Asked by: Richard Thomson (Scottish National Party - Gordon)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of having flat-rate customs charges on each item arriving from the EU on SMEs.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Department for Business and Trade, along with Cabinet Office, HMT and HMRC, continue to keep UK customs trends regarding SMEs importing from the EU under review. For example, as outlined in the Border Target Operating Model, published August 2023, HM Government is engaged in public consultation on its proposed methodology and rates regarding charging levels and continues to work closely with the Devolved Governments on charging policy.
Asked by: Richard Thomson (Scottish National Party - Gordon)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the oral answer given by the Minister of State for Business and Trade of Tuesday 18 July 2023, Official Report, column 779, what the evidential basis is for the estimate that that in the long run at least £2 billion a year will be added to the economy as a result of membership of the Comprehensive and Progressive agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The analysis brings together robust evidence from across Government using a range of data and analytical tools including data on historic sectoral trading patterns, future trends from the Global Trade Outlook and factors in economy wide impacts to estimate the potential impacts.
The methodology underlying our analysis is also published in full. This impact assessment has been independently scrutinised by the Regulatory Policy Committee, an independent body.
Asked by: Richard Thomson (Scottish National Party - Gordon)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she plans to hold discussions with her European Union counterparts on cooperation between the EU and the UK for critical raw mineral supply chains under the European Critical Raw Materials Act.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
The EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act is seeking to increase the diversity, resilience and sustainability of critical minerals supply chains, in line with the aims of the UK’s own Critical Minerals Strategy published last year. We are assessing the implications of the Critical Raw Materials Act to ensure UK businesses are not disadvantaged. The UK has strong industrial capabilities and deep expertise in critical minerals and mining, and is a global centre of mining finance. We are working with the EU and likeminded partners on our common goals, for example through the Minerals Security Partnership, International Energy Agency and G7.
Asked by: Richard Thomson (Scottish National Party - Gordon)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether her Department uses automated decision making.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Department uses a range of tools to aid decision making to generate insight from large and complex data. All decisions are made by officials and Ministers.
Asked by: Richard Thomson (Scottish National Party - Gordon)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she plans to appoint a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Exports.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Lord Offord of Garvel was appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Department of Business and Trade on 24 April 2023.
Ministerial responsibilities can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-business-and-trade.
Asked by: Richard Thomson (Scottish National Party - Gordon)
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 potential contribution of a think small first policy to achieving the target of exporting over a trillion pounds of goods and services annually by 2030.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
As set out in the Export Strategy the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) is working in partnership with UK exporters to reach a trillion pounds of UK exports annually by 2030, with UK exports reaching £843bn in March this year. As part of this, DBT utilises company-level data to segment and tailor its support based on where a business is at on their export journey. This includes our self-serve digital offer and the Export Academy, which provides training and guidance to ensure businesses across the UK, especially SMEs, have the capability and knowledge to prosper in international markets.
Asked by: Richard Thomson (Scottish National Party - Gordon)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent discussions she has had with the Federation of Small Business about the role of small firms in increasing exports.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Small and medium sized business are the backbone of our economy and central to achieving our ambition to reach £1 trillion in exports annually by 2030, which is why they are the focus of the Department for Business and Trade and UK government support. The Federation of Small Business is an important champion of small businesses and the Secretary of State values DBT’s regular engagement with this key stakeholder at ministerial and official level. The Secretary of State met the FSB along with other leading business representative organisations on 13 March with another meeting planned for April.
Asked by: Richard Thomson (Scottish National Party - Gordon)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps she is taking to ensure that her Department's export support team has the resources it requires to assist small businesses.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
As set out in the Export Strategy, the Export Support Service (ESS) is integral to how we support Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). Ensuring that it is adequately funded and resourced is our priority. The Department for Business and Trade is planning to spend over £200 million, over the Spending Review period, to support SMEs.
The ESS provides a range of support and guidance to help SMEs with on-the-ground experts across the globe and, together with our innovative Export Academy, we are ensuring businesses have the knowledge to thrive in international markets.
Asked by: Richard Thomson (Scottish National Party - Gordon)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she has had discussions with (a) colleagues in the Department for Work and Pensions and (b) negotiators on the UK-Canada Free Trade Deal on any clauses that would end the freeze on State Pension payments to UK pensioners residing in Canada.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Department for Business and Trade and Department for Work and Pensions agree that social security arrangements are not a trade issue. Therefore, the UK will not be seeking any clauses to end the freeze on State Pension payments to UK pensioners residing in Canada in the UK-Canada Free Trade Agreement.
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given to him by the Minister for Pensions on 10 February 2023, UIN:141589 about HMG’s social security relationship with Canada.
Asked by: Richard Thomson (Scottish National Party - Gordon)
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 potential impact of the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill on provisions in the UK–Japan free trade agreement on the obligations arising from International Labour Organisation membership.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Minister without Portfolio
The UK signed the UK–Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) on 23 October 2020. The Government is committed to upholding labour commitments in the CEPA.
We are committed to enhancing labour standards globally, for example by leading the way in negotiating the ILO Violence and Harassment Convention. We were the third country in Europe to ratify the convention in March 2022.
We are confident that the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill is compatible with our international obligations. Many member states of the ILO have minimum service levels covering a range of key services.