Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what representations they have received from lenders asking for higher funding limits under the Growth Guarantee Scheme, and what plans they have to extend funding limits for lenders under the Scheme.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government and the British Business Bank maintain constant dialogue with Growth Guarantee Scheme Delivery Partners to ensure the terms and capacity of the Scheme remain appropriate. With the announcement of resources to facilitate an additional £500 million of lending through the Scheme to businesses affected by turbulence in global trade, the British Business Bank are working with Delivery Partners on how best to allocate this additional capacity. Funding allocations for future years are subject to negotiation.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the British Business Bank regarding the expansion of the Growth Guarantee Scheme.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Growth Guarantee Scheme plays a vital role in helping more businesses access affordable finance for growth and investment, which is why the Government provided resources to facilitate an additional £500 million of lending through the Scheme to businesses affected by turbulence in global trade. DBT and HMT officials work closely with British Business Bank counterparts to ensure the Scheme’s terms and parameters remain effective and impactful.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the information provided by the UK Export Support Service is sufficient to prepare UK businesses who may be impacted by the European Union carbon border adjustment mechanism.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Export Support Service continues to inform UK businesses of upcoming EU regulations and their impact to their trading activities through a range of channels. This includes the "Unlock Europe" webinar series hosted by the Export Academy, which will have a session on CBAM on 23 April. We are tracking forthcoming EU regulations which will impact UK exporters and are in dialogue with business representative organisations to understand how we can best support businesses to understand and prepare for changes which may impact them.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address the late submission of regulatory impact assessments for legislative proposals.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Since the General Election, the Cabinet Office, with the support of the Department for Business & Trade, has written to departments to remind them of their responsibility to consider in their legislative plans the general requirement to make regulatory impact assessments available when bringing forward relevant legislation to Parliament. The Department for Business & Trade provides training and advice to officials across government to support their departments’ compliance with this and the wider requirements of the Guide to Making Legislation and Better Regulation Framework Guidance. The government supports the Regulatory Policy Committee in holding departments to account for their compliance with the framework; this includes publishing statements of lateness when regulatory provisions reach Parliament without a regulatory impact assessment or opinion from the committee where they require one.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the new right to flexible working in the Employment Rights Bill will include a requirement for additional consideration of requests from those who are pregnant.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government understands that the availability of flexible working can be important for those who are pregnant and in work. It can be equally as important for a number of other groups, including new parents, those with other caring responsibilities and those managing a disability or long term health condition. That is why, through the Employment Rights Bill, the Government is making flexible working the default for all employees, except where not reasonably feasible.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the likely impact of the new rules for bereavement leave entitlement set out in the Paternity Leave (Bereavement) Act 2024.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Employment Rights Bill establishes a new right to Bereavement Leave for employees to take protected time off to grieve. We will consult stakeholders on aspects of the design.
The Paternity Leave (Bereavement) Act 2024 enabled a ‘day one’ paternity leave entitlement for employees who become the primary carer for their newborn after the death of their partner. Regulations will then provide them with leave for up to one year after the child’s birth or adoption placement. This entitlement will have minimal impact on business and no impact on the Exchequer.
Acas maintain guidance for employers on bereavement including miscarriage.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will take steps to ensure that the new bereavement leave entitlement under the Paternity Leave (Bereavement) Act 2024 includes leave for pregnancy loss.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Employment Rights Bill establishes a new right to Bereavement Leave for employees to take protected time off to grieve. We will consult stakeholders on aspects of the design.
The Paternity Leave (Bereavement) Act 2024 enabled a ‘day one’ paternity leave entitlement for employees who become the primary carer for their newborn after the death of their partner. Regulations will then provide them with leave for up to one year after the child’s birth or adoption placement. This entitlement will have minimal impact on business and no impact on the Exchequer.
Acas maintain guidance for employers on bereavement including miscarriage.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to develop policies around pregnancy loss as part of the new rules governing bereavement leave entitlement.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Employment Rights Bill establishes a new right to Bereavement Leave for employees to take protected time off to grieve. We will consult stakeholders on aspects of the design.
The Paternity Leave (Bereavement) Act 2024 enabled a ‘day one’ paternity leave entitlement for employees who become the primary carer for their newborn after the death of their partner. Regulations will then provide them with leave for up to one year after the child’s birth or adoption placement. This entitlement will have minimal impact on business and no impact on the Exchequer.
Acas maintain guidance for employers on bereavement including miscarriage.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the current value of licensed UK arms exports to Israel, both direct and via third party states, and including through open licences.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The maximum value of UK SIELs (Standard Individual Export Licences) issued for direct export to Israel was £24.9 million in 2023.
The maximum value of UK SIELs where Israel was listed as an ultimate end-user, alongside multiple other destinations was £134.9 million in 2023. It is not possible to ascertain what proportion of that amount is attributable to Israel alone.
We do not hold data on value of any other licence type, including open licences. Data on the value of SIELs to Israel in 2024 has not yet been published.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the purpose of the UK’s arms export licensing criteria, and whether these criteria apply the precautionary principle over arms sales to prevent UK arms from being used in atrocities.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The purpose of the UK’s arms export licensing criteria is to ensure that the Government’s decisions on export licences are informed by a set of criteria which promote global security and facilitate responsible exports. The Criteria enable the Government to operate one of the most robust and transparent export control regimes in the world. We consider all new licence applications against the Criteria and will refuse any which are inconsistent with them. Specifically, Criteria 2c states that the Government will not issue or maintain export licences if there is a clear risk that the items might be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of International Humanitarian Law.