Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much his Department (a) has spent and (b) plans to spend in the next three months on publicity in relation to the UK leaving the EU without a deal.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
The Government has a duty to inform citizens and businesses about how leaving the EU might affect them, and to advise on the steps they may need to take to prepare for EU Exit.
We have developed a cross-departmental public information campaign to help achieve this. Over the coming weeks, we will be using a range of channels to direct UK citizens, businesses, EU citizens living in the UK and UK nationals living in the EU to a dedicated area on GOV.UK at gov.uk/euexit.
Information on the costs associated with this campaign will be released in due course as part of normal data transparency releases.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department has contacted businesses by letter in the last three months to provide information on (a) the UK leaving the EU and (b) the Withdrawal Agreement.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Department uses several communications channels to reach a wide range of businesses to discuss a range of issues, including on EU exit. This includes regular meetings with businesses, such as Sector Councils and Growth Partnerships, media campaigns, phone calls, emails, letters, press releases and social media.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 22 November 2018 to Question 194759 on Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Brexit and the Answer of 19 November 2018 to Question 190945 on Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Brexit, for what reason his Department is unable to provide that information.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
This information is not held centrally and can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 19 November to Question 190945 on Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Brexit what information his Department holds on non-disclosure agreements on issues relating to the UK leaving the EU with (a) companies, (b) industry bodies and (c) other organisations.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
The information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many non-disclosure agreements his Department has made in relation to preparations for the UK leaving the EU.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
The Department does not hold this information centrally and is not aware of any such agreements having been signed with employees in relation to preparations for the UK leaving the EU..
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many and which (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department have visited the Irish border in the last 12 months; when those visits took place; and how long they spent at the border in each of those visits.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
Ministers and officials from the Department at all levels have visited both Northern Ireland and Ireland regularly to gain understanding of the issues relating to the border. My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State has visited Belfast in both May and August this year, accompanied by my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. My rt. hon Friend the Minister of State for Energy and Clean Growth met the Irish Minister for Business in London in June, and my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Minister for Business and Industry visited Dublin in December last year.
Officials working on Energy Networks and on Customs visit regularly, holding extensive meetings with local officials and businesses to understand in detail the relevant areas of concern, including the Single Electricity Market and cross-border trade. BEIS has built a clear picture of cross-border supply chains of a number of businesses (including SMEs) and East-West and North-South trade flows.
In addition, Northern Ireland Office Ministers have also conducted an extensive programme of engagement in Northern Ireland on EU exit with a wide range of stakeholders.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of requiring all retailers to participate in the Consumer Ombudsman service.
Answered by Andrew Griffiths
The Government recognises that creating an environment where businesses respect consumer rights is essential to ensuring markets work for all but that getting satisfactory resolution can sometimes be difficult.
The ‘Modernising Consumer Markets’ Green Paper seeks to strengthen and improve the enforcement of consumer rights, including access to ombudsmen and Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) services.
The Green Paper asks whether there should be an automatic right for consumers to access ombudsmen and ADR services in sectors with the highest levels of consumer harm. BEIS officials will assess and report back to me in the autumn where and in what sectors membership of an ombudsman or ADR service might be mandated in order to improve consumer outcomes.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the Written Ministerial Statement by the hon. Member for East Surrey of 11 June 2018 on the Competitiveness Council 28-29 May 2018 and the Council's policy debate on the future of European space policy, whether the Minister persuaded member states to allow the UK to continue to be a member of the (a) Galileo, (b) Copernicus and (c) other EU space programmes in the event that the UK leaves the EU; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
As I set out in my Written Ministerial Statement of 11 June 2018, we would like the UK to continue our full involvement in the EU space programmes. As is the case more widely, we need to get the right agreements concluded which will allow the UK and its businesses to take part on a fair and open basis. We will continue to discuss this with our EU colleagues and aim to reach an agreement that works for all sides.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
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 help institutions to (a) use Eurocodes and (b) remain a member of the European Committee for Standardization in the event that the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Andrew Griffiths
The Structural Eurocodes will remain available as voluntary British Standards after the UK leaves the EU.
The British Standards Institution (BSI) has made clear its preference to remain a member of the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN). We are working with BSI to ensure that the UK’s future relationship with the European Standards Organisations, including CEN, continues to support a productive, open and competitive business environment in the UK.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to Question 146333 of 22 May 2018 on whether his Department has held discussions with and received representations from Chinese organisations on opening a campus at Foxcombe hall in Oxfordshire, for what reasons his Department transferred that Question for answer to the Department for International Trade.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
The question was transferred to the Department for International Trade because it was interpreted as relating to their role in transnational education.
Neither the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy or the Department for Education have had discussions with or received representations from Peking University HSBC Business School or authorities in China on proposals to open a campus at Foxcombe Hall in Oxfordshire.