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1124309

registered interest
date	01/05/2019
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: Earthquakes
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, on how many occasions the Government guidelines on earth tremors have been breached by fracking operations in each of the last three years.
tabling member constituency	East Antrim
tabling member printed	Sammy Wilson
uin	250015
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/05/2019 answer text <p>The Traffic Light System for monitoring induced seismicity was introduced after consideration of advice from three scientists, following operations at Cuadrilla’s Preese Hall site in 2011. The level of magnitude 0.5 at which operators must pause operations, was set in consultation with industry as an appropriate precautionary measure. These regulations have been working as intended and there are no plans to review the traffic light system.</p><p> </p><p>Three seismic events, equal or greater than magnitude 0.5, were recorded during pumping operations at Preston New Road between October and December 2018. Following these red traffic light events the operator temporarily paused operations, reduced pressure and monitored for any further seismic events.</p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst question first answered 13/05/2019 13:29:45 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
tabling member	1593 label Biography information for Sammy Wilson

1124311

registered interest
date	01/05/2019
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: Earthquakes
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 plans the Government has to review the guidelines on earth tremors caused by fracking operations.
tabling member constituency	East Antrim
tabling member printed	Sammy Wilson
uin	250017
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/05/2019 answer text <p>I refer the hon. Member the answer I gave the hon. Member for Lewisham East on 1 May 2019 to Question <a href="https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2019-04-24/247160/" target="_blank">247160</a>.</p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst question first answered 13/05/2019 13:29:55 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
tabling member	1593 label Biography information for Sammy Wilson

1124313

registered interest
date	01/05/2019
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: Earthquakes
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 representations his Department has received from (a) fracking companies, (b) environmental groups and (c) the shale gas commissioner on the appropriateness of current guidelines on tremors caused by fracking.
tabling member constituency	East Antrim
tabling member printed	Sammy Wilson
uin	250018
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/05/2019 answer text <p>The Department routinely receives correspondence from a wide range of stakeholders in relation to the regulatory regime for shale gas extraction, including the traffic light system.</p><p> </p><p>The Traffic Light System for monitoring induced seismicity was introduced after consideration of advice from scientists, following operations at Cuadrilla’s Preese Hall site in 2011. The level of magnitude 0.5 at which operators must pause operations, was set in consultation with industry as an appropriate precautionary measure. These regulations have been working as intended and there are no plans to review the traffic light system.</p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst question first answered 13/05/2019 13:30:06 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
tabling member	1593 label Biography information for Sammy Wilson

1123799

registered interest
date	30/04/2019
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	Employment: Females
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	What steps his Department is taking to support women at work.
tabling member constituency	Faversham and Mid Kent
tabling member printed	Helen Whately
uin	910613
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/04/2019 answer text <p>The Industrial Strategy aims to boost productivity by backing businesses to create good jobs and increase earning power for all.</p><p> </p><p>This includes removing barriers faced by women in accessing and progressing at work and in starting and growing a business, as explored in the recent Rose Review.</p><p> </p><p>We are also giving parents more choice about who is the primary carer in the first year of their babies’ lives through the Shared Parental Leave and Pay scheme.</p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst question first answered 30/04/2019 13:47:56 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
tabling member	4527 label Biography information for Helen Whately

1123886

registered interest
date	30/04/2019
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	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 he has taken to increase workers rights.
tabling member constituency	Stevenage
tabling member printed	Stephen McPartland
uin	249272
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/05/2019 answer text <p>On 17 December 2018 we published the Good Work Plan, which sets out our vision for the future of the labour market and our ambitious plan for implementing the recommendations arising from the Taylor Review of Modern Working Practices.</p><p> </p><p>Since publishing the Good Work Plan, we have passed legislation that means:</p><ul><li>All workers receive a day one statement of rights setting out leave entitlements and pay;</li><li>An maximum additional penalty that Employment Tribunals can use quadrupling from £5,000 to £20,000, helping ensure workers are protected from employers who show malice, spite or gross oversight;</li><li>The ending of the Swedish Derogation, the legal loophole that enables some firms to pay agency workers on less than permanent staff, which will benefit up to 120,000 agency workers;</li><li>New agency workers will receive a key facts page before signing up with an agency, providing them with greater clarity, particularly around their pay; and</li><li>The threshold for an information and consultation request being reduced from 10% to 2% of employees, meaning a stronger voice in the workplace.</li></ul><p> </p><p>In delivering the Good Work Plan. we will also:</p><ul><li>Legislate to make improvements to the clarity of employment status tests to reflect the reality of modern working relationships;</li><li>Bring forward proposals for consultation on creating a new, single labour market enforcement agency to better ensure that vulnerable workers are more aware of and can exercise their rights, and that businesses are more supported to comply with the law;</li><li>Enforce holiday pay for vulnerable workers;</li><li>Introduce a right to request a more predictable and stable contract;</li><li>Launch a new scheme to name and shame, for the first time, employers who fail to pay employment tribunal awards.</li></ul> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst question first answered 09/05/2019 16:52:39 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
tabling member	4093 label Biography information for Stephen McPartland

1123887

registered interest
date	30/04/2019
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	Business: Stevenage
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 steps he has taken to increase support for businesses in Stevenage.
tabling member constituency	Stevenage
tabling member printed	Stephen McPartland
uin	249273
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/05/2019 answer text <p>Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) are playing a vital role in driving forward economic growth across the country, helping to build a country that works for everyone. That’s why by 2021 Government will have invested over £12bn through the Local Growth Fund, allowing LEPs to use their local knowledge to get all areas of the country firing on all cylinders.</p><p> </p><p>The Government will have invested £160m Growth Deal funding in Hertfordshire by 2021, and the LEP was allocated £16.2m Growing Places Funding. The LEP has prioritised spending on science, research and innovation, developing skills, cultivating world-leading sectors and supporting businesses to start up and grow. In Stevenage, this has included allocating £1.2m to the Airbus Foundation Discovery Space.</p><p> </p><p>Since 2012, the Start-Up Loans Programme has delivered 71 loans in Stevenage, worth £487, 289 to small businesses.</p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst question first answered 14/05/2019 12:33:14 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
tabling member	4093 label Biography information for Stephen McPartland

1123934

registered interest
date	30/04/2019
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: Holiday Leave
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 staff on zero-hours contracts are entitled to annual leave.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	249305
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/05/2019 answer text <p>All workers, including workers on zero-hour contracts are entitled to receive paid annual leave.</p><p> </p><p>In 2017, the Unpaid Britain report found that 1.8 million workers are missing out on £1.8 billion each year, in unpaid holiday leave.</p><p> </p><p>The Government wants to ensure that all workers, regardless of the hours they work, receive the paid time off they deserve. This is why the Government recently ran the ‘It comes with the job’ advertising campaign encouraging workers to understand their rights and employers to understand their legal obligations. Government has also developed new guidance, available on GOV.UK, to help workers and employers understand holiday pay policy and entitlement. Both the campaign, and the guidance were aimed at atypical workers, which includes workers on zero hours contracts. To aid those at risk of not receiving their holiday entitlement, the Government has also committed to introducing state enforcement of holiday pay for vulnerable workers.</p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst question first answered 07/05/2019 16:05:26 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1124011

registered interest
date	30/04/2019
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	Retail Trade
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 his Department has taken to promote the retail industry through the Government's Industrial Strategy.
tabling member constituency	Coventry South
tabling member printed	Mr Jim Cunningham
uin	249204
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/05/2019 answer text <p>At Autumn Budget 2018, my rt. hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer announced the Future High Streets Fund, which aims to invest £675m in England to support local areas to develop and fund plans to make their high streets and town centres fit for the future. Autumn Budget also announced a cut in business rates by one third for the next two years for all retailers in England with a rateable value below £51,000, worth almost £1bn to retailers.</p><p> </p><p>The industry-led Retail Sector Council has agreed its priority work areas for the next two years, focusing on: costs to business, skills and lifelong learning, employment protections, the circular economy, consumer protections, and retail and the Industrial Strategy.</p><p> </p><p>A senior industry figure is leading each of these work groups and will bring proposals for action for both industry and government back to the Council for consideration. The Industrial Strategy workstream is led by Sir Charlie Mayfield, Chairman of the John Lewis Partnership and member of the Industrial Strategy Council, and will look at how the Industrial Strategy can work to the benefit of the retail sector.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>As part of the Industrial Strategy, and following the Taylor Review of Modern Working Practices, the Government responded with the Good Work Plan, which will bring forward legislation to extend workers’ rights, including for people who work in the retail sector. This includes the introduction of new guidance to support the interpretation of holiday pay rules, as well as the biggest ever increase to the National Living Wage. An awareness campaign will be launched, targeted at both individuals and employers, to boost awareness and understanding to help ensure all workers are benefiting from their paid entitlement to leave. All these measures will improve the wages and working contracts of many of those working in the retail sector.</p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst question first answered 08/05/2019 15:00:34 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst previous answer version 116722 answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
tabling member	308 label Biography information for Mr Jim Cunningham

1123518

registered interest
date	29/04/2019
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	Artificial Intelligence: 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 recent steps he has taken to train and prepare workers for the impact of artificial intelligence.
tabling member constituency	Newcastle-under-Lyme
tabling member printed	Paul Farrelly
uin	248599
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/05/2019 answer text <p>The Industrial Strategy sets out the Government’s vision to make the UK a global centre for AI and data innovation, alongside measures to ensure our people are equipped to capitalise on those opportunities.</p><p> </p><p>We are improving the UK's system for training in digital skills and lifelong learning to ensure that working people have the support they need to navigate the challenge of automation to a higher-wage future. Through the Industrial Strategy we are delivering:</p><p> </p><ul><li>16 New Centres for Doctoral Training at universities across the country, delivering 1,000 new PhDs over the next 5 years;</li><li>New prestigious AI fellowships to attract and retain the top AI talent, underpinned by up to £50m of funding agreed at Autumn Budget</li><li>Industry-funding for new AI Masters places;</li><li>Invested £406m in maths, digital and technical education; and</li><li>Committed £100m for the first phase of developing the National Retraining Scheme to support people vulnerable to technological change.</li></ul><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Government’s Good Work Plan was published in December 2018 and will ensure that the labour market continues to work for everyone. The Plan commits to a wide range of policy and legislative changes to ensure that workers can access fair and decent work, that both employers and workers have the clarity they need to understand their employment relationships, and that the enforcement system is fair and fit for purpose.</p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst question first answered 08/05/2019 15:06:20 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
tabling member	1436 label Biography information for Paul Farrelly

1123567

registered interest
date	29/04/2019
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 Offices: Location
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many Post Office branches have received investment in addition to that awarded through the Network Transformation Programme to relocate; and what the cost of these investments is in (a) Scotland, (b) Wales, (c) Northern Ireland, and (d) each region of England.
tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
uin	248716
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/05/2019 answer text <p>The Government recognises the critical role that post offices play in communities and for small businesses across the UK. This is why the Government committed to safeguard the post office network and protect existing rural services. The overall number of post offices across the UK remains at its most stable in decades with over 11,500 branches thanks to significant Government investment of over £2 billion since 2010.</p><p> </p><p>While the Government sets the strategic direction for the Post Office, it allows the company the commercial freedom to deliver this strategy as an independent business. Investments and costs of Post Office branches across the UK or by each region of England are operational matters for Post Office Limited. I have therefore asked Alisdair Cameron, the Group interim Chief Executive of Post Office Limited, to write to the hon Member on this matter. A copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of the House.</p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst question first answered 02/05/2019 12:59:22 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows