Every parliamentary written question tabled by Desmond Swayne this session, with the full answer and department. See how every department answers, or back to the MP page.
Showing 1–5 of 5 · Department for Business and Trade
If he has plans to provide financial assistance to small electrical contractors to enable them to comply with the revised Electrotechnical Assessment Specification; and if he will extend the October de
The Electrotechnical Assessment Specification (EAS) is an industry agreed specification, and decisions on the detailed requirements and implementation timelines, including the October compliance deadline, are therefore primarily a matter for industry. The...
If he will grant EII status to the Horticulture Sector in the Energy Intensive Industries exemption scheme.
Currently, the Controlled Environment Horticulture (CEH) sector is ineligible for the British Industry Supercharger, which the Energy Intensive Industry (EII) Exemption Scheme is a part of. The CEH sector does not meet the necessary thresholds of electricity and trade intensity, nor does it have an eligible Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code to be classed as an EII. The Department for Business and Trade intends to review and publicly consult on the sector eligibility for the British Industry Supercharger in 2026. I encourage the CEH sector to engage with this consultation when the opportunity arises.
Under the provisions of the Employment Rights Bill, in what circumstances will responsibility for providing guaranteed hours to an agency worker default from the end hirer to the employment agency.
The government will consult on the details of the measures to end exploitative zero hours contracts to inform regulations. Decisions on the circumstances in which regulations might place the duty to offer agency workers guaranteed hours on the agency or another intermediary in the supply chain, as opposed to the end hirer, will depend on the outcome of this consultation.
Whether his Department has conducted international comparisons on the definition of low hours to inform how the threshold for low hours is set and the reference periods used to calculate guaranteed hours for temporary and agency workers.
The definition of the hours threshold and the length and frequency of reference periods will depend on the outcome of the forthcoming consultation on the details of the measures to end exploitative zero hours contracts. We have considered international examples of employment rights in developing this consultation. Many countries have taken steps to restrict or prohibit zero-hours contracts altogether. For example, New Zealand and Norway have banned their use, while Ireland allows them only in limited circumstances, and both the Netherlands and Finland require employers to offer contracts on equivalent terms to workers who regularly work a consistent shift pattern.
If he has made an assessment of how reasonable notice periods may vary for agency workers in sectors that require high levels of flexibility or short notice.
The government understands that what should be considered reasonable notice will differ depending on different sectors and circumstances. Regulations will specify how much notice should be ‘presumed reasonable’ as well as other factors that should be considered when determining whether the notice was reasonable or not, as opposed to setting a single notice period to be deemed reasonable in all cases. Decisions on these regulations will depend on the outcome of the forthcoming consultation on the details of the measures to end exploitative zero hours contracts.