Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of regulatory frameworks for electricity and gas throughout the UK.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government’s Smarter Regulation programme aims to reform existing regulations to minimise regulatory burden, ensure regulations are contemporary and forward looking, and make use of alternatives to regulation wherever beneficial, whilst ensuring a well-functioning regulatory landscape. Alongside this, the Government’s retail energy reform programme aims to ensure consumers receive good service, fair prices, that energy companies invest in innovative products and services, and consumer choice contributes towards a lowest-cost flexible energy system. In addition, the ongoing Review of Electricity Market Arrangements is conducting a widescale assessment of the current regulatory arrangements for the wholesale electricity market.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of inflation on the £25 billion retail deposit level at which banks are required to ring-fence their retail deposit-taking operations.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
On 28 September 2023, the government published draft secondary legislation for consultation on reforms to the ring-fencing regime. The reforms will make the regime smarter and simpler by taking forward recommendations made by the independent ring-fencing review and going further in a number of areas. This includes increasing the “core deposit” threshold, above which firms become subject to the regime, from £25bn to £35bn.
The deposit threshold was originally set at £25bn by HM Treasury following recommendations from the Independent Commission on Banking (ICB) in 2011. The government white paper published in 2011 in response to the ICB outlined that the threshold would need to be adjusted over time to reflect the evolution of banking practices and growth in the deposit base.
Since then, the deposit base has grown significantly and the resilience of the banking sector has increased. The proposed £10bn increase to the threshold would result in approximately 90% of banks’ UK retail deposits being covered by the ring-fencing regime, which is broadly in line with the proportion covered when the threshold was set originally.
The updated threshold will provide banks currently below the £25bn deposit threshold with more room to grow before becoming subject to the ring-fencing regime. By removing a potential barrier to growth for banks, this proposal will support competition in the UK retail banking industry, and benefit the sector and its customers as a whole
The government will publish an impact assessment on its proposed reforms to the ring-fencing regime alongside introducing forthcoming secondary legislation.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of the £25 billion threshold for banks to separate out their retail deposit-taking operations into a ring-fenced entity on the competitiveness of the UK retail bank industry.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
On 28 September 2023, the government published draft secondary legislation for consultation on reforms to the ring-fencing regime. The reforms will make the regime smarter and simpler by taking forward recommendations made by the independent ring-fencing review and going further in a number of areas. This includes increasing the “core deposit” threshold, above which firms become subject to the regime, from £25bn to £35bn.
The deposit threshold was originally set at £25bn by HM Treasury following recommendations from the Independent Commission on Banking (ICB) in 2011. The government white paper published in 2011 in response to the ICB outlined that the threshold would need to be adjusted over time to reflect the evolution of banking practices and growth in the deposit base.
Since then, the deposit base has grown significantly and the resilience of the banking sector has increased. The proposed £10bn increase to the threshold would result in approximately 90% of banks’ UK retail deposits being covered by the ring-fencing regime, which is broadly in line with the proportion covered when the threshold was set originally.
The updated threshold will provide banks currently below the £25bn deposit threshold with more room to grow before becoming subject to the ring-fencing regime. By removing a potential barrier to growth for banks, this proposal will support competition in the UK retail banking industry, and benefit the sector and its customers as a whole
The government will publish an impact assessment on its proposed reforms to the ring-fencing regime alongside introducing forthcoming secondary legislation.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many staff in her Department have been tasked as part of the Red Tape Review with reviewing departmental archival holdings identifying EU regulatory burdens that had been identified by previous deregulation audits.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
We do not centrally hold information on the number of staff tasked with reviewing departmental archival holdings identifying EU regulatory burdens that had been identified by previous deregulation audits.
The government is however - via the Retained EU Law review and reform programme and the wider Smarter Regulation programme - committed to reviewing regulations on an ongoing basis to identify where improvements can be made and where the cost on business or consumers can be reduced. As part of this the government has passed the Retained EU Law (REUL) Act, giving departments the powers to reform their stock of REUL where appropriate.
Asked by: Alison McGovern (Labour - Wirral South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee report entitled Where have all the workers gone, published on 20 December 2022, whether his Department's review of issues holding back workforce participation, as announced in the Autumn Statement on 17 November 2022, plans to cover (a) whether sectors of the workforce will need to adapt by re-organising the way they produce their output, for example by replacing labour with automation or changes to terms and conditions, (b) in instances where those sectors are unable to adapt, whether they will become smaller than they would have been and (c) whether a Government policy response is necessary on these matters.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The government is clear that increasing labour supply is a key priority.
We will identify and understand the barriers preventing people from joining the workforce and/or resulting in people leaving the workforce early and will be focussing on four cohorts: early retirees, disabled people and people with health conditions, unpaid carers, and students.
How firms adapt to a changing labour market will depend on their type of business, for example, in the case of manufacturing we want more manufacturers to adopt technology that will improve productivity and stimulate growth, including robotics and automation and we have programmes that support them to do this. This includes the Made Smarter programme which has committed almost £200m in funding to large manufacturers and SMEs to develop new technology solutions and adopt existing tech, including robotics and autonomous systems.
We will work with other government departments and engage with a wide network of stakeholders, including economists, academics, charities, industry/business representatives and research organisations, to gather insight and develop new ideas to tackle the issue.
Asked by: Janet Daby (Labour - Lewisham East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress his Department has made on the White Paper entitled A smarter approach to sentencing.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice published a Sentencing White Paper – ‘A Smarter Approach to Sentencing’ - in September 2020, which set out the department’s plans for a system that protects the public, as well as one which the public can understand and have confidence in.
The reforms announced in the White Paper were about ensuring that the most serious and dangerous offenders are kept in prison for longer, while also tackling the underlying causes of criminal behaviour and improving the rehabilitation and supervision of offenders in the community.
The legislative measures in the White Paper formed the basis of the sentencing measures in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act which was passed earlier this year, with most measures having commenced on 28 June 2022. Measures included abolishing automatic halfway release for certain serious offenders, making a Whole Life Order the default sentencing position for offenders who commit the premeditated murder of a child, and preventing the automatic early release for offenders who become of significant public protection concern while in custody. Other measures included a statutory duty to consult on the design and delivery of unpaid work, increasing the length and flexibility of electronically monitored curfew, and streamlining the out of court disposals framework. We also brought forward measures to allow the piloting of Problem-Solving Courts and we have announced three sites that we are working closely with to launch the pilots.
The White Paper also made a number of non-legislative commitments. We have made significant progress on these commitments and work on implementation is ongoing. Key areas of progress include the cross-government Action Plan on neurodiversity which we published in June this year, in response to the independent Evidence Review we commissioned. An update on the progress made on the Action Plan is due to published shortly. We also launched the Pre-Sentence Report Pilot in March 2021, with the initial findings from the process evaluation due to be published in 2023, and we are undertaking an evaluation of the national Community Treatment Sentence Requirement programme, with early feedback expected in 2023.
Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment, if any, they have made of the options available to ensure the resilience of the National Rail Network at temperatures in excess of 40 degrees centigrade.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Department for Transport has plans in place and underway to adapt to and mitigate the risks of our changing climate. The Williams-Shapps Rail Plan includes a priority for long-term investment in climate resilience supported by smarter forecasting, planning and technology.
On Wednesday 20 July, Network Rail announced the launch of a new taskforce led by independent experts to investigate and make recommendations on how the railway can develop its approach to resilience during hot weather following this week’s unprecedented heatwave.
The review will consider four key areas, each led by an independent expert in their field. Three of these areas will be focused on gathering insights from other countries and making comparisons with international rail networks that are more used to dealing with extreme heat and fluctuations in temperature.
As part of the review, the taskforce will:
- investigate options to ensure the railway infrastructure can continue to function safely and reliably during very hot weather; and
- explore operational standards, policies and practices which could allow services to continue to operate safely and without highly limiting speed restrictions in extreme heat.
Network Rail (NR) and the wider rail industry are working to improve our resilience to climate change impacts and other disruptive events. They are developing a risk-based approach to resilience planning, enabling a focus on those risks and assets that are key to delivering safety and performance improvements for passengers and freight users in a cost-effective manner.
Many infrastructure operators, including Network Rail, consider the changing climate in their strategic planning and report on their preparedness under the Adaptation Reporting Power.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to introduce a Build Back Better fund to help the manufacturing sector recover after COVID-19.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is, and will continue to be, a champion of the needs of business and industry, including the UK manufacturing sector. This is why the principles of our Plan for Growth, and its supporting strategies will put the UK at the forefront of opportunities, give businesses the confidence to invest, boost productivity across the UK, enable our green industrial revolution, and support our vision for Global Britain.
As part of the Spending Review, my Rt hon Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer announced the Made Smarter Adoption programme award of £24 million for the period covering 2022-25 to help manufacturing SMEs increase productivity, competitiveness and drive-up efficiency by adopting industrial digital technology. This funding is in addition to the £8 million committed to the programme for the period covering 2021-22 and builds on the success of the £20 million North West pilot.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question
To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the House of Commons Commission, what assessment the Commission has made of the adequacy of the independence of disciplinary proceedings against hon. Members.
Answered by Charles Walker
Bullying and harassment have no place in Parliament. The Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme was established in July 2018 and covers all members of the parliamentary community, including MPs. There have been two independent reviews of the ICGS since its establishment – the 6-month review and the 18-month review. Alison Stanley carried out both reviews, the more recent one concluding in February 2021. Alison Stanley noted in her report in February that there has been much progress on the implementation of the scheme since the 6-month review, but there are still improvements to be made, particularly around the time taken for investigations to conclude. Her review contained 36 recommendations which, when implemented together, will make a significant difference to those who use the scheme.
The ICGS team has already made progress towards implementing these recommendations in important areas such as speeding up investigations, streamlining the ICGS process, smarter policies and processes, improved accessibility and stronger communications.
All ICGS cases against MPs are investigated by members of a pool of independent investigators contracted to work with the House Service, overseen by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, who is herself independent and impartial. The Commissioner reviews the investigator’s final report, the accompanying evidence and the investigator’s recommendation. If the Commissioner finds that rules have been breached, she can require an apology to the House or, if she feels the sanctions available to her are not sufficient, can refer to the Independent Expert Panel.
The Independent Expert Panel was established in June 2020; its members were appointed on 25 November following fair and open competition. The Panel is entirely independent, with no MPs taking part in its decisions or able to influence them. It hears appeals and decides sanctions in ICGS cases where complaints of bullying, harassment or sexual misconduct have been brought against MPs. Sanctions could include the suspension or expulsion of an MP, which would then require a vote in the House. To date, it has published four reports on the conduct of MPs.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Gloucester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the remand backlog on (1) prison overcrowding, and (2) the health and wellbeing of prisoners, including children and young people held on remand.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The remand population has increased during the pandemic, mostly due to the challenges in holding Crown Court trials during this period. However, as published in the Prison Population National Statistics on the 26th November, the remand population is forecast to drop by September 2021 as trial capacity is expected to increase in the next year as the court system recovers from the impact of COVID-19. In turn more remand prisoners will flow out of the remand population.
The total prison population has also reduced by over 5,000 since the start of the pandemic and as a result the total number of prisoners currently held in crowded conditions has reduced. The extent to which crowding has reduced in 20/21 will be reflected in the publication of the HMPPS Annual Digest.
The pandemic has brought new challenges to managing the estate and we have worked at pace to ensure we have enough suitable accommodation, protect the most vulnerable and reduce transmission of infection. We have produced a range of products to support Governors in devising and implementing local safety and welfare plans designed to mitigate risk of self-harm, including tailored guidance for supporting specific groups of people in prison whose wellbeing may be more impacted by Covid-19 measures.
Additionally, the latest monthly Youth Custody data published in September show there were 620 children and young people (including 18 year olds) in the youth secure estate – this is significantly down from the published figure of 852 at the end of February 2020, and the lowest number recorded within this publication. Of the 620 children and young people in custody at this time, 236 (38%) were on remand.
MoJ is currently undertaking a review into the use of custodial remand for children, including identifying options to reduce numbers where appropriate. In the Smarter Sentencing White Paper, MoJ announced plans to raise the threshold for imposing custodial remand on children and require courts to record their rationale.