Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Amanda Milling and Lord Johnson of Marylebone(7 years, 1 month ago)
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Joseph Johnson
Yes, this country does recognise that it has been under-investing in research and development, and that is why at the autumn statement and in the Budget we have made the biggest investment in R and D for more than 40 years. Public investment in R and D helps to bring in private sector investment at the rate of about £1.36 for every £1 of public investment.
Amanda Milling (Cannock Chase) (Con)
Can my right hon. Friend outline what measures are included in the midlands engine strategy to support small businesses and enterprises such as those in Cannock Chase?
Trade, Exports, Innovation and Productivity
Debate between Amanda Milling and Lord Johnson of Marylebone(8 years, 3 months ago)
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Amanda Milling
The point I was trying to make is that we want to increase exports. I will highlight a few points relating to that.
The productivity plan outlines several measures that will help to meet that target, including building stronger links with emerging markets, especially China, India and Brazil. The plan also sets out a range of funds and initiatives designed to promote and encourage exporting. Let me echo the point that my hon. Friend the Member for The Cotswolds made about extending the tradeshow access programme.
Based on ATP’s experience of exporting, I want to raise a number of other issues and challenges faced by exporters that I would like the Minister to consider. They fall into three key categories—uncertainty, red tape and competitiveness—each of which presents real obstacles and barriers to exporting.
Uncertainty comes about partly because of currency markets, but the particular issue I want to focus on is that of Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs impounding shipments for random checks. That can make it really difficult, both from an importing and exporting perspective, when a “just in time” ordering mentality is commonplace. Are there ways in which we can balance the understandable need to monitor shipments and at the same time provide more certainty to firms that are importing and exporting?
Businesses, both in the UK and abroad, regularly refer to the issue of red tape. I welcome the Government’s commitment to cut £10 billion of red tape, to back British business and put resources to more productive use. Customs warehousing is a facility for importers to delay duty and import VAT payments until the goods leave the customs warehousing facility or enter another customs procedure. According to ATP, it is an excellent service for importing parts, but the red tape associated with it is cumbersome. As such, ATP no longer uses the facility, as the amount of paperwork outweighs the benefits. That means that an excellent facility is underutilised. Will the Minister therefore review the facility and consider ways in which the paperwork could be reduced and simplified so that it can be used by SMEs, which have less capacity to deal with red tape than larger organisations?
The Minister for Universities and Science (Joseph Johnson)
My hon. Friend makes an important point about bureaucracy at our borders and the role of border control. I reassure her that the Government are reviewing that with their one government at the border programme. At present, 92% of consignments at customs are cleared within five seconds, but her constituents are clearly encountering difficulties. I will talk on her behalf to the Minister for Trade and Investment and look into the specific problems she faces.
Amanda Milling
I am grateful for the Minister’s update on the review and look forward to receiving more information over time. I will also feed back his comments to ATP, which is not using the facility at the moment but might want to start using it again.
On competitiveness, the costs and risks of exporting can be off-putting. If we are really serious about encouraging exports, surely we should be considering ways to incentivise businesses to do so, potentially through tax breaks. One tax that can be a burden to exporters is air passenger duty, which, in reality, is a tax on exports. ATP, for instance, spends thousands of pounds a year on air taxes alone. Every time it signs deals, it has to travel abroad and the costs over a year are significant.
We have to realise that ATP, like many businesses, is competing in a global market. Therefore, onerous air passenger duty makes it less competitive on contract delivery compared with other companies bidding for the same contract. With some companies actively trying to avoid the tax by booking tickets abroad, the Treasury is already missing out.
Given that APD is going to be a devolved matter and the Scottish Government have announced that they will cut it by 50%, with a view to abolishing it altogether, the need for us to consider our position is probably more urgent than ever. Will the Minister consider ways in which we could provide tax breaks on air passenger duty for those who are exporting? I appreciate that, at face value, that will cut tax revenues, but I believe that that will be overcome by the economic gains of more of our businesses exporting their goods and services.
In conclusion, given the need to address the productivity gap, and given the role that exporters play in closing it, it is important that we do everything we can to encourage businesses to consider exporting. That is why I would like the Government to consider ways in which we can address the three overriding obstacles of uncertainty, red tape and competitiveness.
I do not support the motion, because it does not reflect the current picture and the Government’s commitment to productivity and exporting.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Amanda Milling and Lord Johnson of Marylebone(8 years, 10 months ago)
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The Minister for Universities and Science (Joseph Johnson)
The hon. Gentleman has previous experience as president of the National Union of Students, so it is valuable to us to have him here. He will know that the OECD has praised the UK as being one of the only countries in the world to have come up with a sustainable way of funding higher education, and this Government have every intention of continuing to ensure that our higher education system is funded successfully and sustainably over the years ahead.
Amanda Milling (Cannock Chase) (Con)
T10. Small businesses are a substantial part of the local economy of my constituency. I was pleased to welcome the news that, since launch, 22 people have already taken up start-up loans worth nearly £140,000 to start new businesses in Cannock Chase. However, relatively speaking, this is low. What steps are the Government taking to encourage more people to take advantage of this scheme in areas such as my constituency?