Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she has had discussions with the Leader of the House on making time for a debate on a substantive motion on the UK’s accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership during the ratification process.
Answered by Greg Hands
The Government is committed to effective scrutiny of its trade agenda and has put in place a comprehensive framework for scrutiny of free trade agreements (FTAs). This includes a commitment to seek to hold a general debate on a new FTA where one is requested by the relevant Select Committee in a timely manner, subject to parliamentary time. The Government's view is that a general debate is the appropriate mechanism for Parliament to debate a new FTA.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what opportunities Parliament had to shape the negotiating mandate of the UK’s proposed accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
This Government is committed to transparency, and to ensuring that parliamentarians, UK citizens and businesses have access to the information they need on our trade negotiations.
The Government undertook a public consultation and published comprehensive information at the start of talks on accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, including our strategic approach and economic scoping assessment.
Throughout negotiations, Ministers and senior officials had consistent dialogue with select committees and we also published six updates in the form of written Ministerial statements to keep Parliament informed.
The Government also committed to facilitate requests for a debate on negotiating objectives, subject to available Parliamentary time.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will take steps to ensure that services ordered online are able to be cancelled as (a) quickly and (b) easily once the contract has ended.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Minister without Portfolio
The Consumer Contract Regulations 2013 ensure that consumers can cancel qualifying contracts within 14 days of commencement and, throughout the contract period, are able to contact the trader to discuss the contract, including cancel, through at least a basic, local-rate helpline. The regulations also stipulate that contracts cannot be automatically renewed unless the consumer has signed up for one with automatic renewals, ensuring consumers are not forced into a new contract term they may not want.
In addition, the Government is strengthening the rules for subscription contracts which auto-renew. The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill require traders to provide clear information before consumers enter a contract and reminders before a subscription renews onto new terms, and clear and easy cancellation routes so it is as easy to leave a contract as sign up.
The Bill specifically prohibits traders from creating barriers that make it hard for a consumer to cancel their contract, and mandates that if a consumer can sign up to a contract online, they must be able to exit it online.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what estimate she has made of the carbon emissions created by the import of goods manufactured abroad in each of the last three years.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The department does not hold information on the estimated carbon emissions related to imported goods for 2021 and 2022. The latest data on carbon footprint associated with the UK's consumption of goods and services for the year 2020 was published by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) on the 2nd of August 2023.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how much funding the UK Government have allocated to the electric car industry between 2023 and 2030.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
In the 2021 Net Zero Strategy, the Government announced £350m for the Automotive Transformation Fund (ATF). This is in addition to the £500m for this programme announced in the 2020 Ten Point Plan.
Government and industry have jointly committed approximately £1.4bn in innovative projects through the Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC), to accelerate the development and commercialisation of strategically important vehicle technologies, strengthening our competitive edge internationally.
In the coming months, after engagement with industry, the Government will build on the APC and ATF to take decisive action to ensure future investment in the manufacturing of zero emission vehicles in the UK.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she has made an estimate of the number of gigafactories that will be established in the UK by 2030.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
We continue to work with industry via the Automotive Transformation Fund (ATF) to support the creation of an internationally competitive electric vehicle supply chain in the UK, including gigafactories.
The Advanced Propulsion Centre forecasts that UK demand for EV battery manufacturing capacity is expected to reach 89 GWh per annum by 2030.
ATF funding has already helped secure key investments, including, Tata’s recent announcement that they will be investing over £4 billion to build a new gigafactory in the UK and the £1bn electric vehicle hub in Sunderland in partnership between Nissan and Envision AESC.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will make it his policy to require all employers to introduce a menopause policy.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Minister without Portfolio
The Government has appointed Helen Tomlinson as the first ever Menopause Employment Champion. The Menopause Employment Champion will drive awareness of issues surrounding the menopause and encourage employers to create a more supportive environment to help women stay in work and progress. The Government has no plans to require all employers to introduce a menopause policy.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of fire and rehire practices on the labour market.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Minister without Portfolio
The government previously asked the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service to collect evidence into how dismissal and re-engagement is being used by employers. This report was published in June 2021 and is available from https://www.acas.org.uk/fire-and-rehire-report.
The government is taking action to address the practice of dismissal and re-engagement. We have consulted on a draft Statutory Code of Practice and are currently analysing responses. The Code sets out employers’ responsibilities when seeking to change contractual terms and conditions of employment and seeks to ensure dismissal and re-engagement is only used as a last resort.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps she is taking to increase the level of trade with Commonwealth countries.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The UK already has trade deals with 33 Commonwealth members. 18 members also benefit from preferential access to the UK’s newly launched Developing Countries Trading Scheme, one of the world’s most generous trade preferential schemes.
Our membership of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) includes Brunei and Malaysia and are negotiating a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with India. We recently announced future FTA negotiations with the Maldives.
Commonwealth Trade Minister’s met in June to set direction for commonwealth trade and investment where the UK secured important commitments aimed at boosting digital trade and investment facilitation.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether her Department is taking steps to help protect jobs at Zimmer Biomet in Bridgend.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Minister without Portfolio
On the 29th June Zimmer Biomet communicated to union representatives and employees the decision to close the manufacturing operation at Bridgend with the loss of 540 jobs. With 30 sites worldwide this decision is part of the company’s strategy to reduce its global footprint.
The Department for Business and Trade and Welsh Government officials are working with the company to understand the reasons behind the decision, the impacts on Bridgend and how to safeguard the workers affected.