House of Lords written question – answered at on 17 July 2013.
Lord Harrison
Chair, EU Sub Committee A - Economic and Financial Affairs
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the recommendations made by the Electrical Safety Council's industry summit white paper in respect of the smart meter roll out.
Baroness Verma
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change
The Government has been working with the Electricity Safety Council (ESC) as part of our commitment to raising awareness of electrical safety issues via the smart meter implementation programme. DECC has also established a stakeholder working group including energy suppliers and network operators which considers operational issues, including safety matters. This group has considered many of the issues raised in ESC’s recent paper and a number of improvements are planned, or have already been implemented by industry. For those issues that fall outside of the scope of the smart meter implementation programme, DECC will facilitate discussion with industry and Ofgem to ensure that the issues are understood and seek assurance that those parties who are responsible for resolving them have appropriate plans in place.
Yes0 people think so
No0 people think not
Would you like to ask a question like this yourself? Use our Freedom of Information site.
The house of Lords is the upper chamber of the Houses of Parliament. It is filled with Lords (I.E. Lords, Dukes, Baron/esses, Earls, Marquis/esses, Viscounts, Count/esses, etc.) The Lords consider proposals from the EU or from the commons. They can then reject a bill, accept it, or make amendments. If a bill is rejected, the commons can send it back to the lords for re-discussion. The Lords cannot stop a bill for longer than one parliamentary session. If a bill is accepted, it is forwarded to the Queen, who will then sign it and make it law. If a bill is amended, the amended bill is sent back to the House of Commons for discussion.
The Lords are not elected; they are appointed. Lords can take a "whip", that is to say, they can choose a party to represent. Currently, most Peers are Conservative.
A document issued by the Government laying out its policy, or proposed policy, on a topic of current concern.Although a white paper may occasion consultation as to the details of new legislation, it does signify a clear intention on the part of a government to pass new law. This is a contrast with green papers, which are issued less frequently, are more open-ended and may merely propose a strategy to be implemented in the details of other legislation.
More from wikipedia here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_paper
