Written Statements

Tuesday 19th May 2020 Written Statements

Tuesday 19 May 2020

Future Relationship with the EU: Negotiations

Tuesday 19th May 2020 Written Statements

[The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office (Michael Gove)]

The Government have made a commitment to update Parliament on the progress of our future relationship negotiations with the EU. This statement provides an update on the third round of negotiations. It also notes that the UK’s draft legal texts are being made public today.



Negotiators from the UK and the EU held discussions through video conferencing on 11-15 May 2020 for the third round of negotiations on the UK-EU future relationship. This was a full and constructive negotiating round, covering the full range of issues with both sides discussing full legal texts. The round was opened by the UK’s Chief Negotiator, David Frost, and by the European Commission’s Chief Negotiator, Michel Barnier, in a plenary session on 11 May. There were then discussions across all the issues and the session closed with a further plenary on 15 May.



Discussions covered all workstreams including:



Trade in Goods—Market access and rules of origin, trade remedies, customs, technical barriers to trade and SPS.

Trade in Services—Investment, temporary entry for business purposes, professional qualifications, professional and business services, financial services and digital.

Fisheries—Discussion on control and enforcement, conservation and sustainable exploitation, and scientific evidence, all principally on the basis of the draft fisheries framework agreement provided to the EU the previous week.

Transport—Aviation and aviation safety, road haulage and passenger transport.

Energy—Civil nuclear cooperation, gas and electricity trading, climate change and carbon pricing.

Mobility and social security co-ordination—Including the UK’s legal text on social security co-ordination.

Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice—UK presentation of the UK Law Enforcement Treaty with detailed discussions on operational capabilities.

Thematic co-operation—Covering health security; asylum and illegal migration; unaccompanied asylum-seeking children; cyber security; and security of information.

Participation in union programmes—General terms for UK participation in programmes, including provisions for financial contribution.

“Level Playing Field”—Including subsidies, competition policy, and trade and sustainable development.

Horizontal issues—Governance arrangements, territorial scope.



Discussions showed that a standard comprehensive free trade agreement, with other key agreements on issues like law enforcement, civil nuclear, and aviation alongside, all in line with the political declaration, could be agreed without major difficulties in the time available.



However, there remain some areas where we have significant differences of principle—notably fisheries, governance arrangements, and the so-called “level playing field”. It remains difficult to reach a mutually beneficial agreement while the EU maintains an ideological approach.



In order to facilitate discussions in the fourth round and beyond, the Government are today making publicly available the draft legal texts we have shared with the Commission and which have formed the basis of our discussions, together of course with the EU’s draft agreement. The UK texts are fully in line with the Government’s document “The Approach to the Future Negotiations” published on 27 February. Copies of the legal texts have been placed in the House Library and they are also available at: www.gov.uk.

This Government remain committed to a deal with a free trade agreement at its core. We look forward to the fourth round beginning on 1 June.

[HCWS245]

UK Counter-Terrorist Asset Freezing Regime: 1 October 2019 to 31 December 2019

Tuesday 19th May 2020 Written Statements

[The Economic Secretary to the Treasury (John Glen)]

Under the Terrorist Asset-Freezing etc. Act 2010 (TAFA 2010), the Treasury is required to prepare a quarterly report regarding its exercise of the powers conferred on it by part 1 of TAFA 2010. This written statement satisfies that requirement for the period 1 October 2019 to 31 December 2019.

This report also covers the UK’s implementation of the UN’s ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida asset freezing regime (ISIL-AQ), and the operation of the EU’s asset freezing regime under EU Regulation (EC) 2580/2001 concerning external terrorist threats to the EU (also referred to as the CP 931 regime).

Under the ISIL-AQ asset freezing regime, the UN has responsibility for designations and the Treasury, through the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI), has responsibility for licensing and compliance with the regime in the UK under the ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida (Asset- Freezing) Regulations 2011.

Under EU Regulation 2580/2001, the EU has responsibility for designations and OFSI has responsibility for licensing and compliance with the regime in the UK under Part 1 of TAFA 2010.

EU Regulation (2016/1686) was implemented on 22 September 2016. This permits the EU to make autonomous Al-Qaida and ISIL (Da’esh) listings.

The tables setting out the key asset-freezing activity in the UK during the quarter can be viewed online at https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2020-05-19/HCWS244/.

[HCWS244]

Anthony Grainger Inquiry Report

Tuesday 19th May 2020 Written Statements

[The Minister for Crime and Policing (Kit Malthouse)]

Today the Government have published their formal response to the Anthony Grainger Public Inquiry and a copy will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.



Anthony Grainger was shot dead on 3 March 2012 by an armed firearms officer of Greater Manchester Police as part of the covert investigation named Operation Shire. A public inquiry was announced by the then Home Secretary, Theresa May, in March 2016 to ascertain the circumstances surrounding Mr Grainger’s death.



I would like to thank His Honour Judge Teague for publishing his report and for leading this important work, from which we have learnt valuable lessons for the future. The previous Home Secretary Sajid Javid committed to provide a formal response, once the Government had fully considered the report, and any recommendations therein and we are now in a position to do so.



The Government accept the inquiry’s recommendation to the Home Office concerning the authorisation of new weapon systems. A revised code of practice for armed policing and less lethal weapons was published by the College of Policing on 14 January 2020 making it clear that all new less lethal weapons and specialist munitions for use by police forces in England and Wales, and all significant changes to these weapons, must be approved by the Home Secretary.



The majority of the AGI’s recommendations related to operational policing and these are matters on which Chief Officers are independent of Government. Nonetheless my officials engaged with the National Police Chiefs Council and Greater Manchester Police to ensure that they have responded to the concerns raised by the inquiry and understand their plans to improve the safety of armed policing operations. Their responses have reassured me that lessons have been learnt to improve the safety of armed policing operations in the seven years since the death of Anthony Grainger.



These included developing and maintaining a national register of recommendations and lessons from inquests, investigations and inquiries; reviewing and improving the collection, analysis and dissemination of intelligence; and reviewing and improving the arrangements for the deployment of armed officers. I would like to thank the National Police Chiefs’ Council, Greater Manchester Police, HMICFRS and the College of Policing for their co-operation in responding to the inquiry and the work that they have done to implement learning.



The police use of firearms, as with any use of force, must be necessary, proportionate and reasonable in the circumstances. It is essential that decisions by the police to use force of any kind are subject to proper scrutiny.



Our sympathy remains with Anthony Grainger’s family who have lost a loved one.



The response to the Anthony Grainger Inquiry will be available to view on gwov.uk at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/response-to-the-anthony-grainger-public-inquiry.

[HCWS242]

Energy Performance of Buildings Regulations 2012, No. 3118: Consultation

Tuesday 19th May 2020 Written Statements

[The Minister for Housing (Christopher Pincher)]

I wish to update the House on the publication of a consultation on changes to the Energy Performance of Buildings (England and Wales) Regulations 2012 (SI2012/3118).



The United Kingdom has set in law a target to bring its greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050 to help tackle climate change. Heating and powering buildings currently accounts for 40% of the UK’s total energy usage. We must ensure that buildings are constructed to high standards of energy efficiency and that the regime for regulating the energy performance of buildings is robust.



This consultation seeks views on proposals to amend existing requirements for inspecting heating and air conditioning systems in order to improve the regime and contribute to carbon emission reductions and energy efficiency savings. The new requirements aim to strengthen the effectiveness of the regime by increasing the threshold for inspection to focus on larger systems. It further aims to improve the regime’s impact by broadening the scope of inspection to include combined heating and ventilation systems and combined air conditioning and ventilation systems.



The Government propose to retain their domestic arrangements (i.e. take the option of alternative measures). This means continuing to provide consumers with the advice necessary to make informed decisions on the energy efficiency of their heating systems and widening the scope to include combined heating and ventilation systems. The United Kingdom boiler market is the biggest in the world and has some of the most experienced manufacturers and installers. The United Kingdom’s equivalence reports, which are required to demonstrate that the domestic policy achieves the aims intended by the changes to the regulations, have demonstrated that the carbon savings attributable to the UK’s alternative measures were greater than those that would have been achieved through inspection. One of the key elements of the domestic regime is Boiler Plus whose standards are expected to help reduce carbon emissions by up to 2 MtCO₂e^[1] in Carbon Budget 4 (2023-2027)^[2] and 3.2 MtCO₂e in Carbon Budget 5 (2028-2032)^[3] , while enabling consumers to heat homes at a lower cost.



The consultation also proposes to amend the inspection regime for air conditioning systems, increasing the threshold and widening the scope to include combined air conditioning and ventilation systems, bringing with it the benefits of a stronger regime set out above.



These measures are only part of our journey towards a cleaner, greener built environment. The Government are determined that we will be the first generation to leave the environment in a better state than we found it, and improving the energy performance of our buildings will be a key factor in tackling climate change, achieving clean growth and safeguarding our planet for the future.



This written ministerial statement covers England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland in relation to the inspection of heating systems. It covers England and Wales in respect of the proposed changes to air conditioning inspections. The devolved Administrations are considering similar changes.



The consultation document can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/energy-performance-of-buildings-changes-to-theenergy-performance-of-buildings-regulations-2012-no-3118.



I am depositing a copy of the consultation in the Libraries of both Houses.

^[1] A metric measure used to compare the emissions from different greenhouse gases basedupon their global warming potential (GWP).

^[2] 4^th carbon budget (2023 to 2027) 1,950 MtCO₂e.

^[3] 5^th carbon budget (2028 to 2032)1,725 MtCO₂e.

[HCWS243]

UK Global Tariff

Tuesday 19th May 2020 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for International Trade (Elizabeth Truss)]

As we recover from the unprecedented economic challenges posed by coronavirus, the UK will champion free trade, fight protectionism and remove trade barriers.



The Government have this morning, 19 May 2020 announced their new tariff regime—the UK Global Tariff (UKGT). This will replace the EU’s Common External Tariff on 1 January 2021 at the end of the transition period.



Our new tariff is tailored to the needs of the UK economy. It will support the country, by making it easier and cheaper for businesses to import goods from overseas.



It is a simpler, easier-to-use and lower tariff regime than the EU’s Common External Tariff (EU’s CET) and will be in pounds, not euros. It will scrap red tape and other unnecessary barriers to trade, reduce cost pressures and increase choice for consumers. It will also back UK industries to compete on the global stage.



The UKGT almost doubles the number of products that are tariff free relative to what is currently applied—with just under 50% of products now zero, compared to 27% in the EU’s CET.



The UKGT will make it easier for businesses to trade



Our tariff will be in pounds—not euros. Paid in pounds, calculated in pounds, this is a stable tariff for UK traders.

Our tariff cuts administrative costs for businesses. We are getting rid of needless tariffs which create administrative burdens. All tariffs below 2% are gone (e.g. fire extinguishers, school pencils and gardening tools, from 1.7% to 0%).

Our tariff is simpler to use. We will round tariffs down, making them simpler for traders to use (e.g. reading glasses from 2.9% to 2% and alarm clocks from 4.7% to 4%). We will also scrap the complex calculation—which results in over 13,000 tariff variations on products like biscuits, confectionery, and spreads—applied under the EU’s CET.

The UKGT will reduce cost pressures and increase choice for UK households. Tariffs have been removed on products that we do not produce, or do not produce much of in the UK. Removing these tariffs will reduce cost pressures for UK households and businesses (e.g. pistachios from 1.6% to 0% and cotton yarn from 4% to 0%).

Our tariff will protect developing countries. Tariffs have been retained on goods such as vanilla (6%), plantains (16%) and bed linen (12%) to support the preferential access of developing countries to the UK market.

We are cutting tariffs on over 100 products to back renewable energy, energy efficiency, carbon capture, and the circular economy through recycling and reducing single use plastics (e.g. thermostats from 2.1% to 0%, vacuum flasks from 6.7% to 0% and LED lamps from 3.7% to 0%).

The UKGT also retains tariffs on products across UK industries and sectors to help them compete on the global stage. Tariffs on products such as lamb, beef and poultry and finished cars will all see their tariff retained.



The Government have developed and tailored the UKGT to the needs of the whole UK economy. It was designed following a public consultation, which gave individuals and businesses across the UK an opportunity to provide their views and feedback. The Department for International Trade organised events with businesses and experts across the UK, including in the English regions and devolved nations, during the consultation process. The consultation received more than 1,300 responses.



The Government carefully considered all available evidence, including the consultation responses, in the development of the UKGT.



The summary of consultation responses and the Government’s response can be found at: https://www. gov.uk/government/consultations/the-uk-global-tariff. Copies will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.



For the first time in almost 50 years, the UK has set its own tariff schedule, aimed at boosting prosperity, supporting British industry, making it easier to bring goods into the UK and reducing cost pressures for consumers.



The full schedule can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/uk-tariffs-from-1-january-2021.

[HCWS241]