Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what (a) financial and (b) personnel resources will be allocated to the Register of Overseas Entities.
Answered by Paul Scully
Companies House will operate the Register of Overseas Entities. Companies House will be receiving £63million announced at the Spending Review in order to implement its transformation programme which includes implementing the Register of Overseas Entities. Work is already underway to implement the Register.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of market speculation on oil and gas prices.
Answered by Greg Hands
Fuel and gas prices are primarily driven by the underlying price in the global market of crude oil and natural gas. These are also influenced by exchange rates and a range of other supply and demand factors, including stock levels, logistics and distribution costs and seasonal demand variations.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
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 hold discussions with (a) P&O Ferries representatives, (b) P&O Ferries workers and (c) trade unions to inform an assessment of the appropriateness of dismissal of staff of P&O Ferries without statutory consultation.
Answered by Paul Scully
P&O Ferries has conducted itself in an appalling manner. There are clear requirements around both consultation and notification when making collective redundancies. The Government has demanded answers from the company as to why they think they are above these rules. We have received a response to my Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State’s letter to P&O Ferries, and we are reviewing their explanations. The Secretary of State has also written to the Insolvency Service asking them to consider what scope there is for further action.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
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 help strengthen and secure vaccine production in the UK.
Answered by George Freeman
The Vaccine Taskforce (VTF) continues to work to strengthen UK resilience for the COVID-19 response and potential future health emergencies. The VTF has invested over £380 million to secure and scale up the UK’s vaccine manufacturing capabilities to respond to the pandemic and is actively engaging with market participants to seek to further strengthen our domestic capabilities and capacity in vaccines.
In the Autumn Budget, my Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer announced a further £354 million for UK life sciences manufacturing. This includes funding to increase the UK’s health emergency responsiveness and capability in vaccine production. Areas of focus will include mRNA capability following the success of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, and investments which will strengthen the resilience of the UK’s vaccine supply chains.