Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether any licences for export of military goods to Israel have been (a) wholly and (b) partially revoked since 7 October 2023.
Answered by Greg Hands
HM Government publishes data on export licensing decisions on a quarterly basis in the Official Statistics, including data on outcome, end user destination, overall value, type by these licences. This data is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/strategic-export-controls-licensing-data.
The most recent publication was on 30th August 2023, and covered the period 1st January – 31st March 2023. Information covering 1st April – 30th June 2023 will be published on 16th January 2024.
Information regarding export licences granted between 7 October and end of December 2023 will be published after April 2024.
Licences are kept under careful and continual review as standard and we are able to amend, suspend or revoke extant licences, as circumstances require.
In the event such decisions were taken, for any licences, we would issue a Notice to Exporters, which would be published on gov.uk.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 11 December 2023 to Question 5417 on Israel: Military Aid, whether she has conducted a recent review of his Department's guidance entitled Open general export license: exports in support of joint strike fighter (F-35 Lightening II) with respect to the inclusion of Israel on the list of approved recipients (a) directly and (b) indirectly via other partner nations.
Answered by Greg Hands
The government continues to monitor closely the situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
All licences are kept under careful and continual review as standard and we are able to amend, suspend or revoke extant licences as circumstances require.
In the event such decisions were taken, for any licences, we would issue a ‘Notice to Exporters’.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to paragraph 2.7 of the Office of Financial Sanctions guidance entitled UK Maritime Services Ban and Oil Price Cap, published June 2023, if she will monitor the amount of refined oil products entering the UK that have undergone a change in origin from the Russian Federation to another country determined based on substantial processing in a jurisdiction other than the Russian Federation; if she will make it her policy to amend the rules to disallow a change of origin of fuel products originating in the Russian Federation following substantial processing elsewhere; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
UK sanctions have curtailed Russian goods imports by 99%, compared to prior to the invasion of Ukraine.
The Government is committed to ensuring that third countries are not used by Russia to evade sanctions. The UK has taken a leading role in coordinating international efforts to counter Russia’s actions in Ukraine. This includes working together with international partners to tackle circumvention and ensure sanctions have maximum impact.
The Government continues to monitor the effectiveness of our sanctions. The Government does not comment on future sanctions measures, as to do so would reduce their impact.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
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 regulating the use of loyalty cards by supermarkets.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Minister without Portfolio
The Government recently ran a consultation which included questions on the display of prices for loyalty card schemes and other promotions. The Government is analysing the responses to this consultation and will respond in due course.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will make it her policy to provide self-employed parents who have a baby in neonatal care with statutory support equivalent to that provided to employed parents; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Minister without Portfolio
The Government is committed to introducing Neonatal Care Leave and Pay as soon as possible.
In line with other leave and pay entitlements in the UK, the Government has prioritised ensuring that employed parents have access to Neonatal Care Leave and Pay. Those who are self-employed have greater flexibility to decide when they work and do not have the additional pressure of needing to seek an employer's permission in order to take time off to be with their baby.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
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 help support working parents who have a baby in neonatal care; what recent progress she has made on implementing the Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Minister without Portfolio
The Government is committed to introducing Neonatal Care Leave and Pay as soon as possible.
The entitlement will be available to all eligible parents of babies who are admitted into neonatal care up to the age of 28 days, and who have a continuous stay in neonatal care of seven days or more. The period of leave and pay available to parents will be capped at 12 weeks.
Action is continuing to take place across Government to deliver this new entitlement, including preparing the necessary statutory instruments and working with HMRC to update existing systems.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will make it her policy to introduce paid leave for kinship carers.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Minister without Portfolio
Kinship carers can already benefit from many workplace entitlements designed to help parents and carers combine work with childcare. These include unpaid parental leave, emergency time off for dependents and the right to request flexible working.
In our government response to the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care, we committed to explore the introduction of additional workplace entitlements for kinship carers. Since then, work has been underway across government to better understand how government can support kinship carers to balance work and childcare. The Department for Education is committed to publishing a national kinship strategy by the end of 2023.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to paragraph 193 of the Sixth Report of Session 2016–17 of the Joint Committee on Human Rights entitled Human Rights and Business 2017: Promoting responsibility and ensuring accountability, published on 5 April 2017, HC 443, if she will make it her policy to implement the Committee's recommendation on requiring UK companies to carry out human rights due diligence.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Government supports and encourages a voluntary, business-led, approach to due diligence; as set out in international frameworks such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Guidelines on Multinational Enterprises, and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
The Department recently launched a review of non-financial information through a call for evidence. The review is part of the Government’s wider efforts to reduce burdens on business and drive economic growth, following our exit from the European Union. Whilst the Government continues to keep these issues under review, there are currently no plans to legally mandate companies to conduct further due diligence assessments before considering existing reporting requirements.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
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 collect scientific evidence about the potential impact of deep sea mining on deep-sea ecosystems.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
The UK is continuing to develop a better understanding of the impacts of deep-sea mining. Through Government sponsorship of academic research and existing exploration licences, over 70 peer-reviewed publications supporting a greater understanding of environmental issues have already been produced, with more to come. We have also commissioned an independent evidence review into the potential risks and benefits of deep-sea mining, and this has been published in line with our commitment to transparency and developing the global evidence base in relation to deep-sea mining. The review was published in October 2022 and is available here:
https://www.bgs.ac.uk/news/deep-sea-mining-evidence-review-published/
Further and detailed environmental impact assessments would be required in advance of any exploitation licence being issued by the UK.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 16 June to Question 189196 on United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020, what aspects of that Act her Department plans to review within the two year period starting at the end of 2023.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
As set out in the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020, the review provisions relate to (i) any use of the powers in the Act to amend certain provisions of parts 1 and 2 of the Act; and (ii) the arrangements for carrying out the functions in part 4 of the Act. More information on the review provisions can be found in the explanatory notes to the Act, including those relating to sections 13, 22 and 44, which can be found on www.legislation.gov.uk.