Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of extending the eligibility criteria for the Disabled Persons Railcard to include people with autism spectrum conditions who do not claim benefits; and what discussions he has had with stakeholders on this topic.
Answered by Huw Merriman
As per our Inclusive Transport Strategy commitment, the Department alongside the Rail Delivery Group and the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee (DPTAC) is currently undertaking a review of the Disabled Persons Railcard. The review is considering the eligibility criteria and also the options to verify entitlement.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals on abolishing broadband and telephone line rental charges.
Answered by Julia Lopez
As the independent regulator for telecoms, it is the responsibility of Ofcom to make decisions relating to pricing regulation. In 2017, Ofcom conducted a review of the market which found that customers who only have a landline were getting poor value for money compared to customers who had bundles of landline, broadband and pay-TV services.
As a result of this review, Ofcom proposed new regulation which requires BT to reduce the price of line rental for these landline-only customers, from £18.99 to £11.99. At the time this represented a saving of £84 a year, or 37%, for up to one million of BT’s customers who didn’t also have a BT broadband service. BT also committed to capping any overall increases to line rental and call charges to inflation for three years.
BT’s original commitments ran to the end of March 2021. However, it committed to continue these protections for a further five years, which Ofcom accepted.
Given Ofcom’s statutory independence, it would not be appropriate for the Government to further comment on its regulatory decisions, which are taken independent of the Government.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterparts in Iran on humanitarian support for people in Iran.
Answered by Leo Docherty
The UK is committed to holding Iran to account and calling out Iran's human rights violations in a range of multilateral fora. The UK raised the important issue of human rights in Iran at the latest session of the UN Human Rights Council and at a UN Security Council Arria Formula meeting in November. The UK co-sponsored the UN General Assembly resolution on human rights in Iran, supported the creation of a UN Fact Finding Mission on Iran and helped ensure Iran's removal from the UN Commission on the Status of Women.
The UK welcomes the latest report by the UN Special Rapporteur, which provides further confirmation of the extent of the Iranian government's human rights violations and we take note of the seriousness of the report's findings. We raise human rights with the Iranian authorities at all appropriate opportunities and remain committed to continue holding the regime to account for their actions.
The UK has also supported humanitarian assistance and disaster relief in Iran through our contributions to UN and other international programmes and funds.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he plans to take steps to refer Iran to the UN Security Council.
Answered by Leo Docherty
The UK is committed to holding Iran to account and calling out Iran's human rights violations in a range of multilateral fora. The UK raised the important issue of human rights in Iran at the latest session of the UN Human Rights Council and at a UN Security Council Arria Formula meeting in November. The UK co-sponsored the UN General Assembly resolution on human rights in Iran, supported the creation of a UN Fact Finding Mission on Iran and helped ensure Iran's removal from the UN Commission on the Status of Women.
The UK welcomes the latest report by the UN Special Rapporteur, which provides further confirmation of the extent of the Iranian government's human rights violations and we take note of the seriousness of the report's findings. We raise human rights with the Iranian authorities at all appropriate opportunities and remain committed to continue holding the regime to account for their actions.
The UK has also supported humanitarian assistance and disaster relief in Iran through our contributions to UN and other international programmes and funds.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what progress her Department has made on delivering fast and reliable broadband in Leeds North West constituency.
Answered by Julia Lopez
Thanks to our efforts to make it as easy and attractive as possible to deploy gigabit-capable networks, 86% premises in Leeds North West can access gigabit-capable broadband, which is up from just 15% in March 2019. This is expected to increase further as suppliers continue to extend their networks. Additionally, 98% of premises in Leeds North West have access to superfast broadband speeds (>=30 Mbps). These coverage increases have been achieved entirely through commercial investment at zero cost to the taxpayer.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether (a) zoos and (b) aquariums will be eligible for higher-tier support under the Energy Bills Discount Scheme.
Answered by Amanda Solloway
The new Energy Bill Discount Scheme (EBDS) will continue to provide eligible UK businesses and other non-domestic energy users with a discount on high energy bills from 1 April 2023 until 31 March 2024. A higher level of support will be provided for the most energy and trade intensive sectors who meet agreed thresholds for energy and trade intensity through the Energy and Trade Intensive Industries (ETII) Scheme element of the EBDS. Eligible sectors are represented by a list of SIC codes which has been published here. In order to be eligible, zoos and aquariums will need to meet the eligibility test and be able to evidence that 50% of their revenue from a specified period is generated from activity within an eligible sector.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing a maximum temperature in which working practices can take place.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to PQ119185, answered on 13th January 2023.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an assessment of the effectiveness of the Bus Back Better strategy.
Answered by Richard Holden - Opposition Whip (Commons)
The National Bus Strategy contains a significant number of commitments to improve bus services, including government investment of more than £1 billion for Bus Service Improvement Plans (BSIPs).
With that funding recently confirmed, and payments now being made to Local Transport Authorities, the Department for Transport has established a monitoring and evaluation programme to build the evidence base on improving services and increasing patronage. This includes the monitoring and evaluation of the impact and value for money of initiatives funded through the BSIP programme; and the impact of the National Bus Strategy as a whole. Interim findings from the evaluation will be published in due course.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether he plans to amend the Energy Bill to update to the Energy Performance Certificate system and Energy Smart Appliance clauses which incorporate bidirectional charging capabilities as part of the Government's plans to safeguard a sustainable energy eco-system.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Shadow Minister (Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Energy Bill will provide powers for setting technical standards for Energy Smart Appliances (ESAs), including EV chargepoints, and for future reform of the Energy Performance of Buildings (EPB) Regulations.
The Government intends to consult on possible changes to EPB regulations and on draft ESA regulations and will work with industry to deliver the necessary protections for the energy system and consumers.
However, there are no immediate plans to update the Energy Performance Certificate system for the emerging bidirectional technology and market. There are also no plans to amend the Energy Bill.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the cybersecurity provisions of the EV (Smart Charge Points) Regulations 2021 are equally enforced on all EV charging manufacturers that operate in the UK market to protect consumers and compliant British businesses.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) enforces the Electric Vehicles (Smart Charge Points) Regulations 2021. The legislation includes investigatory and civil sanctions powers, and requires enforcement decisions to be taken on a case-by-case basis. OPSS uses its powers to accept time-limited enforcement undertakings, including in relation to the cybersecurity provisions, as a proportionate measure to bring chargepoint sellers into compliance where appropriate and as prescribed under the regulations. Government continues to monitor the domestic and workplace chargepoint market to ensure that consumer protections and a thriving market are in place to help maximise the uptake of smart charging.