Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the likely timing of a free trade agreement with the USA.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Lainston - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The United States is not negotiating traditional FTAs with any country. On the 8th of June, the Prime Minister and the President announced a first-of-its-kind economic partnership. The Atlantic Declaration and accompanying Action Plan cover the full spectrum of our economic, technological, commercial and trade relations, and will explore ways to expand our bilateral trade, already worth £279 billion per year.
As part of the Declaration, we announced the immediate launch of negotiations on a Critical Minerals Agreement to ensure UK access to the US market for a strategically important sector of the UK economy and bolster vital supply chains.
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment she has made of potential effect on the government of China's decision to restrict export of critical minerals including gallium and germanium on the competitiveness of the UK economy and the transition to net zero.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
Gallium and germanium have a range of applications in electronics and communications sectors. The new Chinese export controls applying to germanium, gallium and related items coming into effect on 1st August this year may have impacts on the global supply chains for these sectors. Along with international counterparts, we are following the situation closely and are assessing risks this poses to the UK.
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 hold discussions with her European Union counterparts on cooperation between the EU and the UK for critical raw mineral supply chains under the European Critical Raw Materials Act.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act is seeking to increase the diversity, resilience and sustainability of critical minerals supply chains, in line with the aims of the UK’s own Critical Minerals Strategy published last year. We are assessing the implications of the Critical Raw Materials Act to ensure UK businesses are not disadvantaged. The UK has strong industrial capabilities and deep expertise in critical minerals and mining, and is a global centre of mining finance. We are working with the EU and likeminded partners on our common goals, for example through the Minerals Security Partnership, International Energy Agency and G7.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they still intend to make a free trade agreement with the United States as envisaged in the Conservative Party Manifesto of 2019.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Lainston - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The United States is not negotiating traditional FTAs with any country. On the 8th of June, the Prime Minister and the President announced a first-of-its-kind economic partnership. The Atlantic Declaration and accompanying Action Plan cover the full spectrum of our economic, technological, commercial and trade relations, and will explore ways to expand our bilateral trade, already worth £279 billion per year.
As part of the Declaration, we announced the immediate launch of negotiations on a Critical Minerals Agreement which will guarantee market access for a strategically important sector of the UK economy and bolster vital supply chains.
Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department plans to take steps to agree a critical raw materials agreement with the European Union.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The UK is engaging with the EU and Member States to explore ways of working together to meet shared net zero and supply chain security objectives on critical raw materials. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, visited Brussels on 27 June where he met European Commission Executive Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis. The Chancellor and Commissioner Dombrovskis discussed future cooperation in strengthening pan-European supply and value chains and enhancing supply chain security, including critical minerals.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
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 potential impact of the European Critical Raw Materials Act on the security of the UK's supply of critical raw minerals.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The UK welcomes the publication of the EU Critical Raw Materials Act as an important step for EU Member States to increase the diversity, security, and sustainability of these essential supply chains. It is in our collective interests to ensure that supplies of critical minerals are not geographically concentrated and that the overall supply of critical minerals is robust and able to meet demands. We are considering the implications of the Act for UK industries and how the UK might work with our European partners.
In March, we published a Critical Minerals Refresh which sets out our approach to promoting resilience in the UK’s critical minerals supply chains.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
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 impact on levels of land based extraction of critical minerals of emerging green industries.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
Within the Critical Minerals Strategy, we are seeking to maximise what the UK can produce domestically, where viable for businesses and where it works for communities and our natural environment. As part of this effort, we commissioned an assessment of the UK’s geological potential for critical mineral extraction. In April this year, the Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre published its report on “Potential for Critical Raw Material Prospectivity in the UK”, which highlighted the UK’s potential to produce a variety of critical minerals, including lithium – a key ingredient of electric vehicles. It is a preliminary assessment, and the Government is working with the British Geological Survey to understand next steps.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
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 impact of lithium resources available (a) in the UK, (a) in deposits in Cornwall and (b) from recycling on supply chain resilience.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
As part of the Critical Minerals Strategy, we are committed to exploring the UK’s geological potential for critical minerals (including lithium) as reflected by the Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre’s (CMIC) report published on 17 April, “Potential for Critical Raw Material Prospectivity in the UK.” It is a preliminary assessment, and the Government is working with the British Geological Survey to understand next steps.
In the case of minerals for electrical vehicle batteries, end-of-life recycling is expected to provide less than 1% of UK demand in 2030. However, by 2040, recycling is expected to account for 10-20% of battery mineral demand for electrical vehicles.
To promote recycling and recovery, the Government is funding the £30 million National Interdisciplinary Circular Economy Research (NICER) Programme, and UKRI has launched the Circular Critical Materials Supply Chains (CLIMATES) fund, with an initial £15 million to bolster UK rare earth element supply chain resilience.
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will make a comparative assessment of the (a) availability and (b) extraction cost for (i) land-based and (ii) sea bed critical minerals.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
There is no deep-sea mining currently happening in areas beyond national jurisdictions.
The Government commissioned an independent review from the British Geological Survey, the National Oceanography Centre and Heriot-Watt University, to support informed decision making regarding potential future development of mineral resources in the deep sea.
Chapter Four of that review addresses Economics, and the full document (published in October 2022) is available here:
https://www.bgs.ac.uk/news/deep-sea-mining-evidence-review-published/
Asked by: Baroness Foster of Aghadrumsee (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government to ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by the British Geological Survey, Potential for Critical Raw Material Prospectivity in the UK, published on 17 April, which identified potentially strategically important deposits throughout the UK; and what assessment they have made of the ability of local planning authorities to process related planning applications efficiently.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
'Potential for Critical Raw Material Prospectivity in the UK' was a study undertaken by the Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre, a programme sponsored by the Department for Business and Trade and delivered by the British Geological Survey. This report delivers on the Critical Minerals Strategy's commitment to collate geoscientific data and identify target areas of potential for critical minerals within the UK. It is a preliminary assessment, and its findings do not mean that the prospective areas identified will necessarily be targeted for exploration and mining. The Government is working with the British Geological Survey to understand next steps.
The Government recognises that many local planning authorities are facing capacity and capability challenges. To make sure that local planning authorities are able to deliver an effective planning service and our proposed reforms we are developing a programme of support, working with partners across the planning sector. The capacity and capability programme will seek to provide the direct support that is needed now, deliver training opportunities for existing planners, and further develop the future pipeline into the profession. In addition, we recently consulted on proposals to increase planning fees by 35% for major applications and 25% for all other applications to increase resourcing and improve the performance of local planning authorities.