Asked by: Alex Ballinger (Labour - Halesowen)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to ensure that companies are legally obliged to prevent (a) human rights abuses and (b) environmental harms in their supply chains.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The UK has a range of measures in place to promote RBC across the economy. In the Trade Strategy, the Government also launched a review into the UK's approach to responsible business conduct, focused on tackling human rights and labour abuses, modern slavery, and environmental harms in global supply chains.
The review will be a neutral, objective appraisal of policy, led by departmental officials. It will consider the effectiveness of the UK's current regime and alternative means of supporting responsible business practices. To complement the review, the FCDO is conducting a National Baseline Assessment (NBA) on the implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
Asked by: Alex Ballinger (Labour - Halesowen)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department plans to consult tea producers for the review of Responsible Business Conduct.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
In the Trade Strategy, the Government launched a review into the UK's approach to responsible business conduct, focused on tackling human rights and labour abuses, modern slavery, and environmental harms in global supply chains. Throughout the review, we will harness the insights and expertise of businesses and investors from across the economy, as well as trade unions, academia and civil society.
Stakeholders will also be given the opportunity to feed into the National Baseline Assessment on the implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, which will run in parallel and inform the review.
Asked by: Alex Ballinger (Labour - Halesowen)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what investigations his Department is conducting into goods originating from Israeli settlements within the Occupied Palestinian Territories being labelled as originating from within Israel’s pre-1967 borders; and what enforcement measures are available.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The UK Government has a clear position that Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories are illegal under international law. Goods produced in these settlements are not entitled to benefit from preferential tariff treatment under the UK’s current trade agreements with the Palestinian Authority and Government of Israel.
The overseas business risk guidance, available on gov.uk, provides information for UK operators on how goods from Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories should be labelled.
Where there are doubts about the declared origin of goods, HMRC undertakes checks to verify the origin of those goods to ensure compliance.
Asked by: Alex Ballinger (Labour - Halesowen)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what estimate his Department has made of the amount of goods originating from Israeli settlements within the Occupied Palestinian Territories that are being labelled as originating from within Israel’s pre-1967 borders.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
HMRC are responsible for the conduct of origin verification checks on imported goods. Where there are doubts about the declared origin of goods, HMRC undertakes checks to verify the origin of those goods to ensure fiscal compliance. Data on imports from Israel is available on uktradeinfo.com/trade-data.
Asked by: Alex Ballinger (Labour - Halesowen)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department has plans to review the processes for recording tracking histories at Royal Mail's Heathrow distribution centre.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Royal Mail is an independent business and therefore concerns about operational matters should be directed to its management.
The government does not have a role in Royal Mail’s commercial or operational decisions, including its processes for recording tracking histories at its Heathrow distribution centre.
Asked by: Alex Ballinger (Labour - Halesowen)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will take steps to increase statutory parental leave.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is aware that the parental leave system requires improvement and action to deliver this has already begun. The Employment Rights Bill will make Paternity Leave and Unpaid Parental Leave ‘day one’ rights, increasing the flexibility of parental leave and helping parents to better balance work and family responsibilities.
The Government has also committed to conduct a review of the parental leave system. This will focus on ensuring that parental leave offers the best possible support to working families. Work is already underway on planning for its delivery.