Asked by: Earl of Clancarty (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Lord Kamall on 20 October (HL Deb col 1167), when they intend to report on their three-month review of the energy bill relief scheme in determining what further support is required for arts and cultural organisations; and which department or organisation will make that report.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The results of this Treasury-led review will be published by the end of the year.
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: Earl of Clancarty (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the ability of UK creative professionals to undertake work in Europe was discussed under the agenda item ‘Entry and temporary stay of natural persons for business purposes: implementation, transparency and sharing best practice’ at the Specialised Committee on Services, Investment and Digital Trade under the EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement meeting held on 11 October.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
At the meeting of the Specialised Committee on Services, Investment and Digital Trade on 11 October, the UK referred to touring artists in the context of the agenda item ‘Entry and temporary stay of natural persons for business purposes: implementation, transparency and sharing best practice’. The EU took note of the UK’s concerns. The minutes of the Committee meeting will be published in due course.
Asked by: Earl of Clancarty (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when the minutes of the Specialised Committee on Services, Investment and Digital Trade under the UK–EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement held on 11 October will be published.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The minutes of the Specialised Committee on Services, Investment and Digital Trade under the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement held on 11 October will be published in due course, on a date to be agreed with the EU Commission.
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 discussions they are planning to hold, if any, with the EU on mobility issues affecting UK industries undertaking activities in the EU; whether these discussions will incorporate (1) the service sector, and (2) the creative industries; and, if so, what is the timetable for any such discussions.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The UK and EU are committed to supporting all industries on mobility issues, including services sectors and the creative industries.
With respect to the creative industries in particular, the Government has established that some touring activities are possible without needing visas or work permits in at least 17 out of 27 Member States. This includes France, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark and many more. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport are speaking to their ministerial counterparts in a number of key Member States. They have already spoken to Portugal and Austria, and will shortly speak to other Member States including Spain and Italy. These conversations are covering the reopening of our respective cultural and creative industries post Covid, and the importance of touring.
Asked by: Earl of Clancarty (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government to define whether hybrid companies, which offer both services and recruitment services in the EU, would be categorised as agencies or as service companies under the UK–EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Whether the activities of a UK company comprise recruitment agency services or other services (or both) under the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) will depend on the nature of those activities in each specific case, and may vary over time or between different contracts for the same company.
Asked by: Earl of Clancarty (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government why the UK–EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement restricts service provision to a maximum of 12 months.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
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.
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 is their understanding of the term 'agency' as it appears in the UK–EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement in the context of the employment of 'contractual service suppliers' under Article SERVIN.4.1: Scope and definitions 5(b); and whether this definition includes recruitment or language services.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
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)).
Asked by: Earl of Clancarty (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, under the UK–EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement, contract brokers are to be treated as service providers in a business-to-business relationship with the contracted services provider, or as recruitment agencies.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
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).
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 plans they have to publish any transcripts of the negotiations between the UK and the EU on reciprocal arrangements for the mobility of musicians.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
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.