Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the expected cost to businesses in (a) England, (b) Wales and (c) Scotland of requirements for (i) Export Health Certificates for EU imports into Great Britain, (ii) Phytosanitary Certificates and physical checks on most remaining SPS goods at Border Control Posts and (iii) Safety and Security declaration requirements on EU imports into Great Britain.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
In April the Government published a draft version of the Border Target Operating Model, in collaboration with the Scottish and Welsh Governments, that will introduce a new world-class border system from October 2023. It will implement vital border controls that will protect the UK from security and biosecurity threats, while preventing delays at the border through a reduction in the need for physical checks and by ensuring that checks take place away from ports where this is needed to allow traffic to flow freely. To limit the burden on businesses, our new proposed risk-based global model will use data and technology to simplify and streamline import trade processes.
Many low-risk animals and plant products will not require any certificates or physical checks, which will make them significantly easier to import than under the previously proposed model or the EU model. By minimising costs and preventing delays at the border, we estimate it could save UK importers around £400m each year compared to the previously proposed model as stated in the Borders Target Operating Model. Through the Single Trade Window, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and other businesses will only need to submit their data once and in one place - simplifying their experience when interacting with the Government and significantly reducing the administrative burden.
We are now in a period of engagement with businesses across the UK so we can hear their views on our draft proposals and work with them to explore the costs of implementing the new model. We do not have detailed data on the location of businesses which import SPS products, but expect that the costs of both the SPS and S&S regulatory requirements will be proportional to the distribution of imports across the countries of Great Britain.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many peerages have been conferred in each of the last five years.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The number of peerages conferred in each of the last five years are:
2019 - 23 peers;
2020 - 58 peers;
2021 - 4 peers;
2022 - 33 peers;
2023 - 1 peerage. [1]
It is a long-standing convention that the main political parties may nominate individuals to the House of Lords. Individuals are nominated in recognition of their contribution to society and their public and political service, and peers are appointed to further contribute to public service in Parliament.
[1] On 9 March 2023 His Majesty The King conferred the Dukedom of Edinburgh upon The Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex and Forfar, on the occasion of His Royal Highness's 59th birthday.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent discussions he has had with the Welsh Government on their request that (a) concurrent-plus and (b) commencement powers in the Procurement Bill be amended.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
We have worked closely with Welsh ministers: the Minister of State and the Parliamentary Secretary of the Cabinet Office most recently met the Minister for Finance and Local Government for the Welsh Government in December and my officials are working very closely to discuss the Procurement Bill.
There is regular engagement through the Common Framework for Public Procurement, which was established post-Brexit and is used to discuss emerging themes in policy and legislation relating to procurement.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will take steps to ensure that training produced by his Department to support businesses with the delivery of the Procurement Bill will recognise that there will be differences in the procurement regimes operating in England and Wales.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Procurement Bill will introduce a world leading procurement regime, and fundamentally improve the way public sector organisations buy goods and services.
The Cabinet Office will be providing a comprehensive funded learning and development (L&D) programme to support everyone operating within the new regime to understand what is changing. Recognising that there will be some differences between the procurement regimes operating in England and Wales, Cabinet Office officials will continue to work closely with Welsh Government officials to ensure the content of the L&D materials reflects this appropriately. To enable the programme to be relevant and meaningful to all audiences, fact sheets and supporting resources will be provided to highlight relevant sector and geographical variations.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what plans there are for civilian defence in the event of a nuclear attack.
Answered by Michael Ellis
Nuclear rhetoric from Russia is unhelpful. It is designed to deter and distract from its barbaric invasion of Ukraine. The Government continues to call on Russia to de-escalate, starting by ceasing its assault on Ukraine and withdrawing its forces.
The UK has well developed contingency plans to respond to a wide range of eventualities. The plans and supporting arrangements have been developed, refined and tested over many years. The UK’s plans are risk-based and built on the principle of generic capabilities which are able to respond to a wide range of events, augmented by specific, niche capabilities, where needed and warranted by the risk. The scale of these capabilities is driven by classified planning assumptions derived from the UK’s National Security Risk Assessment. A public facing version is published in the form of the National Risk Register.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, which Minister will sponsor the public inquiry into the Government's response to the covid-19 pandemic, announced on 21 May 2021.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
On 12 May, the Prime Minister confirmed that a public inquiry into COVID-19 would be established on a statutory basis, with full formal powers, and that it will begin its work in spring 2022.
Further details will be set out in due course.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what progress the Government has made on preparations for the public inquiry into the Government's response to the covid-19 pandemic, announced on 21 May 2021.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
On 12 May, the Prime Minister confirmed that a public inquiry into COVID-19 would be established on a statutory basis, with full formal powers, and that it will begin its work in spring 2022.
Further details will be set out in due course.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of Warrington Inland Border Facility’s capacity to undertake sanitary and phytosanitary checks in the event that a Border Control Post at Parc Cybi is not operational by January 2022.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
There has been engagement with Welsh Government counterparts - as well as weekly engagement at official level - about the inland border sites in North Wales. Provision of Border Control Posts for SPS checks is a devolved matter. However, Defra, HMRC, Wales Office, and Welsh Government are working constructively to define an appropriate control regime for customs and biosecurity checks to be in place and operational at the sites in Parc Cybi from 1 January.
The Warrington Inland Border Facility has been operational since January 2021 and has the capacity to handle more than 700 goods vehicle movements per day for customs checks. Together with other inland border facilities, such as Birmingham and Sevington, there is more than adequate capacity to accommodate any shortfall capacity at Welsh ports and inland sites in January 2022, should this be needed.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what discussions has he had with the Welsh Government regarding the establishment of a Border Control Post at Parc Cybi.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
There has been engagement with Welsh Government counterparts - as well as weekly engagement at official level - about the inland border sites in North Wales. Provision of Border Control Posts for SPS checks is a devolved matter. However, Defra, HMRC, Wales Office, and Welsh Government are working constructively to define an appropriate control regime for customs and biosecurity checks to be in place and operational at the sites in Parc Cybi from 1 January.
The Warrington Inland Border Facility has been operational since January 2021 and has the capacity to handle more than 700 goods vehicle movements per day for customs checks. Together with other inland border facilities, such as Birmingham and Sevington, there is more than adequate capacity to accommodate any shortfall capacity at Welsh ports and inland sites in January 2022, should this be needed.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much each Department has spent on Union Flags in (a) Wales, (b) Scotland and (c) England in each year since 2018.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The information requested is not held centrally.