Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
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 ensure that UK businesses benefit from the UK leaving the EU.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
Cutting red tape is a central part of the Government’s growth policy. The Government is carrying out a major cross-government drive to reform, repeal and replace outdated retained EU law. This will aim to cut £1 billion of red tape for UK businesses, ease regulatory burdens and contribute to the Government’s mission to unite and level up the country.
Through a reformed Better Regulation Framework we will foster alternatives to regulation, bear down on costs, and assess the effects of regulation on innovation and competition in order to deliver growth. Regulators will also work collaboratively with businesses to minimise the costs they face.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
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 reduce the regulatory burden on UK businesses.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
Cutting red tape is a central part of the Government’s growth policy. The Government is carrying out a major cross-government drive to reform, repeal and replace outdated retained EU law. This will aim to cut £1 billion of red tape for UK businesses, ease regulatory burdens and contribute to the Government’s mission to unite and level up the country.
Through a reformed Better Regulation Framework we will foster alternatives to regulation, bear down on costs, and assess the effects of regulation on innovation and competition in order to deliver growth. Regulators will also work collaboratively with businesses to minimise the costs they face.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
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 increase research and development spending.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
At the Spending Review 2021 (SR21), the Government committed to its largest ever sustained uplift in research and development (R&D) funding, including the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy’s (BEIS) largest ever R&D budget.
BEIS, in recent months, has published how our R&D settlement at SR21 will be allocated over the next three years.
Alongside this, increasing private R&D investment will be critical to reaching economy-wide R&D investment of 2.4% of GDP by 2027. In July 2021, we published the Innovation Strategy, which aims to boost private sector R&D investment across the whole of the UK by creating the conditions for all businesses to innovate and giving them the confidence to do so
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
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 potential impact of the upcoming Contract for Difference Auction Round 4 on energy bills.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is committed to minimising energy costs for businesses and consumers.
The precise bill impact of Allocation Round 4 (AR4) will be dependent on future wholesale electricity prices, which remain uncertain. Although difficult to predict with certainty, the Government expects AR4 to have a relatively small impact on household bills. AR4 will deliver capacity which is a critical part of the Government’s strategy to reduce system costs and will increase energy independence by contributing towards the transition to a low carbon electricity system.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what progress his Department has made on implementing the recommendation of the Taylor Review to ensure more attainable ways for employees to strengthen their future work prospects.
Answered by Jane Hunt
The opportunity to progress in work is any integral part of job quality and the Government has taken steps since the publication of the Taylor Review to help workers improve their prospects to progress in work. The Department for Work and Pensions recently launched an in-work progression offer to support low paid universal credit claimants in work to progress and increase their earnings. This support will be provided by work coaches and will focus on removing barriers to progression, helping people identify skills gaps and relevant training, helping people look for progression opportunities in their current role, and consider changing roles or sectors. Furthermore, low-paid workers are eligible for training funded by the Department for Education, who maintain a suite of skills programmes to help all workers boost skills and prospects.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what progress his Department has made on implementing the recommendation of the Taylor Review to ensure that platform based employees should be clearly distinguished from those who are legitimately self-employed.
Answered by Jane Hunt
The Government is clear that everyone deserves to be treated fairly at work and rewarded for their contribution to the economy, both in terms of fair pay and fair working conditions.
We announced on the 9th May that we will bring forward employment status guidance to help clarify the existing status boundaries. This will make it easier for individuals and businesses, including for those in the gig economy, to understand which employment rights apply to them, enhancing worker protections whilst maintaining flexibility and ensuring a level playing field within the labour market.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
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 has made progress on implementing recommendation seven in the Taylor Review on ensuring that there are sectoral strategies to engage employers, employees and stakeholders so that people in low paid sectors do not continuously remain on the minimum wage.
Answered by Jane Hunt
Earlier this year we increased the National Living Wage, putting £1,000 more a year in the pay packets of those who need it most. Programmes offered by the Department for Education and the Department for Work and Pensions are helping to up-skill workers, allowing them to progress in work and thrive in the labour market.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what progress his Department has made on implementing the recommendation of the Taylor Review to ensure that the same basic principles should apply to all forms of employment in the British economy.
Answered by Jane Hunt
The Government is clear that everyone deserves to be treated fairly at work and rewarded for their contribution to the economy, both in terms of fair pay and fair working conditions.
We announced on the 9th May that we will bring forward employment status guidance to help clarify the existing status boundaries. This will make it easier for individuals and businesses, including for those in the gig economy, to understand which employment rights apply to them, enhancing worker protections whilst maintaining flexibility and ensuring a level playing field within the labour market.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
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 has made progress on implementing the recommendation in the Taylor Review on ensuring a more proactive approach to workplace health.
Answered by Jane Hunt
The Government is committed to supporting people living with disabilities and long term health conditions.
A range of Government initiatives are supporting disabled people and people with health conditions to start, stay and succeed in work. These include the Work and Health Programme, the Intensive Personalised Employment Support programme, Access to Work, Disability Confident and support in partnership with the health system, including Employment Advice in NHS Improving Access to Psychological Therapy services. We will be investing £1.3bn in employment support for disabled people and people with health conditions over the next three years.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
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 adequacy of the response of Oversea Territories on tackling climate change.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Responsibility for the environment and climate change policy is devolved to the Overseas Territories, although the UK is responsible for extension of international treaties to them. The Government is working with the Overseas Territories on extension of the UK ratification of the Paris Agreement to those that are eligible and that formally request it. The extension process will include an assessment of Overseas Territories’ climate action plans.