Lord Browne of Ladyton

On 8 May the UK Government announced a landmark economic deal with the United States, making the UK the first country to reach an agreement with President Trump.

The US is one of our most important and longstanding international partners on civil nuclear. We welcome future opportunities to work closely with the US administration to jointly develop our nuclear industries and set global standards together.

We have had early discussions with the US Government about deepening our partnership on advanced technologies, but we are unable to comment on the scope of ongoing negotiations.

The UK is party to over 80 Bilateral Investment Treaties and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, which contain investment protection and Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) provisions.

The UK is a significant capital exporter and investment protection provisions backed by ISDS provide UK investors with legal protection against arbitrary, discriminatory or unfair treatment and expropriation without compensation. ISDS provides a framework to resolve disputes with host governments through independent arbitration.

The US is our foremost important science and technology partner, and we look forward to strengthening collaboration on shared priorities, including AI, to drive economic growth and technological advancement.

We have had early discussions with the US Government about deepening our partnership on advanced technologies and there is appetite on both sides. Whilst areas of potential collaboration are wide ranging, it would be inappropriate to comment on the scope and impact of future discussions.

We continue to consider international context when developing policy and are committed to a proportionate AI regulatory framework which supports our vision for growth and security.

Defra has received the Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) final opinion on a proposed UK REACH Restriction on lead in ammunition and we are assessing their proposals. Given the need to work through the detail of HSE’s proposal a decision is expected in the summer, which will be taken with the consent from the Devolved Governments of Scotland and Wales.

The Department for Transport holds data on the number and type of vessels within the world fleet, and as of 31 December 2023 there were 15,700 chemical and oil tankers in the world fleet with a total deadweight tonnage of 714 million tonnes.

The Government are aware of 'going dark' activities conducted by vessels since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. However, it is not possible to ascertain the exact figure of 'dark vessels' or 'dark periods', as while they can be due to deceptive practices, they may also be for safety reasons in high-risk areas or arise from technical issues and GPS jamming. The Joint Maritime Security Centre (JMSC) have established a (Russian) Maritime Sanctions Assessment Team focusing on the movements of oil tankers that are assessed to be associated with the movement of Russian oil.

The Health and Safety Executive is currently finalising its UK REACH opinion on further action to restrict the use of lead in ammunition and is considering the environmental principles policy statement.

We remain concerned at the violence facing the Wiwa community. Embassy officials visited and discussed security concerns with Wiwa communities in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in October 2024, and raised these issues with local authorities, the Ministry of Defence, and the Office of the High Commissioner for Peace. Supporting Colombia in its commitment to secure a lasting peace is an important priority of this Government. We are working with the Colombian government and other partners to implement the 2016 Peace Agreement, including the Ethnic Chapter. We support the protection of the Wiwa indigenous peoples through our funding of civil society organisations and UN agencies.

Colombia is a priority country for the UK's Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI) Strategy. The UK has supported the Special Jurisdiction for Peace for those documenting cases of sexual violence in conflict. With women's organisations, our support has ensured survivors of sexual violence, including indigenous women, receive justice and support. The UK has also supported Colombia's first Women Peace and Security National Action Plan, ensuring indigenous women's experiences were heard. During his visit to Colombia in November, Lord Collins met civil society and women's organisations to underline UK support.

We remain concerned about the environmental damage from organised crime in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, and Embassy officials have raised this with the Ministry of Environment. Through the Magna Carta Fund, the UK has supported civil society to protect indigenous environmental defenders. This has included the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, where we support protection and judicial mechanisms for environmental defenders, and contribute funding to conservation and restoration schemes to protect fragile ecosystems.

The last business rates revaluation, which came into effect in England and Wales on 1 April 2023, resulted in a fall in the total rateable values for each of the sectors shown below. Using the examples provided, the figures below demonstrate the overall change in total rateable value (RV) for civil airports and fossil fuel power stations, between the 2017 and 2023 rating lists.

Civil airports.

2017 RV: £392,425,000

2023 RV: £390,997,000

Fossil fuel power stations.

2017 RV: £164,653,000

2023 RV: £138,420,000

For transparency the VOA publishes official statistics for each property class, which show the change in RV. These can be found on the Non-domestic Rating Stock of Properties statistics pages for 2023 and 2024.

The VOA carried out a revaluation of around 2.1 million non-domestic properties in England and Wales to produce the 2023 rating list. The new RVs came into force on 1 April 2023, with the 2023 RV reflecting changes in rental values between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2021.

The government is committed to a fairer business rates system. In our manifesto, we pledged to level the playing field between the high street and online giants, as well as to take steps to incentivise investment, tackle empty properties and support entrepreneurship.

At the UN General Assembly on 5th November 2024 the United Kingdom joined 161 other states in voting in favour of Resolution 1/79/L.77 on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems.

International discussions on Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems (LAWS) are undertaken under the auspices of the United Nations Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) via a Group of Government Experts (GGE). In 2023 the UK joined consensus on a strengthened mandate for the GGE to "consider and formulate, by consensus, a set of elements of an instrument, without prejudging its nature, and other possible measures to address emerging technologies in the area of lethal autonomous weapons systems". The UK remains committed to working constructively and proactively to fulfil that mandate through that process.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) recognises the importance of engaging with non-traditional defence suppliers and is working closely with UK Industry and Academia to identify and invest in innovative technologies that address our most pressing capability challenges.

This includes initiatives such as the Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA), which is designed to find and fund innovative solutions to defence and security challenges, for example through Regional Defence and Security Clusters (RDSCs)

This Government is committed to bringing forward a Defence Industrial Strategy, working closely with industry to support UK resilience and innovation.

The Government recognises that SLAPPs pose a risk to the integrity of our legal system. We are considering all options for reform in relation to this issue.