Asked by: Hugh Gaffney (Labour - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions she has had with the Scottish Trades Union Congress on the effect of zero-hours contracts on the (a) income and (b) mental well-being of workers under the age of 18 in Scotland.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
Ministers and officials from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy engage regularly with trade unions on all labour market issues, including zero hours contracts. We were also pleased that representatives from the Scottish Trades Union Congress attended discussions with BEIS on the Good Work Plan in Edinburgh on 26 September.
Asked by: Hugh Gaffney (Labour - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
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 she has had with representatives of (a) Royal Mail Group and (b) the Communication Workers Union on postal workers' vote in favour of strike action.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
Ministers have regular discussions with stakeholders on a number of issues.
Asked by: Hugh Gaffney (Labour - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps she is taking to raise awareness of the Warm Home Discount Scheme among people who are eligible to participate in it.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
The Department for Work and Pensions engage with participating energy suppliers to match the name and address details of those who fall within the “Core Group” of people automatically eligible for the Warm Home Discount and will write to them, either confirming, in the large majority of cases, that the discount will be paid automatically, or explaining that they need to verify their details with the Warm Home Discount helpline.
Notice is also provided to the public through GOV.UK, the website for the UK Government. For the “Broader Group” (those who may be eligible subject to an application) participating energy suppliers notify their customers in a variety of ways, including on their websites and some also choose to write to them or use referral bodies. Some organisations, such as Citizens Advice, also signpost eligible individuals to the scheme.
Asked by: Hugh Gaffney (Labour - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of the Government's price cap for standard variable tariffs on trends in the level of the average household energy bill.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
The price cap protects customers on standard variable and default tariffs from excessive charging. Ofgem estimates that the price cap saves the average customer £75-£100 each year, compared to what they would be paying without the price cap, and a total of £1 billion each year. Non-capped tariffs continue to be competitive, with Ofgem calculating the difference between the most expensive and the cheapest tariff in the market at £381 in May 2019.
Asked by: Hugh Gaffney (Labour - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the level of fuel poverty in the UK.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
We welcome the Annual Fuel Poverty Statistics Report for England, published on Thursday 13 June 2019, which showed that 18,000 fewer households were in fuel poverty in 2017 compared to 2016. We also saw a 4% year-on-year decrease in the average fuel poverty gap between fuel poor and other households.
These statistics show that our policies are working. Continued delivery of energy efficiency measures, the introduction of the National Living Wage in 2016 and the prepayment meter price cap introduced in April 2017 will all have made a contribution. Next year’s projections will capture the impact of the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards in the private rented sector for the first time, as well as the updated Energy Company Obligation, worth £640m per year, which focuses 100% on low income and vulnerable households.
Asked by: Hugh Gaffney (Labour - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
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 improve public awareness of scams in Scotland.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
Responsibility and funding to provide consumer advice, education and advocacy was devolved to the Scottish Government under the Scotland Act 2016. The Scottish Government fund Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) and Advice Direct Scotland (ADS) to deliver. BEIS remains responsible for funding the delivery of national and cross-border enforcement in Scotland through Trading Standards Scotland (TSS).
CAS and TSS are currently working together to deliver the annual Scams Awareness campaign in Scotland which runs from 10th to 23rd June to raise awareness, educate consumers and encourage the reporting of scams. TSS also worked with Policy Scotland, local Trading Standards and Neighbourhood Watch on the “Shut out Scammers” campaign in April this year to tackle doorstep crime and bogus callers.
Much of the work undertaken by TSS is targeted at preventing scams; tackling rogue traders; and bringing the perpetrators to justice.
Asked by: Hugh Gaffney (Labour - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment he has made of the sustainability of the Post Office Network.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Government recognises the critical role that post offices play in communities and for small businesses across the UK. This is why the Government committed to safeguard the post office network and protect existing rural services. The overall number of post offices across the UK remains at its most stable in decades with over 11,500 branches thanks to significant Government investment of over £2 billion since 2010.
While the Government sets the strategic direction for the Post Office, it allows the company the commercial freedom to deliver this strategy as an independent business.
The operation and management of the Post Office Network are operational matters for Post Office Limited.
I have therefore asked Alisdair Cameron, the Group interim Chief Executive of Post Office Limited, to write to the hon Member on this matter. A copy of his reply will be placed in the libraries of the House.
Asked by: Hugh Gaffney (Labour - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of the level of the National Minimum Wage on the income of people in employment aged under 18.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
This Government is committed to building an economy that works for everyone. Through the National Minimum Wage and the National Living Wage, the Government is ensuring that the lowest paid within our society benefit from their contribution to the economy.
In April 2019, an above-inflation increase in the 16-17 year old National Minimum Wage saw 38,000 young workers receive a pay rise. The rate increased by 3.6% to £4.35 per hour. Since 2015, the National Minimum Wage for the 16-17 age group has increased by 12.4%.
In the first quarter of 2019, the unemployment rate for 16-17 year olds was 19.2%, down from 28% in 2015. As noted by the Low Pay Commission in its 2018 report, for 16-17 year olds, the priority remains their effective entry into the labour market, as they are the most vulnerable age group in the labour market due to their relative lack of experience.
In 2018, approximately 2,900 workers in Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill were on one of the minimum wage rates.
Asked by: Hugh Gaffney (Labour - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment he has made of the trends in the level of coal-generating electricity supplied to the national grid.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The ‘Updated Energy and Emissions Projections 2018[1] includes data on previous levels and future projections of coal-generated electricity.
There has been a rapid decline in the use of coal in power generation in recent years, from 40% in 2012 to 7% in 2017. We have seen regular periods of zero coal generation since summer 2016. Between 1 May and 8 May 2019, Great Britain went a week without coal-fired electricity generation for the first time since the Industrial Revolution. The Government has committed to phase out all unabated coal-fired electricity generation by 2025.
[1]https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/updated-energy-and-emissions-projections-2018
Asked by: Hugh Gaffney (Labour - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of the UK leaving the EU on the levels of dangerous non-food products entering the UK.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The UK has a strong legal framework to protect UK consumers from unsafe goods and we will maintain those protections on exit. The Office of Product Safety and Standards is increasing its intelligence capability to monitor risks associated with goods entering the UK and ensure that enforcement interventions are properly targeted to protect consumers and provide confidence to responsible businesses.