Asked by: Shabana Mahmood (Labour - Birmingham, Ladywood)
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 criteria published on the Department for Work and Pension website which sets out that people are eligible for the warm homes discount only if they receive the Guarantee Credit element of Pension Credit, certain means-tested benefits or tax credits, whether any impact assessment was carried out before setting those criteria.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government consulted on the future of the scheme for England and Wales https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/warm-home-discount-better-targeted-support-from-2022 last summer and published Impact Assessments alongside the consultation and Government Response.
The Government also consulted on the scheme in Scotland https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/warm-home-discount-scotland this spring and published supporting analysis.
Asked by: Shabana Mahmood (Labour - Birmingham, Ladywood)
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 is taking steps to inform people who do not receive means-tested benefits that they are not eligible to receive the warm homes discount.
Answered by Graham Stuart
From this winter, the Government will reform the Warm Home Discount scheme in England and Wales. The Government is writing to households who are eligible to receive a rebate automatically, as well as households who need to call a helpline to determine if they are eligible.
There will be an online eligibility checker to help people understand if they may be eligible, and the Government is sharing information on the new scheme with energy suppliers and charities.
There is a separate Warm Home Discount scheme in Scotland. The Government will write to eligible households who are in receipt of Pension Credit Guarantee Credit, while other low-income households should check with their energy supplier how they may apply.
Asked by: Shabana Mahmood (Labour - Birmingham, Ladywood)
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 potential combined effect of the removal of the £20 a week uplift to universal credit and increases in gas utility prices on estimated rates of fuel poverty in (a) Birmingham Ladywood constituency and (b) the West Midlands in the next 12 months.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Thanks to our price cap we are able to protect customers from higher bills.
The Government introduced a price cap in 2019 which saves 15 million households on default tariffs up to £100 a year on average. The level of the price cap is set by Ofgem, the independent regulator, and is based on a range of factors including regional network costs.
Asked by: Shabana Mahmood (Labour - Birmingham, Ladywood)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what contingency plans he has in place for customers in the event of a major gas provider collapsing.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government has robust processes in place to ensure continuity of supply for customers. These include the Supplier of Last Resort process, which is operated by Ofgem, the independent regulator. The Government also has powers under Special Administration. Government will continue to work closely with Ofgem to protect customers. For more information on this process visit the Ofgem website: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/supplier-last-resort-revised-guidance-2016.
Asked by: Shabana Mahmood (Labour - Birmingham, Ladywood)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent discussions officials in his Department have had with representatives of energy companies on the effect of their potential collapse on consumers.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State and I have held a series of bilateral and roundtable events with leading energy suppliers, smaller and challenger suppliers and consumer groups to hear about the challenges they currently face and explore ways to protect consumers and businesses
Asked by: Shabana Mahmood (Labour - Birmingham, Ladywood)
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 potential merits of creating a whitelist and blacklist of companies that do and do not meet their obligations to uphold human rights throughout their supply chains.
Answered by Paul Scully
BEIS thanks the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Select Committee for its report on ‘Uyghur forced labour in Xinjiang and UK value chains’, published on 17 March 2021. The Government takes very seriously the concerns that the report highlights. On Tuesday 22 March, the UK Government, alongside the EU, US and Canada, placed sanctions on four Chinese officials and one public entity that are responsible for the egregious human rights violations taking place in Xinjiang. We have backed up our international action by robust domestic measures that help ensure that British businesses are not complicit in human rights violations in Xinjiang. The Government will formally respond to the report and its recommendations by 17 May 2021.
Asked by: Shabana Mahmood (Labour - Birmingham, Ladywood)
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 13 January 2021 to Question 130679 on Imports: Ethics, how often the Government reviews its guidance to key stakeholders to underline the need for vigilance against supply chain abuses; and when the next such review is planned.
Answered by Paul Scully
As set out in the previous answer, the Government is clear it expects UK businesses to act responsibly to ensure their products are sourced ethically, and to consider due diligence approaches for their supply arrangements as a means to ensure this. The Government keeps guidance under constant review. We published updated Overseas Business Risk Guidance for China on 12 January 2021, which urges businesses with links to Xinjiang to undertake careful and robust due diligence to ensure their operations do not directly or indirectly contribute to human rights violations.
Asked by: Shabana Mahmood (Labour - Birmingham, Ladywood)
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 UK businesses do not use (a) cotton from Xinjiang and (b) other unethically sourced products.
Answered by Paul Scully
The UK has taken a leading international role in holding China to account for its human rights violations in Xinjiang, including in respect of credible evidence of forced labour. As set out in our National Action Plan for the UN Guiding Principles on business and human rights, the Government’s clear and strong expectation is that businesses act responsibly to ensure their products are sourced ethically, that they conduct due diligence on their supply arrangements to ensure this, and that they are transparent about where their materials and products are sourced from.
The Government has issued guidance and Ministers and officials hold regular meetings with businesses and industry stakeholders to underline the need for vigilance against any supply chain abuses.
Asked by: Shabana Mahmood (Labour - Birmingham, Ladywood)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on reducing the benefit in kind rate tax on electric vehicles before 2020.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Ministers hold regular discussions with their counterparts in HM Treasury on a range of transport issues. Policy on taxation is a matter for the Treasury.
To achieve the ambitions set out in the Road to Zero strategy, Government is investing nearly £1.5 billion between April 2015 and March 2021, with grants available for plug-in vehicles and schemes to support chargepoint infrastructure. This is one of the most comprehensive support packages in the world for zero emission vehicles.
Asked by: Shabana Mahmood (Labour - Birmingham, Ladywood)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of the number of student loan borrowers with post-2012 student loan arrangements in (a) Birmingham, Ladywood constituency, (b) the City of Birmingham and (c) the West Midlands metropolitan county.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
The Student Loans Company (SLC) administers student support for the UK Government and Devolved Administrations. Information on the number of borrowers is published annually by the SLC in the Statistical First Release, Student Loans in England:
http://www.slc.co.uk/official-statistics/student-loans-debt-and-repayment/england.aspx
At the end of the financial year 2014-15, there were: (a) 3,810, (b) 27,040, and (c) 112,340, borrowers on post-2012 student loan arrangements who had been domiciled in: (a) Birmingham, Ladywood constituency, (b) the City of Birmingham and (c) the West Midlands, when they applied for financial support.