Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many allegations of bullying have been made against Ministers by staff in her Department in each of the last 12 months.
Answered by Alan Mak - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade) (jointly with the Cabinet Office)
None.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing the compulsory labelling of products to indicate whether they were British-made or imported.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Aside from certain specified products such as food there is no requirement for goods to be labelled with their country of origin. The Government does not have plans to introduce such a requirement on behalf of consumers.
Under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, traders are banned from using misleading statements about the geographical or commercial origin of products including in response to requests for information by consumers.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps her Department is taking to prevent companies being set up using other people's personal information without their consent.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 amends the Companies Act 2006 to introduce a range of measures aimed at preventing the abuse of personal information. Once commenced, these will mean that (amongst other things) those incorporating and running companies will be required to verify their identities, and that the registrar of companies will have enhanced powers to ensure that people’s personal addresses are not misused.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, when she plans to bring forward legislative proposals to implement the Sustainability Disclosure Standards.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Green Finance Strategy (March 2023) set out the Government’s plans for endorsement of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) Foundation’s recently published sustainability disclosure standards. This document explained that the Government is establishing an endorsement process that will assess the suitability of the standards for use for UK companies, with the aim of publishing a UK-endorsed version of the standards that could be used by UK companies. This version of the standards will form the basis of any regulatory or legal changes that Government or the Financial Conduct Authority may wish to make at a later stage.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a minimum time period after which gift cards can expire.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Whilst there is no legal minimum term for the validity of gift cards, the Government has worked with the UK Gift Card & Voucher Association (GCVA) to encourage businesses to use expiry dates of at least two years and has made it clear that retailers should be transparent about the terms and conditions offered to consumers including card expiry dates.
We asked the Law Commission to consider the issue of gift card and voucher expiry terms and they concluded that there was not a need to introduce additional measures in this area.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether her Department has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of introducing compulsory ethnicity pay gap reporting.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
This Government remains committed to tackling all areas of disparities in this country, including in employment. It is crucial that everyone is treated fairly in the workplace, so that they can thrive and reach their full potential and we want to ensure that everyone has access to the same employment opportunities.
Ethnicity pay gap reporting is just one type of tool to assist employers in doing this and it may not always be the most appropriate mechanism for some types of organisation. Therefore, as set out in the “Inclusive Britain” report published in March 2022, the Government will not be legislating to make ethnicity pay reporting mandatory at this stage. Instead we have produced guidance to support those who wish to report voluntarily. This was published earlier this month.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the ethnicity pay gap.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
This Government remains committed to tackling all areas of disparities in this country, including in employment. It is crucial that everyone is treated fairly in the workplace, so that they can thrive and reach their full potential and we want to ensure that everyone has access to the same employment opportunities.
Ethnicity pay gap reporting is just one type of tool to assist employers in doing this and it may not always be the most appropriate mechanism for some types of organisation. Therefore, as set out in the “Inclusive Britain” report published in March 2022, the Government will not be legislating to make ethnicity pay reporting mandatory at this stage. Instead we have produced guidance to support those who wish to report voluntarily. This was published earlier this month.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what non-educational funding is available to support small businesses that wish to (a) exhibit and (b) export trade overseas.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) is planning to spend over £200 million, over the Spending Review period, to support Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). Financial assistance for businesses is available through the British Business Bank and UK Export Finance.
Furthermore, local authorities have been given £2.6 billion over the Spending Review period, through the Shared Prosperity Fund, to provide support – including export help – to businesses in their areas.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
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 adequacy of funding available for smaller companies to exhibit their trade overseas; and whether she has made an assessment of how that support compares to that offered by other countries in the World Trade Organisation.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Since launching on 30 November 2021, the UK Tradeshow Programme has had 419 applications seeking support to exhibit at (258), or attend (161*), trade shows overseas.
The programme is currently running as a 16-month feasibility study, ending on 31 March 2023, and research to evaluate the programme is ongoing.
As outlined in our 2021 Export Strategy “Made in the UK, sold to the World”, the Department is committed to improving exporting opportunities for businesses and monitoring our performance in this area to ensure continuous improvement.
*Pursuant to my replies to the hon. Member for Torfaen on 9 February 2023, UIN 126730 and 126731, which stated 164 attendee applications had been received, three applications have since been resolved as incomplete.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many small businesses received support via the UK Trade Programme in 2022; and what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the availability of that support.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Since launching on 30 November 2021, the UK Tradeshow Programme has had 419 applications seeking support to exhibit at (258), or attend (161*), trade shows overseas.
The programme is currently running as a 16-month feasibility study, ending on 31 March 2023, and research to evaluate the programme is ongoing.
As outlined in our 2021 Export Strategy “Made in the UK, sold to the World”, the Department is committed to improving exporting opportunities for businesses and monitoring our performance in this area to ensure continuous improvement.
*Pursuant to my replies to the hon. Member for Torfaen on 9 February 2023, UIN 126730 and 126731, which stated 164 attendee applications had been received, three applications have since been resolved as incomplete.