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1167007

registered interest
date	29/10/2019
answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept id	201
answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
hansard heading	Directors: Prosecutions
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the letter of 23 September 2019 from the Minister for Small Business, Consumers and Corporate Responsibility to the hon. Member for Alyn and Deeside, for what reasons it is the Government’s policy that it is rarely in the public interest to prosecute directors who abandon companies.
tabling member constituency	Alyn and Deeside
tabling member printed	Mark Tami
uin	7235
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/11/2019 answer text <p>A prosecuting authority must ensure that any proposed prosecution meets the tests in the code for Crown Prosecutors. They are:</p><ul><li>That there is sufficient evidence an offence has been committed;</li><li>That there is a reasonable expectation that a conviction can be secured; and,</li><li>That the prosecuting authority must be satisfied that if a conviction is secured the Courts will impose more than a nominal penalty.</li></ul><p> </p><p>Abandoning a company as such is not an offence. A prosecution could only be for failing to file statutory documents: accounts or a confirmation statement. It is rarely the case that prosecuting the directors of a company that is no longer required meets the above tests.</p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst question first answered 05/11/2019 15:27:35 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
tabling member	1383 label Biography information for Mark Tami

1167009

registered interest
date	29/10/2019
answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept id	201
answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
hansard heading	Zero Hours Contracts: Scotland
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions she has had with the Scottish Trades Union Congress on the effect of zero-hours contracts on the (a) income and (b) mental well-being of workers under the age of 18 in Scotland.
tabling member constituency	Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill
tabling member printed	Hugh Gaffney
uin	7198
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/11/2019 answer text <p>Ministers and officials from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy engage regularly with trade unions on all labour market issues, including zero hours contracts. We were also pleased that representatives from the Scottish Trades Union Congress attended discussions with BEIS on the Good Work Plan in Edinburgh on 26 September.</p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst question first answered 05/11/2019 15:13:27 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
tabling member	4614 label Biography information for Hugh Gaffney

1156554

registered interest
date	28/10/2019
answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept id	201
answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
hansard heading	Hydrogen: Storage
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking to promote hydrogen energy storage.
tabling member printed	Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
uin	HL434
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/11/2019 answer text <p>The report published on the 2nd May 2019 by our independent advisors, the Committee on Climate Change, has stressed the importance of hydrogen in achieving Net Zero, however the technologies required to produce low carbon hydrogen are not yet fully developed. BEIS, through its Energy Innovation Programme, has committed more than £40 million to accelerate:</p><ul><li>the commercialisation of large-scale hydrogen energy storage technologies; and</li><li>the development of supplying low carbon hydrogen at scale for industry, power, buildings and transport.</li></ul> answering member printed Lord Duncan of Springbank question first answered 05/11/2019 14:38:58 answering member 4686 label Biography information for Lord Duncan of Springbank
tabling member	4282 label Biography information for Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

1156570

registered interest
date	28/10/2019
answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept id	201
answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
hansard heading	Fracking: Decommissioning
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to review the (1) requirements, (2) regulations, and (3) responsibilities, in connection with (a) the decommissioning of onshore fracking wells in particular where an operator is no longer able to carry out the necessary work, (b) monitoring of a well for any leakages or emissions, or other environmental damage following its closure and decommissioning, and (c) liabilities for any damage caused by the well after that time.
tabling member printed	Lord Greaves
uin	HL450
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/11/2019 answer text <p>When operations finish at shale gas sites, the licensees are responsible for safe decommissioning of their well(s) and for restoring the well-site to its previous state or a suitable condition for re-use. As set out, in the joint Written Ministerial Statement of 17 May 2018, as a matter of policy the financial resilience of all companies looking to hydraulically fracture is now assessed, including their ability to cover decommissioning costs.</p><p>Only three onshore wells have been hydraulically fractured in the UK and one of these, Cuadrilla’s site at Preese Hall, has been decommissioned and the site fully restored to its previous state. The groundwater at Preese Hall has been monitored post decommissioning in April 2015 and results have been supplied to the Environment Agency and the other regulatory bodies. There has been no evidence of environmental harm. The remaining two wells are at Cuadrilla’s Preston New Road site in Lancashire. As part of its application for Hydraulic Fracturing Consent, Cuadrilla was required to undergo a financial resilience check to ensure that it had sufficient funding to cover the full decommissioning of their site.</p><p>If, in the unlikely situation there was an issue with the well in the longer term, the Environment Agency would seek to identify the person(s) responsible for any pollution and has powers it can apply in specific circumstances, to remediate the issues.</p><p>The Department is considering whether any further mitigations might be appropriate.</p> answering member printed Lord Duncan of Springbank question first answered 05/11/2019 14:39:40 answering member 4686 label Biography information for Lord Duncan of Springbank
tabling member	2569 label Biography information for Lord Greaves

1156580

registered interest
date	28/10/2019
answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept id	201
answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
hansard heading	Incinerators: Greenhouse Gas Emissions
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what amount of greenhouse gases the UK produced from incineration, including through waste to energy incinerators, in 2016.
tabling member printed	Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb
uin	HL460
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/11/2019 answer text <p>Statistics on UK greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by source sector are published annually by the National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory (NAEI) and are available on the NAEI website.</p><p> </p><p>In 2016, approximately 5.1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent GHG emissions were emitted from incineration in the waste and energy supply sectors in the UK. Of this, 4.8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent GHG emissions were emitted in the energy supply sector. Emissions from biogenic waste material are not included, consistent with domestic and international reporting of GHG emissions.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Duncan of Springbank question first answered 05/11/2019 14:39:53 answering member 4686 label Biography information for Lord Duncan of Springbank
tabling member	4297 label Biography information for Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb

1166607

registered interest
date	28/10/2019
answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept id	201
answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
hansard heading	Renewable Energy: Finance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether she has plans to undertake a Contract for Difference allocation round for Pot 1 technologies.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	6378
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/11/2019 answer text <p>The Government continues to consider this issue carefully and will update the House in due course.</p> answering member constituency Spelthorne answering member printed Kwasi Kwarteng question first answered 04/11/2019 12:30:27 answering member 4134 label Biography information for Kwasi Kwarteng
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1166608

registered interest
date	28/10/2019
answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept id	201
answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
hansard heading	Solar Power: VAT
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment her Department has made of the effect of changes to rate of VAT for solar energy on trends in the level of uptake of (a) photovoltaic and (b) battery storage.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	6379
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/11/2019 answer text <p>The UK was required to make these changes to comply with EU legislation. Energy savings materials can still qualify for the reduced 5% rate of VAT if they meet certain criteria, including where materials costs are less than 60 per cent of total installation costs.</p><p> </p><p>We estimate that the majority of standalone solar installations will fall below this threshold and will therefore be unaffected. Standalone batteries were not previously eligible and therefore are also unaffected. Batteries installed at the same time as solar are more likely to exceed this threshold and therefore be affected. We do not hold data on the uptake of domestic battery installations.</p><p> </p><p>Once we have left the EU there may well be opportunities to amend the VAT treatment of low carbon technologies to ensure we can set the rates we consider are most appropriate.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Spelthorne answering member printed Kwasi Kwarteng question first answered 04/11/2019 12:30:33 answering member 4134 label Biography information for Kwasi Kwarteng
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1166698

registered interest
date	28/10/2019
answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept id	201
answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
hansard heading	Asda: Conditions of Employment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps she is taking to ensure there is agreement between (a) Asda’s owners, (b) Asda’s employees and (c) trade unions on the terms of the new deal, known as Contract 6, being offered by Asda to its employees.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow South
tabling member printed	Stewart Malcolm McDonald
uin	6440
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/10/2019 answer text <p>Government has regular engagement with retailers.</p><p> </p><p>A legal framework exists which ensures that employers should always treat their employees fairly.</p><p> </p><p>In general, the terms and conditions of employment are for negotiation and agreement between employers and employees (or their representatives).  Once agreed, however, they form a legally binding contract of employment.  While it is always open to either party to seek to renegotiate the terms of the contract, if the employer changes any of the terms without the employee’s agreement, the employee may be entitled to seek legal redress.</p><p> </p><p>Both employers and employees are strongly encouraged to follow the guidance available on GOV.UK at https://www.gov.uk/your-employment-contract-how-it-can-be-changed when considering changing their terms and conditions of employment.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst question first answered 31/10/2019 09:37:19 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
tabling member	4461 label Biography information for Stewart Malcolm McDonald

1166704

registered interest
date	28/10/2019
answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept id	201
answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
hansard heading	Unpaid Work: Pilot Schemes
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of Brighton and Hove City Council’s public consultation on the scale of unpaid work trials; and if her Department will undertake a similar consultation at a national level.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow South
tabling member printed	Stewart Malcolm McDonald
uin	6441
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/10/2019 answer text <p>The Government is committed to ensuring that all employers pay their workers correctly. HM Revenue and Customs considers all worker complaints and will take enforcement action in any cases of abuse.</p><p>We have clarified through guidance that unpaid work trials are not permissible if they are excessive or not part of a genuine recruitment process. They can play an important role in helping people into work opportunities.</p><p>The Government will consider the results of Brighton and Hove City Council’s public consultation once the consultation is concluded.</p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst question first answered 31/10/2019 09:39:05 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
tabling member	4461 label Biography information for Stewart Malcolm McDonald

1166714

registered interest
date	28/10/2019
answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept id	201
answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
hansard heading	Post Office: Strikes
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent discussions she has had with representatives of (a) Royal Mail Group and (b) the Communication Workers Union on postal workers' vote in favour of strike action.
tabling member constituency	Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill
tabling member printed	Hugh Gaffney
uin	6483
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/11/2019 answer text <p>Ministers have regular discussions with stakeholders on a number of issues.</p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst question first answered 05/11/2019 16:54:52 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
tabling member	4614 label Biography information for Hugh Gaffney