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1128898

registered interest
date	03/06/2019
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	Iron and Steel: Recycling
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 he has made of the potential merits of creating a more sustainable steel industry with a focus on recycling steel.
tabling member constituency	Newcastle-under-Lyme
tabling member printed	Paul Farrelly
uin	259037
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/06/2019 answer text <p>We are working with the sector, the unions and devolved administrations to support the UK steel industry to develop a long-term sustainable solution for the UK steel industry. The Department commissioned independent research to identify high value opportunities for UK steel, worth up to £3.8 billion a year by 2030.</p><p> </p><p>In the 2018 Budget, my rt. hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer announced an Industrial Energy Transformation Fund with investment of £315 million to help businesses with high energy use to cut their bills and transition UK industry to a low carbon future. Through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, we are also providing up to £66 million, subject to industry co-funding, to transform foundation industries which includes steel, to develop radical new technologies and establish innovation centres of excellence in these sectors.</p> answering member constituency Pendle answering member printed Andrew Stephenson question first answered 11/06/2019 15:54:14 answering member 4044 label Biography information for Andrew Stephenson
tabling member	1436 label Biography information for Paul Farrelly

1128920

registered interest
date	03/06/2019
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	WH Smith: Post Offices
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 he has had with Post Office Ltd on the agreement they reached with WHSmith’s following the closure of Crown Post Offices; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Gedling
tabling member printed	Vernon Coaker
uin	258993
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2019 answer text <p>BEIS Ministers and officials engage regularly with representatives of Post Office Limited on a range of strategic issues of mutual interest. While the Post Office is publicly owned, it is a commercial business operating in competitive markets. The Government sets the strategic direction for the Post Office – to maintain a national network accessible to all and to do so more sustainably for the taxpayer – and allows the company the commercial freedom to deliver this strategy as an independent business. Therefore, issues relating to the Post Office network, including Crown Post Offices and franchising agreements with WHSmith, are all operational matters for Post Office Limited.</p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst question first answered 10/06/2019 08:50:41 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
tabling member	360 label Biography information for Lord Coaker

1128921

registered interest
date	03/06/2019
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
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 he has had with Post Office Ltd on the retention of the existing network; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Gedling
tabling member printed	Vernon Coaker
uin	258994
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2019 answer text <p>BEIS Ministers and officials engage regularly with representatives of Post Office Limited on a range of strategic issues of mutual interest. While the Post Office is publicly owned, it is a commercial business operating in competitive markets. The Government sets the strategic direction for the Post Office – to maintain a national network accessible to all and to do so more sustainably for the taxpayer – and allows the company the commercial freedom to deliver this strategy as an independent business. Therefore, issues relating to the Post Office network, including Crown Post Offices and franchising agreements with WHSmith, are all operational matters for Post Office Limited.</p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst question first answered 10/06/2019 08:50:47 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
tabling member	360 label Biography information for Lord Coaker

1129021

registered interest
date	03/06/2019
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	Carbon Emissions: Environment Protection
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 funding is available for communities that wish to become carbon neutral.
tabling member constituency	Stroud
tabling member printed	Dr David Drew
uin	258956
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/06/2019 answer text <p>Community and local energy projects are an important element of carbon reduction and government continues to support communities who wish to become carbon neutral or reduce their carbon footprint.</p><p> </p><p>At the end of May, the Rural Community Energy Fund reopened to support communities seeking to develop a wide range of low carbon activities. The £10m fund provides grants to communities for the feasibility studies into their ideas for action and where viable another grant to help develop the project to investment readiness.</p><p> </p><p>The Rural Community Energy Fund will be delivered through the local energy hubs, created as part of the BEIS Local Energy Programme. The 5 hubs cover all the Local Enterprise Partnerships and the South West hub is managed by the West of England Combined Authority. The hubs provide wider commercial, technical and project management support to Local Authorities on their low carbon energy projects.</p> answering member constituency Kingswood answering member printed Chris Skidmore question first answered 11/06/2019 15:50:01 answering member 4021 label Biography information for Chris Skidmore
tabling member	252 label Biography information for Dr David Drew

1129066

registered interest
date	03/06/2019
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	Consumer Goods: Safety
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 is taking to ensure that the Office for Product Safety and Standards has the (a) powers and (b) resources necessary to issue guidance and protect consumers effectively.
tabling member constituency	Dulwich and West Norwood
tabling member printed	Helen Hayes
uin	259354
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/06/2019 answer text <p>The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) was set up in January 2018 to boost the UK’s product safety regime and provide national leadership on product safety matters. OPSS currently has access to my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State’s powers under the General Product Safety Regulations 2005. The Government has laid in draft an Order to ensure that OPSS powers reflect those available to other enforcement authorities under the Consumer Rights Act 2015. We will consult on whether further powers are necessary in due course.</p><p> </p><p>OPSS has additional funding on product safety of around £12m this year and the Department will consider OPSS funding requirements for future years in preparation for the next spending review.</p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst question first answered 11/06/2019 15:57:09 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
tabling member	4510 label Biography information for Helen Hayes

1129067

registered interest
date	03/06/2019
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	Consumer Goods: Safety
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 his Department has made of the effect of reductions in funding on local authorities capacity to enforce product safety measures.
tabling member constituency	Dulwich and West Norwood
tabling member printed	Helen Hayes
uin	259355
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/06/2019 answer text <p>Local Authorities are independent from central government and are responsible for their own finances and funding decisions, accountable to their local electorates.</p><p>Government identified the need for national leadership and co-ordination of the product safety system and established the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) in January 2018 to fulfil this role.</p><p>OPSS has built capability to lead on national product safety issues. This includes commissioning a strategic research programme; setting up arrangements to deal with national product safety incidents; and forming a trading standards co-ordination unit to support the work that Local Authorities carry out on product safety in their local areas.</p><p>As part of its support for Local Authority Trading Standards, OPSS has made available £600,000 this year to Local Authorities for product safety testing, trained over 700 trading standards staff from 211 Local Authorities and provided scientific and technical support to increase Trading Standards capability on product safety regulation.</p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst question first answered 11/06/2019 15:57:39 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
tabling member	4510 label Biography information for Helen Hayes

1129086

registered interest
date	03/06/2019
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	Energy Company Obligation
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 ensure that the Energy Company Obligation is targeted effectively at disabled people with conditions or impairments that are adversely affected by the cold.
tabling member constituency	Brighton, Pavilion
tabling member printed	Caroline Lucas
uin	259169
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/06/2019 answer text <p>Under the current iteration of the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) scheme, which began in December 2018, we have extended eligibility to include people in receipt of disability benefits. These benefits include: Disability Living Allowance, Personal Independence Payment, Severe Disablement Allowance, Carer’s Allowance, Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefits and their Ministry of Defence equivalents.</p><p>In addition, under an element of ECO called LA-Flex, obligated energy suppliers can meet up to 25% of their obligation by providing measures to households on low incomes and vulnerable to cold if they have been referred to them by a participating local authority. Some local authorities have used GP referrals to identify such vulnerable households.</p> answering member constituency Kingswood answering member printed Chris Skidmore question first answered 11/06/2019 15:54:57 answering member 4021 label Biography information for Chris Skidmore
tabling member	3930 label Biography information for Caroline Lucas

1129126

registered interest
date	03/06/2019
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	Flexible Working
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 is taking to encourage employers to be more flexible in their employee working hours.
tabling member constituency	Coventry South
tabling member printed	Mr Jim Cunningham
uin	258982
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/06/2019 answer text <p>Through the Industrial Strategy, the Government is working to transform our economy and ensuring that everyone, whatever their background, can access and progress at work.</p><p> </p><p>Flexible working can play an important part in helping businesses to improve their productivity and recruit and retain the best available talent. All employees with 26 weeks’ continuous service with their employer have the right to request flexible working. The Government is also considering a new duty on employers to be clear when advertising a job whether it is available on a flexible basis.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>In addition, the Government, with the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, has established the Flexible Working Taskforce to promote wider understanding and implementation of inclusive flexible work and working practices. The taskforce has developed a high-level business case for flexible working guidance on flexible recruitment and continues to promote more flexible hiring through the on going campaign “Happy to Talk Flexible Working”.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst question first answered 13/06/2019 13:05:29 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
tabling member	308 label Biography information for Mr Jim Cunningham

1129127

registered interest
date	03/06/2019
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	Flexible Working
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 is taking to encourage a better work-life balance in the UK.
tabling member constituency	Coventry South
tabling member printed	Mr Jim Cunningham
uin	258983
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/06/2019 answer text <p>Employees in the UK have a variety of different leave entitlements which can help them balance work with other commitments or interests. These range from short term leave to cover emergencies, through annual leave, to a range of entitlements to parental leave and pay. The Government is also considering new employment rights for carers.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, the Government continues to support flexible working practices to help people manage their work other commitments. Employees with 26 weeks of continuous service have a right to request flexible working and we are considering a new duty on employers to be clear when advertising a job whether it is available on a flexible basis.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst question first answered 11/06/2019 15:50:24 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
tabling member	308 label Biography information for Mr Jim Cunningham

1129131

registered interest
date	03/06/2019
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	Hydroelectric Power: Capital Investment
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 he has made of the potential merits of increasing investment in pumped hydro storage facilities.
tabling member constituency	Newcastle-under-Lyme
tabling member printed	Paul Farrelly
uin	259048
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/06/2019 answer text <p>We recognise that electricity storage technologies, including pumped hydro storage, provide an important source of flexibility to our energy system. We currently have around 3GW of storage capacity on our system, of which the vast majority is pumped hydro storage. The Electricity System Operator outlines that, by 2050, there could be 12-29 GW of total storage capacity on our system.</p><p> </p><p>In our Smart Systems and Flexibility Plan, published in July 2017 (and updated in October 2018), Government and Ofgem set out a range of actions to remove barriers to electricity storage. Our work seeks to enable fair access to energy markets in order to create a best in class regulatory framework for the sector and includes several important reforms to our electricity market, including to the balancing mechanism, capacity market and balancing services, which serve to sharpen incentives to invest in storage.</p><p> </p><p>We will continue to engage with storage developers, including those of pumped hydro projects, to understand how to facilitate these technologies whilst ensuring best value for consumers and fair competition between different flexibility technologies.</p> answering member constituency Kingswood answering member printed Chris Skidmore question first answered 11/06/2019 15:54:28 answering member 4021 label Biography information for Chris Skidmore
tabling member	1436 label Biography information for Paul Farrelly