Asked by: Baroness Burt of Solihull (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many employees in the UK engineering sector are from other EU member states, and what is their total contribution to (1) UK Gross Domestic Product, and (2) UK Gross Value Added.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
It is not possible to answer the question as there is no agreed statistical definition of what is meant by the term “engineering sector”.
Asked by: Baroness Burt of Solihull (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the effect that the EU referendum will have on their target of doubling exports by 2020.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
At the February European Council meeting the Government negotiated a new settlement, giving the United Kingdom a special status in a reformed European Union (EU). The Government's view is that the UK will be stronger, safer and better off remaining in a reformed EU.
As part of the new settlement it was confirmed that the EU will pursue, with renewed commitment, free trade agreements with the world’s most dynamic economies, so that the tariff and regulatory barriers faced by UK companies in large and growing non-EU markets are reduced or eliminated. As an example, after the EU-South Korea deal came into force in 2011, UK exports to South Korea doubled in three years.
These deals have the potential to boost UK exports significantly and can contribute to the Government’s 2020 target.
Asked by: Baroness Burt of Solihull (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the proportion of exports that will be sold to other EU member states by 2020.
Answered by Lord Maude of Horsham
The government does not breakdown 2020 export forecasts geographically.
However, the independent Office for Budget Responsibility does publish UK total export forecasts up to 2020, with the most recent publication being in the November 2015 Economic and Fiscal Outlook:
| Exports | Imports |
|
2016 | 533.6 | 556.8 |
|
2017 | 557.4 | 581.4 |
|
2018 | 585.4 | 609.5 |
|
2019 | 616.3 | 639.0 |
|
2020 | 648.0 | 669.7 |
|
Source: November 2015 Economic and fiscal outlook | |||
Asked by: Baroness Burt of Solihull (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether they will meet their target of doubling exports by 2020.
Answered by Lord Maude of Horsham
Ministers have acknowledged that the £1 trillion target is a stretch; however, the Government has a clear strategy for increasing both the value of UK exports and the number of British exporters.
Progress in delivering against the target will be reported through the ONS.
Asked by: Baroness Burt of Solihull (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact on exports of the decision to reduce the budget of UK Trade and Investment.
Answered by Lord Maude of Horsham
Savings will be broadly delivered through implementing a new digital infrastructure to provide cost-effective access to export services; contractual efficiencies; and prioritising market and sector opportunities that will add most value to UK exports. This is about being more efficient and delivering for UK businesses, including through enhancing direct support and developing the private sector market.
HM Treasury has recognised the importance of the exports agenda by agreeing that £175m of further proposed savings between 2016-17 and 2019-20 should be reinvested in priority areas. The Government is committed to driving a step-change in UK exports and the reinvestment secured to refocus UK Trade & Investment will help us deliver this.
Asked by: Baroness Burt of Solihull (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to introduce local outcome agreements for the Adult Skills Budget in devolved areas.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The conditions under which we will devolve funding to combined authorities are set out in the relevant devolution agreements. When funding has been devolved the Combined Authority will be responsible for allocations to providers and the outcomes to be achieved, consistent with statutory entitlements. Government will not seek to second guess these decisions, but it will set proportionate requirements about outcome information to be collected in order to allow students to make informed choices.
Asked by: Baroness Burt of Solihull (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the timescale for carrying out reviews of post-16 education and training institutions.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
Individual area reviews are expected to take about four months, the timescale being dependent on the number of colleges and complexity of the local issues involved in each area. The overall review process has been divided into five waves of area reviews and is scheduled to be completed by March 2017.