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 her Department's policy is on the procurement of (a) food and (b) drinks produced in Britain for use in its canteens and restaurants.
Answered by Alan Mak - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade) (jointly with the Cabinet Office)
This information is not centrally held. The Government Property Agency are responsible for the procurement of food and drink for the Department for Business and Trade.
Asked by: Lord Tyrie (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what evidence they have of the power to disclose the identity of persons under investigation being exercised by UK regulators where the disclosure has not been in the public interest.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Lainston - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department for Business and Trade does not hold centrally evidence on whether regulators have disclosed identities of a person under investigation when it has not been in the public interest.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will take steps to ensure that Trading Standards have adequate resources to investigate all reports it is provided on the alleged operation of rogue traders.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Local authorities across England, Scotland and Wales are independent from central government and are responsible for determining their resourcing priorities in accordance with the needs of the local electorate.
The majority of Government funding is not ringfenced in recognition of local authorities being best placed to understand local priorities including those relating to rogue traders.
The Department for Business and Trade provides additional funding through the National Trading Standards Board (NTSB) and Trading Standards Scotland (TSS) to prioritise and coordinate national and regional consumer enforcement in England, Wales and Scotland respectively.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address the additional administrative burdens and costs imposed on farmers and producers due to the new import and export regulations being introduced on 30 April; and how they will ensure that international competitiveness is maintained.
Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Border Target Operating Model strikes an appropriate balance between supporting business, by avoiding unnecessary regulatory burdens in the process of moving goods into Great Britain, while focusing controls on consignments proven to cause the most significant biosecurity risk.
The implementation of controls on EU goods reduces the risk of plant and animal pests and diseases reaching GB and potentially causing significant disruption to domestic production, as well as assuring the safety of all imported food.
No new export controls were introduced on 30 April.
To support British exporters, the Department for Business and Trade will continue our engagement with the 27 EU Member-States as well as the Rest-of-World to smooth trade flow and open new markets.
Asked by: Matt Rodda (Labour - Reading East)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the guidance by the Central Digital and Data Office entitled Guidance on the Legacy IT Risk Assessment Framework, published on 29 September 2023, how many red-rated IT systems are used by her Department; and how many red-rated IT systems have been identified since 4 December 2023.
Answered by Alan Mak - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade) (jointly with the Cabinet Office)
The Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO), in the Cabinet Office, has established a programme to support departments managing legacy IT. CDDO has agreed a framework to identify ‘red-rated’ systems, indicating high levels of risk surrounding certain assets within the IT estate. Departments have committed to have remediation plans in place for these systems by next year (2025).
It is not appropriate to release sensitive information held about specific red-rated systems or more detailed plans for remediation within the Department for Business and Trade’s IT estate, as this information could indicate which systems are at risk, and may highlight potential security vulnerabilities.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to expedite the negotiation and ratification of trade deals benefiting the food and agricultural sector.
Answered by Lord Offord of Garvel - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is securing improved market access for the food and agricultural sector, through Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) but also the targeted removal of individual market access barriers in key international markets.
The Department for Business and Trade are working hard to secure new, or improved, FTAs with a range of important trade partners around the world. Work also continues to ratify the agreements we have signed, including the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), which should come into force later this year.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what support they are providing to small and medium-sized enterprises to help them adapt to new import and export regulations.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Government published the final Border Target Operating Model (BTOM) on 29 August 2023. It outlines new policies and processes that importers, the border industry and wider stakeholders including EU exporters will need to go through in order to import goods. We are implementing the BTOM in stages throughout 2024 to help industry get accustomed to the changes.
We have worked extensively with small and medium enterprises to help us define and help them adapt to new controls and requirements. Since publishing the final BTOM, Defra’s ongoing engagement has included regularly contacting 30,000 importers with up-to-date information, delivering over 50 webinars to thousands of businesses, providing bespoke training and working with HMRC to issue communication to 150,000 businesses in the UK.
The risk-based model outlined in the BTOM supports businesses of all sizes by minimising costs and burdens for traders and consumers. For example, low-risk products of animal origin will not require an Export Health Certificate or routine border checks and medium risk goods will undergo reduced intervention at the border. We are also piloting new Trusted Trader schemes that will support groupage loads, which is how SMEs often transport their goods.
All businesses will benefit from using the Single Trade Window, saving time and cost for traders. When fully operational, it will make better use of data and remove duplication to make it easier to trade internationally. This can also limit the requirement to use intermediaries and helps to support small businesses through the user interface on the platform. As the Single Trade Window develops, more information will be provided as to how SMEs can be involved and utilise the service.
The Department for Business and Trade supports small and medium enterprises with national programmes such as the Growth Hub network and through schemes such as Help to Grow. The new Help to Grow Campaign includes a dedicated website, acting as a resourcing hub for business support and advice, as well as SME leadership training schemes, Help to Grow Management and Help to Grow: Management Essentials. UK businesses can access DBT’s wealth of export support via Great.gov.uk. This comprises a digital self-serve offer and our wider network of support including trade advisers, Export Champions, the Export Academy, our International Markets network and UK Export Finance.
Furthermore, since its launch in October 2021, to February 2024, the Export Support Service (ESS) Export Digital Enquiry Service has supported over 16,800 enquiries. The ESS International Markets (IM) service has been live in all nine HMTC regions since April 2022 and has received 23,500 market enquiries from 10,700 businesses (up to February 2024).
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
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) St Helens North constituency and (b) the North West.
Answered by Alan Mak - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade) (jointly with the Cabinet Office)
The Department for Business and Trade works with partners to promote investment opportunities across the North West to overseas investors and provide support for businesses wishing to be based within the region.
The Government is investing £80 million in the Liverpool City Region Freeport and £320 million in Investment Zones in the Liverpool City Region and Greater Manchester creating new jobs and attracting new businesses. Both the Investment Zone and Freeport have key locations in St Helens.
The Government also supports a range of programmes dedicated to helping businesses to grow. In March this year, we launched the second-generation Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund, with £660 million committed to support debt and equity finance for businesses across the North of England. Since its launch in 2012, the Start Up Loans programme has provided over £121 million of loans to new entrepreneurs across the North West region, as of 13 September 2023.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many chapters of a prospective free trade agreement with the Gulf Cooperation Council have been concluded.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Six rounds of negotiations have been successfully concluded as part of negotiations on a free trade agreement with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). The Department for Business and Trade regularly engages with the GCC at both Chief Negotiator and ministerial level and is making good progress on agreeing chapters including in areas such as Customs, Technical Barriers to Trade and Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs). The department cannot comment any further as negotiations are ongoing.
Asked by: Jerome Mayhew (Conservative - Broadland)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
What steps his Department is taking to reduce delays in judicial processes.
Answered by Gareth Bacon - 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.
While the listing of cases is an independent judicial function, we have consistently invested in judicial recruitment to ensure we have the capacity to deliver effective judicial processes. Since 2018, we have recruited around 1,000 judges and tribunal members annually, across all jurisdictions.
Criminal courts
Over 90% of all criminal cases are heard at the magistrates’ courts, 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 370,700 at the end of December 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 and diverse 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. We delivered 107,700 sitting days in the most recent financial year (FY23/24) and judges have worked tirelessly to complete more cases. The latest data shows cases progressed through the Crown Court more quickly throughout 2023, with the median time from receipt to completion reducing from 167 days in the first quarter of 2023, to 125 days in the last quarter.
We are also investing more in our criminal courts. In August 2023, we announced we are investing £220 million for essential modernisation and repair work of our court buildings, up to March 2025.
Family Court
In March 2024 the Family Justice Board agreed a new set of priorities for the family justice system, with a clear focus on closing the longest running cases and increasing the proportion of public law cases concluding within the 26-week statutory timeline.
We announced in the Spring Budget an additional £55 million 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. The Department for Education are investing an extra £10 million to deliver new initiatives to address the longest delays in public law.
We have provided the flexibility for judges to sit virtually across regional boundaries, so that judges can be deployed where they are needed most, to reduce the caseload and waiting times.
We are also investing up to £23.6 million in the family mediation voucher scheme, which we intend will allow for its continuation up to March 2025. As of May 2024, over 28,600 families have successfully used the scheme to attempt to resolve their private law disputes outside of court.
Civil courts
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 a significant volume of judicial recruitment underway for District and Deputy 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.
The HMCTS Reform Program has introduced technology that delivers simplified and transformed digital ways of working for civil court users and judges such as the online money claims process and the damages claims service, offering accessible and responsive services.
Tribunals
With regards to the 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.
We have rolled out the HMCTS digital reform programme in the Immigration and Asylum and Social Entitlement chambers so that anyone challenging an immigration or welfare benefits decision can lodge their appeal, track progress and receive the results all online.
HMCTS continues to invest in improving tribunal productivity through the recruitment of additional Judges, deployment of Legal Officers to actively manage cases, the development of modern case management systems and the use of remote hearing technology.