Asked by: Mick Whitley (Labour - Birkenhead)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 17 May 2022 to Question 960, if he will place in the Library a copy of the equality impact assessment carried out by the Insolvency Service on its plan to close offices including in Birkenhead.
Answered by Paul Scully
An overarching Equality Impact Assessment has been completed for all offices, including Birkenhead, affected by the plan to restructure the Insolvency Service’s estate to eleven regional offices. A copy of this document will be placed in the Libraries of the House.
Asked by: Mick Whitley (Labour - Birkenhead)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether an equality impact assessment has been carried out for the closure of the Insolvency Service office in Birkenhead.
Answered by Paul Scully
As part of the business case to restructure its estate, the Insolvency Service has carried out an Equality Impact Assessment on the plans to close offices including Birkenhead.
Asked by: Mick Whitley (Labour - Birkenhead)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the (a) local Chambers of Commerce or (b) Federation of Small Businesses was consulted on the decision to close the Insolvency Service office in Birkenhead.
Answered by Paul Scully
The agency is engaging stakeholders as part of an on-going process.
Asked by: Mick Whitley (Labour - Birkenhead)
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 enable households to exempt themselves from the Energy Bills Rebate.
Answered by Greg Hands
The Energy Bills Support Scheme, as announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 3 February, is currently the subject of a government consultation issued on 11 April. The implementation of the policy will be reviewed following the conclusion of the consultation. Allowing consumers to opt out of receiving the reduction on their bills would likely increase the administrative costs and complexities of the scheme.
Asked by: Mick Whitley (Labour - Birkenhead)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the enforcement of minimum wage legislation in the UK maritime industry.
Answered by Paul Scully
Seafarers who ordinarily work within the UK and its territorial waters are entitled to be paid the UK National Minimum Wage.
The government is clear that anyone entitled to be paid the minimum wage should receive it and takes robust enforcement action against employers who do not pay their staff correctly. HMRC enforce the minimum wage on behalf of the government, across all sectors of the economy. They consider every complaint from workers, conduct proactive enforcement activities, and deliver educational activity to support employer compliance. HMRC have a strong record on enforcing the minimum wage. Since 2015 they have returned over £100 million in unpaid wages to 1 million workers.
If anyone thinks they have been underpaid, they should complain to HMRC using the online form on GOV.UK, or call the Acas helpline. Complaints can be made anonymously and HMRC won't reveal a worker's identity to the employer.
Asked by: Mick Whitley (Labour - Birkenhead)
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 ensure that (a) recruitment agencies and (b) job sites do not advertise vacancies that do not comply with minimum wage legislation.
Answered by Paul Scully
This Government is clear that anyone entitled to be paid the minimum wage should receive it and will take robust enforcement action against employers who do not pay their staff correctly.
The Employment Agencies Act 1973 and its associated regulations are the main pieces of legislation that directly regulate employment agencies and employment businesses, including online recruitment services, which operate within Great Britain. This legislation is enforced by the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate. It is the responsibility of the agency to check the validity of the adverts before they post them online and that they include the required information.
An individual's entitlement to the minimum wage is not dependent on the rates of pay included in a job advert or job offer that they accepted. Therefore, if an individual is not being paid at least minimum wage when they are entitled to it, they should complain to HMRC using the online form on gov.uk. HMRC consider every complaint they receive and, if they identify underpayment, they will require the employer to repay the arrears to workers and a penalty to government.
HMRC support employers and workers by actively raising awareness of employers’ obligations and workers’ rights relating to the minimum wage. For example, HMRC routinely contact employers who advertise unpaid internships, signposting them to guidance to help ensure they are compliant.
Asked by: Mick Whitley (Labour - Birkenhead)
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 prevent businesses advertising vacancies for seafarers in British territorial waters at rates of pay less than the minimum wage, in breach of the National Minimum Wage (Offshore Employment) Order 1999.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government is clear that anyone entitled to be paid the minimum wage should receive it. In 2020, the Government legislated to ensure that seafarers who are working in the UK territorial sea are entitled to be paid the minimum wage, regardless of where they ordinarily work or where their ship is registered. This means that most individuals working in our waters are entitled to be paid at least the National Living Wage or relevant National Minimum Wage rate for their age.
An individual’s entitlement to the minimum wage is not dependent on the rates of pay included in a job advert or job offer that they accepted. If an individual is not being paid at least minimum wage when they are entitled to it, they should complain to HMRC using the online form on GOV.UK. HMRC will consider ever complaint they receive and since 2015 they have returned over £100 million in unpaid wages to 1 million workers.
Asked by: Mick Whitley (Labour - Birkenhead)
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 oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Climate Change and Corporate Responsibility of 11 March 2021, Official Report, column HL 1803, what assessment his Department has made of the potential role that the GeoEngine technology being developed by Titan Electricity could play in decarbonising the process of sour and acid natural gas extraction.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan
BEIS engineering experts met with Titan Electricity at a meeting on the 5th July to discuss their geo-engine concept and its use in removing hydrogen sulphide and carbon dioxide from sour and acid natural gas.
Technologies similar to the geo-engine could help achieve the ambitious decarbonisation targets set in the North Sea Transition Deal for offshore gas published by BEIS in March. This commits the UK offshore oil and gas sector to a carbon dioxide production emission reduction of 10% in 2025, 25% in 2027, and 50% in 2030 compared to a 2018 baseline.
The Department does not specify the equipment used on gas rigs however, this being a matter solely for the individual scheme developers.
Asked by: Mick Whitley (Labour - Birkenhead)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the (a) financial and (b) logistical support available to small and medium-sized enterprises involved in the development of net-zero technologies.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan
Small and medium-sized businesses have a vital role in developing the technologies needed to deliver net zero. There is a wide range of financial and logistical support available to aid them in doing so.
The Net Zero Innovation Portfolio, a £1 billion fund announced in my Rt hon Friend the Prime Minister’s Ten Point Plan for a green industrial revolution, aims to accelerate the commercialisation of low-carbon technologies, systems and business models in power, buildings, and industry. Funding is available for projects across the UK for companies of all sizes. Within the portfolio, the ‘Energy Entrepreneurs Fund’ particularly aims to assist small and medium sized enterprises, including start-ups. Those companies that are selected will receive acceleration support.
More widely, Innovate UK (IUK) acts as the prime channel through which the Government incentivises business-led technology innovation. Its role is to fund business-led innovation through the allocation of competitively awarded grants, delivered through competitions. Through their Knowledge Transfer Network and Innovate UK EDGE, IUK help connect innovative businesses with the right partners, expertise, facilities, financiers and influencers to help them bring their ideas to market, grow and scale their companies, and build collaborations, partnerships and supply chains.
In addition, the Government established a network of Catapult Centres in 2011 to commercialise new and emerging technologies in areas where there are large global market opportunities and a critical mass of UK capability to take advantage of them. There are nine Catapults, across 40 locations throughout the UK, supporting a broad range of technologies. The Catapult Centres have supported in excess of 8000 small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs).
Between 2014 and the third quarter of 2020 a total of £160m has been invested into clean technology businesses by equity funds backed by the British Business Bank. The Bank crowds in additional private sector capital to support equity investment for small and medium sized enterprises, maximising the impact of government investment.
Asked by: Mick Whitley (Labour - Birkenhead)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 7th June 2021 to Question 7763, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential role that the GeoEngine technology being developed by Titan Electricity could play in meeting the decarbonisation targets laid out in the North Sea Transition deal.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan
BEIS engineering officials have recently discussed with Titan Electricity at a meeting their geo-engine concept.
Technologies similar to the geo-engine could help achieve the ambitious decarbonisation targets set in the North Sea Transition Deal for offshore gas published by BEIS in March. This commits the UK offshore oil and gas sector to a carbon dioxide production emission reduction of 10% in 2025, 25% in 2027, and 50% in 2030 compared to a 2018 baseline.