Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps the Government is taking to incentivise UK-based companies to retain and create skilled jobs in the UK rather than offshore them.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Our modern Industrial Strategy is a 10-year plan to back our strengths and create a highly skilled, economically prosperous country, with key objectives to drive up business investment and create high-quality jobs across the UK. We are focused on capturing a greater share of internationally mobile capital and supporting businesses to employ skilled workers in the UK, including through investing over £1 billion in tailored sector skills packages. We have also published the Clean Energy Jobs Plan with ambitions to recruit 400,000 people in the UK, with Jobs Plans covering other priority sectors to follow.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will publish a break down of the billions in investment secured on his visit to China in January 2026.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
As set out in the 30 January press release, hundreds of millions worth of new investment was secured as part of the visit, alongside £2.2 billion in export deals. This includes investment from HiTHIUM, Chery Commercial Vehicle, Asymchem, and POP MART.
Further detail can be found in the press release.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he has met with Britten-Norman to discuss the Chinese Company Yitong UAV Systme Co's newly designed model based on the British Islander design.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Secretary of State for Business and Trade has not met with Britten-Norman.
Details of Ministerial meetings with external organisations are published routinely on Gov.uk as part of the Government’s transparency agenda. The latest returns can be found here for Ministers: DBT: ministerial gifts, hospitality, travel and meetings, July to September 2024 - GOV.UK
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing controls to prevent the import of products made with Uyghur forced labour.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Secretary of State for Scotland
No company in the UK should have forced labour in its supply chain. The Department for Business and Trade will continue to assess and monitor the effectiveness of the UK's existing measures, alongside the impacts of new policy tools that are emerging, to ensure it can best tackle forced labour in supply chains, and work with businesses and international partners to understand the impact of measures to combat forced labour.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 13 May 2024 to Question 24720 on Fertilisers: Russia, from which countries have imports of fertiliser increased since March 2022.
Answered by Alan Mak
As per the answer of 13 May 2024, UK imports of fertiliser originating from Russia fell 80% in 2023, compared to 2022 import values.
Across a similar period, from March 2022 to February 2023, the value of direct fertiliser imports grew most significantly from the following 10 countries: Egypt, Netherlands, Spain, Germany, USA, Poland, Trinidad and Tobago, France, Lithuania, and Israel. These countries accounted for around 82% of the total increase.
More recent data shows that the largest increases, between March 2023 and February 2024, were from: Egypt, Israel, Morocco, USA, Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, China, Canada, Greece, and Nigeria. These countries accounted for around 93% of the total increase for this period.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she has made an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the decision by the US to impose a 50% tariff on Chinese-made solar cells.
Answered by Greg Hands
The UK has noted the new tariffs on a series of Chinese goods being imported into the US. The UK does not routinely comment on trade measures taken between other countries.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a 50% tariff on Chinese-made solar cells in the context of US tariff policy.
Answered by Greg Hands
The UK has noted the new tariffs on a series of Chinese goods being imported into the US. The UK does not routinely comment on trade measures taken between other countries.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether the UK has imported fertiliser from Russia since its invasion of Ukraine.
Answered by Alan Mak
In March 2022, the UK introduced additional duties of 35% on Russian fertilisers, excluding urea which is subject to a tariff of 6%. In July 2022, the UK also introduced bans on certain kinds of fertiliser.
HMRC data shows that UK imports of fertiliser from Russia in 2023 were down 80% compared to 2022 import values, demonstrating the impact of sanctions and additional tariffs.
We will continue to apply pressure, and coordinate with our international partners to do so, until Ukraine prevails or Putin ends his war of choice.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many businesses have (a) signed up to and (b) completed the Help to Grow: Management Course; and what proportion of those businesses have an annual turnover of (i) £0 - £499,999, (ii) £500,000 - £999,999, (iii) £1 million - £4,999,999, (iv) £5 million - £10.19 million, (v) £10.20 million - £49.99 million and (vi) £50 million or more.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Minister without Portfolio
Data on the Help to Grow: Management scheme will be released in Spring 2023.