders also contributed to the successful publishing of his reports.