Asked by: Nusrat Ghani (Conservative - Wealden)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps her Department is taking in response to President Ursula von der Leyen's State of the Union 2021 address in which she said that the EU will propose a ban on products on its market that have been made with forced labour; and what steps she plans to take to work with President von der Leyen to help ensure that products made by force labour from Xinjiang are not sold in the UK.
Answered by Ranil Jayawardena
HM Government continues to keep its policy response to goods produced using forced labour under close review. We are working closely with our international partners, through the G7 trade track to ensure that global supply chains are free from the use of forced labour. G7 Trade Ministers will aim to identify areas for strengthened cooperation and collective action towards the eradication of forced labour in global supply chains in October.
Asked by: Nusrat Ghani (Conservative - Wealden)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many British companies have approached his Department seeking advice on supply chains in China following publication of the G7 Trade Ministers' Communique on 28 May 2021.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government regularly engages with British companies on supply chain matters, including in China. We recommend that British businesses operating in China should make use of the Overseas Business Risk guidance that is published online. That guidance is regularly updated, with the guidance for China being most recently updated in August 2021.
Asked by: Nusrat Ghani (Conservative - Wealden)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department has taken to provide assurance that infrastructure funding supports housing development in places where rigid strategies exist such as the Road Investment Strategy.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
It is important that local authorities plan well for the infrastructure required to support housing development, taking into account Government funding streams such as the Road Investment Strategy and securing appropriate contributions from developers. Developer contributions can be secured through section 106 planning obligations or the Community Infrastructure Levy. The 'Planning for the Future' White Paper' proposes a new 'Infrastructure Levy' to replace the existing system. The consultation on 'Planning for the Future' closed on 29 October 2020 and we will be responding formally.
The Government published its second Road Investment Strategy in October 2019, which allocated grant funding of £27.4 billion from 2020-2025. Other funding streams include NHS England, the Environment Agency, and various schools funding programmes. We recognise there is still a need for further infrastructure funding, which is why the Government committed £4.3 billion from the Housing Infrastructure Fund for 133 projects across England unlocking over 300,000 homes.
Asked by: Nusrat Ghani (Conservative - Wealden)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will review the five-year plan to assume that homes will be built within five years to remove incentives for developers to delay development and speculate on land.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The National Planning Policy Framework is clear that local planning authorities should identify and update annually a supply of specific deliverable sites sufficient to provide a minimum of five years' worth of housing against their housing requirement set out in adopted strategic policies.
The Government wants to see homes built faster and expects house builders to build out as soon as possible once planning permission is granted.
Where build-out is delayed, it is for councils and developers to work closely together to overcome any barriers. To support them, this Government is looking at strengthening the tools available to local authorities to encourage faster build out rates. We are considering the responses to the Planning for the Future consultation and will publish our response.
Asked by: Nusrat Ghani (Conservative - Wealden)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will provide local councils with the ability to raise a Community Infrastructure Levy within one year of the grant of consent to ensure delivery of homes and infrastructure delivery.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
We have consulted on introducing a new infrastructure levy to replace section 106 planning obligations and the Community Infrastructure Levy. We are currently analysing the 44,000 responses to the 'Planning for the Future' consultation and will be publishing our response.
Asked by: Nusrat Ghani (Conservative - Wealden)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 5 July 2021 to Question 4244 on Overseas Trade: China, whether her Department plans to progress trade discussions with China while that country maintains sanctions on hon. Members, lawyers and academics.
Answered by Ranil Jayawardena
HM Government has no plans to negotiate a trade deal with China.
Asked by: Nusrat Ghani (Conservative - Wealden)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has (a) asked for, (b) had sight of and (c) discussed the evidence used by the US Administration to declare genocide in Xinjiang.
Answered by Nigel Adams
It is the long-standing policy of the UK Government that any judgment as to whether genocide has occurred is a matter for a competent court. The UK's approach, shared by many countries around the world, does not prevent us from taking action to address serious human rights violations, as we have done in the case of Xinjiang. The US has a different process that is not linked to a court decision. We regularly discuss the situation in Xinjiang and related questions of policy with the US.
Asked by: Nusrat Ghani (Conservative - Wealden)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what advice his Department has given British companies operating supply chains in Xinjiang in response to President Biden changing import controls by placing Withhold Release Orders against Hoshine Silicon Industry Co. Ltd; and whether his Department is working with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to add new companies to the sanctions list in light of the most recent WRO.
Answered by Paul Scully
All British businesses should take heed of the updated Overseas Business Risk (OBR) guidance on Xinjiang to understand the human rights risks associated with sourcing from that region and to take appropriate remedial action based on their circumstances. The government is engaging businesses to help them understand what this guidance means for them. The Department for International Trade continues to provide practical support to British businesses operating in China, and is happy to answer questions from businesses about this guidance.
On 22 March, my Rt hon Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, announced that the UK has imposed, under our Global Human Rights sanctions regime, asset freezes and travel bans against four Chinese government officials, as well as the Public Security Bureau of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, the organisation responsible for enforcing the repressive security policies across many areas of Xinjiang. These measures were taken alongside the US, Canada and the EU, sending a clear message to the Chinese Government that the international community will not turn a blind eye to such serious and systematic violations of basic human rights. We keep all evidence and potential listings under close review.
Asked by: Nusrat Ghani (Conservative - Wealden)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many British companies have approached his Department seeking supply chain advice in China since 2017; and how that guidance has changed since 2017.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government regularly engages with British companies on supply chain matters, including in China. We recommend that British businesses operating in China should make use of the Overseas Business Risk guidance that is published online. That guidance is regularly updated, with the guidance for China being most recently updated in March 2021.
Asked by: Nusrat Ghani (Conservative - Wealden)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, which Minister will be responsible for overseeing the UK’s role in the Build Back Better World initiative.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The Foreign and Development Minister will have lead responsibility for overseeing the UK's role in the B3W initiative launched by G7 leaders.