Asked by: Paul Sweeney (Labour (Co-op) - Glasgow North East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many appeals her Department has received under the Green Deal Scheme in the last 12 months, and in which constituencies the appellants are based.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
230 appeals have been received in the last 12 months. The following table shows the constituencies in which the appellants are based.
Parliamentary constituency | Number of appeals |
England |
|
Barrow and Furness | 1 |
Batley and Spen | 2 |
Berwick-upon-Tweed | 1 |
Birmingham, Erdington | 1 |
Birmingham, Hodge Hill | 1 |
Birmingham, Ladywood | 1 |
Birmingham, Perry Barr | 1 |
Bishop Auckland | 1 |
Blackley and Broughton | 1 |
Blackpool South | 2 |
Blaydon | 2 |
Blyth Valley | 1 |
Bolton North East | 1 |
Bolton South East | 1 |
Bradford East | 1 |
Bristol East | 1 |
Bury North | 1 |
Bury South | 1 |
Carlisle | 1 |
City of Durham | 2 |
Cleethorpes | 1 |
Colne Valley | 1 |
Copeland | 1 |
Daventry | 1 |
Ealing Central and Acton | 1 |
Easington | 1 |
Fylde | 1 |
Gloucester | 1 |
Grantham and Stamford | 1 |
Great Grimsby | 1 |
Halton | 1 |
Hartlepool | 2 |
Houghton and Sunderland South | 2 |
Huddersfield | 1 |
Huntingdon | 1 |
Ipswich | 1 |
Jarrow | 1 |
Kingston upon Hull East | 1 |
Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle | 1 |
Kingswood | 1 |
Knowsley | 1 |
Lancaster and Fleetwood | 1 |
Leeds East | 1 |
Leicester South | 1 |
Leigh | 1 |
Liverpool, Walton | 1 |
Liverpool, Wavertree | 2 |
Liverpool, West Derby | 2 |
Manchester, Withington | 1 |
Middlesbrough | 2 |
Milton Keynes South | 1 |
Newcastle upon Tyne Central | 1 |
Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford | 1 |
North Durham | 1 |
North Somerset | 1 |
North Swindon | 1 |
North Tyneside | 1 |
North West Cambridgeshire | 1 |
North West Durham | 1 |
Nottingham East | 3 |
Nottingham North | 1 |
Nottingham South | 1 |
Pendle | 1 |
Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport | 1 |
Preston | 1 |
Rossendale and Darwen | 1 |
Rushcliffe | 1 |
Sedgefield | 1 |
Sheffield Central | 1 |
Sheffield South East | 1 |
Sherwood | 1 |
Southport | 1 |
Stalybridge and Hyde | 1 |
Stockton South | 2 |
Stockton North | 1 |
Tewkesbury | 1 |
Tynemouth | 1 |
Walsall South | 1 |
Washington and Sunderland West | 3 |
Wentworth and Dearne | 1 |
West Lancashire | 1 |
West Suffolk | 1 |
Winchester | 1 |
Workington | 3 |
Wales |
|
Aberavon | 1 |
Cardiff South and Penarth | 1 |
Cynon Valley | 1 |
Llanelli | 1 |
Newport West | 1 |
Rhondda | 2 |
Swansea East | 1 |
Scotland |
|
Airdrie and Shotts | 4 |
Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock | 5 |
Central Ayrshire | 5 |
Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill | 3 |
Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East | 4 |
East Dunbartonshire | 1 |
East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow | 5 |
East Lothian | 1 |
East Renfrewshire | 3 |
Edinburgh North and Leith | 1 |
Edinburgh South | 1 |
Edinburgh West | 1 |
Falkirk | 4 |
Glasgow East | 1 |
Glasgow North | 1 |
Glasgow North East | 8 |
Glasgow North West | 4 |
Glasgow South West | 1 |
Glenrothes | 1 |
Inverclyde | 3 |
Kilmarnock and Loudoun | 13 |
Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath | 2 |
Lanark and Hamilton East | 2 |
Linlithgow and East Falkirk | 1 |
Livingston | 1 |
Midlothian | 1 |
Motherwell and Wishaw | 3 |
North Ayrshire and Arran | 2 |
Ochil and South Perthshire | 1 |
Paisley and Renfrewshire North | 11 |
Paisley and Renfrewshire South | 4 |
Perth and North Perthshire | 1 |
Rutherglen and Hamilton West | 7 |
Stirling | 3 |
West Dunbartonshire | 5 |
Constituency not yet identified |
|
| 8 |
Asked by: Paul Sweeney (Labour (Co-op) - Glasgow North East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps her Department has taken to compensate people who have been detrimentally affected by the Green Deal Scheme.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
There is a specific process for handling complaints under the Green Deal. This starts with a complaint by the consumer to their Green Deal Provider. If not resolved satisfactorily, the consumer may then approach the Green Deal Ombudsman or the Financial Ombudsman Service, depending on the nature of the complaint. Their decisions will be binding on the Green Deal Provider. If after progressing through those channels the consumer is still not satisfied, they may request that their complaint be referred to the Secretary of State for consideration.
In respect of such referrals, the Secretary of State may reduce or cancel a Green Deal loan, if she is satisfied that there has been a breach of the law or code of practice.
The cancellation or reduction of a loan represents the full extent of the Secretary of State’s power to provide redress for consumers in relation to the Green Deal.
BEIS aims to ensure that cases are concluded as quickly as possible, whilst ensuring that fair redress is provided where appropriate and decisions take account of all available, relevant evidence.
BEIS currently has a number of outstanding appeal cases and we have taken steps to speed-up the handling process. We are making progress and this has resulted in the recent issuing of 4 final sanctions and 16 Intention Notices. We expect these numbers to increase significantly soon.
Asked by: Paul Sweeney (Labour (Co-op) - Glasgow North East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what her Department's timescale is for processing appeals from people who claim to have been adversely affected by the Green Deal Scheme.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
There is a specific process for handling complaints under the Green Deal. This starts with a complaint by the consumer to their Green Deal Provider. If not resolved satisfactorily, the consumer may then approach the Green Deal Ombudsman or the Financial Ombudsman Service, depending on the nature of the complaint. Their decisions will be binding on the Green Deal Provider. If after progressing through those channels the consumer is still not satisfied, they may request that their complaint be referred to the Secretary of State for consideration.
In respect of such referrals, the Secretary of State may reduce or cancel a Green Deal loan, if she is satisfied that there has been a breach of the law or code of practice.
The cancellation or reduction of a loan represents the full extent of the Secretary of State’s power to provide redress for consumers in relation to the Green Deal.
BEIS aims to ensure that cases are concluded as quickly as possible, whilst ensuring that fair redress is provided where appropriate and decisions take account of all available, relevant evidence.
BEIS currently has a number of outstanding appeal cases and we have taken steps to speed-up the handling process. We are making progress and this has resulted in the recent issuing of 4 final sanctions and 16 Intention Notices. We expect these numbers to increase significantly soon.
Asked by: Paul Sweeney (Labour (Co-op) - Glasgow North East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Justice on the provision of capacity building programmes for the domestic legal system in Saudi Arabia.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
The former Secretary of State for Justice, Chris Grayling MP, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Saudi Ministry of Justice in 2015. A number of engagements, including a working-level visit, have taken place since that time. All overseas judicial assistance is subject to rigorous assessment based on the merits of the activity and weighing any potential risks, including human rights concerns.
Asked by: Paul Sweeney (Labour (Co-op) - Glasgow North East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he plans to review the trade relationship with Saudi Arabia as a result of the detention of political detainees and female activists in that country.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
The UK and Saudi Arabia have a longstanding bilateral relationship based on a number of pillars including defence; security; trade and investment; shared concerns about regional issues and energy security.
We are concerned by the detention of political detainees in Saudi Arabia. We raise concerns regularly and freely, using a range of Ministerial and diplomatic channels, including our Ambassador and Embassy team in Riyadh.
No aspect of our commercial relationship with Saudi Arabia prevents us from speaking frankly and openly about human rights. We will not pursue trade to the exclusion of human rights. They can and should be complementary.
Asked by: Paul Sweeney (Labour (Co-op) - Glasgow North East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assurances he has received from his Saudi Arabian counterpart on the health and well-being of political detainees in that country.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
We are concerned about the health and well-being of political detainees in Saudi Arabia. We raise our concerns regularly and freely, using a range of Ministerial and diplomatic channels, including our Ambassador and Embassy team in Riyadh.
Asked by: Paul Sweeney (Labour (Co-op) - Glasgow North East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has made representations to his Saudi Arabian counterpart on the publication of proof of life evidence on political detainees being in custody in that country.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
The British Government is very concerned about allegations of mistreatment of those detained in Saudi Arabia because of their political views. While we have not requested this information from the Saudi authorities, we continue to monitor these cases.
Asked by: Paul Sweeney (Labour (Co-op) - Glasgow North East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to ensure that people over 75 who cannot afford to pay for a TV licence will be able to access democracy and keep informed of current affairs from June 2020.
Answered by Jeremy Wright
The future of the over 75 licence fee concession is the responsibility of the BBC. In the 2015 funding settlement, the Government and the BBC agreed that responsibility for the concession would transfer to the BBC in June 2020.
However, the Government is disappointed with the BBC’s decision as it has been clear that it wants and expects the BBC to continue this concession. Since the BBC took its decision, I have met with the Chairman of the BBC Board and the Director-General of the BBC and I have asked them to do more to help the most vulnerable groups affected by the decision.
Asked by: Paul Sweeney (Labour (Co-op) - Glasgow North East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to ensure that people over 75 who do not use the internet are not digitally excluded and will receive the necessary support to pay for a TV licence from June 2020.
Answered by Jeremy Wright
The future of the over 75 licence fee concession is the responsibility of the BBC. In the 2015 funding settlement, the Government and the BBC agreed that responsibility for the concession would transfer to the BBC in June 2020.
However, the Government is disappointed with the BBC’s decision as it has been clear that it wants and expects the BBC to continue this concession. Since the BBC took its decision, I have met with the Chairman of the BBC Board and the Director-General of the BBC and I have asked them to do more to help the most vulnerable groups affected by the decision.
Asked by: Paul Sweeney (Labour (Co-op) - Glasgow North East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he plans to take to ensure that people over 75 whose level of income is above the threshold of eligibility for pension credit are able to pay for a TV licence from June 2020.
Answered by Jeremy Wright
The future of the over 75 licence fee concession is the responsibility of the BBC. In the 2015 funding settlement, the Government and the BBC agreed that responsibility for the concession would transfer to the BBC in June 2020.
However, the Government is disappointed with the BBC’s decision as it has been clear that it wants and expects the BBC to continue this concession. Since the BBC took its decision, I have met with the Chairman of the BBC Board and the Director-General of the BBC and I have asked them to do more to help the most vulnerable groups affected by the decision.