Asked by: Simon Lightwood (Labour (Co-op) - Wakefield and Rothwell)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, when the Government expects to complete processes and exchange diplomatic notes with Australia so that a commencement date can be set for the UK - Australia Free Trade Agreement.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Our ground-breaking free trade agreement (FTA) with Australia is our first ‘from scratch’ since we left the EU, and is set to benefit every nation and region of the UK. We are working hard to bring the FTA into force at the earliest opportunity so businesses and consumers can reap the benefits.
The Trade (Australia and New Zealand) Act received Royal Assent on 23 March and we are working to lay the remaining statutory instruments required to implement the agreement, and to complete the remaining procedural steps, as soon as possible. We expect to be able to bring the agreement into force this spring.
Asked by: Simon Lightwood (Labour (Co-op) - Wakefield and Rothwell)
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 impact on (a) consumers and (b) businesses of the recent cyber attack on Royal Mail.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Minister without Portfolio
The cyber incident affecting Royal Mail is an operational matter for the business to address. Royal Mail has been working with the National Cyber Security Centre and law enforcement partners to resolve the incident.
Universal postal service performance standards are set and monitored by Ofcom as the independent regulator for postal services. Ofcom requires Royal Mail to have plans in place in the event of an incident that may severely disrupt postal services and it has informed Ofcom of the incident.
Ofcom continues to monitor Royal Mail’s performance to ensure it is providing the best service possible to its customers.