Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 1 February 2024 to Question 11775 on Origin Marking: Canada, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes to rules of origin arrangements on tariffs for each sector identified as likely to be impacted.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
From 1 April, businesses will not be able to count EU material as originating in their exports to Canada under the FTA.
The impact on UK sectors will depend on individual business supply chains and the extent to which they use EU inputs. We are engaging extensively with business to understand the impact and help them prepare.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps she is taking to support businesses impacted by the suspension of trade negotiations with Canada.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The pause in negotiations does not impact our existing trade agreement with Canada, which underpins £25.9bn worth of trade a year. This agreement is comprehensive. It maintains zero tariffs on food and drink and a wide range of industrial goods, guarantees UK services companies access to the Canadian market, and protects Intellectual Property.
We continue to work closely with dairy exporters to monitor the impact on recent changes to market access arrangements on cheese. We are also engaging extensively with businesses who may be impacted by impending changes to the arrangements for rules of origin.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes in rules of origin arrangements with Canada as a result of the suspension of trade negotiations with that country on (a) the economy and (b) each sector.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The pause in negotiations does not impact our existing trade agreement with Canada, which underpins £25.9bn worth of trade in the 12 months to September 2023.
However, we are working closely with UK businesses potentially impacted by the changes to rules of origin arrangements in the existing agreement, to help them prepare and adapt. Our analysis to date shows exporters of automotives, plastics, chemicals and processed food are likely to be impacted.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the Retained EU Law Bill, whether her Department plans to (a) retain, (b) replace or (c) revoke the Maternity and Parental Leave etc Regulations 1999.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Our high standards in maternity rights are not dependent on us mirroring the same rules as the EU. The UK has gone further and moved faster than the EU in the past. For instance, we provide a year of maternity leave with the option to convert to shared parental leave to enable parents to share care, whilst the EU minimum maternity leave is just 14 weeks.
The Government will not make any changes to the system of maternity or parental leave through the REUL Bill. Regulations related to these entitlements will be preserved.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the Retained EU Law Bill, whether her Department plans to (a) retain, (b) replace or (c) revoke the Working Time Regulations 1998.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
We are consulting on proposals to improve how the Working Time Regulations 1998 operate without impacting the rights that really matter to workers. This Government has no intention of abandoning our strong record on workers’ rights, having raised domestic standards over recent years to make them some of the highest in the world.
We will be consulting on proposals to remove retained EU case law that imposes time-consuming and disproportionate requirements on business for working hour records to be kept for almost all members of the workforce, which could save employers around £1bn a year. The consultation also proposes to merge the two separate annual leave entitlements into one pot of statutory annual leave, while maintaining the same amount of statutory annual leave entitlement overall, and to introduce rolled-up holiday pay, so that workers can receive their holiday pay with each payslip.
The consultation can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/retained-eu-employment-law-reforms
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the Retained EU Law Bill, whether her Department plans to (a) retain (b) replace or (c) revoke the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department intends to repeal these regulations and restate them in the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill with some amendments, chiefly to enable the Government to strengthen rules against fake reviews.
The Government is committed to a consumer rights framework that protects consumers and drives consumer confidence, while minimising unnecessary costs to business.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she will take steps to ensure that claimants under the Post Office (a) historical shortfall scheme and (b) suspension remuneration review will receive a similar tax exemption to that available to group litigation order compensation scheme claimants through the Post Office Horizon Compensation and Infected Blood Interim Compensation Payment Schemes (Tax Exemptions and Relief) Regulations 2023.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Historical Shortfall Scheme’s intention is to ensure all victims of the Horizon scandal are returned to the financial position they would have been in had the wrongdoings not occurred.
An issue has been identified on the tax treatment of some postmasters with claims for loss of earnings under the HSS, particularly those with larger claims, where postmasters may be pushed into a higher tax bracket due to receiving compensation in a lump sum as opposed to receiving those earnings over several tax years. The Department for Business and Trade wants to see fair compensation for all victims and is working urgently to address this issue with the Post Office, HMT and HMRC.
The Department for Business and Trade is aiming to ensure that tax treatment is fair across all schemes, including the Suspension Remuneration Review.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill, whether her Department plans to (a) revoke, (b) retain or (c) replace the Pressure Equipment (Safety) Regulations 2016/1105.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department for Business and Trade is reviewing all REUL in line with usual policy development to determine whether to repeal, replace or preserve it.
We will continue to ensure that only safe pressure equipment products are placed on the market in the United Kingdom and that market surveillance authorities have the necessary enforcement powers.