Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department is taking steps to help support Post Offices with the cost of energy after 31 March 2023; and if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of energy costs on the risk of (a) redundancies of staff, (b) reductions in opening hours and (c) closures of Post Offices in the next 12 months.
Answered by Graham Stuart
HM Treasury is currently conducting a review of the Energy Bill Relief Scheme and evidence regarding the impact of energy costs on post offices is included in that. However, the Government cannot confirm details on further support after 31st March 2023 until the end of the review, which will report in January 2023.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the compatibility of proposals for the Rosebank fossil fuel development with the UK’s net zero commitments.
Answered by Graham Stuart
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave the Hon. Member for Norwich South on 1st November 2022 to Question 69713.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he plans to provide redress to people whose property values or access to mortgage finance have been damaged as a result of spray foam insulation installed using Green Homes Grant Voucher finance.
Answered by Greg Hands
Decisions concerning pricing and availability of mortgages are commercial decisions for lenders. The Government does not seek to intervene in these.
Spray foam is acceptable under Publicly Available Specifications 2030/2035 standards which are a pre-requisite for many Government schemes. This provides the customer with security and guarantees against work delivered.
Under the Voucher Scheme, it was the responsibility of a certified installer to recommend an appropriate product that meets standards, with homeowner’s responsible to decide measures they want to install.
In order to be eligible as an installer for the scheme, tradespeople must be registered with TrustMark, which has a robust framework of operating requirements, including dispute management.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he plans to introduce a regulatory body for heat network providers with a role equivalent to that of Ofgem; and what steps he is taking to protect households reliant on heat networks from price increases in excess of the energy price cap.
Answered by Greg Hands
Legislation will provide Ofgem regulatory powers to investigate and intervene on networks where prices for consumers appear to be disproportionate, if prices are significantly higher than those consumers would expect to pay if they were served by an alternative heating system.
All energy users are having to deal with rising energy costs, which have been caused by global factors. To help consumers, including those on heat networks, government have introduced support worth more than £9bn for vulnerable households, through initiatives such as the Energy Bill Rebate and the Household Support Fund adding to the help provided throughout winter 2021.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent estimate he has made of (a) the number of installed smart meters that are not on the national database, (b) the number of individuals being charged for electricity supplies on the basis of smart meters that are not on the national database, (c) the extent of improper billing by electricity suppliers on the basis of smart meters that are not on the national database and (d) what steps he is taking to ensure that all installed smart meters are recorded on the national database.
Answered by Greg Hands
There is no national database for smart electricity or gas meter billing information. Billing is the responsibility of individual energy suppliers. Energy consumption is recorded and securely held by the meter whether smart or traditional. Energy suppliers access this data remotely or via manual meters reads for billing purposes.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the Answer of 23 April 2021 to Question 181214, in circumstances where the Valuation Office Agency failed to add a business to the Local Rating List in advance of 11 March 2020, as the result of an admitted administrative error on the part of the Agency, whether local authorities should (a) treat affected business applicants as if such errors had been rectified at the time a Business Support Grant was due to be issued and (b) be compensated for the additional cost of those applications.
Answered by Paul Scully
As the question does not specify which grant scheme it relates to, I am responding under the assumption that it refers to the Small Business Grant Fund (SBGF), and the Retail Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund (RHLGF) which were affected by the 11 March 2020 date.
Local Authorities were responsible for delivering grants to eligible businesses through these schemes, and they closed for applications on 28 August 2020. As stated in the Grant Funding Schemes guidance, businesses that were in receipt of Small Business Rate Relief or Rural Rate Relief as of 11 March 2020 were in scope of the SBGF. Businesses in scope of the RHLGF were those that would have been in receipt of the Expanded Retail Discount (which covers retail, hospitality and leisure) on 11 March 2020, with properties that have a rateable value of under £51,000.
The guidance is clear that Local Authorities were not required to adjust, pay or recover grants where the ratings list is subsequently amended retrospectively to 11 March 2020. However, Local Authorities had the discretion to depart from this if they knew that the record was incorrect - for example where it was factually clear to the Local Authority that the rating list was inaccurate on 11 March; but they were not obliged to do so.
We asked Local Authorities to close the SBGF and RHLGF schemes by 28 August 2020 and to ensure that, where any payments were still in process, they were completed by 30 September 2020. The only exceptions were those relating to a VOA / Ombudsman query, in which case payments could be made until 30 October. The 30 October date was negotiated to allow VOA queries to be resolved, but any that were not paid out by then are outside the scope of the schemes.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, in circumstances where the Valuation Office Agency has made an error in valuation classifications for business rates purposes, whether local authorities should (a) treat affected business applicants as if such errors had been rectified at the time a covid-19 related grant was due to be issued and (b) be compensated for the additional cost of those applications.
Answered by Paul Scully
As the question does not specify which grant scheme it relates to, I am responding under the assumption that it refers to Restart Grants which are the current primary business grant mechanism managed by local authorities.
Any changes to the rating list (rateable value or to the hereditament) after 1 April 2021 should be ignored for the purposes of eligibility. Local Authorities are not required to adjust, pay or recover grants where the rating list is subsequently amended retrospectively to 1 April 2021. In cases where it was factually clear to the Local Authority on 1 April 2021 that the rating list was inaccurate on that date, Local Authorities may withhold the grant and/or award the grant based on their view of who would have been entitled to the grant had the list been accurate. This is entirely at the discretion of the Local Authority and only intended to prevent manifest errors.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many employers have had enforcement action taken against them for retaliating against (a) employees and (b) other contracted workers for actions those workers have taken to self-isolate due to the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Paul Scully
It is critically important that the following people stay at home and self-isolate immediately: anyone who has tested positive with COVID-19, anyone who has been contacted by NHS Test and Trace or their local authority, and anyone who has returned from abroad and is required to quarantine.
The Government has developed guidance on employment rights and self-isolation so that workers and employers are clear about their rights and obligations. The guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/if-you-need-to-self-isolate-or-cannot-attend-work-due-to-coronavirus.
In addition, anyone who is due to work anywhere other than where they are self-isolating (normally their home) must inform their employer that they are required to self-isolate. An individual can receive a Fixed Penalty Notice of £50 for not doing so.
It is an offence for an employer to knowingly allow a person who is required to self-isolate to work anywhere other than where they are self-isolating. If an employer is reasonably believed to be in breach of this requirement, they may be issued with a Fixed Penalty Notice, ranging from £1,000 to £10,000.
Local Authorities provide written and verbal advice to businesses to enable them to comply with their obligations. Enforcement action is taken against employers who do not follow this advice and who do not take reasonable steps to ensure that their workers who must be self-isolating are not working from outside their home.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
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 is taking to provide security for workers that they will not be retaliated against by (a) employers and (b) providers of work on a non-employment basis as a result of actions to self-isolate due to the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Paul Scully
It is critically important that the following people stay at home and self-isolate immediately: anyone who has tested positive with COVID-19, anyone who has been contacted by NHS Test and Trace or their local authority, and anyone who has returned from abroad and is required to quarantine.
The Government has developed guidance on employment rights and self-isolation so that workers and employers are clear about their rights and obligations. The guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/if-you-need-to-self-isolate-or-cannot-attend-work-due-to-coronavirus.
In addition, anyone who is due to work anywhere other than where they are self-isolating (normally their home) must inform their employer that they are required to self-isolate. An individual can receive a Fixed Penalty Notice of £50 for not doing so.
It is an offence for an employer to knowingly allow a person who is required to self-isolate to work anywhere other than where they are self-isolating. If an employer is reasonably believed to be in breach of this requirement, they may be issued with a Fixed Penalty Notice, ranging from £1,000 to £10,000.
Local Authorities provide written and verbal advice to businesses to enable them to comply with their obligations. Enforcement action is taken against employers who do not follow this advice and who do not take reasonable steps to ensure that their workers who must be self-isolating are not working from outside their home.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has to (a) continue and (b) extend the scope of the Warm Home Discount scheme, after the current scheme finishes at the end of March 2021.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
We will consult on a one-year extension of the current Warm Home Discount scheme later this year. We will also consider reform to improve the fuel poverty targeting of the scheme beyond 2022, and will consult on this in due course.