Oral Answers to Questions

Luke Hall Excerpts

Thursday 20th December 2018 Commons Chamber

[Caroline Dinenage]

The hon. Gentleman is right. The review found that the breast screening incident that was made public in May had arisen because of a lack of alignment between the national service specification and the way in which the programme was being run in practice. As a result, NHS England has announced a comprehensive review of cancer screening programmes, to be undertaken by Professor Sir Mike Richards. We will take account of the findings of both that review and our own breast screening review to ensure that changes improve the whole system.

[Luke Hall (Thornbury and Yate) (Con)]

6. What steps the Government are taking to promote the take-up of shared parental leave to help tackle the gender pay gap.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Kelly Tolhurst)]

Earlier this year, we ran a £1.5 million campaign to promote awareness and the take-up of shared parental leave and pay. We are currently evaluating the scheme, looking at take-up and the barriers to it and at how the scheme is being used in practice. We expect to publish our findings next summer.

[Luke Hall]

I thank the Minister for the work that is already being done. Does she agree that it is important to recognise, as part of that work, that cultural change is required to increase the take-up of shared parental leave? That will include raising awareness, challenging stereotypes and ensuring that we, as community leaders, have a role and are engaged with it.

[Kelly Tolhurst]

Given that 33% of people say that mothers of pre-school children should stay at home and only 7% say that they should be in full-time work, I have to agree with my hon. Friend. Cultural change will not happen overnight, but shared parental leave is an important step, and we are considering further activity to raise awareness, promote take-up and make the scheme easier for parents to access.

Oral Answers to Questions

Luke Hall Excerpts

Thursday 6th July 2017 Commons Chamber

[Greg Hands]

A lot of these matters will form part of the trade Bill which will be introduced in this Session. What is most important is that, as we seek a smooth and orderly exit from the European Union, we seek to replicate all of those existing EU free trade agreements, to provide certainty and stability for our businesses as we go forward to enable them to access both existing and future markets.

[Luke Hall (Thornbury and Yate) (Con)]

4. What estimate he has made of the value of the contribution of the food and drink sector to UK exports.

[Jo Churchill (Bury St Edmunds) (Con)]

10. What estimate he has made of the value of the contribution of the food and drink sector to UK exports.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Speaker]

I gently say to the Minister that the grouping is with Nos. 10 and 12. [Interruption.] No, a question was withdrawn, and it might well be the case that the briefing had not kept up with the evolution of events, I say to the hon. Member for Huddersfield (Mr Sheerman). That should satisfy him; he does not seem easily satisfied this morning, but that will have to do.

[Luke Hall]

I know that my hon. Friend the Minister understands the importance of the food and drink sector to the south-west of England, so may I ask what he is doing to promote growth and trade across the south-west?

[Mark Garnier]

The answer to my hon. Friend’s question exemplifies the type of tailored help the Department for International Trade can give. Working with our officials in the south-west and local producers and businesses, we have created the Great British Food programme, which is designed specifically to allow south-west food and drink businesses to interact directly with overseas buyers. We have already seen them working with the EU, Turkey and China, and since April 2016 we have won over £19 million-worth of business across more than 30 export markets.

Oral Answers to Questions

Luke Hall Excerpts

Thursday 8th September 2016 Commons Chamber

[Dr Fox]

The programme of prime ministerial trade envoys set up by the previous Prime Minister has been extremely successful and has delivered notable results given the resources initially allocated to it. The Department and No. 10 are looking at how we can improve on the success of that programme, which will depend upon the distribution of DIT’s staff overseas. I hope to make an announcement about that programme in the near future.

[Luke Hall (Thornbury and Yate) (Con)]

5. What recent discussions he has had to promote trade with the USA.

[The Secretary of State for International Trade and President of the Board of Trade (Dr Liam Fox)]

I travelled to the US in July and had extremely productive meetings with the US trade representatives, senior White House officials, and business leaders. My message was that Britain remains open for business and that we place continued importance on the commercial relationship between the UK and the US, our largest single trading partner.

[Luke Hall]

I welcome the Secretary of State to his place and thank him for that answer. What particular opportunities does he think will open up for people in the west country?

[Dr Fox]

The US is the south-west’s third-largest export market with £1.59 billion-worth of goods exported in the year to March 2016, including everything from aerospace, as mentioned by the hon. Member for Bristol West (Thangam Debbonaire), to cider and cheese. We want to expand those opportunities. I have already announced that we will open three new trade offices in the US in Minneapolis, Raleigh-Durham and San Diego. We need to look at where there are markets and not simply operate on a geographical basis.