Asked by: Jeff Smith (Labour - Manchester, Withington)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will make an estimate of the number of households that have been involuntarily fitted with pre-payment meters since October 2022.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Government does not hold this data. The Government has always been clear on the importance of protecting energy consumers, particularly the most vulnerable. Ofgem has been clear that suppliers will not be able to resume involuntary installations of prepayment meters (PPM) until they have amongst other things showed readiness to comply with Ofgem’s new rules regarding involuntary PPM installations and demonstrated progress through an independent audit to identify wrongly installed meters and provide redress where appropriate.
Asked by: Jeff Smith (Labour - Manchester, Withington)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how much funding has been allocated to clean energy research, development and demonstration projects from the Ayrton Fund as of 8 November 2023.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The UK Government has committed up to £1 billion for the Ayrton Fund to support the research, development, and demonstration of clean energy innovations for developing countries, between April 2021 and March 2026, delivered via a portfolio managed by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and the Departments for Energy Security and Net Zero and for Science, Innovation and Technology.
As of 8 November 2023, Ayrton funding of £595 million has been approved and allocated to 29 programmes. The Departments are working on the design of further new and scaled-up programmes, including some expected to be announced at COP28 in December.
Asked by: Jeff Smith (Labour - Manchester, Withington)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to her Department's published guidance on the Ayrton Fund, how much funding was allocated to each of the 23 RD&D projects that that fund supported in its first two years.
Answered by Graham Stuart
In its first two years (April 2021 to March 2023) the UK Government spent £146 million through the 23 Ayrton Fund programmes, listed on the Gov.uk website, delivering international clean energy research, development, and demonstration.
Asked by: Jeff Smith (Labour - Manchester, Withington)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to her Department's policy paper entitled Powering Up Britain: Energy Security Plan, published in March 2023, when she plans to consult on options for a new approach to consumer protection.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
As set out in Powering Up Britain: Energy Security Plan, we are exploring the best approach to consumer protection, as part of wider retail market reforms. The government continues to monitor the situation and will keep options under review, including with respect to the most vulnerable households.
Asked by: Jeff Smith (Labour - Manchester, Withington)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 14 September 2023 to Question 198639 on Childcare, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure the adequacy of (a) trained staff, (b) safe premises and (c) registered places in Manchester Withington constituency by the start of September 2025 to offer eligible children aged nine months and above to access 30 hours a week of free childcare for 38 weeks each year until the end of the term before they start at primary school.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Having enough staff in place to deliver high-quality education and care will be key to ensuring the successful delivery of our record expansion of early years entitlements. Driving up interest in early years careers and ensuring there are enough opportunities for career development is a priority for this government.
In the government’s Spring Budget 2023, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced transformative reforms to childcare for parents, children and the economy. By 2027/28, this Government will expect to be spending in excess of £8 billion every year on free hours and early education, helping working families with their childcare costs. This represents the single biggest investment in childcare in England ever.
The department is developing a range of new workforce initiatives including the launch of a new national campaign, planned for the beginning of 2024, to boost interest in the sector and support the recruitment and retention of talented staff. To increase interest in early years, we are working to remove unnecessary barriers to entering the sector as well as considering how to make early years qualifications more accessible, coordinated and relevant.
Over the summer the department launched a competition for Early Years Skills Bootcamps with a pathway to an accelerated level 3 Early Years Educator apprenticeship, and we will consider degree apprenticeship routes so everyone from junior staff to senior leaders can easily move into or indeed enhance their career in the sector. We are also working across government to boost early years career awareness by collaborating with the Department for Work and Pensions and Careers & Enterprise Company to promote the importance and value of a career in early years.
Regarding safe premises, with a growing number of staff joining the sector, the safety of our youngest children remains as important as ever. All new and existing early years providers must keep children safe and promote their welfare. The Early Years Foundation Stage statutory framework sets the standards that all early years providers in England must meet to ensure that children are kept healthy and safe. More information can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1170108/EYFS_framework_from_September_2023.pdf.
Under these requirements, all owners and managers of childcare settings have a responsibility to ensure that their premises, including overall floor space and outdoor spaces, are fit for purpose and suitable for the age of children cared for and the activities provided on the premises. All providers must also comply with the requirements of health and safety legislation, including fire safety and hygiene requirements. At all times when children are present, at least one person who has a current paediatric first aid certificate must be on the premises.
Under Section 6 of the Childcare Act 2006, local authorities are responsible for ensuring that the provision of childcare is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in their area. Part B of the Early education and childcare statutory guidance for local authorities highlights that local authorities should report annually to elected council members on how they are meeting their duty to secure sufficient childcare, and to make this report available and accessible to parents. More information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-education-and-childcare--2.
The Department has regular contact with each local authority in England about their sufficiency of childcare and any issues they are facing. Where local authorities report sufficiency challenges, we discuss what action the local authority is taking to address those issues and where needed support the local authority with any specific requirements through our childcare sufficiency support contract.
Asked by: Jeff Smith (Labour - Manchester, Withington)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent progress her Department has made on removing barriers to (a) school and (b) other group travel between the UK and France.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
All visitors to the United Kingdom are expected to hold a valid passport and visa where necessary. France has its own rules on entry requirements.
As part of an overall agreement on migration reached with France during the March Leaders’ Summit between the Prime Minister and the French President, we committed to easing travel between our two countries for school children on organised trips. Work is now under way to operationalise these arrangements.
Asked by: Jeff Smith (Labour - Manchester, Withington)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department plans to review the level of grant-in-aid for heritage institutions, in the context of rises in inflation.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The UK’s heritage institutions play a vital part in our nation's rich history and cultural life.
Just as we supported it through the challenges of the pandemic, HM Government has made support available to mitigate increasing costs for the whole heritage sector, not just those bodies which receive grant-in-aid. The Energy Bills Discount Scheme was implemented from 1 April 2023, a key component of which is the higher level of support being provided to energy and trade-intensive industries. Heritage was recognised as one of these industries and therefore receives a higher level of discount on energy volumes and will be subject to the maximum discount for gas and electricity bills.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport continues to work with its arm’s-length bodies and other Government Departments to support the sector’s resilience – and to deliver the Government’s promise to halve inflation this year to ease the cost of living and give people financial security.
Asked by: Jeff Smith (Labour - Manchester, Withington)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to CPRE, the countryside charity’s report entitled Shout from the rooftops: delivering a common sense solar revolution, published in May 2023, whether he plans to ensure that the Future Homes Standard requires roof space-mounted solar arrays to be installed on new homes.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
Renewable energy, such as that generated from solar panels, is a key part of our strategy to get to net zero.
Not all homes are suitable for solar panels. For instance, some homes are heavily shaded due to nearby buildings or trees.
Under the Future Homes Standard, the Building Regulations will continue to set performance-based standards. Our approach to achieving higher standards will remain technology-neutral, to provide flexibility to choose the most appropriate and cost-effective solutions.
Asked by: Jeff Smith (Labour - Manchester, Withington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an equalities impact assessment of proposals for a points-based penalty regime for late submissions of tax returns.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
A new points-based penalty system was brought in on 1 January 2023 for all VAT-registered businesses. The Government published the associated screening equality impact assessment on 23 March.
An equalities impact assessment covering the new penalty system for Income Tax Self-Assessment taxpayers will be published during its introduction.
Asked by: Jeff Smith (Labour - Manchester, Withington)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of Iran's ballistic missile capabilities.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Iran's ballistic missile programme destabilises the region and threatens European security. UN Security Council Resolution 2231 (UNSCR 2231) calls on Iran not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using such technology. Alongside France and Germany, we have written regularly to the UN Secretary-General to draw attention to Iranian missile activity inconsistent with UNSCR 2231, most recently on 12 June. We urge Iran to fully abide by UNSCR 2231 and all other relevant resolutions.