Asked by: Martin Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party - West Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what estimate she has made of the potential to increase UK spirits exports to Nigeria.
Answered by Mike Freer
Increasing and promoting trade with Nigeria is a priority for the UK Government. Total trade in goods and services between the UK and Nigeria was £3.5 billion last year (ending Q3 2021), an increase of 1.9% or £65 million from the previous year. At the most recent bi-annual UK-Nigeria Economic Development Forum government to government dialogue, held on 26 April, Ministers from both countries agreed to start a working group to discuss how to enhance the bilateral trading relationship.
Officials are working to support British business access foreign exchange facilities through the Economic Development Forum and the associated Finance and Financial Services Working Group.
From 2016 to 2021 UK exports of spirits to Nigeria increased by 92.1%. DIT continues to offer a wide range of support for British alcohol and spirit producers wishing to export into Nigeria. Through our work, import adjustment tax is now no longer applicable on Scotch Whisky exports to Nigeria.
Asked by: Martin Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party - West Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what estimate she has made of the potential to increase UK spirits exports to Brazil as part of an enhanced trade partnership.
Answered by Mike Freer
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Martin Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party - West Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what estimate her Department has made of the annual value of UK (a) whisky, (b) gin, (c) vodka and (d) rum exports.
Answered by Mike Freer
British food and drink are among the best in the world and renowned for their quality and provenance including spirits which are a key export product for the UK. In 2021, the UK’s largest food and drink export was whisky which amounted to £4.6bn. In 2021, UK exports of gin and geneva to the world amounted to £541.6m, vodka £40.4m and rum £55.0m. Trade data related to “spirits – beverages” is publicly available on www.uktradeinfo.com under commodity code heading 22 of the Trade Tariff.
Asked by: Martin Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party - West Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment she has made of growth potential for UK spirits exports to international markets.
Answered by Mike Freer
Our Free Trade Agreements are unlocking new opportunities for our drink sector. Alcohol and other high-end goods are serving existing and rapidly expanding middle class markets in East Asia, South East Asia, Asia Pacific and the Gulf. Embracing these fast-growing markets will ensure our drink producers always have somewhere to sell their produce and be better prepared for the future.
Our Free Trade Agreement with Australia will remove tariffs on all products, including UK whisky. This could provide a boost to whisky exports to Australia, already worth £115 million last year.
A trade agreement with India could also boost whisky exports. Annual duties on UK whisky exports to India were estimated be around £164 million based on 2019 trade data.
The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) is a growing market for UK food and drinks and joining CPTPP could provide greater opportunities to sell our highly competitive products. UK wine exports to CPTPP members more than doubled between 2016 and 2021 whilst exports in UK gin increased by almost 50%.
Asked by: Martin Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party - West Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) reducing or (b) removing non-tariff barriers faced by UK spirits exporters.
Answered by Ranil Jayawardena
British exports of spirits amounted to £5.7 billion in 2021. We are removing trade barriers so that the industry can grow further, enabling our world-class spirits to be enjoyed across the globe – from securing geographic indicator protection for Scotch Whisky in countries like Indonesia, to streamlining the process for importers in countries like Nigeria – and we are negotiating trade deals that will reduce barriers for British spirits exporters, like our deal with Australia that includes tariff free exports on all products including whisky and gin from the United Kingdom.
Asked by: Martin Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party - West Dunbartonshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the compatibility of alcohol taxation reforms with the Government's commitment that reform will support the Scotch whisky industry and the jobs its maintains.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The Government has announced several changes to alcohol duty that will support the Scotch Whisky sector. At the Budget, spirits duty was frozen, making freezes continuous since 2017. As part of our alcohol duty review, the Government intends to move to a system where all products are taxed in reference to the litres of pure alcohol they contain, making the taxation of other products more consistent with Scotch. Above 8.5% ABV there is to be no differentiation between product categories, providing a more level playing field between spirits and other products. These changes will narrow the difference between Scotch, wines and high-strength ciders.
Further detail about the impact of reforms on consumers will be included in a tax information and impact note when the policy is final, or near final, in the usual way.
Asked by: Martin Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party - West Dunbartonshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what comparative assessment he has made of the effect on the costs to (a) beer and (b) whisky consumers of proposed reforms to alcohol taxation.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The Government has announced several changes to alcohol duty that will support the Scotch Whisky sector. At the Budget, spirits duty was frozen, making freezes continuous since 2017. As part of our alcohol duty review, the Government intends to move to a system where all products are taxed in reference to the litres of pure alcohol they contain, making the taxation of other products more consistent with Scotch. Above 8.5% ABV there is to be no differentiation between product categories, providing a more level playing field between spirits and other products. These changes will narrow the difference between Scotch, wines and high-strength ciders.
Further detail about the impact of reforms on consumers will be included in a tax information and impact note when the policy is final, or near final, in the usual way.
Asked by: Martin Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party - West Dunbartonshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he plans to take to support the Scotch whisky industry through proposals to reform alcohol taxation.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The Government has announced several changes to alcohol duty that will support the Scotch Whisky sector. At the Budget, spirits duty was frozen, making freezes continuous since 2017. As part of our alcohol duty review, the Government intends to move to a system where all products are taxed in reference to the litres of pure alcohol they contain, making the taxation of other products more consistent with Scotch. Above 8.5% ABV there is to be no differentiation between product categories, providing a more level playing field between spirits and other products. These changes will narrow the difference between Scotch, wines and high-strength ciders.
Further detail about the impact of reforms on consumers will be included in a tax information and impact note when the policy is final, or near final, in the usual way.
Asked by: Martin Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party - West Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support her Department is providing to social security claimants to help them manage increased utility costs.
Answered by David Rutley
The government is providing significant financial support to many households to support them with rising energy bills. The Energy Bills Rebate will provide around 28 million households with an upfront discount on their bills worth £200. Energy suppliers will apply the discount to domestic electricity customers from October, with the Government meeting the costs. Households in England, which are in council tax bands A-D, will also receive a £150 rebate on their council tax. The rebate to bills will be made directly by local authorities from April and will not need to be repaid.
DWP administers the Cold Weather Payment scheme, which provides £25 extra a week to vulnerable people in receipt of certain income-related benefits, when the average temperature has been recorded, or is forecast to be, 0 degrees Celsius or below over 7 consecutive days at the weather station linked to an eligible person’s postcode.
Some customers in receipt of Universal Credit may be entitled to a Winter Fuel Payment if they or their partner reached state pension age on or before 26 September 2021.
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy administers the Warm Home Discount Scheme for low income and vulnerable customers. It gives direct assistance with their energy costs. Energy suppliers provide rebates on energy bills currently worth £140 per household each winter. This year (2021/22), the scheme will be worth £354 million.
The Energy Price Cap will continue to protect consumers, ensuring they pay a fair price for their energy this winter.
Further detail on all three schemes can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/winter-fuel-payment
https://www.gov.uk/cold-weather-payment
https://www.gov.uk/the-warm-home-discount-scheme
In addition, we recognise that some people require extra support over the winter, which is why vulnerable households across the country can access the £500 million support fund to help them with essentials. The Household Support Fund provides £421 million to help vulnerable people in England with the cost of food, utilities and wider essentials. The Barnett Formula applies in the usual way, with the devolved administrations receiving almost £80 million (£41m for the Scottish Government, £25m for the Welsh Government and £14m for the NI Executive), for a total of £500 million.
Asked by: Martin Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party - West Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what support his Department (a) is providing and (b) has plans to provide to the Russian Military Studies Centre.
Answered by James Heappey
The Russian Military Studies Centre remains a valuable and unique resource to Defence. The archive of books and journals is housed at the Defence Academy in Shrivenham, with support including direction and funding of cataloguing activity, ongoing provision of subscriptions to digital journals, and librarian services to support journal access and management. Defence has committed £63,000 in 2021 to the archive.
Looking forward, the Defence Academy have recently commissioned a detailed study of this capability, alongside their other library facilities, to find new ways of best utilising the archive to assist in understanding the Russian military within a broader, integrated reference capability. The first phase of this study is set to deliver in the early part of 2022.