Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many Company Voluntary Arrangements were made in the last 12 months for which data is held.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
There were 286 Company Voluntary Arrangements registered in the UK between January and December 2020.
These data have been extracted from the publicly available quarterly insolvency statistics published on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have for altering the voting procedure for Company Voluntary Arrangements.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government has no plans to alter the voting procedure for company voluntary arrangements.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they remain committed to the UK’s continued membership of Horizon Europe; and what plans they have made if an agreement with the EU is not reached.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government’s recently published Research and Development Roadmap sets out our aim to maintain a close and friendly relationship with our European partners and we are in negotiations with the EU to participate in the next generation of European research and innovation programmes starting in 2021: Horizon Europe and Euratom Research and Training. Negotiations with the Commission are constructive and we are open to participation, but there are still some areas to be agreed – including financial contributions and suspension and termination clauses.
As a responsible government, we are also developing a range of alternative measures to support international research and innovation alongside progressing the Horizon Europe negotiations. If we do not formally associate to Horizon Europe we will implement ambitious alternatives as quickly as possible from January 2021. This includes launching an ambitious new Discovery Fund, making funding available to allow UK partners to participate in European schemes open to third countries, and scaling up our most prestigious domestic research and innovation schemes.
In all scenarios, it is our aim that UK organisations and entities continue to participate in Horizon Europe collaborative projects, as well as in wider international collaborations.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they expect the UK to meet the OECD average for gross domestic expenditure on research and development.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
On 1 July, the Government published its ambitious research and development (R&D) roadmap. This builds on the ambitious commitment set out at Budget to increase public spending in R&D to £22 billion per year by 2024 to 2025, putting the UK on track to reach 2.4% of GDP, the current OECD average, being spent on R&D across the UK economy by 2027. We will set out details of this historic investment in due course, giving researchers and innovators confidence through our long-term investment.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the extent to which an inability to pay rents has contributed to the number of failing retail businesses in 2020.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Government recognises that there can be complex reasons behind the failure of certain retail businesses.
The UK government has extended measures to protect struggling companies from eviction over the summer. The extension, until the end of September, comes alongside further support to help local businesses plan for economic recovery following the coronavirus pandemic.
A new code of practice has been developed with leaders from the retail, hospitality, and property sectors to provide clarity for businesses when discussing rental payments and to encourage best practice so that all parties are supported.
These interventions are in addition to the comprehensive financial package provided by the UK Government to businesses during this difficult time and is in recognition of the strain that the sector is currently under.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to re-implement powers to make connected party pre-pack sales mandatorily referable for independent oversight, now that the powers they had to do so in section 129 of the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 have lapsed.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Insolvency Service is working with regulators and other insolvency industry stakeholders to examine whether existing non-legislative regulation for the practice of prepack administration can be further developed to provide additional scrutiny of connected party sales.
Government will monitor the outcome of this work to determine if further action is needed.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they expect to publish the results of their review into pre-pack sales.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Insolvency Service is undertaking further work with regulators and the insolvency industry. It expects to publish its findings later this year.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that businesses in the retail sector have access to finance.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
My Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer has announced a host of measures to help businesses access finance with £330 billion worth of government backed and guaranteed loans including:
A Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) which enables SMEs with a turnover of up to £45 million access vital financial support. The Chancellor has extended CBILS so that all viable businesses affected by COVID-19, and not just those unable to secure regular commercial financing, will now be eligible should they need finance to keep operating during this difficult time.
A Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CLBILS) providing finance to mid-sized and larger UK businesses with a group turnover of more than £45 million. We have increased the maximum amount available through CLBILS to a borrower and its group from £50 million to £200 million.
A Bounce Back Loans Scheme which provides loans of up to £50,000 to benefit small businesses with a 100% government-backed guarantee for lenders.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the viability of the global steel market.
Answered by Lord Henley
The steel industry has changed significantly in recent times. From the peak reached in 2011 to the start of 2016, the price of steel more than halved, driven by excess production capacity at a global level.
Conditions have improved slightly in 2017 and there are signs of recovery in several markets. The World Steel Association forecasts 1.6% growth in global steel demand in 2018 and modest growth in the years to come as the market adjusts to new technologies and demographic changes.
The most recent OECD estimate puts global steel capacity at 2,357 million tonnes, 657 million tonnes in excess of production in 2017. Changes in global capacity are slowly starting to take effect, as OECD data suggests a fall of 0.6% from 2016 to 2017, and an increase in capacity utilisation from 69% to 72% in the same period.
The underlying causes of excess capacity remain, however. The UK is committed to finding a solution to this problem. We have worked though the G20 to agree policy principles to tackle the unfair state support that has led to excess capacity. We now need to see all member countries act swiftly on those proposals.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the likely impact on the steel industry in the UK if the US were to impose the proposed 25 per cent tariff on steel imports.
Answered by Lord Henley
Total US imports of steel from the UK in 2017 were 351 thousand tonnes with a value of £360m. This represents 5% of UK steel production in 2017, in tonnage. We are working closely with the steel and aluminium industries to assess the potential impact of these measures.