Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps she is taking to help increase business investment in (a) Lincolnshire and (b) the East Midlands.
Answered by Alan Mak - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade) (jointly with the Cabinet Office)
The Government-owned British Business Bank is supporting business investment across the UK including through its Nations and Regions Investment Funds. This includes the £400m Midlands Engine Investment Fund II, supporting growing businesses across the Midlands.
Our Growth Hub network is also supporting businesses of all sizes and sectors across England. The Department for Business and Trade is working across the UK, including in Greater Lincolnshire to showcase strong, commercial investment opportunities to potential investors and support business to grow. The Government has also agreed a £720 million mayoral devolution deal for Greater Lincolnshire to support growth and business investment.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of trends in the number of enrolments of international students on the finances of universities.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
The government seeks to ensure that there is a fair and robust migration policy, whilst maintaining the UK’s place as a top destination for the best and brightest students from around the world. The department remains committed to the ambitions set out in the government’s International Education Strategy to host 600,000 international students per year and to increase the value of our education exports to £35 billion per year, both by 2030.
The department expects the UK to remain a highly attractive study destination. The UK has four universities in the top ten, and 17 in the top 100, worldwide. The UK has a highly sought after higher education experience, which is respected by students across the globe. The department is hugely proud to have met its international student recruitment ambition two years running.
However, the level of legal migration remains too high. As a result, on 4 December 2023, the government announced a new package of measures to reduce net migration and curb abuse and exploitation of the country’s immigration system.
The Office for Students (OfS), the independent regulator of the higher education sector in England, continues to work closely with the Home Office, Department for Business and Trade, and other governmental departments to assess the impact of these changes on higher education providers.
Our universities are autonomous institutions responsible for managing their own budgets. The department also works closely with the OfS to understand the evolving landscape, including on risks relating to international students.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent assessment she has made of the impact of the UK's exit from the EU on levels of trade.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Since leaving the EU, the Department for Business and Trade has secured free trade deals with 73 countries plus the EU, that accounted for £1.1 trillion of UK trade in 2022. The UK was the world’s 4th largest exporter in 2022.
The UK’s total trade with the world (including goods and services) increased by £43.3bn (inflation adjusted) in 2023 compared to 2018, and our services exports to the world were at a record high in 2023, increasing by £48.9bn (inflation adjusted) compared to 2018.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool, Riverside)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of changes to the graduate visa route on export earnings.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government remains committed to sustainable growth in student numbers and the International Education Strategy ambition to host 600,000 international students a year. The Department for Business and Trade is aware of the potential impact of any changes to the Graduate Route visa via assessments made by stakeholders such as Universities UK. To that end, HMG’s International Education Champion, Sir Steve Smith, is advising the Migration Advisory Committee’s review of the Graduate Route.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she has had discussions with car manufacturers on levels of disruption to supply chains for (a) temperature sensors and (b) other spare parts for electric vehicles since Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Answered by Alan Mak - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade) (jointly with the Cabinet Office)
HMG understands the concerns of the Automotive industry regarding the potential impact of the invasion on its business operations and supply chains worldwide. The Department for Business and Trade ministers regularly meet with sector bodies and auto manufacturers to discuss a variety of automotive related trade issues, including an understanding of any direct and indirect impacts on UK operations.
Asked by: Maria Eagle (Labour - Garston and Halewood)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she has made an estimate of the cost to the public purse of expenditure by UK Defence and Security Exports on (a) domestic and (b) overseas trade shows in each year since 2010.
Answered by Alan Mak - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade) (jointly with the Cabinet Office)
The Department for Business and Trade has made no such estimate.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether her Department has held discussions with UK Export Finance on (a) the closure of the ethanol plant at Grangemouth and (b) the proposed INEOS plant in Antwerp.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
UK Export Finance and the Department for Business and Trade are strategically and operationally aligned, and routinely share relevant information across all business areas.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps her Department has taken to raise awareness of carer's leave amongst employers.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department for Business and Trade has carried out a range of activities to raise awareness of Carer’s Leave with employers. This includes producing associated guidance, which is available through GOV.UK (https://www.gov.uk/carers-leave), and working closely with a range of stakeholders, including Carers UK and the Business Representative Organisations, to communicate the changes directly to employers, for example through newsletters and webinars. The Department is also promoting Carers Leave through the ‘Help to Grow’ website (https://helptogrow.campaign.gov.uk/new-changes-to-employment-law/).
Acas has also produced guidance (https://www.acas.org.uk/carers-leave).
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she has made an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the Goldman Sachs report entitled the Structural and Cyclical Costs of Brexit, published on 9 February 2024.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government keeps track of external analysis from third parties often based on a range of assumptions and hypothetical views. Since leaving the EU, the Department for Business and Trade has secured free trade deals with 73 countries in addition to the EU, partners which accounted for £1.1 trillion UK trade in 2022, and simplified import tariffs to lower costs for businesses and households.
The UK’s total trade with the world (including goods and services) increased by £43bn (inflation adjusted) in 2023 compared to 2018. Since the referendum, the UK has grown faster than Germany, Italy, and Japan and the IMF forecasted that the UK will see the 3rd fastest cumulative growth in the G7 over 2024-2029, ahead of Germany, Italy, France, and Japan.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what the value of her Department's (a) remote and (b) non-remote quantifiable contingent liabilities was on (i) 31 March (A) 2017, (B) 2018, (C) 2019, (D) 2020, (E) 2021, (F) 2022 and (G) 2023 and (ii) 26 March 2024.
Answered by Alan Mak - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade) (jointly with the Cabinet Office)
The value of departmental contingent liabilities for the periods up to and including the 2022/23 financial year have already been published in the former Department for International Trade's Annual Report and Accounts which is available at the following location:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/department-for-international-trade-annual-report-and-accounts.
Contingent liabilities for the current financial year will be published in the Department for Business and Trade's Annual Report and Accounts in due course.