Asked by: John Nicolson (Scottish National Party - Ochil and South Perthshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he plans to bring forward legislative proposals to protect consumers from the sale of unsafe goods on online marketplaces and to recognise online marketplaces as actors within the supply chain.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government is committed to ensuring that only safe products can be sold in the UK. Product safety legislation places obligations on manufacturers, importers and distributors and this includes online retailers selling goods via marketplaces who have a duty to act with due care to ensure products they are selling are safe.
The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) works with colleagues in local authority Trading Standards to take action where products are identified online that do not meet the UK’s product safety requirements and expects online platforms to act quickly to remove them from sale.
The OPSS is taking forward a programme of work to ensure that major online marketplaces are playing their part to protect UK consumers from unsafe goods. This includes developing a new voluntary commitment for online marketplaces to agree further actions they will take to reduce the risks from unsafe products being sold online.
Furthermore, OPSS is reviewing the UK’s product safety framework to ensure that it continues to deliver safety for consumers while supporting businesses to innovate and grow. The review is considering non-traditional business models, including online sales.
In order to inform the review, OPSS instigated a Call for Evidence, which closed on 17th June, and has been carrying out extensive stakeholder engagement to capture the fullest possible range of views. A Government Response to that Call for Evidence will be issued in due course.
Asked by: John Nicolson (Scottish National Party - Ochil and South Perthshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will request that the Intellectual Property Office's consultation into the copyright exhaustion regime considers the feasibility of (a) specific arrangements for the publishing sector, (b) other sector specific arrangements and (b) a national exhaustion or international exhaustion outcome.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Intellectual Property Office (IPO), an executive agency of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, is already considering the issues that the UK’s future exhaustion of intellectual property rights regime needs to address. The IPO will soon be publishing a consultation document that will lay out the options for the UK’s exhaustion of IP rights regime and ask for views from all interested parties. The consultation will help government assess the feasibility and potential impact of the different exhaustion of IP rights regimes. This will include consideration of impacts on the publishing industry and cross-border trade of goods in the secondary market, including goods from the creative industries.
Asked by: John Nicolson (Scottish National Party - Ochil and South Perthshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will request that the Intellectual Property Office publishes an impact assessment of the potential effect of an international copyright exhaustion regime on the UK’s (a) publishing industry and (b) other creative exports.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Intellectual Property Office (IPO), an executive agency of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, is already considering the issues that the UK’s future exhaustion of intellectual property rights regime needs to address. The IPO will soon be publishing a consultation document that will lay out the options for the UK’s exhaustion of IP rights regime and ask for views from all interested parties. The consultation will help government assess the feasibility and potential impact of the different exhaustion of IP rights regimes. This will include consideration of impacts on the publishing industry and cross-border trade of goods in the secondary market, including goods from the creative industries.
Asked by: John Nicolson (Scottish National Party - Ochil and South Perthshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will hold discussions with the Intellectual Property Office on the potential role of a national copyright exhaustion regime in supporting the UK’s (a) publishing industry and (b) other creative exports.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Intellectual Property Office (IPO), an executive agency of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, is already considering the issues that the UK’s future exhaustion of intellectual property rights regime needs to address. The IPO will soon be publishing a consultation document that will lay out the options for the UK’s exhaustion of IP rights regime and ask for views from all interested parties. The consultation will help government assess the feasibility and potential impact of the different exhaustion of IP rights regimes. This will include consideration of impacts on the publishing industry and cross-border trade of goods in the secondary market, including goods from the creative industries.
Asked by: John Nicolson (Scottish National Party - Ochil and South Perthshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many of the 900 businesses contacted as part of the IPO’s recent Exhaustion of Intellectual Property rights feasibility study (a) responded and (b) were interviewed; and whether he plans to consult businesses further on the matter.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The IPO commissioned Ernst & Young to assess whether it was possible to measure the scale of parallel trade in the UK. As part of that research, a pilot quantitative survey was conducted. As detailed in the report published in 2019, there were 208 respondents from the 926 initial contacts. Of the 208 respondents, the researchers spoke to 170 respondents about taking part in the survey for this research. Of those, 26 respondents were willing to take part in the survey, but no full interviews were completed due to respondents not passing the initial screening question, respondents being unaware of parallel trade and respondents not engaging in parallel trade.
That being said, the decision on the UK’s future exhaustion regime still needs to be made. The IPO is holding a consultation on this matter in the first part of 2021 and the government will be proactively seeking views from businesses and consumers. We would encourage businesses and consumers to respond to this consultation with their views and any evidence.
Asked by: John Nicolson (Scottish National Party - Ochil and South Perthshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent discussions he has had with (a) Cabinet colleagues and (b) the Scottish Government on the economic effect on businesses of the UK Internal Market Bill.
Answered by Paul Scully
Ministers have clearly set out the benefits to all UK businesses of ensuring goods and services can flow freely across the UK: this is in Scotland’s interests given it exports more to the rest of the UK than the EU.
Asked by: John Nicolson (Scottish National Party - Ochil and South Perthshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to support businesses in the (a) transition to homeworking and (b) procurement of remote technology and office supplies to maximise homeworking during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Paul Scully
Government is clear that, where people can, they should work at home during the current coronavirus outbreak. In order to support this, and homeworking more generally, the ACAS and HSE websites provide extensive advice on employers responsibilities and duties, and guidance on best practice, including on addressing some of the negative impacts which can be associated with homeworking – such as loneliness and mental health. Both websites have been updated to take account of the current circumstances.
The Government is working with the private sector and business representative organisations to explore how to rapidly improve utilisation and increase adoption of existing technologies to help businesses return to work safely and adapt to new ways of operating and doing business. For example, we are supporting Be the Business, the business-led independent charity which launched in 2017 with the aim of helping UK SMEs to improve their productivity. In response to the COVID19 outbreak, Be the Business have published a range of online advice and guidance to help SMEs adapt their business practices, including transitioning to homeworking.
The Bounce Back Loans Scheme (BBLS) allows small businesses to borrow between £2,000 and £50,000, interest free for the first 12 months. At the discretion of the lender, this can be used to provide working capital for the business, such as investment in new technology.
Asked by: John Nicolson (Scottish National Party - Ochil and South Perthshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
What discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on increasing fiscal support to businesses in Scotland.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
We regularly engage with colleagues across Whitehall including the Chancellor of the Exchequer on how we can support businesses across the UK.
£1.4 billion in city region and growth deals has been invested by UK Government in Scotland, including £150 million for the Tay Cities Deal in the hon Member's constituency.
Since November 2014, the British Business Bank has supported over 6,500 SMEs in Scotland to a value of £1.3 billion, and its Start-up Loans Programme has issued over 4,200 loans worth over £32 million.
Asked by: John Nicolson (Scottish National Party - Ochil and South Perthshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many sub-post offices have been closed for more than four weeks in the last year.
Answered by Margot James
The provision of its post office branches is the responsibility of Post Office Limited.
I have asked Paula Vennells, the Chief Executive of Post Office Limited, to write to the Hon Member on this matter and provide the information requested. A copy of her reply will be placed in the libraries of the House.
Asked by: John Nicolson (Scottish National Party - Ochil and South Perthshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps she is taking to ensure that reductions in the wholesale price of energy are passed on to consumers.
Answered by Amber Rudd
Average domestic gas prices fell by £37 during 2015, and all six major suppliers have announced a further reduction in their tariffs in recent months. This is a good start, but the Government expects all suppliers to pass on reductions in the costs of supplying energy to consumers. I have met all the major energy suppliers in recent months to make that point clear.
The Competition and Markets Authority are nearing the end of their enquiry into the energy markets, and I look forward to their conclusions. I am determined to do whatever it takes to ensure markets work well for consumers.