Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of alkaline hydrolysis as an alternative to cremation on the UK's ability to achieve its energy security and net zero emissions targets.
Answered by Mike Freer
The Government currently has no plans to make such an assessment.
At present, burial and cremation are the only regulated funerary methods in England and Wales. However, we are aware of the growing interest in alternative funerary methods. The Law Commission are considering, as part of its Burial, Cremation and New Funerary Methods project, the disposal of human remains. This work will consider the creation of a regulatory framework for safe and dignified new funerary methods.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of a four-day working week on gender equality.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
The government routinely considers the implications of evidence from a range of sources when assessing policies on working practices. The government has no plans to implement a four-day week but has recently introduced the Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act 2023.
The Act makes changes to the right to request flexible working to better support employers and employees to agree flexible working arrangements that work for everyone.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many chapters of a prospective free trade agreement with the Gulf Cooperation Council have been concluded.
Answered by Greg Hands
Six rounds of negotiations have been successfully concluded as part of negotiations on a free trade agreement with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). The Department for Business and Trade regularly engages with the GCC at both Chief Negotiator and ministerial level and is making good progress on agreeing chapters including in areas such as Customs, Technical Barriers to Trade and Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs). The department cannot comment any further as negotiations are ongoing.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the Competition and Market Authority investigation into the proposed merger between Vodafone and Three Mobile.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Minister without Portfolio
The Competition and Markets Authority is the UK’s independent competition regulator and its merger investigations are independent of Government.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to her Department's press release entitled Millions to take home more cash as new guidance on Tipping is published, published on 22 April 2024, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of delaying the implementation of the Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023 to 1 October 2024.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Minister without Portfolio
The Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act will require employers to pass all tips on to workers, without deductions. The implementation date for the Act, and the accompanying statutory Code of Practice, was revised from 1st July to 1st October to ensure sufficient time for those affected by the changes to prepare.
The impacts of the new requirements were considered in the impact assessment for the Act: https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3197/publications.