Asked by: John McNally (Scottish National Party - Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions the Government has had with the fashion industry to encourage major fashion outlets to take part in voluntary initiatives including (a) the Sustainable Clothing Action Plan and (b) Textiles 2030 over the last two years.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Government worked closely with WRAP on the Sustainable Clothing Action Plan (SCAP) 2020 and to develop and launch the ambitious new voluntary agreement, Textiles 2030
Building on the success of SCAP, Textiles 2030 was launched in April 2021 and we are pleased that within six months 92 signatories have joined, including ASOS, Boohoo, Dunelm, John Lewis, M&S, New Look, Next, Primark, Sainsbury’s, Ted Baker and Tesco. 62% of all clothing put on the UK market is represented by Textiles 2030 members. The new initiative is underpinned by ambitious targets including halving the carbon footprint of new products by 50% and reducing the water footprint by 30%, both by 2030.
Defra ministers have been proactively engaging with industry to drive participation in both SCAP (now closed) and now Textiles 2030. This included chairing a roundtable with industry in February 2021 ahead of the launch of Textiles 2030 and events to mark the 6-month celebration of Textiles 2030 and closing of SCAP in October last year.
We are now working closely with Textiles 2030 to support our policy development.
Asked by: John McNally (Scottish National Party - Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to improve transparency in the fashion supply chain by (a) providing the information on clothing labels or (b) other steps to allow consumers to easily access information on a garment's carbon footprint when making a purchase.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In the Government’s Resources & Waste Strategy we committed to provide consumers with better information on products when they purchase items, such as textiles and clothing. Our draft Waste Prevention Programme for England published in March 2021 identified textiles as one of seven key sectors for action and outlined the steps we are taking to improve information.
Through our landmark Environment Act 2021 we have powers to require better information on the resource efficiency of products to enable informed consumer choice.
We will be assessing options this year on what type of information would best support more sustainable purchasing decisions for textiles products, before making decisions. We are also providing funding to the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) to update their environmental footprint modelling tool later this year, working with industry signatories to the Textiles 2030 scheme. This will increase the level, availability and transparency of data relating to carbon emissions across the life cycle of garments.
Asked by: Earl of Clancarty (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to widen the representation of the fashion industry on the DCMS-led working group on touring.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Touring Working Group was set up at the beginning of 2021 to help the creative and cultural sectors understand and adapt to new requirements following the UK's exit from the EU.
Membership of the Working Group includes the British Fashion Council, and we encourage all members of the working group to reach out to others to ensure that it hears and understands the views from across all the sectors it represents.
We have published a specific page on gov.uk to help the fashion sector navigate the guidance available online, and provide clarity regarding the practical steps that need to be taken by UK fashion professionals working in the EU.
The Government has also engaged with representatives of the fashion industry specifically on EU customs and export issues, through the Brexit Business Taskforce on Fashion and Textiles, chaired by Lord Frost in May, two of DIT’s Trade Advisory Groups, and a seminar jointly organised with the British Fashion Council.
Asked by: Earl of Clancarty (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support the just-in-time nature of the fashion creative business model.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government recognises fashion businesses rely on smooth and efficient supply chains and we are taking action through industry engagement, including through a new Cabinet Committee on logistics. At present the position for UK freight is more positive than other locations globally who have experienced continued severe difficulties. We are continuing to work with the freight sector, including ports such as Felixstowe, to manage the impacts of a surge in container demand and HGV driver shortages.
My Hon. Friend the Minister for Small Business, Labour Markets and Consumers holds regular roundtables with the consumer goods manufacturing sector, including the UK Fashion and Textiles Association and British Footwear Association, and Lord frost has chaired the Brexit Business Taskforce on fashion and textiles in May to fully understand the sector’s concerns.
On 1 October, the Government launched the Export Support Service (ESS) - a single telephone helpline and digital enquiry service that will help British businesses export to Europe. It brings together information from across Government, making it easier for exporters to find what they need in one place. ESS will simplify and improve access to guidance for businesses, especially small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs).
High Value Manufacturing Catapult UK provides support for both SMEs to help develop, de-risk and support the journey of bringing new innovations to market and improve productivity; and large businesses who seek to investigate innovative technologies or scale-up new products or processes. From April 2021 until the end of March 2023, manufacturing companies can claim 130% capital allowances on qualifying plant and machinery investments. Under the super-deduction, for every pound a manufacturer invests, their taxes are cut by up to 25p.
Asked by: Lord Rogan (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they plan to have with the devolved administrations to agree a four-nation approach to broadening skills in the fashion and textiles sectors.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Skills provision is a devolved matter. It is for each nation to develop its own skills policies to meet local and national need. In England, we have introduced a range of skills polices and also published the ‘Skills for Jobs’ White Paper in January 2021, which sets out our blueprint to reform post-16 education and training. It is focused on giving people the skills they need, in a way that suits them, so they can get great jobs in sectors the economy needs and boost this country’s productivity. By 2030, almost all technical courses will be on employer-led standards, ensuring that the education and training people receive are directly linked to the skills needed for jobs.
Our polices and reforms are aimed at delivering high-quality provision across a range of sectors, including fashion and textiles.
The introduction of T Levels will boost access to high quality technical education for thousands of 16-19 year olds. T Levels in Craft and Design, developed by relevant employers including the British Fashion Council and UK Fashion & Textile Association, will be available for first teaching from September 2023. While T Levels are currently an England only offer, we are exploring the possibility of extending T Levels outside of the English market, giving opportunity to other administrations to benefit from the quality and ingenuity of T Levels where this fits with their overall post-16 provision
We are also committed to supporting more people to benefit from the high quality training that apprenticeships offer, including those at the start of their career or those looking to retrain. The department is responsible for apprenticeships policy in England only. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland receive a share of levy funding and it is the responsibility of the devolved administrations to decide how they spend this share to fund and operate their apprenticeship programmes.
In England there are currently 54 high quality employer-designed apprenticeship standards available for the creative and design sector, including 6 for fashion related opportunities. As of 3 August, we have introduced a £7 million fund to help employers in England set up flexi-job apprenticeships agencies, to support sectors such as agriculture, construction and the creative industries.
The government is investing £3 billion in the National Skills Fund, which includes £500 million in Barnett funding for the devolved administrations. We have not had any discussions with the devolved nations about a joint approach to broadening skills in the fashion and textiles sectors through the National Skills Fund, but in England, the government is supporting any adult who does not have A level equivalent or higher qualifications, to access over 400 fully funded level 3 courses, with Free Courses for Jobs. The offer includes qualifications that can support adults to progress in the fashion and textiles industry.
Asked by: Claudia Webbe (Independent - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to promote environmental sustainability among fast fashion garment producers.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Since 2012, Defra has worked with the clothing industry through the Sustainable Clothing Action Plan (SCAP), co-ordinated by WRAP, to reduce the environmental impact of the sector. During this time SCAP signatories have reduced their water and carbon footprints per tonne of clothing by 19.5% and 15.9% respectively. Building on this, we have worked closely with the industry through WRAP, to develop a new voluntary agreement ‘Textiles 2030’, scheduled for launch in April. This has ambitious targets, aligned with global goals on carbon and water and aims to drive the shift to a more resource efficient textiles sector in the UK.
Textiles is also one of seven key sectors included in our new draft Waste Prevention Programme for England, which was published for consultation on 18 March. This builds on the Resources and Waste Strategy (2018) and sets out government’s approach to improve resource efficiency and reduce waste. It announces that we will develop a proposal for an Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme for textiles, supported by measures to encourage better design and information, and will consult with stakeholders on this by the end of 2022. This could help to boost reuse and recycling of textiles and reduce the environmental footprint of the sector. Our landmark Environment Bill will also give us the powers to take action to ensure better design and provision of consumer information to promote sustainability.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to support fashion businesses that are having difficulties complying with new customs requirements for export to the EU.
Answered by Paul Scully
We are working closely with the fashion and textiles sector to ensure businesses get the support they need around specific aspects of our new trading relationship with the EU.
We are operating export helplines, running webinars with policy experts and offering businesses support via our network of 300 international trade advisers. In addition, we invested millions to expand the customs intermediaries sector.
Asked by: John McNally (Scottish National Party - Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will meet with representatives of (a) garment manufacturers, (b) fashion creatives, (c) retailers, (d) and brands to discuss the effect of the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement on the UK fashion industry.
Answered by Paul Scully
I regularly meet with representatives from those industries, as part of my frequent engagement with stakeholders from across the retail and consumer goods sectors. The last such meeting took place on 9 February where both the economic recovery from Covid-19 and the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement were discussed.
The Government recognises the significant contribution of the UK’s world-leading fashion and textiles sector to the UK economy, and is committed to supporting it.
Asked by: John McNally (Scottish National Party - Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent discussions he has had with representatives of the UK fashion industry on the effect on that industry of the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement.
Answered by Paul Scully
I last spoke with various representatives from the UK fashion industry, including the UK Fashion and Textiles Association (UKFT), on the effect of the Trade and Cooperation agreement on 9 February.
Across Government, we have recently held specific workshops for Retail & Consumer Goods stakeholders as well as a webinar with the British Fashion Council (BFC) on key Trade and Cooperation Agreement issues including Rules of Origin.
We are also working closely with UKFT on guidance and case study examples for businesses to help them understand and adapt to new requirements.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps she is taking to promote British wool exports.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Trade promotion campaigns in key markets; partnership working with stakeholders, such as the UK Fashion and Textiles Association, at tradeshows, like Premier Vision; leveraging of the DIT’s teams in 110 countries; financing and insurance from UK Export Finance; and the global promotion of the GREAT campaign; are some of the many measures being taken to support British wool exports.