Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
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 help increase exports to Singapore since 2022.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK-Singapore Strategic Partnership launched last September and encompasses our milestone UK-Singapore Digital Economy Agreement, the first-of-its-kind for the UK. Businesses are already benefitting from its world-class provisions on duty-free movement of data, data non-localisation and source code protection that make it easier for UK companies to trade digitally with Singapore.
In March 2023, the UK-Singapore Green Economy Framework was agreed, a hybrid climate-trade agreement and another first-of-its-kind for the UK, which will support decarbonisation in both economies, enabling green growth and job creation.
The UK’s upcoming accession to CPTPP, ratified by Singapore in January, will only further strengthen our strong trading relationship.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether she had discussions with her counterpart in Singapore before laying the Gender Recognition (Approved Countries and Territories and Saving Provision) Order 2023 on the removal of that country from the list of approved countries and territories to qualify applicants for the overseas route to apply for gender recognition certificates.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
I refer back to my previous answer to UIN 5635 on 14th December.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department holds information on the countries that will implement the OECD Pillar 2 minimum corporation tax measures from 31 December 2023; and what discussions he has had with (a) the OECD and (b) his counterparts in other countries on the implementation of that measure.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Countries that have committed to apply Pillar 2 from 31 December 2023 or 1 January 2024 include: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Vietnam. Japan are implementing for 1 April 2024.
Guernsey, Isle of Man, Jersey, Hong-Kong and Singapore have committed to implement for 1 January 2025.
There are many other jurisdictions that have taken steps towards Pillar 2 implementation.
There are regular multilateral discussions at Ministerial level, including at the level of the G20, on how to ensure swift and coordinated implementation of Pillar 2, as well as the support that can be provided to developing countries in that regard.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will publish a list of global trade shows which her Department has encouraged businesses to attend in each of the last two years.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Over the last two financial years (including 2023-24), the Department for Business and Trade has organised international activations for UK export-ready small and medium sized enterprises at over 90 international trade shows listed below.
2022-23 | |
Trade show | Country |
Cannes Lion | France |
Aero India | India |
Arab Health | UAE |
BETT Asia | Malaysia |
Bio Convention - San Diego | USA |
Chemspec Europe | Germany |
DSEI Japan | Japan |
ExpoNaval | Chile |
Fruit Attraction | Spain |
Gulfood (February 2023) | UAE |
IACP | USA |
IDEX | UAE |
Indo Defence | Indonesia |
Indo Pacific | Australia |
Innotrans | Germany |
International Atomic Energy Agency General Conf | Austria |
Intersec | UAE |
Investing in Africa Mining, Indaba | South Africa |
JP Morgan Healthcare conf | USA |
Kidscreen | USA |
Medica | Germany |
Middle East Beauty | France |
Mobile World Congress (MWC) | Spain |
Money 2020 | USA |
International Defence Industry Exhibition MSPO | Poland |
Pitti Uomo | Italy |
Posidonia 2022 | Greece |
Sial | France |
Singapore Fintech Week | Singapore |
SMM Hamburg | Germany |
SOFIC | USA |
South By South West (SXSW) | USA |
Web Summit 2022 | Portugal |
2023-24 | |
Trade show | Country |
AAHAR | India |
Agritechnica | Germany |
Anuga | Germany |
Arab Health | UAE |
Asia Pacific Maritime | Singapore |
Australia Space Policy Forum | Australia |
Bengalaru Tech Summit | India |
BETT Asia | Malaysia |
Big 5 Construction | UAE |
BIO International | USA |
Cannes Lions | France |
Chemspec | Germany |
CPHI | Spain |
Defense & Security | Thailand |
DIMDEX | Qatar |
Dubai Airshow | UAE |
DUPHAT | UAE |
FoodEx | Japan |
GCC Beauty World ME | Dubai |
Global Health Expo | Saudi Arabia |
Global Space & Technology Convention | Singapore |
GULFOOD 2024 | UAE |
IACP | USA |
Indo Pacific | Australia |
InFlavour | Saudi Arabia |
Intersec | UAE |
Investing in Africa Mining Indaba | South Africa |
International Defence Industry Exhibition (MSPO) | Poland |
International Defence Industry Fair (IDEF) | Turkey |
Intersec | UAE |
Intersec KSA | Saudi Arabia |
JP Morgan Health Tech | USA |
Kidscreen 2024 | USA |
Kormarine | ROK |
Medica | Germany |
METSTRADE | Netherlands |
Middle East Rail | UAE |
Mobile World Congress | Spain |
Money 2020 | USA |
NorShipping | Norway |
Paris Air Show | France |
PCHI (Personal Care and Homecare Ingredients) | China |
Photonics West | USA |
Pitti Uomo | Italy |
Prowein | Germany |
ReBuild Ukraine | Poland |
Seafood Expo | USA |
Singapore Fintech Week | Singapore |
Singapore Maritime Week | Singapore |
SOF Week | USA |
Space Tech Expo | Germany |
SXSW | USA |
Web Summit | Portugal |
Wind Europe | Denmark |
Wind Europe 2024 | Spain |
World Defense Show | Saudi Arabia |
World New Energy Vehicle Congress | China |
World Nuclear Exhibition | Paris |
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which countries do not have a resident UK Defence Attache.
Answered by James Heappey
The table below has a list of countries covered on a Non-Residential Accreditations (NRA) basis, where a UK Defence Attaché (DA) is not resident in country, but a DA elsewhere has the responsibility. This ensures that we have coverage across the world’s regions.
Country (NRA) | Location of DA |
Angola | Pretoria – South Africa |
Anguilla | Jamaica - Kingston |
Antigua & Barbua | Jamaica - Kingston |
Armenia | Georgia – Tbilisi |
Azerbaijan | Georgia – Tbilisi |
Bahamas | Jamaica - Kingston |
Barbados | Jamaica - Kingston |
Belarus | Ukraine – Kyiv |
Belize | Jamaica - Kingston |
Benin | Accra - Ghana |
Bermuda | USA – Washington DC |
Bolivia | UK – London |
Botswana | Harare - Zimbabwe |
British Virgin Islands | Jamaica - Kingston |
Burkina Faso | Ghana - Accra |
Burundi | Uganda – Kampala |
Cambodia | Singapore |
Cape Verde Islands | UK-London |
Cayman Islands | Jamaica – Kingston |
Congo | UK - London |
Cuba | Mexico – Mexico City |
Djibouti | Ethiopia – Addis Ababa |
Dominica Dominican Republic | Jamaica - Kingston |
Democratic Republic of the Congo | Kampala - Uganda |
Eritrea | Sana’a - Yemen |
Ecuador | Bogota - Colombia |
Gabon | London |
Grenada | Jamaica - Kingston |
Guinea | Sierra Leone – Freetown |
Guyana | Jamaica - Kingston |
Guatemala | Mexico – Mexico City |
Guinea-Bissau | Senegal - Dakar |
Haiti | Jamaica - Kingston |
Hungary | Croatia - Zagreb |
Iceland | Norway - Oslo |
Ivory Coast | Ghana – Accra |
Khartoum | Egypt - Cairo |
Kosovo | Macedonia - Skopje |
Kyrgyzstan | Kazakhstan – Astana |
Lesotho | South Africa - Pretoria |
Liberia | Sierra Leone - Freetown |
Libya | Libya - Tripoli |
Malawi | Zimbabwe – Harare |
Malta | Rome |
Mauritania | Morocco – Rabat |
Monaco | France – Paris |
Mongolia | Japan – Tokyo |
Montenegro | Tirana – Albania |
Myanmar | Singapore (BDS SEA) |
Montserrat | Jamaica - Kingston |
Mozambique | South Africa – Pretoria |
Panama City | Puerto Rico |
Namibia | South Africa – Pretoria |
Niger | Mali - Bamako |
Papua New Guinea | Australia – Canberra |
Paraguay | Argentina – Buenos Aires |
Peru | Colombia - Bogota |
Rwanda | Uganda – Kampala |
Seychelles | Kenya - Nairobi |
St Kitts & Nevis | Jamaica - Kingston |
St Lucia | Jamaica - Kingston |
St Vincent | Jamaica - Kingston |
Slovakia | Czech Rep - Prague |
Slovenia | Austria – Vienna |
South Sudan | Addis Ababa – Ethiopia |
Switzerland | Vienna - Austria |
Syria | Lebanon |
Tajikistan | Kazakhstan – Astana |
Tanzania | Kenya – Nairobi |
The Gambia | Senegal - Dakar |
Timor-Leste (East Timor) | Indonesia - Jakarta |
Togo | Ghana – Accra |
Tonga | Fiji – Suva |
Trinidad & Tobago | Jamaica - Kingston |
Turkmenistan | Uzbekistan - Tashkent |
Turks & Caicos Islands | Jamaica - Kingston |
Uruguay | Argentina - Buenos Aires |
Vanuatu | Fiji – Suva |
Venezuela | Bogota - Colombia |
Zambia | Zimbabwe - Harare |
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answer of 12 December 2022 to Question 105459 on Food: Research, what progress the Food Standards Agency has made in developing dedicated guidance materials for alternative protein companies developing novel foods and processes; and when he plans to publish that guidance.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has prepared an information page for its website that will provide guidance to companies producing cell-cultivated products that wish to apply for regulatory approval. This will be published before the end of November 2023.
This page will outline information about the FSA’s regulated product application service, the regulations that apply to these cell-cultivated products, and information about labelling implications. Alongside this, the FSA has been providing pre-application support to businesses on an individual basis due to the novelty and complexity of this technology. This one-to-one engagement with business and industry has helped to inform and tailor our online guidance which will be available shortly.
The FSA is also considering producing additional regulatory guidance for alternative protein producers as part of its wider aim to support business innovation whilst ensuring that food is safe and what it says it is. In addition to this, a new UK Research and Innovation project was announced on 9 November 2023 that will work on new safety rules for the United States of America, Singapore, United Kingdom and the European Union with a focus on creating standards for cell-cultivated protein.
Asked by: James Daly (Conservative - Bury North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with which (a) foreign countries and (b) administrative regions of foreign countries that issue their own driving licences his Department has an agreement for mutual recognition of documents; and whether his Department is taking steps to reach such agreement with other countries and regions.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The UK continues to exchange and recognise licences originating from all European Economic Area (EEA) countries. Arrangements are in place with all EEA countries for the recognition and exchange of the vast majority of GB licences.
Outside of the EEA, mutual driving licence exchange agreements are in place with the following designated countries:
Andorra | Gibraltar | South Africa |
Australia | Hong Kong | Switzerland |
Barbados | Japan | Taiwan |
British Virgin Islands | Monaco | Ukraine |
Canada | New Zealand | United Arab Emirates |
Cayman Islands | Republic of Korea | Zimbabwe |
Falkland Islands | Republic of North Macedonia |
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Faroe Islands | Singapore |
|
Work is currently progressing on arrangements with a further seven countries:
Albania | Moldova | Sri Lanka |
Kosovo | San Marino |
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Malaysia | Serbia |
|
I also recently met with an official delegation from Kenya to discuss existing arrangements with them as well.
Asked by: Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative - Elmet and Rothwell)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking with the Secretary of State for Business and Trade to increase levels of meat and poultry exports.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
To support delivery of the Government’s Export Strategy the Prime Minister recently announced a food and drink export package to boost export capability and deliver on growing demand for our high-quality UK produce across the world. This included a further expansion of our global agrifood and drink counsellor network who negotiate removal of trade barriers in growing global markets. Within the last year we have successfully secured access for lamb to the USA and apples to India. The export package also included a £2m boost to promotional activity such as trade shows and missions that help drive demand for UK products alongside the GREAT food and drink campaign.
To further support food producers export, we have held a range of National and Regional food summits with dedicated SME workshops to highlight export opportunities and build capability.
Supporting this increased investment in exports we have an ambitious programme of negotiations for free trade agreements which is delivering results. On 31 May the UK’s first new free trade agreements with Australia and New Zealand came into force, opening markets for UK producers across all products. On 31 March, the Government substantially concluded negotiations on the UK’s accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), a free trade agreement (FTA) including 11 members: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam. This trade deal will see new export opportunities for food producers including exporters of meat and poultry.
We work closely with a wide range of industry representative partners to identify and prioritise barrier removal, and to seize opportunities to streamline the export process for animals and animal products. Alongside opening new market opportunities, we are also increasing resilience and mitigating risks to existing trade. This is particularly the case with poultry where we are working with trade partners to agree regionalisation agreements to allow trade from unaffected regions to continue in the context of Avian Influenza outbreaks.
Asked by: Baroness Wolf of Dulwich (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how they identify the non-UK universities whose graduates are eligible for a High Potential Individual (HPI) entry visa; and which universities have either been removed from or added to the list of these universities since the HPI visa was introduced.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
The High Potential Individual (HPI) route is for recent graduates of top global universities. Details of universities on the Global Universities List (GUL) and how the list is compiled is set out in paragraph 6 of the Immigration Rules (www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration-rules/immigration-rules-introduction).
Applicants must have graduated from a top global university in the five years immediately preceding the application. Eligible institutions can be found on the Global Universities List for the relevant graduating year (www.gov.uk/government/publications/high-potential-individual-visa-global-universities-list).
This list of universities relates to qualifications awarded between 1 November 2022 and 31 October 2023.
Alphabetical Rankings Lists 2022 (establishments from Top 50 rankings which appeared on 2 or more lists) | Country |
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Asked by: Bridget Phillipson (Labour - Houghton and Sunderland South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the the effectiveness of Maths Hubs.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Maths Hubs’ flagship Teaching for Mastery programme is based on teaching approaches used in top performing East Asian jurisdictions such as Shanghai and Singapore. It encompasses several approaches focused on ensuring that pupils genuinely know, understand and can apply mathematics. Maths Hubs are increasing engagement with the programme with the aim of reaching 75% of primary schools and 65% of secondary schools by 2025.
There are several studies on the effectiveness of mastery teaching methods in England. The Centres for Excellence in Mathematics Teaching for Mastery Randomised Controlled Trial, published in March 2023, which provided mastery teaching support for GCSE resits, found that pupils on the full intervention made one month of additional progress in attainment compared with pupils in colleges that were not using Teaching for Mastery. Pupils from a disadvantaged background benefitted the most and research showed they made two months of additional progress.
Ofsted’s mathematics subject report, published on 13 July, builds on this, highlighting the contribution of the Maths Hubs offer to notable improvements in the quality of mathematics education since 2012. The report highlights that the overall picture of mathematics education in England is broadly healthy, with support and resources from Maths Hubs being well used by headteachers, enabling many teachers to receive high quality, subject specific career personal development.
The report also says that primary mathematics education has seen a resounding, positive shift with curriculum sitting at the heart of head teachers’ decisions and actions, whilst secondary mathematics education has seen notable improvements in curriculum guidance and professional development, though the Department recognises that there is much more to be done. The report can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/subject-report-series-maths/coordinating-mathematical-success-the-mathematics-subject-report.
England performs above the international averages for mathematics in all international studies of school aged pupils. In particular, England achieved its highest ever mathematics score in both the 2019 TIMSS international test for year 5 pupils, and the 2018 PISA test of 15 year olds. The 2018 PISA test showed that the performance of 15 year olds improved significantly in mathematics, particularly for lower attaining pupils.