Asked by: Mark Harper (Conservative - Forest of Dean)
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 has taken to ensure that electricity suppliers have the appropriate information about which homes are not on the gas grid to enable them to make the necessary payments to deliver equivalent support to the Energy Price Guarantee.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government continues to work at speed to determine the most practical and tested routes to deliver this support and will provide more details in due course.
Asked by: Mark Harper (Conservative - Forest of Dean)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans his Department has to publish detailed information on how support for off gas-grid homes is equivalent to those on the gas grid benefiting from the Energy Price Guarantee.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The support provided to off-grid households is intended to deliver comparable outcomes to those on gas supported by the Energy Price Guarantee.
Asked by: Mark Harper (Conservative - Forest of Dean)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the support provided to off gas-grid households intended to be equivalent to that provided through the Energy Price Guarantee will equal the price per kWh between natural gas and heating oil or LPG.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The support provided to off-grid households is intended to ensure comparable outcomes to those on gas. It does not seek to create uniform costs per kWh across differing fuel sources which have always had variable price rates.
Asked by: Mark Harper (Conservative - Forest of Dean)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with representatives of (a) Ofgem, (b) the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority (GEMA) and (c) Competition and Markets Authority to help ensure protections for consumers off the gas grid from increases in gas prices.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Ministers and officials have been in close and regular discussions with Ofgem on gas prices, and Ofgem are keeping their board, GEMA, informed. BEIS and Ofgem officials also maintain regular contact with the CMA on energy markets.
If residents are off the gas grid, but on a default tariff for their electricity only supply, they will still be protected by the Energy Price Cap. The Energy Price Cap saves 15 million households on default tariffs up to £100 a year on average. The level of the price cap is set by Ofgem, the independent regulator.
Providing they are eligible households will also be able to access Warm Home Discount which provides £140 off energy bills over winter. Other energy bill support is available to qualifying households through the Winter Fuel Payment and Cold Weather Payment.
We recognise that some people continue to require extra support, which is why we have introduced a £421 million Household Support Fund to help vulnerable people in England with essential household costs over the winter as the economy recovers.
Asked by: Mark Harper (Conservative - Forest of Dean)
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 help protect those consumers who are off the gas grid from increases in energy prices.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Customers who are off the gas grid will be protected by the energy price cap if they are on a default tariff with their electricity supplier.
The Government believes it is essential that consumers who are off the gas grid get a fair deal. There are open markets for the supply of heating oil and LPG in the UK as we believe this provides the best long-term guarantee of competitive prices. These markets are subject to UK competition law to ensure they operate efficiently for the consumer.
Asked by: Mark Harper (Conservative - Forest of Dean)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if the guidance contained on the gov.uk webpages entitled Working safely during coronavirus (Covid-19): guidance from step 4 is legally binding in respect of (a) businesses’ insurance policies and (b) health and safety duties.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Working Safely guidance does not supersede businesses’ existing legal obligations relating to health and safety, employment and equalities duties. It is important that businesses continue to comply with existing obligations. Businesses have a legal duty to manage risks to those affected by their business. The way to do this is to carry out a health and safety risk assessment, including the risk of Covid-19, and to take reasonable steps to mitigate the risks identified. In order to help businesses conduct their risk assessment, the ‘Working Safely’ guidance provides advice on sensible precautions employers can take to manage risk and support their staff and customers.
Asked by: Mark Harper (Conservative - Forest of Dean)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will proactively plan for and stock the Novavax and Johnson and Johnson vaccines, pending the completion of their clinical trials and UK approval process.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The UK Government has secured early access to 407 million vaccines doses through agreements with seven separate vaccine developers. This includes agreements with Novavax for 60 million doses and Janssen for 30 million doses.
Subject to regulatory approval by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), which will review and analyse the relevant data to see if the vaccines meet their strict standards of safety and effectiveness, these vaccines are expected to be delivered in the second half of this year.
The Government is committed to ensuring access to vaccines as soon as is safely possible, which is why it is considering all options to help achieve this objective.