Asked by: Martin Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party - West Dunbartonshire)
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 effectiveness of the detention of (a) unsafe and (b) non-compliant electrical consumer goods at ports and borders in Scotland; and whether he has plans to allocate additional funding for those activities.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Office for Product Safety and Standards will publish its first Strategic Assessment covering trends in relation to the safety of goods in due course and this will inform future decisions about how best to support capacity on the front line, including in Scotland.
Asked by: Martin Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party - West Dunbartonshire)
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 the volume of (a) unsafe and (b) non-compliant electrical consumer goods entering Scotland at its ports and borders.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) is developing the first national Strategic Assessment to identify trends and risks associated with the supply and use of consumer goods. This will provide a comprehensive analysis of how well the product safety system functions and will support local authorities and other agencies to prioritise their operational decisions and interventions based on evidence and risk. In addition, the OPSS is working to support local authorities in Scotland to further improve product safety.
Asked by: Martin Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party - West Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what support is made available by the Office for Product Safety and Standards to the Scottish Government to improve safety at ports and borders in scotland.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Office for Product Safety and Standards is working to support local authorities in Scotland including at ports and borders, to further improve product safety. For example, OPSS has provided free technical training on product safety to local authority officers, provided all front-line officers with free access to British Standards on line and training on risk assessment will take place in March. We are exploring what additional support and resource would assist with safety at ports and borders.
Asked by: Martin Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party - West Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment he has made on the cost to the Scottish economy of the sale of (a) counterfeit and (b) substandard electrical products.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Government does not hold data for estimating the cost to the Scottish economy of counterfeit or substandard electrical products.
Asked by: Martin Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party - West Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions (a) he, (b) ministers in his Department and (c) officials in his Department have had with the representatives of the Scottish Government on the sale of unsafe electrical goods online; and whether he has plans to bring forward legislative proposals for the regulation of the sale of those products online.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Department has had discussions with the Scottish Government on a number of issues related to the safety of consumers, including on the Office for Product Safety and Standards’ (OPSS) new strategy for product safety. OPSS also works closely with local authority Trading Standards services across Scotland on specific issues, including the safety of electrical goods.
All electrical goods must meet essential safety requirements before they can be placed on the UK market, including electrical goods sold to consumers by online retailers. The Government has no plans to introduce further regulation in this area.
Asked by: Martin Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party - West Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many applications for full onshore wind station accreditation were unsuccessful between July 2016 and October 2016.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
I refer the Hon Member to the reply I gave to UIN 106075.
Asked by: Martin Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party - West Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many applications were made for full onshore wind station accreditation between July 2016 and October 2016.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
Across Great Britain, 19 onshore wind farms applied for accreditation under the Renewables Obligation between July and October 2016. Of these, 8[1] were in England, 1 in Wales, and 10 in Scotland.
[1] This figure includes 2 applications made between 1 July and 31 October 2016 but subsequently cancelled by the applicant.
Asked by: Martin Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party - West Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many certificated G59 commissioning engineers who were not embedded within (a) power supply companies and (b) district network operations were available to sign off a wind station accreditation between July 2016 and November 2016.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
I refer the Hon Member to the reply I gave to UIN 106077.
Asked by: Martin Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party - West Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many applicants for wind station accreditation between July and October 2016 were on request afforded an extension of time or grace period by Ofgem to allow for successful conversion to full accreditation.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
Across Great Britain, 15 onshore wind farms that applied for accreditation under the Renewables Obligation between July and October 2016 have been granted a grace period. Of these, 6 were in England, 8 in Scotland, and 1 in Wales. A further 2 applications (both in Scotland) have not yet been determined[1].
[1] Applications still being assessed by Ofgem where the later of the application date and commissioning date falls between 1 July and 31 October 2016 (their expected accreditation effective date if granted).
Asked by: Martin Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party - West Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many applicants for wind farm accreditation between July and October 2016 were on request accordingly afforded an extension of time or grace period by Ofgem to allow for successful conversion to full accreditation.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
Across Great Britain, 13 onshore wind farms that applied for accreditation under the Renewables Obligation between July and October 2016 have been granted a grace period. Of these, 6 each were in England and Scotland, and 1 in Wales. A further 3 applications (all in Scotland) have not yet been determined [1].
[1] Applications still being assessed by Ofgem where the later of the application date and commissioning date falls between 1 July and 31 October 2016 (their expected accreditation effective date if granted).