Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what estimate his Department has made of the time and resources required to negotiate UK accession to the PEM Convention with existing members.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
No decision has been made on UK accession to the PEM Convention. As set out in the Trade Strategy, we are now engaging business and PEM partners to consider the potential merits of accession and launched a Call for Evidence on 17 November. A decision to seek to join the PEM Convention will only be taken if it is in the national interest and reflects business sentiment. It would be premature therefore to comment on the nature of hypothetical negotiations or the resources that might be required to engage in them, hypothetically.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what methods will be used to reduce staffing levels in export support services; and whether these will include (a) redundancy, (b) voluntary redundancy, (c) redeployment to other departments, and (d) non-replacement of retiring staff.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
All staff in the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) were able to apply for a voluntary exit scheme, before the announcement of workforce reductions. Staff impacted in export support services and in other areas of DBT may be offered redundancy, voluntary redundancy and redeployment opportunities in line with the rest of the department.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department has conducted a sectoral impact analysis of the potential UK accession to the PEM Convention.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
As set out in the UK’s Trade Strategy, the Government recognises that PEM accession could bring benefits to British businesses but that the potential benefits and risks will likely vary both within and across sectors. Our Call for Evidence, launched on 17 November, seeks input from business directly to better understand these sectoral impacts. It will end on 15 December.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what estimate has been made of the total savings to be achieved through workforce reductions in export support services.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The transformation of the department is ongoing and it is not yet possible to determine how many staff might be redeployed or may leave the department. Therefore, it is not yet possible to determine total savings that will be achieved.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how much funding his Department has allocated for AI and digital technology to replace staff removed from export support services.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
DBT is making use of AI tools to improve our services to business, but we are not replacing staff with AI and digital technology.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department plans to publish a summary of responses to the call for evidence on the Pan-Euro Mediterranean Convention on Rules of Origin.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Once the Call for Evidence has closed, the government will review and analyse the responses received and decide how best to proceed and what to publish.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the potential benefits and risks to UK exporters of joining the Pan-Euro Mediterranean Convention.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
As set out in the UK’s Trade Strategy, joining the PEM Convention could simplify rules of origin across the UK’s nearest neighbours and increase supply chain flexibility for UK exporters. However, the Government recognises the benefits and risks of accession could vary both within and across sectors. We have therefore launched a Call for Evidence to seek direct business and partner input on the opportunities and risks that might flow from joining PEM. This will run until 15 December.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of export support service workforce reductions on small and medium-sized enterprises seeking to export.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
We are changing how we deliver export support in line with the Trade Strategy, and in response to the asks of businesses and our stakeholders, to provide a more accessible and easier to navigate offer that utilises technology to deliver more cost-effective and impactful support for SME exporters. For the first time, DBT has integrated its support for SMEs in a single place – the Business Growth Service – making government support for SME exporters more accessible and effective.
We will focus our resources where they can have the greatest impact, supporting businesses with the highest growth potential and targeting markets with significant economic opportunity. This strategic approach will deliver better value for taxpayers and stronger results for UK exporters. In addition, we expect UKEF to play a more substantial role in supporting SMEs to export.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he has undertaken consultation with (a) business organisations and (b) export-focused SMEs on workforce reductions in export support services.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
We are changing how we deliver export support in line with the Trade Strategy, and in response to the asks of businesses and our stakeholders, to provide a more accessible and easier to navigate offer that utilises technology to deliver more cost-effective and impactful support for SME exporters. For the first time, DBT has integrated its support for SMEs in a single place – the Business Growth Service – making government support for SME exporters more accessible and effective.
We will focus our resources where they can have the greatest impact, supporting businesses with the highest growth potential and targeting markets with significant economic opportunity. This strategic approach will deliver better value for taxpayers and stronger results for UK exporters. In addition, we expect UKEF to play a more substantial role in supporting SMEs to export.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to ensure continuity of export support services during workforce reductions.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
We are changing how we deliver export support in line with the Trade Strategy, and in response to the asks of businesses and our stakeholders, to provide a more accessible and easier to navigate offer that utilises technology to deliver more cost-effective and impactful support for SME exporters. For the first time, DBT has integrated its support for SMEs in a single place – the Business Growth Service – making government support for SME exporters more accessible and effective.
We will focus our resources where they can have the greatest impact, supporting businesses with the highest growth potential and targeting markets with significant economic opportunity. This strategic approach will deliver better value for taxpayers and stronger results for UK exporters. In addition, we expect UKEF to play a more substantial role in supporting SMEs to export.