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 - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
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 - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
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 - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
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 ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what plans she has to ban sexual orientation and gender identity conversion practices.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Whilst some forms of conversion practice already constitute a criminal offence, the Government will publish a draft Bill setting out our approach to banning those conversion practices which are still legal. This will include those acts targeted on the basis of being transgender. This will go for pre-legislative scrutiny by a joint committee. It is the Government's intention to complete pre-legislative scrutiny in the current parliamentary session.
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 - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
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 - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
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 Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he is taking to support the development of green hydrogen in Scotland.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The British Energy Security Strategy set out the Government's ambition to support up to 1GW of electrolytic hydrogen to be in construction or operational by 2025 across the UK. The first hydrogen allocation round is underway and the Government announced a shortlist of 20 electrolytic hydrogen projects in March 2023, including five projects based in Scotland, to enter the next phase of due diligence and negotiations. A second hydrogen allocation round is due to be launched before the end of 2023. In addition, four Scottish projects were also awarded funding through Strands 1 & 2 of the Net Zero Hydrogen Fund.
Asked by: Richard Thomson (Scottish National Party - Gordon)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment his Department has made of the benefits of support for green hydrogen production.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Low carbon hydrogen will be a source of clean energy which the Government can produce domestically using British skills, experience and natural resources. The British Energy Security Strategy sets out the Government's ambition for 10GW of hydrogen by 2030, of which at least half will be electrolytic, and to have up to 1GW of electrolytic hydrogen in construction or operation by 2025.
Government analysis suggests that by 2030 the hydrogen sector could support over 12,000 jobs, unlocking over £11 billion in private investment.
Asked by: Richard Thomson (Scottish National Party - Gordon)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he is taking to support the application of green hydrogen in Scotland.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The British Energy Security Strategy set out the Government's ambition to support up to 1GW of electrolytic hydrogen to be in construction or operational by 2025 across the UK. The first hydrogen allocation round is underway and the Government announced a shortlist of 20 electrolytic hydrogen projects in March 2023, including five projects based in Scotland, to enter the next phase of due diligence and negotiations. A second hydrogen allocation round is due to be launched before the end of 2023. In addition, four Scottish projects were also awarded funding through Strands 1 & 2 of the Net Zero Hydrogen Fund.
Asked by: Richard Thomson (Scottish National Party - Gordon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will review the Single Trade Window to ensure its implementation is small business friendly; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Single Trade Window (STW) will provide a simplified experience for businesses interacting with the Government. Through the STW, SMEs and other businesses will only need to submit their data once and in one place. The better use of technology and real-time data will ensure a more streamlined experience at the border and a reduction in the barriers which businesses, including SMEs, may face when trading globally.
The Government will continue to engage regularly with the border industry to ensure that the design and delivery of the STW take account of the needs of all businesses, including SMEs.