Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford and Eccles)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has in place to enable social housing renters in Salford to access the energy efficiency voucher scheme; and at what income threshold those renters will qualify for the maximum grant.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
In his Summer Economic Update, my Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer announced a £2bn Green Home Grant scheme that will support homeowners and landlords in England to improve the energy efficiency of their properties, reducing energy bills and carbon emissions, and supporting a green economic recovery. Low income households will receive a higher rate of subsidy of up to 100% of the cost of measures.
The funding will be spent on paying for accredited tradespeople to install a range of measures, for example insulation, to improve the energy performance of their homes.
Further detail on eligibility will be announced in due course, before the full launch of the scheme.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford and Eccles)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether (a) housing associations and (b) local authorities will be able to access the Government's efficiency voucher scheme to upgrade properties on behalf of their tenants.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
In his Summer Economic Update, my Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer announced a £2bn Green Home Grant scheme that will support homeowners and landlords in England to improve the energy efficiency of their properties, reducing energy bills and carbon emissions, and supporting a green economic recovery.
The funding will be spent on paying for accredited tradespeople to install a range of measures, for example insulation, to improve the energy performance of their homes. Low income households will receive a higher rate of subsidy of up to 100% of the cost of measures.
Further detail on eligibility will be announced in due course, before the full launch of the scheme.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford and Eccles)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether housing associations that manage properties subject to overarching PFI arrangements and were previously excluded from Government funding schemes to remove and replace flammable ACM cladding, will be entitled to access the Government's energy efficiency voucher scheme to upgrade those properties.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
In his Summer Economic Update, my Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer announced a £2bn Green Home Grant scheme that will support homeowners and landlords in England to improve the energy efficiency of their properties, reducing energy bills and carbon emissions, and supporting a green economic recovery.
The funding will be spent on paying for accredited tradespeople to install a range of measures, for example insulation, to improve the energy performance of their homes. Low income households will receive a higher rate of subsidy of up to 100% of the cost of measures.
Further detail on eligibility will be announced in due course, before the full launch.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford and Eccles)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether (a) private and (b) social sector tenants will be able to require their landlord to access the Government's energy efficiency voucher scheme to upgrade their property.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
In his Summer Economic Update, my Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer announced a £2bn Green Home Grant scheme that will support homeowners and landlords in England to improve the energy efficiency of their properties, reducing energy bills and carbon emissions, and supporting a green economic recovery.
The funding will be spent on paying for accredited tradespeople to install a range of measures, for example insulation, to improve the energy performance of their homes. Low income households will receive a higher rate of subsidy of up to 100% of the cost of measures.
Further detail on eligibility will be announced in due course, before the full launch.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford and Eccles)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether a landlord that receives funding from the Government's energy efficiency voucher scheme is prevented from raising the level of (a) energy bills, (b) rent and (c) service charges applied to tenants as a result of work financed by that voucher scheme.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
In his Summer Economic Update, my Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer announced a £2bn Green Home Grant scheme that will support homeowners and landlords in England to improve the energy efficiency of their properties, reducing energy bills and carbon emissions, and supporting a green economic recovery.
The funding will be spent on paying for accredited tradespeople to install a range of measures, for example insulation, to improve the energy performance of their homes. Low income households will receive a higher rate of subsidy of up to 100% of the cost of measures.
Further detail on eligibility will be announced in due course, before the full launch.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford and Eccles)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, on what date the reopening for tattoo parlours, nail and beauty salons, massage therapists, reflexologists and other close contact services will be confirmed.
Answered by Paul Scully
We have now provided close contact services in England, except Leicester, with the certainty they need to reopen from Monday 13 July, subject to them following the COVID-secure guidelines.
We appreciate that this is difficult for some businesses. Our approach is guided by the scientific and medical advice, and every step is weighed against the evidence, remembering that the more we open up the more vigilant we will need to be.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford and Eccles)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what (a) criteria and (b) guidance he is following to determine (i) a date and (ii) the ancillary safety measures required for the reopening of tattoo parlours, nail and beauty salons, massage therapists, reflexologists and other close contact services.
Answered by Paul Scully
We have now provided close contact services in England, except Leicester, with the certainty they need to reopen from Monday 13 July, subject to them following the COVID-secure guidelines. Our approach is guided by the scientific and medical advice, making any changes depends on us continuing to meet the five tests, and the fifth test, which is being confident any adjustments to the current measures will not risk a second peak of infections that overwhelms the NHS, is informed by the Chief Scientific Adviser and Chief Medical Officer’s opinion.
This guidance was developed with stakeholders like Public Health England and the Health and Safety Executive, taking into account the latest scientific and medical advice, as our other guidance has.
We appreciate that this is a difficult time for some businesses. Every step is weighed against the evidence, remembering that the more we open up the more vigilant we will need to be.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford and Eccles)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what advice the Government has received from SAGE on the date of reopening for tattoo parlours, nail and beauty salons, massage therapists, reflexologists and other close contact services.
Answered by Paul Scully
Our approach to the types of businesses that can reopen is guided by the scientific and medical advice. SAGE provides world-leading scientific advice to the Government. However, making any changes depends on us continuing to meet the five tests.
We have now provided other close contact services like tattoo parlours, nail and beauty salons, massage therapists and reflexologists in England, except Leicester, with the certainty they need to reopen from Monday 13 July, subject to them following the COVID-secure guidelines.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford and Eccles)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what representations the Government has received from representatives of industry organisations on the date of reopening for tattoo parlours, nail and beauty salons, massage therapists, reflexologists and other close contact services.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Close Contact Services taskforce comprised stakeholders from a cross-section of the sector, including representative organisations. We consulted these stakeholders due to their expertise and real-life knowledge and experience of the challenges faced by the industry during the COVID-19 outbreak.
This taskforce was responsible for developing guidance to help businesses in this sector prepare to reopen safely; it was not focused on when a return to work might be brought about.
Representations have included:
We have now provided other close contact services like tattoo parlours, nail and beauty salons, massage therapists and reflexologists in England, except Leicester, with the certainty they need to reopen from Monday 13 July, subject to them following the COVID-secure guidelines.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford and Eccles)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans the Government has to offer additional financial support to people working in tattoo parlours, nail and beauty salons, massage therapy, reflexology and other close contact services in the event that a date for reopening can not yet be confirmed.
Answered by Paul Scully
Close contact services in England, except Leicester, have been able to reopen from Monday 13 July, subject to them following the COVID-secure guidelines.
The Government has introduced a comprehensive package of measures to support businesses through this difficult period, including Government-backed loan schemes providing facilities of between £2000 and £200 million, which will run for an initial period of six months.
The schemes offer generous terms to help firms manage debts: under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) and Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) Government covers any interest and lender-levied fees for the first 12 months.
Additionally, under BBLS no repayments are due for the first 12 months, and interest is capped at 2.5%. Businesses can also access support through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, deferral of VAT and income tax payment, grant funding for small businesses, and more.