Tag: The Lord Bishop of St Albans

The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Lord Bishop of St Albans on 2014-06-16.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will make representations to the government of Iran for an independent international inquiry into the events at Evin Prison in Tehran on 17 April.

Baroness Warsi

The Government was disturbed by reports of physical violence against political prisoners in Evin prison on 17 April 2014. We have been concerned about prison conditions in Iran for some time and set out our views formally in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s 2014 Human Rights report. The UK has been a strong supporter of the UN Special Rapporteur for human rights in Iran, Dr Shaheed, and successfully lobbied for the extension of his mandate in 2014.

In March, Dr Shaheed reported that conditions for prison inmates range from poor to inhumane, access to medical services is often limited, and hygiene and nutrition are poor. The UK works closely with international human rights bodies and partners to encourage Iran to engage seriously on human rights issues. The UK’s non-resident Charge d’Affaires also raised human rights with a range of Iranian government officials during his visit to Iran in March.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Lord Bishop of St Albans on 2014-06-16.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress was made towards improving the security and affordability of off-grid fuel supply at the third ministerial roundtable meeting on heating oil and liquid petroleum gas supply on 21 May.

Baroness Verma

My rt. hon. Friend the Minister of State for Energy chaired the third Ministerial Roundtable meeting on heating oil and LPG supply on 21 May. My rt. hon Friend the Minister of State for Climate Change joined the roundtable discussion on off gas grid fuel poor households and support for off gas grid consumers. This continued the useful discussions government has had at the previous two Roundtables with representatives from industry, consumer groups, oil buying groups and others on how to improve heating oil and LPG supply to UK consumers.

Issues covered at the third roundtable included the promotion of the Federation of Petroleum Suppliers’ Customer Charter, the messaging to consumers on buying oil early ahead of the winter and an update on the action government is taking more broadly to help fuel poor off-grid households. Full details of the meeting can be found in the minutes of the meeting which has been placed in the Library of the House.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Lord Bishop of St Albans on 2014-05-06.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they intend to ensure the continuing affordability of liquid petroleum gas and oil for those households which are not on mains gas supply.

Baroness Verma

Her Majesty’s Government is acutely aware of the difficulties people have experienced with the price of liquid petroleum gas and heating oil. The price of LPG and oil is influenced by a range of factors, including crude oil prices (the major factor), refinery capacity, stock levels, distribution costs and retail margins.

We believe that the consumer is best served by open competition between companies. The Office of Fair Trading studied the heating oil market in 2011 and found few competition concerns. Most areas of the UK are supplied by a variety of heating oil suppliers and there are low barriers to entry for new businesses who may want to compete. The OFT study also commented on the generally positive initial impact of the Competition Commission Orders from 2009 to make it easier for domestic bulk LPG consumers to switch supplier, and there is a statutory duty to keep under review the effectiveness of and compliance with these Orders.

My Rt. Hon. Friend the Minister of State for Energy will chair a third Ministerial Roundtable meeting on heating oil and LPG supply on 21 May. The Roundtable brings together a wide range of interests including Government, regulators, advisory and charitable bodies, the fuel supply industry and others to work together to improve the security and affordability of off-grid fuel supply.