Lord Alton of Liverpool

The Government continues to look at ways to make sure the government’s digital communications better reflect the way the public now consumes information online. The policy around the use of TikTok on government devices hasn’t changed.

Cabinet Office does not collect this data centrally. Where an essential business requirement necessitates the use of TikTok, this is managed through a formal exemptions and approvals process which takes place at departmental level.

The restriction on use of the TikTok app on government devices remains in place. Where an essential business requirement necessitates the use of TikTok, this is managed through a formal exemptions and approvals process.

In March 2023 the previous government introduced a precautionary ban on the TikTok application on government electronic devices following a security review. This review looked at the potential vulnerability of government data on government devices and risks around how sensitive information could be accessed and used.

Restricting use of the TikTok application on government devices is a prudent, proportionate measure to protect government device data. This data can be sensitive, particularly in relation to ministers' devices given the sensitive nature of their role.

All government organisations and their Arm's Length Bodies are required to control which third-party applications are permitted for use on their corporate devices under the cross-government Mobile Device Management policy. We keep our cyber security policies under constant review.

Public procurement is a key lever for enabling delivery of the Government’s missions, both in terms of sourcing the goods and services required by the public sector but also in using procurement policy to drive up standards.

The government will be ensuring that the powers in the Procurement Act are utilised to support the new government’s priorities. New measures in the Act, which are due to come into force in October 2024, strengthens the rules on disregarding bids and excluding suppliers where there is evidence of modern slavery. This will apply even in circumstances where there has not yet been a conviction or technical breach of an international treaty.

Under the previous government the then Department for International Trade (DIT) ran Project Defend from April 2020 to March 2021 when the project closed.

We recognise the importance of strengthening the resilience of UK supply chains to boost our preparedness for potential disruptions and shocks, Further consideration will be given to this in our forthcoming Trade Strategy. More widely, we are carrying out a full and comprehensive audit of the UK’s interests with regards to China, which will bring a consistent, long-term and strategic approach.

No UK business should be complicit in forced labour. Under Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, businesses who operate in the UK and have a turnover of £36m or more are required to report annually on the steps they have taken to prevent modern slavery in their supply chains.

This Government will stand firm on human rights in China, including the repression of people in Xinjiang and will continue to hold China to account. The Government continues to review how we can best tackle forced labour in supply chains and continues to consider measures that would improve supply chain transparency and traceability.

Discussion among CPTPP Members is progressing on how to take forward accession applications. The UK and other CPTPP members have reaffirmed on several instances that the CPTPP is open to Accession Requests by economies that can satisfy the “Auckland Principles”, namely being able to meet the agreement’s high standards, having a track record of compliance with trade commitments, and commanding consensus of the Parties. It is right that we work within the principles of the group to achieve a consensus decision, rather than providing our own individual narrative on the applications of specific economies.

In November 2023, the British Representative in Taipei and the Taipei Representative in the UK signed an Enhanced Trade Partnership (ETP) Arrangement setting out the UK and Taiwan’s priorities for the future cooperation, including an energy and net zero pillar. The Government regularly promotes international business opportunities to UK firms and has previously supported business delegations to Taiwan. UK Export Finance, the Government’s credit agency, has also provided over £900million of financing to Taiwanese offshore wind projects, supporting Taiwan’s energy transition and UK businesses.

The UK operates one of the most transparent export licensing systems in the world. There is a long record of the UK granting licences for exports of controlled goods to Taiwan, on a case-by-case basis, where those applications are consistent with the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria.

The Department for Business and Trade provides advice and support to prospective exporters of controlled goods where there is a reasonable expectation of securing licenses, but the support will vary with an individual case’s circumstances.

The Government recently set out its Clean Power 2030 Action Plan, which requires significant deployment of solar electricity. Developing sustainable, diverse and resilient solar supply chains, free from forced labour, is an absolute priority for this Government and the solar industry.

The Government does not hold data on the supply chains of individual businesses and therefore cannot provide details of overall expenditure or quantities of Chinese imports of solar panels. As Great British Energy will be operationally independent, it will be for the company to determine the projects and technologies it chooses to invest in, in accordance with its objectives.

The Government takes reports of complaints very seriously. Compliance with biomass sustainability criteria is a priority and Ofgem as the independent regulator is responsible for ensuring generators’ compliance. Ofgem’s recent investigation found that whilst Drax complied with sustainability standards, it had failed to report data accurately. This is a serious matter and the Government expects full compliance with all regulatory obligations. Drax’s subsequent £25 million redress payment underscores the robustness of the regulatory system.

The reasons for the Secretary of State’s planning decision on the Mallard Pass project are set out in the Decision Letter. Ethical procurement is considered at paragraphs 4.104-109.

The consent requires the applicant to submit a list of suppliers to be made available to the local planning authorities, and to upload their modern slavery and human trafficking statement annually to the Home Office Register to enable monitoring [paragraph 4.105].

Higher education (HE) institutions in England are autonomous bodies and it is for them to assess whether applications for fees which do not meet the criteria for automatic home fee status should be reduced or waived in line with individual circumstances. The department has not made an assessment on the number of international students that have successfully had their fees waived.

There are a range of resources and support for international students looking for scholarships, which can be found on the UK Council for International Student Affairs website and the British Council’s Study UK page.

Many HE institutions in the UK offer a range of bursaries and scholarships to international students and the department encourages students to contact their institution to find out what support may be available. We have not carried out an assessment of the number of university scholarships or bursaries available to prospective students on British National (Overseas) visas.

Higher education (HE) institutions in England are autonomous bodies and it is for them to assess whether applications for fees which do not meet the criteria for automatic home fee status should be reduced or waived in line with individual circumstances. The department has not made an assessment on the number of international students that have successfully had their fees waived.

There are a range of resources and support for international students looking for scholarships, which can be found on the UK Council for International Student Affairs website and the British Council’s Study UK page.

Many HE institutions in the UK offer a range of bursaries and scholarships to international students and the department encourages students to contact their institution to find out what support may be available. We have not carried out an assessment of the number of university scholarships or bursaries available to prospective students on British National (Overseas) visas.

The government has made significant strides to protect our values against those who do not respect the UK’s fundamental rights and freedoms, or whose strategic intent is hostile to UK interests. The department has committed, in the Integrated Review Refresh, to review the full set of legislative and other provisions designed to protect our academic sector, in order to identify what more the department could or should be doing.

The department recognises the potential for overseas interference in our higher education (HE) sector and we are committed to ensuring ways to increase transparency, improve HE providers’ overall resilience and economic security, whilst respecting the autonomy of universities.

A key part of the department’s International Education Strategy is diversification. Our universities must ensure they have appropriate processes in place to manage risks associated with dependence on a single source of funding, whether that is from a single organisation or a single country. The Office for Students, the regulator of HE in England, monitors the risk of over-reliance on overseas income at a sector level.

The content of textbooks is a matter for individual publishers. The department does not play a role in prescribing or authorising the books that schools can use. It is for schools to determine what curriculum resources they use, and to use their judgement in assessing their content.

Defra monitors animal disease outbreaks worldwide and assesses the risk that they might enter the United Kingdom (UK) through legal or illegal trade in animal products. Its team of veterinary and risk experts provide rapid outbreak assessments to inform import decisions and enforcement action and undertake full qualitative risk assessments in certain cases. These assessments are published on gov.uk at www.gov.uk/government/collections/animal-diseases-international-monitoring.

Meat imported commercially via Border Control Posts is subject to local authority-led official controls to ensure that it complies with UK import conditions. The Home Office’s Border Force has lead responsibility for identifying and seizing meat imported illegally other than via Border Control Posts.

To further mitigate the risks, it is illegal in the UK to feed catering or domestic food waste to livestock, including pigs.

We have made no formal assessment of the paper by Svensson et al.

All primates are protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), ensuring any international trade in these species is sustainable. Each year thousands of illegal products containing endangered species are seized by Border Force. These seizures are quantified in the UK’s annual illegal trade report to CITES and made available in the CITES Illegal Trade Database.

The UK is committed to combatting the illegal wildlife trade (IWT), including through our Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund and through the National Wildlife Crime Unit’s Strategic Assessment for Wildlife Crime which aims to support UK and Global enforcement responses to IWT.

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The Government published the UK Food Security Report 2024 last week and remains committed to protecting our biosecurity and will maintain the appropriate level of controls to achieve this in accordance with the Border Target Operating Model. Please also see the Border Target Operating Model web page on gov.uk for detailed information on the rationale for border controls (at Final_Border_Target_Operating_Model.pdf).

The Government appreciates and values the vital work of the horticulture industry, and we welcomed the Committee’s report ‘Sowing the seeds: A blooming English horticultural sector. As part of our mission-driven government we are currently considering how we can achieve our ambitious, measurable and long-term goals for all our farming sectors.

The Government expects all UK businesses to respect human rights in line with the OECD Guidelines for Responsible Business Conduct and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

We work to maintain high standards on the information that is provided on food labels so that consumers can have confidence in the food they buy. When the country of manufacture of a processed food, such as tomato puree, is provided on the label, the label must also show if the origin of the primary ingredient (the tomatoes in this case) is different. In any case, all information must be accurate and not mislead.