The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) has investigated my complaint against the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and told me that they found nothing wrong with their consultation document or survey. BEIS has been widely criticised for its biased consultation and limited options for respondents, but these flaws were ignored by PHSO.
Continue reading “PHSO whitewashes my BEIS complaint about imperial units consultation”Tag: BEIS
Questions Government must answer about imperial units consultation
In June 2022, UKMA member Martin Vlietstra responded to the Government’s Imperial Units survey and downloaded his responses. Just over a week later, he downloaded his responses again and found that one of his responses seemed to have been changed behind his back and the option he picked to one question was removed. Despite the fact that the imperial units consultation ended on 26 August 2022, the Government have not yet published their analysis of the responses. When they do, they must answer some awkward questions about their botched consultation.
Continue reading “Questions Government must answer about imperial units consultation”PHSO initial response to my complaint about BEIS
After I exhausted the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy’s (BEIS) complaints procedure and they failed to acknowledge or do anything about their misleading imperial units consultation document or biased survey, I sent off my BEIS complaints form dated 31 October 2022 to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) via my MP. After many months, I got an initial response.
Continue reading “PHSO initial response to my complaint about BEIS”BEIS cannot tell us effects of scrapping all EU laws
Jacob Rees-Mogg, Liz Truss and current PM Rishi Sunak have expressed their commitment to scrap all EU laws. The Government is committed to implementing this policy by pushing the Retained EU Law Bill through Parliament. It is reasonable to challenge the Government about the effects of this policy and to ask what would happen if all EU laws disappeared from the British statute book. I asked the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) this question but they could not answer my question.
Continue reading “BEIS cannot tell us effects of scrapping all EU laws”Minister failed to explain metrication failure
Even though Conservative MP Paul Scully, the former Minister for Small Business, Consumers & Labour Markets, failed to acknowledge that British measurements are still in a mess, he admitted that “Being able to compare prices and quantities is a fundamental principle of fair trade and that is why, overall we have a single metric system of units of measurement today.”. Ministers should take heed of his words. The use of a single metric system of units of measurement enables consumers to compare prices and quantities but this is now under threat. The recent imperial units consultation and the Retained EU Law Bill are threatening to reverse progress on metrication, reintroduce imperial units and bring back rival systems of units of measurement for trade and commerce.
Continue reading “Minister failed to explain metrication failure”No published impact assessments for Retained EU Law Bill
A recent FOI response proves that the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has not published any impact assessments on scrapping and reforming EU laws under the proposed Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill. This Bill will affect approximately 3800 EU laws on the statute book, including the extra 1400 newly identified EU laws by the Government according to recent news reports. This Bill contains a sunset clause that ensures EU laws expire automatically on 31 December 2023 unless a Minister decides to save them.
Continue reading “No published impact assessments for Retained EU Law Bill”