Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what the cost to the public purse was of her Department's work on the Lord Mayor of London’s Overseas Engagement Programme in each year since 2010.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
My department does not have a team or individual dedicated to supporting the Lord Mayor of London’s overseas engagement programme. Officials from my department have provided support to individual elements of the Lord Mayor’s programme where it delivers the Government’s trade and investment objectives. On each occasion support will have been provided by DBT teams in the relevant Embassy or Consulate as a small proportion of individuals’ overall activity. We do not capture data on time or cost at that level of detail.
No Secretary of State or Ministers in DBT or DIT participated in foreign visits as part of the Lord Mayor’s overseas engagement programme in the last 3 years for which we have records. Officials will have participated as described above.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether any officials in her Department have worked with the City of London Corporation on its overseas activities in the last three years.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
My department does not have a team or individual dedicated to supporting the Lord Mayor of London’s overseas engagement programme. Officials from my department have provided support to individual elements of the Lord Mayor’s programme where it delivers the Government’s trade and investment objectives. On each occasion support will have been provided by DBT teams in the relevant Embassy or Consulate as a small proportion of individuals’ overall activity. We do not capture data on time or cost at that level of detail.
No Secretary of State or Ministers in DBT or DIT participated in foreign visits as part of the Lord Mayor’s overseas engagement programme in the last 3 years for which we have records. Officials will have participated as described above.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many staff in her Department work on the Lord Mayor of London's Overseas Engagement Programme.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
My department does not have a team or individual dedicated to supporting the Lord Mayor of London’s overseas engagement programme. Officials from my department have provided support to individual elements of the Lord Mayor’s programme where it delivers the Government’s trade and investment objectives. On each occasion support will have been provided by DBT teams in the relevant Embassy or Consulate as a small proportion of individuals’ overall activity. We do not capture data on time or cost at that level of detail.
No Secretary of State or Ministers in DBT or DIT participated in foreign visits as part of the Lord Mayor’s overseas engagement programme in the last 3 years for which we have records. Officials will have participated as described above.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what representations her Department has made on tariffs on Scotch Whisky since 2021; on to countries.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Whisky was the UK’s largest food and drink export in 2022 valued at £6.4bn. Negotiating tariff liberalisation for UK goods with FTA partners is a priority for HMG.
By successfully concluding our accession to CPTPP, we have secured elimination over time of Malaysian tariffs of around 80% on whisky. In addition, we removed the tariff applied by Australia on UK whisky in our recent FTA, which recently came into force on 31 May 2023.
We are also currently negotiating FTAs with more markets, such as India, where we are also seeking better access for whisky.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what her Department's strategy is for the mining of UK minerals through clean technology for energy security.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
To help secure the supply of critical minerals, as well as increase confidence in the UK’s energy transition, government has published a Critical Minerals Refresh, setting out our refreshed approach to delivering the Critical Minerals Strategy. The UK has pockets of mineral wealth and as home to major global mining companies has unique strengths in mineral and mining expertise, R&D, finance, and standards.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether her Department held a pre-negotiation consultations on the UK-Singapore bilateral investment treaty; and what are her Department's negotiating objectives for that treaty.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Government has commenced negotiations with Singapore on a new, modern Investment Treaty.
Pre-negotiation consultation was not appropriate as these talks fulfil an existing commitment made in the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the UK and Singapore to deepen existing mutual obligations on investment protection.
In our negotiations with Singapore, we will seek to guarantee clear standards of fair treatment to each other’s investors. Any deal we sign will be in the best interests of the British people and the United Kingdom economy.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
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 implications for his policies of the report by the British Geological Survey for UK Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre on Potential for Critical Raw Material Prospectivity in the UK, published on 17 April.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
“Potential for Critical Raw Material Prospectivity in the UK” was a study undertaken by the Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre, a programme sponsored by the Department for Business and Trade and delivered by the British Geological Survey. This report delivers on the Critical Minerals Strategy’s commitment to collate geoscientific data and identify target areas of potential for critical minerals within the UK. It is a preliminary assessment, and its findings do not mean that the prospective areas identified will necessarily be targeted for exploration and mining. The Government is working with the British Geological Survey to understand next steps.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether the UK Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre holds accountability to the Scottish (a) Government and (b) Parliament.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
The Government launched the Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre (CMIC) in July 2022. It is a research programme, delivered via the British Geological Survey, to provide data and analysis on supply, demand, and market dynamics of critical minerals. Funding is provided by the Department for Business and Trade. CMIC does not hold legal status as an organisation and is not accountable to either the Scottish or UK Parliaments. A Memorandum of Understanding between Government and the British Geological Survey sets out the programme’s rationale, objectives, spend profile, deliverables and governance.
Further information can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uks-first-critical-minerals-intelligence-centre-to-help-build-a-more-resilient-economy .
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what UK minerals his Department accepts as critical to clean technology and energy security.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
In 2022 the British Geological Survey (BGS) carried out its first criticality assessment and, according to economic vulnerability and supply risk, defined a cohort of minerals with high criticality for the UK: https://www.bgs.ac.uk/download/uk-criticality-assessment-of-technology-critical-minerals-and-metals/. The Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre (CMIC) – led by the BGS – will evaluate the criticality of minerals on a regular basis, with the next assessment scheduled later this year.
In addition, the industry-led Task and Finish Group on Critical Mineral Resilience, announced as part of the Critical Minerals Strategy Refresh on 23rd March, is investigating critical mineral dependencies, vulnerabilities, and opportunities across UK industry sectors, including manufacturers for clean energy technologies.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether her Department plans to provide financial support to the UK battery industry to help that industry compete with international competitors, including those in the US.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
The Government supports the development of an internationally competitive electric vehicle supply chain through the Automotive Transformation Fund (ATF). Investment through the ATF will help to develop a high-value end-to-end electrified automotive supply chain in the UK by unlocking private investment, including in gigafactories. Government is also working internationally to minimise any harmful impacts on British business and has provided a response to the US Treasury consultation on the implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act.