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Written Question
Industrial Disputes
Thursday 2nd February 2023

Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)

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 make a comparative assessment of the impact of legislation on the right to strike in (a) the UK and (b) the EU on the prevalence of industrial action.

Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

While the Government will always respect the freedom of individuals to strike, it is important this is balanced with the right of everyone else to go about their lives safely – and that is exactly what these new laws seek to do.

The new laws we are introducing are reasonable and will bring us in line with countries in the EU like France, Italy and Spain who have had arrangements guaranteeing minimum service levels during strike action in place for many years.


Written Question
Public Houses: Energy
Wednesday 23rd November 2022

Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)

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 support the beer and pubs sector with energy bills beyond the initial six-month period of Government financial support.

Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Government has committed to carrying out a review of the Energy Bill Relief Scheme by the end of the year to inform decisions on future support. We cannot confirm which sectors will receive further support after 31st March 2023 until the review has concluded.


Written Question
Fireworks: Animals and Mental Illness
Tuesday 1st November 2022

Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department is taking steps with Cabinet colleagues to help protect (a) animals, (b) people with post-traumatic stress disorder and (c) people who have other mental health conditions from the environmental effects of fireworks.

Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Government endorses the considerate use of fireworks. The majority of individuals who use fireworks do so in a responsible and safe manner and there are enforcement mechanisms in place to tackle situations when fireworks are misused. We will continue to engage with all our stakeholders, including animal welfare organisations, charities, local authorities and the industry, to listen to and understand their views.


Written Question
Companies: Negligence
Tuesday 26th April 2022

Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has plans to amend Section 414C of the Companies Act and to ensure that companies do not inadvertently allow corporate directors to conceal or otherwise diminish the impacts of corporate negligence judged to be immaterial by the Financial Reporting Council Conduct Committee.

Answered by Paul Scully

The directors of a company have a duty to prepare a strategic report and are responsible for its contents and their judgements. The auditor is required to review the strategic report and, based on the work done during the audit of the accounts, to state whether information in the strategic report is consistent with the accounts and has been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements. Both the directors and the auditor are accountable to the shareholders of the company for the contents of the strategic report.

The Financial Reporting Council, through its Supervision Committee, reviews the annual reports of public and large private companies for compliance with the law. The FRC’s corporate reporting review work does not duplicate the role of directors or auditors. Directors are responsible for the judgements in the strategic report, not the FRC’s Supervision Committee.

The Government will publish a post-implementation review of non-financial reporting regulations shortly. The post implementation review will cover both the 2013 regulations, which introduced the requirement for a strategic report, and the 2016 regulations requiring reporting on environmental, social and community matters, applicable to large Public Interest Entities.


Written Question
Companies: Environment Protection and Human Rights
Tuesday 29th March 2022

Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department plans to make companies licensed in the UK legally accountable for failing to prevent (a) human rights abuses and (b) environmental damage in their (i) operations and (ii) supply chains.

Answered by Paul Scully

The UK has a strong record on human rights and environmental awareness and protection, much of which results from our framework of legislation. The UK already requires companies to undertake due diligence on sustainability matters under existing legislation on corporate transparency. UK listed companies are required to report on relevant environmental, social and governance aspects in their annual reports. Large businesses are also required to publish supply chain transparency statements on steps they have taken to ensure that no modern slavery or human trafficking is taking place in their business or through their supply chains. Both reporting requirements compel disclosure of a company’s due diligence arrangements where these are in place.

In certain circumstances, companies can already be held liable for breaches of duties of care to others where harm is suffered as a foreseeable consequence of the breach.


Written Question
Renewable Energy: Sustainable Development
Monday 14th March 2022

Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)

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 transition the UK energy sector to sustainable energy sources, such as wind, tidal or hydro, following sanctions on the Russian Government.

Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme is the Government’s flagship scheme for supporting new low-carbon electricity generation projects in Great Britain. The latest auction is underway and aims to secure more low-carbon electricity capacity than the previous three rounds combined, supporting an expanded number of renewable technologies, including offshore wind, onshore wind, solar, tidal stream and floating offshore wind. In February, the Government also announced that the next CfD allocation round will be brought forward to March 2023, and future rounds will run annually, rather than every two years, thereafter. These steps will help drive forward the deployment of renewable power.


Written Question
Renewable Energy: Community Development
Tuesday 14th December 2021

Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)

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 facilitate community renewable energy generation; what assessment he has made of the potential for the provisions in the Local Electricity Bill to achieve that; and whether he plans to support that Bill.

Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Government is committed to achieving its net zero target by 2050 and is supportive of community energy, recognising the valuable role that community and locally owned renewable energy projects can and do, play in supporting our efforts to decarbonise the economy. The Government understands the role of community energy in raising awareness, increasing participation and, promoting the behaviour change necessary if we are to achieve both net-zero and a green recovery.

While the Government agrees with the broad intentions of what the Local Electricity Bill seeks to achieve and wants to see more local energy schemes as part of delivering a net-zero energy system, it does not support the Bill as the means to enable local energy supply.

The right to local energy supply already exists under the Electricity Act 1989 and Ofgem, the independent energy regulator, has existing flexibility to award supply licences that are restricted to specified geographies and/or specified types of premises. Changing the licensing framework to suit specific business models risks creating wider distortions elsewhere in the energy system, which could increase costs for other consumers and further unintended consequences.


Written Question
National Grid: Solar Events
Wednesday 24th November 2021

Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)

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 plans to take in response to the impact of potential solar storms on the UK's energy infrastructure.

Answered by George Freeman

On the 27th September 2021, the Government published the Severe Space Weather Preparedness Strategy. This sets out a 5-year roadmap to enhance our understanding of severe space weather, its impacts to UK energy infrastructure, and the UK’s ability to forecast events, respond and recover from them quickly. The Strategy is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-severe-space-weather-preparedness-strategy


Written Question
Shops: Social Distancing
Friday 17th July 2020

Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)

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 monitors compliance with social distancing in shops.

Answered by Paul Scully

On the whole, the British public has stuck to the rules and for the most part have maintained social distance in those retail outlets that have remained open during the pandemic.

Local authorities and HSE will take social distancing guidelines into account when monitoring compliance and considering action against employers who are not complying with the relevant public health legislation and guidance to control public health risks.

The Government will consider if a stronger approach is needed and will take appropriate action as necessary.


Written Question
Renewable Energy
Friday 25th May 2018

Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the evidential basis is for his decision to curtail development of renewable energy.

Answered by Claire Perry

The Government has not decided to curtail the development of renewable energy. Clean growth is a key part of the Government’s Industrial Strategy. The UK is a world-leader in cutting emissions, and last year renewables generated a record 29.4% of our electricity. The Government is making up to a further £557 million of annual support available under Contracts for Difference to bring forward new renewable projects, and will have invested £2.5 billion on low carbon innovation by 2021