Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she has had recent discussions with her counterpart in New Zealand on the potential impact of the proposed Fast-Track Approvals Bill on that country's obligations under the chapter of the UK-New Zealand free trade agreement on the environment.
Answered by Greg Hands
On March 13th, the UK and New Zealand highlighted the importance of our environment commitments at the first ever Environment and Climate Change Sub-Committee under the FTA. The Department for Business and Trade will continue discussions with New Zealand on implementing the Environment Chapter and will monitor the proposed Bill as it develops in New Zealand’s Parliament.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent steps she has taken to help increase (a) Welsh and (b) British exports to European countries.
Answered by Greg Hands
The Government is committed to growing exports to Europe. The Department for Business and Trade continues to provide businesses with a wealth of support options on great.gov.uk, including the Export Academy, Export Champions, our International Markets network and UK Export Finance. The department is rolling out the Trade Advisory service across the UK, giving consistent support to all UK Exporters.
The department’s Nation Teams bring support closer to businesses in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland; they work closely with the Devolved Administrations (DAs), businesses and other key partners to improve the availability of support to businesses and ensure that the department’s support is available to all UK companies.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what estimate she has made of the number of zero-hours contracts in Newport West constituency.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Minister without Portfolio
Zero hours contracts (ZHC’s) are an important part of the UK’s flexible labour market. They are useful where there is not a constant demand for staff, allowing flexibility for both employers and individuals.
Individuals on zero hours contracts represent a very small proportion of the workforce. The ONS publishes quarterly data for the number of individuals in work on ZHC’s in the UK. The ONS figures are reported for Wales and estimates that between April – June 2023 47,000 people aged 16 or over in employment in Wales were on a ZHC. This is up from 46,000 between April – June 2017. Figures are not reported at constituency level.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment has she made of the potential barriers to exporting for businesses based in Newport West constituency.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Minister without Portfolio
DBT has developed a Barriers to Exporting Framework that sets out the key barriers that businesses face across their exporting journey. DBT’s free export support helps businesses in Newport West and across Wales overcome these barriers to expand their exporting activity.
Welsh businesses can access free export support through Great.gov.uk, including sector specialists and overseas trade advisers, the Export Support Service, the Export Academy and UK Export Finance.
My department recently announced that we will be appointing new International Trade Advisors (ITAs) in Wales, to provide tailored support for Welsh SME exporters to take advantage of new export opportunities.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire Safety) Regulations 1988.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Minister without Portfolio
Fire safety requirements for UK domestic upholstered furniture are acknowledged as being among the highest in the world. However, it is important that changes are made to take account of modern-day hazards and risks.
As a result, the Government announced it would develop a new approach to the fire safety of domestic upholstered furniture to maintain and improve fire safety and take account of modern-day hazards.
A consultation on proposals for a new approach closed on 24 October and the Government will issue a response in due course.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what evidence her Department has on the impact on health of toxic smoke inhalation generated by chemical flame retardants.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Minister without Portfolio
In developing the draft proposals for the new approach to the fire safety of domestic upholstered furniture, the Government considered a wide range of evidence, including evidence submitted during the Environmental Audit Committee’s inquiry into Toxic Chemicals in Everyday Life. The proposals reflect the need to maintain and improve fire safety whilst reducing the risks posed by chemical flame retardants.
The Government is currently consulting on these proposals and welcomes feedback from stakeholders.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, for what reason smoke toxicity was not included in the scope of the draft Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Minister without Portfolio
In developing the draft proposals for the new approach to the fire safety of domestic upholstered furniture, the Government considered a wide range of evidence, including evidence submitted during the Environmental Audit Committee’s inquiry into Toxic Chemicals in Everyday Life. The proposals reflect the need to maintain and improve fire safety whilst reducing the risks posed by chemical flame retardants.
The Government is currently consulting on these proposals and welcomes feedback from stakeholders.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how much her Department has spent on plastic (a) pens (b) cups and (c) bags for promotion and marketing in each of the last five years.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The information requested is not readily available. Attempting to find and extract the information could only be done at disproportionate cost.
Building on the success of our existing restrictions on certain single use plastic items and the single use carrier bag charge, the Government will restrict the supply of single use plastic plates, bowls, trays, and ban all single use plastic cutlery, balloon sticks and expanded and extruded polystyrene food and drinks containers from October this year.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how much from the public purse was spent on travel for UK trade envoys to nations on the African continent in each of the last five years.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Please find below a table giving the number of visits and costs by the Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to nations on the African continent over the last five years.
Financial Year | Number of Visits | Costs |
2019-2020 | 11 | £43,764 |
2020-2021 | 1 | £7,132 |
2021-2022 | 9 | £49,455 |
2022-2023 | 10 | £63,800 |
2023-2024* | 8 | £24,465 |
Total | 39 | £188,616 |
*Figures for 2023-24 are up to 15 September 2023.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what discussions she has had with her US counterpart on trade and investment opportunities in (a) Northern Ireland and (b) Wales.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Secretary of State has regular discussions with her counterpart US Trade Representative Katherine Tai. Most recently they met at the G20 Summit on 25 August. The Secretary of State regularly raises the opportunities for US trade and investment into all regions of the UK. Around 260 US-owned businesses already operate in Northern Ireland and in 2021, businesses in Northern Ireland exported goods and services worth £2.2 billion to the United States. In the same year, good and services exports from Wales to the US stood at £4.4 billion.