Asked by: Greg Clark (Conservative - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many meetings (a) they and (b) other Ministers in their Department have had with the Department's Chief Scientific Adviser from (i) 1 December 2021 to 28 February 2022, (ii) 1 March to 31 May 2022 and (iii) 1 June to 31 August 2022.
Answered by George Freeman
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) draws from a range of scientific advice and expertise. I meet with both the BEIS Chief Scientific Adviser and the Government Chief Scientific Adviser regularly. In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of internal meetings are not normally disclosed.
Asked by: Greg Clark (Conservative - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many meetings he had with his Department's Chief Scientific Adviser from (a) 1 March to 31 May 2021, (b) 1 June to 31 August 2021 and (c) 1 September to 30 November 2021.
Answered by George Freeman
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy draws from a range of scientific advice and expertise. In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of internal meetings are not normally disclosed.
Asked by: Greg Clark (Conservative - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when he plans to publish a response to the consultation on carer's leave, which closed on 3 August 2020.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government is committed to delivering the manifesto commitment to introduce a new right of an additional week of leave for unpaid carers.
The consultation on Carer’s Leave ran from March to August 2020, setting out detailed policy proposals to create a new employment right for one week’s unpaid leave. The consultation received a significant number of responses, demonstrating the importance of this issue.
The Government response to the consultation will be published in due course, setting out the way forward.
Asked by: Greg Clark (Conservative - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many meetings (a) he and (b) his predecessor had with his Department’s Chief Scientific Adviser from (a) 1 March 2020 to 31 May 2020, (b) 1 June 2020 to 31 August 2020, (c) 1 September 2020 to 30 November 2020 and (d) 1 December 2020 to 28 February 2021.
Answered by Amanda Solloway
The CSA, at the time Prof. John Loughhead, has been in meetings with the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy 3 times between 1 March 2020 and 31 May 2020.
The CSA, at the time Prof. John Loughhead, has been in meetings with the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy 3 times between 1 June 2020 and 31 August 2020.
The CSA, at the time Prof. John Loughhead, has been in meetings with the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy 2 times between 1 September 2020 and 30 September 2020. Prof. Paul Monks took over as CSA on 1 October 2020 and met with the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy 11 times between 1 October 2020 and 30 November 2020. This is a total of 13 meetings between 1 September 2020 and 30 November 2020
The CSA, Prof. Paul Monks, has been in meetings with the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy 23 times between 1 December 2020 and 28 February 2021.
Asked by: Greg Clark (Conservative - Tunbridge Wells)
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 the duties of the Director of Labour Market Enforcement are undertaken while that post is vacant; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Paul Scully
We are in the process of recruiting a new Director of Labour Market Enforcement and will announce an appointment in due course.
The main duties of the Director are to prepare a yearly strategy, an annual report, and maintain an information hub. The previous Director has already submitted his Strategy for 2021/22 and it will need to be considered by the Government and enforcement bodies before approval for publication, as required by the Immigration Act 2016.
The three enforcement bodies themselves are responsible for their overall work and enforcement responsibilities. They will continue to work hard to protect workers and bring enforcement action against employers who break the rules.
Asked by: Greg Clark (Conservative - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, for what reason chimney draught excluders are not eligible as secondary measures under the Green Homes Grant.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
Chimney draught excluders are eligible for the Green Homes Grant scheme, including the cost of their purchase and installation.
BEIS officials are currently reviewing the published text on the Simple Energy Advice (SEA) website regarding this measure and will update it shortly to reflect the inclusion of chimney draught excluders in the scheme.
Asked by: Greg Clark (Conservative - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what guidance he plans to issue to dressmakers on conducting consultations and fittings in (a) retail settings and (b) home work based settings as restrictions on the lockdown due to the covid-19 outbreak are eased.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government has published updated guidance on 25 May to include other types of shops that have been closed for some weeks. In addition to the shops that have been open through the lockdown, this guidance covers shops selling clothing, books, shoes and cars, as well as banks, auctions houses, photography studios and indoor and outdoor markets. The second taskforce under non-essential retail will focus on work environments where there is close proximity to the client, e.g. hair and beauty salons, tattoo studios, etc. Guidance for these businesses will be published in June. Some of the guidance published in this document will be useful for tailors and dressmakers. For example, it provides guidelines on safety in fitting rooms and on how to manage clothes that have been tried on.
Employers have a legal duty to carry out a risk assessment, and all businesses must now consider the COVID-19 risks before re-opening. In this case, the Government is clear that businesses should only reopen when they can adhere to the COVID-19 safety guidance.
Asked by: Greg Clark (Conservative - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many meetings (a) he and (b) his predecessor had with his Department’s Chief Scientific Adviser (i) from 1 September to 30 November 2019 and (ii) from 1 December 2019 to 29 February 2020.
Answered by Amanda Solloway
The Department’s Chief Scientific Adviser ensures that the department’s policies are supported by the best science and engineering advice available by advising senior officials, as well as ministers, on science and engineering matters, and working with the wider community of Chief Scientific Advisers to share good practice and resolve cross departmental problems.
The Secretary of State’s predecessor, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Member for South Northamptonshire, did not meet with the Department’s Chief Scientific Adviser from 1 September to 30 November 2019 and from 1 December 2019 to 13 February 2020.
My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy did not meet with his department’s Chief Scientific Adviser from 13 February to 29 February 2020.