Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will initiative a review of UK treaties containing Investor-State Dispute Settlements.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK is party to 83 Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) that contain investment protection and Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS). In 2022, these BITs covered at least £195 billion of UK investment overseas.
ISDS provides an independent means to resolve disputes with states where investors believe they have experienced arbitrary, discriminatory or unfair treatment or expropriation without adequate compensation.
The Government has no plans to review UK treaties containing ISDS.
Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will initiative a review of UK treaties containing Investor-State Dispute Settlements.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK is party to 83 Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) that contain investment protection and Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS). In 2022, these BITs covered at least £195 billion of UK investment overseas.
ISDS provides an independent means to resolve disputes with states where investors believe they have experienced arbitrary, discriminatory or unfair treatment or expropriation without adequate compensation.
The Government has no plans to review UK treaties containing ISDS.
Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of lowering the turnover threshold to £500,000 for businesses that are required to fund the Groceries Code Adjudicator.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA) is currently funded by an annual levy on the 14 large retailers that are designated under the Groceries Supply Code of Practice (the Code) by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). The CMA assesses annually whether retailers which have a turnover exceeding £1bn of grocery sales in the UK should be designated under the Code. The £1bn threshold is set out in the Groceries (Supply Chain Practices) Market Investigation Order 2009 which is the responsibility of the CMA.
Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he has plans to widen the scope of the Groceries Code Adjudicator.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Groceries Code Adjudicator enforces the Groceries Supply Code of Practice which regulates the relationship between large supermarkets in the UK and their direct suppliers. At the production end of the supply chain, powers in the Agriculture Act allow the government to introduce ‘Fair Dealings’ Regulations, applying to businesses when purchasing agricultural products from farmers. Such regulations have been introduced to cover the UK dairy sector and will be enforced by the Agricultural Supply Chain Adjudicator.
The government will continue to monitor the supply chain and will deliver a resilient and healthy food system, with a new deal that ensures fairness in the supply chain across all sectors.
Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the level of statutory paternity leave on new families.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
As committed to in the Plan to Make Work Pay, the Government will review the system of parental leave, including Paternity Leave, to ensure that it best supports working families. We are in the early planning stage for this Review and are actively considering its parameters.
Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, when his Department will launch the review of the parental leave system.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
As committed to in the Plan to Make Work Pay, the Government will review the system of parental leave, including Paternity Leave, to ensure that it best supports working families. We are in the early planning stage for this Review and are actively considering its parameters.
Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact that a UPOV91 seed law may have small farmers in India.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
UPOV provides a global system of plant variety protection trusted by plant breeders with the aim of encouraging the development of new varieties of plants for the benefit of society. Whether or not a country signs up to UPOV91 is subject to their own policy-making process including impact assessments, so the UK has not assessed impact in India.
Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, when he plans to publish an Industrial Strategy.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
As stated in the Kings Speech this government is committed to establishing an industrial strategy council on a statutory footing. Growth is this Government's number one priority. To achieve growth and create secure, well-paid jobs across the country, we will get businesses investing again through a clear, credible, long-term modern Industrial Strategy. To succeed, the Strategy will need to be designed and delivered in partnership with business, unions, local leaders and wider stakeholders. The Strategy will be published in the coming months and I will update the house in due course.