Tag: Matthew Pennycook

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Pennycook on 2015-11-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what discussions she has had with the National Infrastructure Commission on ensuring it helps deliver a future-proof energy infrastructure as part of its early work.

Andrea Leadsom

My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State met with the Chair of the National Infrastructure Commission to discuss the focus of the Commission’s early work, how this focus relates to the Department’s priorities going forward, and how the Department can assist in the work of the Commission more broadly. DECC officials will continue to work closely with the Commission to ensure that their early work builds on the existing evidence and our current expectations of the country’s energy infrastructure needs.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Pennycook on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if she will instruct the National Measurement and Regulation Office to publish a list of all known heat networks in the UK.

Andrea Leadsom

In the final quarter of this year DECC will publish summary tables, including regional breakdowns, of the data gathered as a result of the notification requirement in the Heat Networks (Metering and Billing) Regulations. Due to the commercially sensitive nature of the data, this information will be aggregated rather than a list of individual networks.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Pennycook on 2016-03-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to provide advice and support to small and medium-sized enterprises to boost their productivity before the introduction of the national living wage.

Anna Soubry

Government is committed to providing an environment in which all businesses can manage the transition to the National Living Wage. To help with the transition we are cutting taxes and employer National Insurance contributions in total by over £3 billion a year through the Employment Allowance and Corporation Tax.

SMEs will benefit from an ACAS produced online productivity tool designed to help organisations take simple steps to improve workplace relations, raise staff engagement and boost productivity. In addition, businesses can continue to benefit from a range of general support services including:

• Access to local support through Growth Hubs which join up local resources and are being rolled out across the country.
• The Business Support helpline and the’ My Business Support Tool’ on GOV.UK which help businesses find the support they need quickly.
• British Business Bank programmes which are supporting £2.4bn of finance to over 40,000 smaller businesses.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Pennycook on 2016-04-25.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraphs 3.16 to 3.26 of the report, Independent review of UK economic statistics, published on 11 March 2016, what plans he has to improve the accuracy of estimates of the contribution of the digital economy to UK productivity.

Greg Hands

Professor Sir Charles Bean’s Independent Review of Economic Statistics highlighted the importance of proper measurement of the digital economy.

To enable the Office for National Statistics to develop world-leading analytical and digital capabilities in economic measurement, the government will invest over £10m in a new hub for data science and a centre for excellence in economic measurement in line with the recommendations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Pennycook on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure that Southeastern has access to sufficient rolling stock to enable it to alleviate capacity pressures across its London metro network.

Paul Maynard

The Department is exploring the provision of additional rolling stock to Southeastern, in order to lengthen services and increase capacity for passengers. This requires extensive commercial negotiations with Southeastern. We are continuing to work with Southeastern to develop the business case, and an announcement will be made in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Pennycook on 2015-12-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what wholesale price and carbon price forecast scenarios her Department uses when forecasting total projected expenditure of the Levy Control Framework.

Andrea Leadsom

The assumptions on wholesale prices used in the LCF projections are consistent with the wholesale fossil fuel, electricity, and carbon prices scenarios published as part of the updated Energy and Emissions Projections in November this year, and are set out in Annex M available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/477625/Annex-m-price-growth-assumptions.xls

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Pennycook on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether energy suppliers are obligated to report to the National Measurement and Regulation Office when a heat network is established or a lease is acquired.

Joseph Johnson

Under Regulation 3(2)(b) of The Heat Network (Metering and Billing) Regulations 2014 heat suppliers have a duty to notify the National Measurement and Regulation Office in relation to a district heat network or communal heating that commences operation after 31^st December 2015, on or before the first date of operation.

If a change of ownership occurs (or a lease is acquired) on a district heat network or communal heating that has already been notified there is no requirement to re-notify within four years of the date of the first notification submitted. If the network has not been previously notified, then the duty to notify applies.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Pennycook on 2016-03-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the Answer of 10 September 2015 to Question 8556, what progress Energy UK has made in developing the webtool www.comparemyenergy.org.uk.

Andrea Leadsom

We welcome the development by many energy suppliers of consumption comparison tools on their websites. These use the data consumers provide to make comparisons meaningful and reflective of household circumstances.

In addition, we expect the Competition and Markets Authority shortly to publish the conclusion of their work on the energy market, including how to make the energy market work effectively for consumers.

Energy UK have subsequently advised the webtool, comparemyenergy.org.uk, ceased to function from March 2015, due to very low consumer response.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Pennycook on 2016-04-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will give Ofcom the power to set or cap access charges with regard to 084 and 087 numbers.

Mr Edward Vaizey

Under the Communications Act 2003, Ofcom already has the power to impose tariff principles and maximum prices for the purpose of protecting consumers. Ofcom made changes in July 2015 to simplify non-geographic numbers and make call pricing clearer for consumers. This included making Freephone 080 and 116 numbers free from all telephones; and imposing a common simplified structure on revenue generating numbers – 084, 087, 090, 091 and 118 – which splits the price of the call between the phone company and the call service. Ofcom will be reviewing the effectiveness of these new regulations after their first year of operation and will consider whether further regulation should be imposed.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Pennycook on 2016-10-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment he has made of the performance of Access to Work; and what steps his Department is taking to ensure that (a) deafblind people and (b) people with complex needs receive the appropriate levels of support to help them into work.

Penny Mordaunt

The Government wants all disabled and people with a long term health condition to fulfil their potential and achieve their aspirations. Every individual should to have the opportunity to work and share in the economic and health benefits that work brings, regardless of their health condition or disability.

Deafblind customers and customers with complex needs are not recorded separately in Access to Work data, so it is not possible to assess the scheme’s performance with them. However, Access to Work has specialist teams to provide a dedicated service to particular groups of customers including both deaf customers and customers with a visual impairment. People who are deafblind are normally assisted by the Visual Impairment team

Last year, Access to Work helped over 36,000 people to take up or remain in employment. Access to Work figures may be subject to change. Official Statistics have recently been subject to a detailed methodology review which identified some technical issues. We will release a revised publication once these issues have been resolved.

We will soon publish a Green Paper on work and health and conduct a consultation aimed at disabled people, their representative organisations and a wide range of other stakeholders, who all have an important part to play in making the transformative changes needed.