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Written Question
Exports: Hamas
Wednesday 27th March 2024

Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham, Hodge Hill)

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 (a) risk and (b) prevalence of (i) re-export and (ii) diversion of UK exports to Hamas.

Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Department for Business and Trade works alongside other government departments to regularly assess UK export licences. This includes working with the Ministry of Defence on risks of diversion of exported goods and national security risks arising from hostile state activity.

The Export Control Joint Unit will not issue an export licence to any destination where to do so would be inconsistent with the UK’s Strategic Export Licensing Criteria, including where there is a clear risk that the items might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of International Humanitarian Law. HMG can and does refuse applications where there is a planned re-export that is inconsistent with the Criteria, or where we assess that the goods may be diverted to an undesirable destination.


Written Question
Foreign Investment in UK: Science and Technology
Tuesday 26th March 2024

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, whether her Department supports foreign investment in science and technology by region.

Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

Investment is at the very heart of the UK economy - it supports economic growth, creates jobs and enables improvements in productivity for new and existing firms. It is also essential for successful delivery of the Government's objective to make the UK a science and technology superpower by 2030.

The Department for Business and Trade promotes a range of investment opportunities across the science & technology sector. DBT works to attract foreign corporates to the UK, developing compelling investment propositions for DBT's international network to bring to prospective investors, this includes both sector-wide and place-based opportunities. DBT has dedicated based staff across the UK who work with the DAs/their agencies, wider DBT teams, Office for Investment and other UK government departments to deliver investment in priority areas, including science and technology. DBT teams work closely with partners to deliver events to attract investment, such as the Northern Ireland Investment Summit that was held in Belfast, September 2023.

The UK has 13 new Investment Zones which will benefit from £160 million each of Government funding to unlock foreign investment across priority sectors, especially science and technology, with a focus on driving innovation and creating quality jobs. These will be new hubs for investment and innovation across the UK and the funding spread over 10 years, will be spent on fiscal incentives and/or flexible spend to support attracting FDI. In line with the government's levelling up objectives, they are established in places with significant unmet productivity potential, where existing strengths and assets aligned to priority sectors can be leveraged to increase opportunities for local communities. Investment Zones will be established in partnership between central government, local government, research institutions and the private sector. The Investment Opportunity Fund is intended to double down on the objectives of Freeports and Investment Zones by providing a flexible, agile pot of funding that government can use to secure and respond to opportunities in these areas as they emerge.


Written Question
Lithium
Tuesday 26th March 2024

Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the deposits of lithium in Wales and Scotland; and whether they will ensure that all such is conveyed to the respective devolved authorities.

Answered by Lord Johnson of Lainston - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Critical Minerals Strategy committed to collate UK geoscientific data and identify areas of geological potential for critical mineral extraction. The Department for Business and Trade commissioned the British Geological Survey to undertake the study, “Potential for Critical Raw Material Prospectivity in the UK”, delivered by the Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre (CMIC) and was published in 2023. It is a preliminary assessment of geological factors only, and its findings do not mean prospective areas identified will necessarily be targeted for exploration and mining. Mineral planning policy is also a devolved matter.

Areas of potential geological prospectivity for critical minerals were identified in both Scotland and Wales. Regarding the geological prospectivity for lithium, the report identified two areas in Scotland and no areas in Wales.


Written Question
Courts
Tuesday 26th March 2024

Asked by: Jerome Mayhew (Conservative - Broadland)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to tackle the backlog in the courts.

Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

We remain committed to tackling the outstanding caseloads across our courts and tribunals and have introduced a range of measures to achieve this aim.

Over 90% of all criminal cases are heard at the magistrates’ court, where we heard 100,000 cases a month on average across 2023. While the outstanding caseload in the magistrates’ courts has slightly increased in recent months due to an increase in the number of cases coming to court, the caseload remains well below its pandemic peak and stood at 353,900 at the end of September 2023, and cases continue to be progressed quickly. To aid our efforts in the magistrates’ courts, we invested £1 million in a programme of work to support the recruitment of more magistrates. We aim to recruit 2,000 new magistrates this year, and similar numbers for each of the next couple of years.

At the Crown Court, we remain committed to reducing the outstanding caseload. Last financial year we sat over 100,000 days and this financial year, we plan to deliver around 107,000 sitting days and recruit more than 1,000 judges across all jurisdictions. Judges have worked tirelessly to complete more cases, with disposals up by 9% during Q3 in 2023 compared to Q4 in 2022 (25,700 compared to 23,700).

We are also investing in our criminal courts. In August 2023, we announced we are investing £220 million for essential modernisation and repair work of our court buildings across the next two years, up to March 2025. We have also continued the use of 20 Nightingale courtrooms into the 2024/25 financial year, to allow courts to work at full capacity.

In the Family Court, we are working with the Department for Education and other partners on the Family Justice Board to tackle the longest running cases and increase the proportion of public law cases that conclude within the 26-week timeline. The Department for Education are also investing an extra £10m to develop new initiatives to address the longest delays in public law proceedings.

We announced in the Spring Budget an additional £55m to improve productivity, support earlier resolution of family disputes and reduce the number of cases coming to court. This includes creating a digital advice tool for separating couples, piloting early legal advice and supporting the expansion of the private law Pathfinder model. We are also investing up to £23.6m in the family mediation voucher scheme, which we intend will allow for its continuation up to March 2025. As of March 2024, over 26,000 families have successfully used the scheme to attempt to resolve their private law disputes outside of court.

With regards to civil cases, we are taking action to ensure those that do need to go to trial are dealt with quickly. We have launched the biggest ever judicial recruitment drive for District Judges, are digitising court processes and holding more remote hearings, and are increasing the use of mediation. The requirement for small claims in the county court to attend a mediation session with the Small Claims Mediation Service will start this spring and is expected to help parties resolve their dispute swiftly and consensually without the need for a judicial hearing.

With regards to tribunals, we continue to work with the Department for Business and Trade on further measures to address caseloads in the Employment Tribunal, where the deployment of legal officers, recruitment of additional judges and a new electronic case management system have helped the Tribunal to manage its caseload which remains below its pandemic peak.


Written Question
Foreign Investment in UK: Renewable Energy
Tuesday 26th March 2024

Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to her Department's Inward investment results 2022 to 2023, published on 27 June 2023, what the value of the 67 foreign direct investments into renewable energy were, by technology type.

Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)

The Department for Business and Trade does not publish value and type information in the annual foreign direct investment publication at sector level due to data availability and confidentiality issues.

As there are gaps in the completeness of the value information across projects across sectors, DBT excludes value information to the publication. The impact of these gaps is greater when the data is divided into specific sector areas. However, at an aggregate level it is possible to add value related data.

Additional breakdowns describing the type or nature of an investment increase the opportunity to identify individual companies, to which DBT offer full confidentiality.


Written Question
Foreign Investment in UK: Renewable Energy
Tuesday 26th March 2024

Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to her Department's statistics entitled DBT inward investment results 2022 to 2023, published on 27 June 2023, if she will publish a breakdown by technology of the 67 Foreign Direct Investment renewable energy projects.

Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)

The Department for Business and Trade does not publish value and type information in the annual foreign direct investment publication at sector level due to data availability and confidentiality issues.

As there are gaps in the completeness of the value information across projects across sectors, DBT excludes value information to the publication. The impact of these gaps is greater when the data is divided into specific sector areas. However, at an aggregate level it is possible to add value related data.

Additional breakdowns describing the type or nature of an investment increase the opportunity to identify individual companies, to which DBT offer full confidentiality.


Written Question
Foreign Investment in UK: Renewable Energy
Tuesday 26th March 2024

Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to her Department's statistics entitled DBT inward investment results 2022 to 2023, published on 27 June 2023, if she will list the 67 Foreign Direct Investment renewable energy projects by value.

Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)

The Department for Business and Trade does not publish value and type information in the annual foreign direct investment publication at sector level due to data availability and confidentiality issues.

As there are gaps in the completeness of the value information across projects across sectors, DBT excludes value information to the publication. The impact of these gaps is greater when the data is divided into specific sector areas. However, at an aggregate level it is possible to add value related data.

Additional breakdowns describing the type or nature of an investment increase the opportunity to identify individual companies, to which DBT offer full confidentiality.


Written Question
Musicians: Immigration Controls
Monday 25th March 2024

Asked by: Barbara Keeley (Labour - Worsley and Eccles South)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what information her Department holds on the number of (a) musicians and (b) music groups that were scheduled to play in the UK that were refused entry due to immigration rules in the last 12 months.

Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

Border Force does not hold the data requested.

The UK’s rules for touring creative professionals are comparatively more generous than in many EU Member States. The UK’s domestic rules allow musicians, entertainers and artists from non-visa national countries, such as EU Member States and the US, to perform in the UK without requiring a visa, and the UK does not have work permits.

The Government is committed to supporting the UK’s creative industries, including musicians, to adapt to new arrangements with the EU.

Sector specific guidance on creative professionals from non-visa national countries, including the EU and the US, visiting the UK for performance and work has been published by DCMS on GOV.UK can be found in the ‘Visiting the UK as a creative professional from a non-visa national country guidance’ on GOV.UK.

DCMS has worked across government and in collaboration with the music and wider creative industries to support working and touring with confidence in the EU. Ongoing industry engagement continues at ministerial and official level. This includes several recent events with the sector focused on touring and export support, hosted in partnership with the Department for Business and Trade. These events help to provide tailored guidance to stakeholders within the music sector, alongside an opportunity for the sector to discuss with Ministers and officials touring challenges and opportunities.


Written Question
Entertainers: Travel
Monday 25th March 2024

Asked by: Barbara Keeley (Labour - Worsley and Eccles South)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, on what dates her Department's working group on creative and cultural touring has met since June 2022; and how many times a Minister has attended those meetings.

Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

Border Force does not hold the data requested.

The UK’s rules for touring creative professionals are comparatively more generous than in many EU Member States. The UK’s domestic rules allow musicians, entertainers and artists from non-visa national countries, such as EU Member States and the US, to perform in the UK without requiring a visa, and the UK does not have work permits.

The Government is committed to supporting the UK’s creative industries, including musicians, to adapt to new arrangements with the EU.

Sector specific guidance on creative professionals from non-visa national countries, including the EU and the US, visiting the UK for performance and work has been published by DCMS on GOV.UK can be found in the ‘Visiting the UK as a creative professional from a non-visa national country guidance’ on GOV.UK.

DCMS has worked across government and in collaboration with the music and wider creative industries to support working and touring with confidence in the EU. Ongoing industry engagement continues at ministerial and official level. This includes several recent events with the sector focused on touring and export support, hosted in partnership with the Department for Business and Trade. These events help to provide tailored guidance to stakeholders within the music sector, alongside an opportunity for the sector to discuss with Ministers and officials touring challenges and opportunities.


Written Question
Department for Business and Trade: Anti-Muslim Hatred Working Group
Thursday 21st March 2024

Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the document entitled Draft terms of reference for the Anti-Muslim Hatred Working Group, what updates her Department has provided on relevant developments in its area of work to that group since 2019.

Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

Ministers and officials have regular discussions with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities over a range of issues. More broadly, I refer the hon. Member to the answer of 1 March 2024, Official Report, PQ 16019 on tackling anti-Muslim hatred.