Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the potential trade agreement with India (1) promotes fair and balanced terms, and (2) contains safeguards that protect the interest of the economy.
Answered by Lord Offord of Garvel - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
We are working hard on a deal with India that would boost our current trading relationship, already worth over £38 billion, helping businesses and communities across the UK.
We remain clear that we will only sign when we have a deal that is fair, reciprocal, and ultimately in the best interests of the British people and the economy.
We ensure that all trade agreements maintain our ability to apply trade remedies, including a global safeguard, under the WTO framework to protect UK industries.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following reports that corporate insolvencies rose to their highest level in 30 years last year, what steps they are taking to assist companies that are struggling.
Answered by Lord Offord of Garvel - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government delivered nearly £27 billion of Business Grant Support during the pandemic and continues to support UK small businesses via a substantial business rates package worth £4.3 billion over the next 5 years. The Energy Bill Relief Scheme protects eligible businesses from excessively high energy bills over winter periods.
The British Business Bank supports 12.4bn of finance through targeted interventions such as The Recovery Loan Scheme and Pay as You Grow for businesses under the Bounce Back Loan Scheme, offering repayment options where required.
Additional SME support is available via GOV.UK, the Business Support Helpline and local Growth Hubs.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following reports that businesses have faced increasing difficulties and costs trading with the EU since Brexit, what steps they are taking to (1) identify areas of improvement, and (2) provide support.
Answered by Lord Offord of Garvel - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement allows for a new relationship with the EU, giving us the freedom to do things differently and better.
The Department is leading a cross-government effort to identify trade barriers and break them down with our EU partners. For example, in the year to March 2023, we broke down 45 market access barriers in the HMTC Europe region, a 10% increase year-on-year.
HMG provides a wide range of support, including help to grow overseas by providing information, training, and expert support to exporters, whilst HMRC’s Customs & International Trade Helpline ensures businesses have access to the additional support they need.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support the manufacturing sector in the light of increased inflationary pressure as a result of supply disruptions in the Red Sea.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Lainston - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department is monitoring the situation closely, engaging with businesses, stakeholders and across government to identify and mitigate supply chain issues.
In November 2023 my department published our Advanced Manufacturing Plan which included measures to support the resilience of the UK’s manufacturing supply chain. More recently we published our Critical Import and Supply Chain Strategy, which will help build secure and reliable supply chains vital to the UK economy – including in advanced manufacturing. The Advanced Manufacturing Plan and our Critical Import and Supply Chain Strategy also build on our semiconductor, battery and critical minerals strategies.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to determine which European Union laws will be retained, reformed, or revoked under the plans set out in the Retained EU Law Parliamentary Report June 2023–December 2023, published on 22 January.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Lainston - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department for Business and Trade coordinates Government's ambitious REUL reform programme. Departments review, assess and if needed consult relevant stakeholders to determine which pieces of REUL should be retained, reformed, or revoked, informed by considering what is in the best interests of the UK. In some cases, REUL is already optimised for the UK or is necessary to uphold our international obligations.
Over 2000 REUL instruments have been revoked or reformed. Our roadmap includes 500 further REUL reforms and revocations in 2024. The Government is on track to revoke or reform over half of all REUL by June 2026.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to recent figures released by the Government Insolvency Service which found that 2002 companies were declared insolvent last month, what plans they have to support companies facing monetary challenges and mitigate the rise in insolvencies.
Answered by Lord Offord of Garvel - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
While insolvencies have risen in absolute terms, when this is compared to the number of active firms in the economy, the proportion of liquidations is well below previous periods of high insolvency numbers. The Government continues to help businesses with measures such as the Energy Bills Discount Scheme; the frozen business rates multiplier for 2023/24 resulting in bills that were 6% lower; increased 75% business rates relief for retail, hospitality and leisure properties; £1.6bn Transitional Relief, protecting ratepayers facing bill increases and the Supporting Small Business scheme that provides over £500 million in support.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to their policy paper Critical Imports and Supply Chains Strategy, published on 17 January, what steps they are taking to establish the new online portal for businesses to report disruption affecting their imports; and what assessment they have made of the impact this will have on communication and coordination in relation to supply chain issues.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Lainston - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Critical Imports and Supply Chains Strategy includes several actions to make it easier for businesses to share information on difficulties or disruptions they face importing critical goods. These include creating a new import barrier reporting mechanism and a new business/government Critical Imports Council. The Government is now working to establish both of these and we are confident they will both increase our understanding of the challenges businesses face and enhance business and government collaboration to tackle the issues and strengthen our critical supply chains.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to strengthen the UK's advantages as a location for manufacturing operations.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Lainston - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
UK is a strong global hub for advanced and technology-driven manufacturing, with the fastest productivity growth in the G7 between 2010-2021 overtaking France to become the world’s 8th largest manufacturing nation.
The Advanced Manufacturing Plan, provides a package of measures to make UK manufacturing even more competitive, including: a £4.5bn package to 2030, tax cuts, business environment measures and initiatives to increase resilience including the UK Battery Strategy.
The plan builds on significant recent successes, including Tata’s investment of over £4 billion in a new 40 GWh gigafactory, and a £2 billion Nissan led investment to produce electric vehicles in Sunderland.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to support small firms struggling financially as a result of adverse economic conditions.
Answered by Lord Offord of Garvel - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Small and medium sized businesses are the backbone of our economy, driving economic growth. The Department for Business and Trade continues to deliver over 40 support schemes that help businesses start, grow and export. At the Autumn Statement, my Rt Hon Friend the Chancellor announced further support for SMEs over the next five years. This support can be accessed through local Growth Hubs, Help to Grow and a dedicated Business Support Helpline. In addition, The British Business Bank improves access to finance to help businesses invest and grow. It currently supports over £12.4bn of finance to over 90,000 businesses.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking (1) to address the underrepresentation of women, and (2) to increase diversity, in top corporate leadership roles.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Lainston - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
This Government is committed to diversifying representation up to, and including, top corporate leadership roles. Such as announcing increases in childcare provision and extending flexible working to all, we have backed a number of leadership-specific Reviews, including the FTSE Women Leaders Review.
The latest reporting shows that the FTSE350 now has 40.2% women on boards, and 33.5% women in key senior leadership roles – marked progress from when the Review began in 2011 when there were only 9% women on boards in the FTSE 250 and 12% in the FTSE 100.