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 help increase exports.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
My Department’s Export Strategy targets barriers to trade and supports businesses through a 12-point plan. The Strategy is implemented through the Export Support Service - answering exporters questions, Export Academy – offering free learning and development for potential exporters, and UK Export Finance - the UK’s export credit agency who have supported 55,000 UK jobs. This support has been imperative to boosting UK exports. Furthermore, we are also identifying opportunities to simplify existing regulation and equip businesses to capitalise on the new free trade agreements, state level agreements and wider removal of market access barriers.
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 her policy to require businesses offering automatically-renewing subscriptions to send consumers a reminder message with an option to opt-out before their renewal date; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Minister without Portfolio
The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill strengthens consumers’ rights in relation to auto-renewing contracts, enabling them to manage them more effectively.
Under the new rules, traders must send consumers reminder notices before a trial or contract auto-renews, or at roughly 6 month intervals for shorter renewing contracts. The notice will include information on the steps the consumer can take to bring the contract to an end. In addition, a new ‘cooling-off period’ will give consumers 14 days to cancel certain contracts after they auto-renew to a period of 12 months or more, or after a free or discounted trial.
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 estimate she has made of the level of compliance with the National Minimum Wage.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Minister without Portfolio
All businesses – irrespective of their size or business sector – are responsible for paying the correct minimum wage to their staff.
The government takes enforcing the minimum wage seriously and has more than doubled the budget for compliance and enforcement to £27.8 million for 2022/23, up from £13.2 million in 2015/16.
Since 2015, the Government has ordered employers to repay over £100 million to over 1 million workers.
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 help support the steel industry.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
The Government is actively engaging with the steel industry for a sustainable future and my Rt. Hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business & Trade recently visited British Steel in Scunthorpe and Tata Steel in Port Talbot.
The British Industry Supercharger will bring energy costs for energy intensive industries, including steel, in line with the world’s major economies. The industry has been able to bid into various funds to support energy efficiency and decarbonisation. We have updated the Steel Procurement Policy Note to create a level playing field for UK steel producers, implemented a robust trade remedies framework to protect domestic industry, and acted to resolve market access constraints on steel trade with the US and the EU.
A Government loan to Celsa Steel UK supported 1,800 jobs and has been repaid in full.
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 supermarkets on the potential merits of supermarkets introducing reward schemes for purchases of healthy food.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Minister without Portfolio
Decisions about reward schemes are a commercial matter, and therefore a matter for individual retailers. The ‘Good Choice’ badge helps people identify healthier options using the NHS Food Scanner app and when shopping in store and online. The app and wider Better Health tools support families on their journey towards having a healthier diet.
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 green trade.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
According to forecasts published in 2017, the UK could generate up to £170 billion green exports by 2030. These opportunities are immense, which is why we continue to drive green trade to futureproof the UK economy.
We continue to:
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 her policy to bring the National Minimum Wage Apprentice Rate in line with the National Minimum Wage.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Minister without Portfolio
The Apprentice National Minimum Wage rate is set to acknowledge the costs to employers and the benefits to young people in apprenticeships. The Apprentice rate increased by 9.7% to £5.28 in April 2023. This increase maintains parity with the Under 18 National Minimum Wage rate.
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 has guidance on penalties for companies who publish misleading adverts on clean energy claims.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Minister without Portfolio
The Advertising Standards Authority monitors advertising standards across sectors, including clean energy. Misleading advertising of products and services is a breach of consumer law and subject to criminal penalties.
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 her Department has allocated for Business Connect events in the 2023-24 financial year.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The delivery of Business Connect in April 2023 cost the Department for Business and Trade £260,551.32.
Business Connect was funded by the Department for Business and Trade’s Resource DEL budget for priority events for financial year 2023-24.
No further funding has been specifically allocated within the Department for Business and Trade for future Business Connect events in financial year 2023-24.
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, from which Departmental budget the Business Connect event held on 23 April was funded.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The delivery of Business Connect in April 2023 cost the Department for Business and Trade £260,551.32.
Business Connect was funded by the Department for Business and Trade’s Resource DEL budget for priority events for financial year 2023-24.
No further funding has been specifically allocated within the Department for Business and Trade for future Business Connect events in financial year 2023-24.