Earl of Clancarty

The dates of the first meetings of the committees established under the UK - EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement have not yet been agreed with the EU. These bodies, including the Partnership Council, will begin their work formally once the Agreement has been ratified - unless there are essential decisions which cannot be deferred. We look forward to a positive and constructive relationship with the EU, allowing businesses and citizens on both sides of the channel to prosper.

The arrangements for touring musicians between the UK and the EU relate to the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, and so would not be raised at the Withdrawal Agreement Joint Committee.

The date of the first meetings of the committees set up under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement will be announced in due course, when we have agreed with the EU.

The Government is currently negotiating commitments with EU member states on ‘Mode 4’. A reciprocal agreement based on best precedence would mean that UK citizens will be able to undertake some business activities in EU member states without a work permit, on a short-term basis. The precise details, including range of activities, documentation needed, and the time limit, are under negotiation.

The Government recognises the importance of touring for UK musicians and appreciates the significant contribution of the UK music industry.

I refer the Noble Lord to the answer given to HL5418 on 22 June 2020.

The Cabinet Office currently coordinates the purchase of a cross-government copyright licence on behalf of departments and is considering a proposal from the Copyright Licence Agency.

As the Minister for the Cabinet Office the Rt Hon Matthew Hancock made clear on 27 April, we are committed to protecting taxpayers' money from being wasted on government lobbying government. We are pausing the implementation of this clause into grant agreements, pending a review of the representations made.

The UK-EU Trade & Co-operation Agreement (TCA) is based on best precedent set by the EU’s trade deals with Japan and Canada. The TCA ensures that both Parties offer a minimum standard of treatment for business travellers, such as guaranteed lengths of stay of up to 12 months for contractual service suppliers and independent (self-employed) professionals, subject to Member State reservations. This is in line with EU-Japan and CETA precedent, reflects the domestic immigration systems of most of the signatories of the agreement, and is more generous than the typical range of WTO commitments for this category of service suppliers.

The UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) uses the United Nations’ Central Production Classification (CPC) (prov., 1991) to identify individual sectors and sub-sectors. Where the TCA says ‘other than through an agency for placement and supply services of personnel’, it is referring to CPC 872.

CPC 872 includes, but is not limited to, executive search services (87201) (‘services consisting in the search for, selection and referral of executive personnel for employment by others’); placement services of office support personnel and other workers (87202) (‘services consisting in selecting, referring and placing applicants in employment by others on a permanent or temporary basis, except executive search services’); and supply services of office support personnel (87203) (‘services consisting in supplying on a fee or contract basis to the clients, whether on a temporary or long-term basis, office support personnel hired by the supplier, who pays their emoluments’).

Her Majesty’s Government understands the term ‘agency’ to mean a business or organisation providing a particular service on behalf of another business. Her Majesty’s Government understands ‘an agency for placement and supply services of personnel’ to include recruitment services, of the kind described under CPC 872, but not language services. Language services may be better categorised under the subsector ‘translation and interpretation services’ (see Annex 19 (previously Annex SERVIN-4)).

Under the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) the classification of the activities carried out by each UK and EU firm will depend on the specific services it provides, which may vary over time or as between different contracts. It would be possible for a single firm to carry out multiple activities at the same or different times (for example, to act both as a contract broker and as a recruitment agency).

This Government recognises the importance of the UK’s thriving cultural industries, and that is why it pushed for ambitious arrangements to make it easier for performers and artists to perform across Europe as part of the negotiations on our future relationship with the EU.

This Government proposed to the EU that musicians, and their technical staff, be added to the list of permitted activities for short-term business visitors in the entry and temporary stay chapter of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement. This would have allowed musicians and their staff to travel and perform in the EU more easily, without needing work-permits.

As with legal text shared in confidence with trading partners, publishing transcripts of negotiations on trade agreements would not be appropriate as both parties exchanged information in confidence.

The Bounce Back Loan Scheme will operate alongside the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS). Both are temporary schemes supporting small and medium-sized businesses during these unprecedented times.

The Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme provides businesses with annual turnover of under £45m with access to working capital of up to £5m. It supports a wide range of business finance products, including term loans, overdrafts, invoice finance and asset finance facilities.

The Bounce Back Loan Scheme supports the smallest SMEs by providing loans from £2,000 up to 25% of the business’ turnover, with a maximum loan size of £50,000. This Scheme launched on 4 May and requires businesses to complete a short, simple, online application form, meaning that applications can be processed rapidly.

A business is not able to take out a Bounce Back Loan Scheme facility if they have been approved for a CBILS facility, and vice versa. However, all accredited lenders who have approved CBILS loans so far will allow customers to refinance their loan into the Bounce Back Loan Scheme where appropriate.

More than 69,000 Bounce Back Loans worth over £2 billion have been approved during the first 24 hours of the scheme.

The Government continues to work with the British Business Bank, HM Treasury and lenders to assess how effectively these schemes are working.

We are ending free movement of people. However, we still want to support our businesses in moving their talented people to provide services in both the UK and the EU, as quickly and as easily as possible.

The UK’s creative and digital industries comprise around 20% of the UK’s total exports in services and have grown rapidly in recent years. DCMS has engaged extensively with union bodies, artists and cultural organisations to help understand the needs of the creative and cultural sector, including freelancers who make up a significant proportion of people in these sectors.

As set out in the Political Declaration, both the EU and the UK will aim to provide for visa-free travel for short-term visits, and agree provisions on temporary entry and stay of natural persons, allowing businesses to move their talented employees and provide services.

The scope and detail of this will be subject to negotiations with the EU.

During the Transition period, until the end of 2020, there will be no changes to rules to provide services or work temporarily in the EU and UK Nationals can continue to travel to the EU as now.

We are ending free movement of people. However, we still want to support our businesses in moving their talented people to provide services in both the UK and the EU, as quickly and easily as possible.

As set out in the Political Declaration, both the EU and the UK will aim to provide for visa-free travel for short-term visits, and agree provision on temporary entry and stay of natural persons, allowing businesses to move their talented employees and provide services.

The scope and detail of this will be subject to negotiations with the EU.

During the Transition period, until the end of 2020, there will be no changes to rules to provide services or work temporarily in the EU and UK Nationals can continue to travel to the EU as now.

As set out in the Political Declaration, both the EU and the UK will aim to provide for visa-free travel for short-term visits, and agree provision on temporary entry and stay of natural persons, allowing businesses to move their talented employees and provide services.

The temporary movement of goods and equipment is a priority for cultural, creative and sport sectors - this includes instruments used by touring musicians, objects and collections loaned between museums, and sporting equipment taken to competitive events.

Cultural, creative and sporting organisations from all over the world regularly bring their goods and equipment into the UK on a temporary basis, and UK organisations do the same all over the world too.

Arrangements for moving goods and equipment between the UK and EU will not change before the end of the Transition period in December 2020. During the Transition period, until the end of 2020, there will also be no changes to rules to provide services or work temporarily in the EU and UK Nationals can continue to travel to the EU as now.

The scope and detail of this will be subject to negotiations with the EU.

The UK Government takes the issue of IP infringement seriously and is working with industry and enforcement agencies on a number of initiatives to tackle this problem.

In September 2013 we launched a dedicated online IP crime unit, run by the City of London Police – Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU). It is dedicated to tackling serious and organised online piracy and counterfeiting (affecting digital and physical goods) and protecting legitimate UK businesses. IPO provided funding of around £9 million over the period 2013-2019.

Furthermore in March 2018 the Government published the Creative Industry Sector Deal. As part of this deal the Government committed to work with rights holders and platforms to develop new voluntary agreements, to tackle IP infringement on online platforms.

The implications of a potential US trade agreement on the UK’s IP framework will depend on any final negotiated text. As negotiations are yet to begin, there is no deal to assess against. However, Government officials are considering the costs and benefits to the UK of similar existing trade agreement provisions and are taking into account stakeholder responses to the Department for International Trade’s consultation on a potential US trade agreement which closed on 26 October 2018.

The implications of joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) on the UK’s IP framework will depend on the outcome of accession negotiations. As these accession discussions are yet to begin, there is no final deal to assess against. However, Government officials are considering the costs and benefits to the UK of the existing CPTPP trade agreement provisions and are taking into account stakeholder responses to the Department for International Trade’s consultation on CPTPP which closed on 26 October 2018.

Yes, the Government supports Articles 14-16 of the EU Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market.

Each Department is responsible for its own licensing adherence.

The National Archives, in collaboration with the Intellectual Property Office and the Government Digital Service, has recently issued simple new guidance to civil servants on the duties associated with copyright belonging to the Crown or to third parties: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/information-management/re-using-public-sector-information/copyright-and-re-use/crown-copyright/

This joins The National Archives’ existing guidance at: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/information-management/crown-copyright-an-overview-for-government-departments.pdf

The cross-sector guidance issued by the Intellectual Property Office also provides an introductory framework for government: https://www.gov.uk/topic/intellectual-property/copyright

The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) undertakes a wide range of activities to promote understanding of Intellectual Property (IP) amongst Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in order that they can make an informed decision on whether and how to protect, commercialise and enforce their IP.

IPO products and priority activities focus on:

a) Raising awareness of the importance of IP;

b) Improving the IP skills of business advisors and intermediaries;

c) Emphasising that IP is an essential element of an overall business strategy.

The offerings include online tools, face to face business and adviser training, and partnership delivery.

The numerous online resources are designed to help businesses to recognise their IP assets, to manage those assets effectively and to help businesses communicate the value of their IP portfolio to lenders or investors when seeking finance.

The IPO has a small team that runs UK seminars and workshops on IP for businesses and advisors and it also provides an intensive, commercially run training course to improve their understanding of IP.

It also works with partners within and outside government to ensure that businesses in every part of the UK can access good quality IP advice and understand the importance of managing their IP. Key partnerships include the UK PatLib Network and UK Business & IP Centre Network as well as Business Growth Hubs

All these support activities provide guidance and information on how businesses may resolve IP disputes or take effective enforcement action. In addition, the UK overseas IP attachés work with local UK Trade and Investment and Foreign and Commonwealth Office leads to provide support for UK businesses seeking advice on local IP matters abroad.

I will place further information on these resources in the Libraries of the House.

The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) IP Awareness Survey was first conducted in 2006 and was rerun in 2010 and early 2015. The survey establishes a sense of understanding of IP and IP rights across all sizes of UK firms and all sectors of UK industry. The most recent survey contained 3 sections: an IP knowledge section which tested the respondent's familiarity with IP, a management section which sought to discover how firms were administering IP within their organisation and a final section which focussed on where IP information and advice was sourced from.

Key findings include:

• 94% of respondents thought that it was important for businesses to understand how to protect their IP.
• 52% of responding firms had protected some sort of IP (either through a single right or a combination).
• 65% of respondents thought that confidentiality agreements are important to protecting their IP. This method of protection was the most popular.
• The majority of surveyed firms have not been involved in a dispute around IP, (over 75%).
• 96% of firms have not valued their IP.
• 79% of firms did not know that telling people about an invention before applying for a patent could lead to an unsuccessful application.
• 28% of firms check they are not infringing other people’s IP, the most popular IP management activity amongst respondents.
• 20% of firms indicated that they license their IP, allowing others to use it for a fee.

In addition to this formal piece of research the IPO routinely surveys businesses in the course of designing and delivering its business support and outreach activities. This is intended to help to monitor and assess the effectiveness of these activities to ensure they are fit for purpose and if necessary improve, develop and even cease them for alternative approaches.

The IPO is using findings from its own and other business surveys to inform its approach to business outreach and the creation of IP advisory and support tools.

The Department of Education, and the Department for Works and Pension have overall responsibility for devising and delivering skills policy across Government. The Department for Culture Media and Sport works across Government to ensure heritage crafts and skills are appropriately considered in policy.

Historic England, Government’s advisor on heritage and Arms Length Body of DCMS, advises the Government on heritage skills and craft policy and contributes to a number of cross Government working groups, including the Construction Skills Delivery Group. DCMS has no plans to appoint further experts.

The Government recognises that individuals, including those in the entertainment industry, wish to have control over the use of their voice or likeness in AI-generated content.

Government intervention requires careful consideration given the complex legal landscape.

The Government sought views on the issue in its copyright and AI consultation. It is considering all feedback received through the consultation and will publish a formal response in due course.

The Government has no plans to rejoin Creative Europe. This position is informed by indicative analysis of the value for money of associating with the programme.

We are working with our world-leading sectors to ensure that they can continue to promote growth and enrich lives, at home and abroad. This includes through the Creative Industries Sector Plan, which is key to driving long-term economic growth across the United Kingdom; the new £75 million Screen Growth Package; the scaled up £18 million per year UK Global Screen Fund (2026–2029); and by committing up to £30 million for our Music Growth Package.