Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of legislation to (a) support small businesses when trading online and (b) protect small businesses from infringement of their intellectual property rights.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Minister without Portfolio
The Business Protection from Misleading Marketing Regulations 2008 protects businesses from misleading advertising by other businesses, and are enforced by Trading Standards.
The Government recently introduced the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill to establish a new pro-competition regime that will force the most powerful tech firms to treat businesses in the UK fairly – including small businesses.
The options available to a business which believes its intellectual property (IP) is being infringed online depend on the type of IP, where it is registered and where the alleged infringement is taking place.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether news publishers will be included in the types of third parties that firms designated as having Strategic Market Status by the Digital Markets Unit will be required to trade with on fair and reasonable grounds.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Minister without Portfolio
The pro-competition regime aims to address the far-reaching power of the biggest tech firms. It will help rebalance the relationship between major platforms and those who rely on them, including press publishers.
Once a firm is designated as having SMS, the DMU will be able to set tailored conduct requirements for how it must treat consumers and other businesses in relation to its designated digital activities; this could include requirements to trade on fair and reasonable terms.
Like all the DMU’s tools, conduct requirements are sector-neutral in design and can be tailored to any kind of user relationship, including that with news publishers.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make an assessment of the potential effect of a 10 per cent tariff on the import of vehicles on the UK's car manufacturing sector.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The UK Global Tariff sets out the UK’s Most Favourite Nation tariffs. It applies to all imports of goods unless an exception applies, such as a Free Trade Agreement. The UKGT has been in place since 1 January 2021.
In setting tariffs on automotive goods, the Government took into account a number of market and economic factors as well as the interests of UK businesses, manufacturers, and consumers as well as on the views expressed through a public consultation in February 2020.
The Government’s programme of trade agreements also supports the import of vehicles. We continue to engage with partners to address issues, including around rules of origin, as needed.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether her Department plans to reform the Online Intermediation Services for Business Users (Enforcement) Regulations 2020 following the passage of the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Minister without Portfolio
The Department for Business and Trade is reviewing all REUL in line with usual policy development to determine whether to repeal, replace or preserve it.
The Government will, in due course, provide further information regarding its plans for the Online Intermediation Services for Business Users (Enforcement) Regulations 2020.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the consultation entitled Choice on units of measurement: markings and sales, published on 3 June 2022, when the Government expects to publish its response to that consultation; and how many responses to that consultation have been analysed as of 13 April 2023.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Minister without Portfolio
The Government has received over 100,000 responses to the consultation on the Choice on units of measurement: markings and sale and will publish its response in due course.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the Answer of 21 January 2020 to Question 3164 on Employment Tribunals Service: Fines, how many (a) warning notices and (b) financial penalty notices were issued to respondent employers under section 150 of the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 for failure to pay an employment tribunal award in each year since 2016-17.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Minister without Portfolio
Workers should receive the money they are owed. We are committed to ensuring this happens and that they are protected from exploitation.
As stated in the answer to HL6685, data held on Employment Tribunal Penalties is derived from a live case management system used for internal purposes which has not been subject to sufficient validation that would be required for us to release this to Parliament at this time.
We will consider what data we may be able to publish on this subject in the future.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, which consultations published by their Department are awaiting a response; and when each of those responses (a) were initially planned to and (b) will be published.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Policy teams across the Department for Business and Trade consult regularly during the policy development and implementation cycle.
Information is available on gov.uk on all open and closed consultations published by the Department for Business and Trade, including the closing date for open consultations and, where available, the Government's response.
The Cabinet Office has published best practice ‘consultation principles’ for Government Departments.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will publish the (a) number and (b) destinations of all domestic flights taken by officials in her Department in each of the last 5 years.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Due to the Machinery of Government changes we are unable to give total figures for the Department of Business and Trade.
The number of domestic flights (flights departing and arriving within the United Kingdom) taken by officials of the former Department of International Trade (DIT) in each of the last 5 financial years is published in the department’s Annual Report and Accounts.
The link to the DIT Annual Report and Accounts can be found at the following location: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/department-for-international-trade-annual-report-and-accounts
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether it remains her Department's policy to (a) expand the definition of a Small or Medium Sized Enterprise to include companies with up to 500 employees and (b) consult on extending the threshold to businesses with up to 1,000 employees.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Minister without Portfolio
In October 2022, the Government extended the Small and Micro Business Assessment process to include a new test for medium sized businesses of up to 499 employees. This will help ensure that the impact of new and renewed regulations on these businesses are considered, and exemptions or mitigations applied where it is appropriate. There are no plans to extend the threshold further.