Asked by: Holly Mumby-Croft (Conservative - Scunthorpe)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of establishing legal protections for consumers facing excessive call hold times when contacting businesses' customer services.
Answered by Paul Scully
High quality customer service makes commercial sense and the Government expects all businesses to treat consumers fairly. However, the Government does not seek to intervene in the detail of how businesses conduct their activities, which are essentially commercial matters. For free advice on consumer rights and how to make complaints, consumers may contact the Citizens Advice consumer service on 0808 223 1133 (https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/) or Advice Direct Scotland on 0808 164 6000 (www.consumeradvice.scot) for consumers living in Scotland.
Asked by: Holly Mumby-Croft (Conservative - Scunthorpe)
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 and the Minister for Brexit Opportunities and Government Efficiency are taking to ensure the UK Emissions Trading System supports the UK’s energy resilience.
Answered by Greg Hands
Since the UK ETS was launched on 1 January 2021 (replacing the UK’s participation in the EU ETS), a consultation has been launched (on 25 March 2022) fulfilling the Government’s commitment to align the scheme with the UK’s net zero ambitions and consulting on options to introduce the necessary changes to the scheme predictably and smoothly over the coming decade. In doing so, businesses will be given the confidence to invest in the transition to cheap, clean homegrown energy that is significantly reducing reliance on fossil fuels and exposure to volatile oil and gas prices on global markets.
Asked by: Holly Mumby-Croft (Conservative - Scunthorpe)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to ensure issues relating to Emissions Trading System free allowances do not adversely impact decarbonisation projects.
Answered by Greg Hands
The UK is committed to protecting industry from carbon leakage as our economy decarbonises. Therefore, a proportion of allowances under the UK ETS, worth several billion pounds a year at current prices, are allocated for free to businesses at risk of carbon leakage.
The Government is conducting a review into free allocation policy. The review will be conducted in two phases. The first is looking at aligning the share of free allocation under the industry cap, with proposed changes to the overall UK ETS cap. Proposals on this are included in the “Developing the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (UK ETS)” consultation, published on 25 March 2022 which will run until 17 June.
The second phase of the review will focus on better targeting free allocations for those with a greater risk of carbon leakage, whilst also taking into consideration the availability and affordability of decarbonisation technologies.