Written Statements

Thursday 4th June 2020 Written Statements

Thursday 4 June 2020

Trade Credit Reinsurance Scheme: Contingent Liability

Thursday 4th June 2020 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Alok Sharma)]

I am tabling this statement for the benefit of hon. and right hon. Members to bring to their attention details of the support provided to businesses and supply chains through the trade credit reinsurance scheme.

Trade credit insurance provides cover to hundreds of thousands of business-to-business transactions, particularly in non-service sectors, such as manufacturing and construction. It insures suppliers selling goods against the company they are selling to defaulting on payment, giving businesses the confidence to trade with one another. Due to coronavirus and businesses struggling to pay bills, they risk having credit insurance withdrawn, or premiums increasing to unaffordable levels.

The trade credit reinsurance scheme, led by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, will temporarily reinsure the credit risks of business-to-business transactions covered by trade credit insurance in the UK. This will ensure that the vast majority of insurance coverage is maintained across the market. This will support supply chains and help businesses to trade with confidence as they can trust that they will be protected if a customer defaults or delays on payment.



The scheme is available on a temporary basis for nine months backdated to 1 April 2020 and running until 31 December 2020 with the potential for extension if required. The key parameters of the scheme are:

The scheme is delivered through a temporary reinsurance agreement with insurers currently operating in the UK market, covering both domestic and overseas trade with payment terms of up to two years.

The Government will reinsure 90% of insurance claims up to a cap of £3 billion and 100% of claims between £3 billion and £10 billion.

The Government will receive 90% of gross policy premiums and return 35% of these premiums to insurers to cover their costs.

The scheme rules will require participating insurers to comply with certain undertakings regarding the conduct of their business during the period of the scheme. This includes conditions that they will forgo profits and not pay dividends or bonuses for senior staff for their guaranteed trade credit insurance business.

The scheme will be followed by a joint BEIS and HMT-led review of the trade credit insurance market to ensure it can continue to support businesses in future.

Implementation of the scheme is subject to state aid approval, agreement of full form documentation with insurers and acceptance of applications from insurers for participation.

The new scheme is launched today, 4 June. The Government will be subject to a new contingent liability, and I will be laying a departmental minute containing a description of the liability undertaken.

For more information on this and other support for business, please go to https://www.businesssupport.gov.uk/.

[HCWS268]

Women, Peace and Security National Action Plan 2018-2022: Annual Report 2019

Thursday 4th June 2020 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and First Secretary of State (Dominic Raab)]

I wish to inform the House that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, together with the Department for International Development and the Ministry of Defence, are publishing the 2019 annual report on progress against the UK’s fourth “National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security 2018-2022”.

Published on 18 January 2018, the national action plan (NAP) sets out the Government’s objectives on the women, peace and security agenda for the period 2018-22. This is the UK Government strategy for how we will meet our women, peace and security commitments under UN Security Council resolution 1325 to reduce the impact of conflict on women and girls and to promote their inclusion in conflict resolution and in building peace and security.

The report that will be published today outlines our progress against the national action plan during 2019, including our work in our nine focus countries of Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, Libya, Myanmar, Nigeria, South Sudan, Somalia and Syria. It is centred around seven strategic outcomes where we expect to see progress over the five year duration of the NAP.

October 2020 also marks the 20th anniversary of UN Security Council resolution 1325. In the lead up to this anniversary, the UK has committed to raising ambition and strengthening the implementation of resolution 1325 through promoting women’s meaningful inclusion in peace processes, in particular in Afghanistan, South Sudan and Yemen, and increasing support to women resolving conflict, countering violent extremism and building peace at the grassroots level.

Electronic copies of the annual report will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses and it will be available on gov.uk.

[HCWS269]