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 proportion of officials in her Department who are graded as senior civil servant two (SCS2) and on full-time equivalent contracts are women.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Of the Department for Business and Trade staff who are graded as Senior Civil Servant 2, 31% are women on full time contracts.
Asked by: Richard Thomson (Scottish National Party - Gordon)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what proportion of officials in his Department that are (a) graded as senior civil servant 2 and (b) on full-time equivalent contracts are women.
Answered by David T C Davies - Secretary of State for Wales
My Department has one official graded at SCS 2, who is male.
Asked by: Richard Thomson (Scottish National Party - Gordon)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what proportion of officials in his Department on temporary contracts are women.
Answered by David T C Davies - Secretary of State for Wales
My Department has eleven staff members on temporary contracts, five (45%) of whom are women.
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 - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
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 - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
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 Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what progress his Department has made on meeting its commitment to deliver £11.6 billion in climate finance to vulnerable countries by 2026.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK spent over £1.4 billion on international climate finance in 2021/22 and will publish figures for 2022/23 in due course.
Asked by: Richard Thomson (Scottish National Party - Gordon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to minimise the disruption of import checks on food products arriving from the EU.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
From 30 April, our approach to compliance and enforcement will balance an expectation that businesses will do their best to comply, with an understanding that there will be a period of adjustment, and the importance of minimising disruption to supply chains. We will continue to pursue an approach of supporting businesses towards full compliance via guidance and warnings, and only escalating enforcement where necessary.
To support business in preparing for controls, Defra is engaging stakeholders in all SPS sectors within the United Kingdom, across the EU and with global trading partner. Information will be shared through a series of live and virtual engagement events. Online guidance will be available on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Richard Thomson (Scottish National Party - Gordon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to improve (a) awareness of and (b) compliance with upcoming import checks on food products arriving from the EU to Great Britain among food importers in the (i) UK and (ii) EU.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is engaging stakeholders in all SPS sectors within the United Kingdom, across the EU and with global trading partners, to raise awareness of the Border Target Operating Model (TOM). Information will be shared through a series of live and virtual engagement events. Online guidance will be available on GOV.UK.
From 30 April, our approach to compliance and enforcement will balance an expectation that businesses will do their best to comply, with an understanding that there will be a period of adjustment to the new controls. We are working with APHA and PHAs to reach a clear and consistent understanding of how this calibrated approach will be implemented. We will continue to pursue an approach of supporting businesses towards full compliance via guidance and warnings, only escalating to enforcement where necessary.
Asked by: Richard Thomson (Scottish National Party - Gordon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to improve its communications with food importers in the (a) UK and (b) EU on upcoming import checks on food products arriving from the EU.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is engaging stakeholders in all SPS sectors within the United Kingdom, across the EU and with global trading partners, to raise awareness of the Border Target Operating Model (TOM). Information will be shared through a series of live and virtual engagement events and communications detailing actions required as a result of the new changes. Online guidance will be available on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Richard Thomson (Scottish National Party - Gordon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of import checks on products arriving from the EU on (a) food prices and (b) consumers.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Border Target Operating Model (BTOM) will introduce import controls on consignments arriving in GB from the EU. Our analysis indicates that these controls would at most have an impact on inflation of less than 0.2% in total over a 3-year period. We are taking steps to support businesses importing to GB to prepare for BTOM and do not anticipate BTOM will adversely affect supplies, including food supplies, to GB.