Lord Allen of Kensington

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that repayment of debts on prepay energy cards is proportionate and does not lead to increasing debt for customers using prepay (1) meters, and (2) cards.

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that when estimating bills, energy suppliers estimate historic usage only from the property being billed and not from (1) surrounding, or (2) similar, properties.

To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the number of people unable to claim statutory sick pay from their employer because their earnings are below the lower earnings level; of these, what proportion are (1) male and (2) female; and w...

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the reduction in (1) the percentage of apprentices under the age of 19, and (2) the number of entry level apprenticeships; and what plans they have to reverse this trend.

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to devolve funding and responsibility for apprenticeships for 16–19-year-olds to Metro Mayors.

To ask Her Majesty's Government when they plan to begin the review of the apprenticeship programme announced in the Spring Statement; and when they expect to publish a call for evidence.

To ask Her Majesty's Government, given that the energy price cap does not apply to businesses, and that the spot price of natural gas has increased from 47 pence per therm in March 2021 to 296.89 pence per therm in March 2022, what support they intend to ...

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to provide support for businesses, in particular small businesses, to cope with (1) the rise in statutory sick pay, and (2) staff isolating with COVID-19; and whether such support will include a permane...

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on jobs of the 1.25 per cent rise in employers' national insurance contributions; and what support beyond the increase in Employment Allowance they will provide to avoid small bu...

To ask Her Majesty's Government how much of the £683 million Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund has been paid to claimants; how many claimants have been paid; and what is the mode average amount paid to each claimant.

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the opening of trade negotiations with India, (1) what is their timetable, and (2) what are the key milestones, for a free trade agreement between the UK and India.

To ask Her Majesty's Government what was their rationale for cutting the post of Minister for the Middle East and North Africa at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the improvement in energy efficiency of homes that could be achieved if the current rate of VAT on retrofit building work were to be reduced to (1) a five per cent rate, and (2) a zero rate...

To ask Her Majesty's Government when they intend to publish their plan to spread research and development funding across all nations and regions of the UK; whether that plan will seek to address the imbalance of research and development spending between L...

To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have received from industry and consumer groups to end or suspend VAT on fuel bills; and what steps they intend to take on this matter.

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Callanan on 6 August 2020 (HL7418), (1) whether they are on track to increase public spending on research and development to £22 billion per year by 2024/25; and if not (2) why not, an...

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of national gas storage capacity as a percentage of annual national domestic demand; whether they consider current capacty to be sufficient; and what plans they have, if any, to increase gas s...

To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress they have made in negotiations with the US about lifting the US tariffs on UK-produced steel; and when they expect those tariffs to be lifted.

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the competitiveness of UK-produced steel in the US market compared to that of steel produced in the EU in the 12 month period (1) before, and (2) after, the US lifted tariffs on steel impor...

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many applications for the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme have been (1) received, and (2) approved, since they were introduced.