Andrew Griffith

The FCDO has a key role in delivering a successful COP including in securing international business co-operation in tackling climate change. The Foreign Secretary and FCDO Ministers raise climate change in their engagements with businesses, and our diplomatic network are regularly engaging companies across the globe. These efforts to drive action from businesses and investors on climate change are complemented by the work of Nigel Topping, as the UN High Level Action Champion for COP26 and Mark Carney as the UN Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance.

At the UK co-hosted Climate Ambition Summit in December, a number of leading firms came forward with major pledges. For instance Apple pledged carbon neutrality for its supply chain and products by 2030.At the same summit, the UK launched the Race to Resilience: a campaign which brings together businesses and insurance companies, alongside mayors, community leaders and others, to commit to building resilience to safeguard the lives and livelihoods of 4 billion people who are vulnerable to climate risks.

Tackling climate change is a key priority for the UK. The Government is committed to working with countries across the world to unlock their renewable energy potential and support their transition towards net zero emissions.

The Government provides extensive support for countries to tackle emissions and cope with the impacts of climate change. Since 2011, we have supported 66 million people to cope with climate change and avoided 31 million tonnes of emissions thanks to our international climate finance - which we have committed to doubling to £11.6 billion between 2021/22 and 2025/26.

British High Commissions and Embassies serve wine produced in a range of locations, including Great Britain, but we do not centrally hold details of the wine that is served or procured by our Posts overseas. However, I fully support the UK wine industry and will encourage our Posts across the globe to stock UK products.

English wine made up approximately 10% of the overall stock of the Government Hospitality wine cellar as of 31st March 2020. Wines from other countries constituted about 88% of the cellar stock.

The proportion of English wines purchased for the Government Hospitality wine cellar varies year on year, but generally increases eg. in 2018-19 49% of the wine purchased was English or Welsh. In 2019-20 that proportion increased to 73% of the wine purchased.

The Government is committed to ending the UK’s contribution to climate change by 2050. As a step towards this, the Prime Minister’s Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution was announced alongside the 2020 Autumn Spending Review.

The Ten Point Plan will mobilise £12 billion of Government investment for the green industries of the future and accelerate the UK’s path to Net Zero. This Government investment will spur over three times as much private sector investment by 2030.

Throughout this crisis, the government has sought to protect people’s jobs and livelihoods while also supporting businesses and public services across the UK. To do this, the government has put in place an economic package of support which will provide businesses and individuals with certainty over the coming months, even as measures to prevent further spread of the virus change. The government has spent over £280 billion this year to provide this support.

Businesses forced to close can claim grants of up to £3,000 per month, based on their rateable value, through the Local Restrictions Support Grant (Closed). They can also claim a one-off grant of up to £9,000, in addition to the monthly grant. Local authorities will also be given an additional £500 million discretionary funding to support their local businesses. This builds on the £1.1 billion discretionary funding (worth £20 per head of population) which local authorities in England have already received to support their local economies and help businesses impacted.

Businesses are also able to access the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), which was introduced to help employers whose operations have been affected by COVID-19 retain their employees and protect the UK economy. All businesses across the UK can access the scheme, which will run until the end of April 2021, with employees receiving 80% of their usual salary for hours not worked, up to £2,500 per month.

Businesses have also received billions in loans, tax deferrals, Business Rates relief, and general and sector-specific grants. Individuals and families have benefited from increased welfare payments, enhanced Statutory Sick Pay, a stay on repossession proceedings and mortgage holidays.

The Prime Minister and Chancellor chaired the first meeting of the new Build Back Better Business Council on 18 January. Here, the Chancellor laid out the three key pillars of the government’s plan to drive growth beyond the pandemic: investing in infrastructure, skills and innovation.

This is in addition to the unprecedented fiscal action set out by the Chancellor at January’s Economic Update, taken to support jobs and businesses through the crisis, in order to minimise short term and long-term damage to the economy.

The Government has provided over £280bn of fiscal stimulus through the UK’s comprehensive economic support plan. By doing this, we continue to provide comparable or greater support than all our international peers across almost all areas of economic policy.

This support provides a bridge for people and businesses until the economy reopens, giving them a chance to rebuild and grow again in the future.

HMRC have published statistics on the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS). The statistics can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmrc-coronavirus-covid-19-statistics.

For the period July to October 2020, the CJRS was closed to claims for employments not already furloughed and supported by the scheme except in certain exceptional circumstances. The total number of employments supported by the scheme up to that point was published in August and can be found on GOV.UK at the link provided below. The total number of employments at any time between March and June in West Sussex is 133,000. The equivalent figure for Arundel and South Downs constituency is 14,100. These figures are based on each employee’s residential address.

These statistics can be found here in full: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/coronavirus-job-retention-scheme-statistics-august-2020

The value of claims split by Local Authority and Parliamentary Constituency is not available. The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme provides funds to PAYE schemes to support employers to pay a proportion of the wages of furloughed staff. The registered address for PAYE schemes can be in a different area to that where their employees live and work. In addition, for PAYE schemes claiming for between 1 and 99 employments there was no requirement to specify the amount claimed for each employment. As a consequence it is not possible to provide reliable figures for the monetary value of the support provided by geographical area.

We are delivering on the people’s priorities by recruiting an additional 20,000 police officers by March 2023.

Police Uplift data is published quarterly and the latest release covers recruitment data from the start of the Programme in October 2019 to September 2020.

At 30 September 2020, Sussex Police had recruited 129 additional officers through the Police Uplift Programme and has therefore met its year one uplift allocation. The force also recruited 40 additional officers through other means during this period.

I am extremely grateful to those brave men and women who have signed up to join the police and keep our communities safe.

This Government is determined to crack down on the county lines gangs who are exploiting our children and have a devastating impact on our communities.

That is why we are delivering a £25m programme of investment to help put a stop to these ruthless gangs. Our overall package launched in October last year and includes: expanding the National County Lines Co-ordination Centre; increased disruption on the rail networks by the British Transport Police County Lines Taskforce; operational activity against high harm lines in the three major exporting force areas (the Metropolitan Police, Merseyside, West Midlands); investment in new technology; and increased support for victims. Our funding has supported joint operations across England and Wales, including with Sussex Police.

Our investment is already delivering results. Following the £5m we invested in 2019-2020, pilot police forces and British Transport Police have closed nearly 140 deal lines, seized cash and drugs with a total value of over £3 million, and made over 100 weapons seizures between November 2019 and March 2020.

In addition, between 2019 and 2021 we are investing £1.76m for the Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner to develop a multi-agency Violence Reduction Unit which brings together police, local government, health and education professionals, community leaders and others to identify the drivers of serious violence, including county lines, and put in place a multi-agency response.

We have also invested £2.2million over 2019 and 2021 to ‘surge’ the operational police response to serious violence in Sussex - this has included collaborative work between Sussex Police and British Transport Police to target county lines activity on the rail network, leading to weapons seizures and arrests of key offenders.

This Government is determined to turn the tide on knife crime in all areas, wherever it occurs. Across England and Wales, we are recruiting 20,000 more police officers over the next three years and increasing sentences for violent criminals. We have made it easier for the police to use enhanced stop and search powers and we will introduce a new court order, Serious Violence Reduction Orders, to make it easier for the police to stop and search those who have been convicted of knife crime. In addition, we have legislated through the Offensive Weapons Act 2019 to give the police more powers and to ensure knives are less likely to make their way on to the streets and we will introduce new Knife Crime Prevention Orders, a preventative order which will provide an additional tool for police to help steer those most at risk away from serious violence. We will also be introducing new legislation to place a duty on the police, councils and health authorities to work together to prevent and tackle serious violence.

Over the last 12 months, we have increased police funding, by £1 billion this year and announced that the amount of funding available to the policing system in 2020 to 2021 will increase by more than £1.1 billion. Sussex Police have received £309.9 Million in 2020-21, an increase of 7.6% from 2019-20 and have recruited 114 additional officers under uplift (as at end of June 2020).

We have also announced a targeted £25 million to tackle county lines drug gangs, given the links between drugs, county lines and serious violence.

This government has committed £76.5 million in 2020/21 to address the drivers of serious violence at the local level and significantly bolster the police response in the 18 Police Force areas most affected by serious violence across England and Wales. This builds on the £100 million invested in the previous year. Of this, Sussex Police has been allocated £2.2 million over two years to pay for a surge in police operational activity, such as increased patrols in greater numbers for longer periods of times, as well as new equipment and technology, improved intelligence and targeting, and an enhanced investigative response. A further £1.8m from the Fund was invested in developing Sussex Police’s Violence Reduction Unit (VRU).

VRUs will be distributing a further £2.9 million to hundreds of frontline charities working on violence prevention projects which support vulnerable children and young people. More than 300 charities will share in the financial assistance, which is part of the £750 million package of support for charities announced by the Chancellor in April. Sussex VRU received £74,720 and is also supporting 9 charities.

In addition to the Serious Violence Fund, in 2018 we invested £200 million in early intervention and prevention support initiatives over 10 years to support children and young people at risk of exploitation and involvement in serious violence, through the Youth Endowment Fund (YEF). In Sussex, one project has been offered funding for £93,500 under the Covid grant round.

The Home Office does not hold the information requested.

The offences covered by sections 42, 43 and 59 of the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 are not notifiable offences and therefore do not require the police to inform the Home Office for statistical purposes.

The Home Office does not hold the information requested.

The offences covered by sections 42, 43 and 59 of the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 are not notifiable offences and therefore do not require the police to inform the Home Office for statistical purposes.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) spent £19.2 billion with UK industry and commerce in 2018-19, directly supporting around 119,000 jobs in the UK and indirectly supporting many thousands more.

In South East England, during the same time period, MOD expenditure with industry and commerce was £4,581million supporting around 27,500 jobs.

The MOD does not publish data on a county basis.

Provisional local government finance settlement allocations for local authorities in England in 2021-22 were published on 17 December. The provisional allocations for local authorities in Sussex can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/core-spending-power-provisional-local-government-finance-settlement-2021-to-2022.

I intend to bring forward a final settlement for debate and a vote in the House shortly.

This Government is fully committed to supporting the businesses and communities that make our high streets and town centres successful as the nation responds to the impacts of the Covid-19 outbreak.

Government has provided a comprehensive package of support of £200 billion to help businesses that have been affected by Covid-19. This package includes the small business grants, the coronavirus loan schemes, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, as well as deferral of income tax payments.

We are also delivering the £50 million Reopening High Streets Safely Fund to support local authorities with rolling out extra measures to support their business communities and have introduced measures protecting commercial tenants from eviction if they are unable to pay their rent.

The High Street Task Force is also playing a vital role in supporting the recovery of our local economies, through providing intelligence and evidence to support government in its response to the Covid-19 outbreak through the creation of monthly reports, a series of webinars to help support local recovery frameworks, and Covid-specific resources in the High Street Task Force’s online resource library.

We are promoting local economic growth in West Sussex through:

• Over £16 million from the Getting Building Fund via the Coast to Capital LEP.
• Awarding the Coast to Capital LEP with £292 million over six years through the Local Growth Fund to drive regional development.
• Selecting Crawley as one of 101 places to develop a Town Deal with Government.

Across England, the Government is supporting local partners to deliver local economic growth through:

• A new £4 billion Levelling Up Fund for England. This will invest in local infrastructure that has a visible impact on people and their communities and will support economic recovery, with £600 million available in 2021/22.
• Providing £220 million additional UK funding to help local areas prepare over 2021/22 for introduction of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, to support our communities to pilot programmes and new approaches.
• 101 prospective Town Deals across England as part of the £3.6 billion Towns Fund to level up towns and regions across England.
• Allocating £1 billion of the Towns Fund to support the Future High Streets Fund competition, which aims to renew and reshape town centres and high streets in a way that drives growth and ensures future sustainability.
• Delivering a minimum of 10 Freeports. Successful bidders will be announced in Spring 2021 and the first Freeports will be designated in late 2021.

For 2020-21, we have now committed over £7.2 billion for local authorities to fund their response to the Covid-19 pandemic, even before the extension of the Contain Outbreak Management Fund for those authorities under the highest level of restriction – potentially worth over £200 million a month – which was announced as part of the Covid-19 Winter Plan. This is part of an unprecedented package of support for local authorities to combat the Covid-19 pandemic, including measures worth an estimated c. £3 billion of additional support next year. This takes the total support committed to councils in England to tackle the impacts of Covid-19 to over £10 billion.

Councils in the Arundel and and South Downs constituency have been allocated over £96 million in funding from Government, including over £53 million in unringfenced funding, and over £13 million from the Contain Outbreak Management Fund.

Looking ahead to next year, Spending Review 2020 provides councils with the funding and stability to support vital social care services and tackle Covid-19. Local authorities will be able to access an additional £2.2 billion in resources to support Adult and Children’s Social Care and maintain universal services. In addition, we are providing over £1.5 billion in unringfenced grant for ongoing Covid-19 pressures and extending support to offset the income losses councils are experiencing.

Provisional allocations for the annual local government finance settlement for local authorities in Sussex will be announced shortly.

The National Planning Policy Framework expects local authorities to prioritise brownfield land for development wherever possible. Local authorities are best placed to assess individual sites: each authority is required to publish a register of its developable brownfield suitable for new homes. My Department will shortly issue a national map of the land identified in these registers. We also provide significant practical support for the take-up of brownfield, such as:

• The £400 million Brownfield Fund for seven Mayoral Combined Authorities - West Midlands, Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, Liverpool City Region, Sheffield City Region, North of Tyne, and Tees Valley - that will enable around 26,000 new homes on brownfield land.
• The £5 billion Home Building Fund, providing loans for new housing in two ways: the £2 billion long-term fund supports delivery of larger sites, mostly brownfield, through loans for infrastructure and site preparation; the £3 billion short-term loan fund supports small and medium enterprises, custom builders and construction innovators to build housing, including some on brownfield.
• Revision of Permitted Development and Use Class rules to encourage re-use of previously developed land by allowing two new storeys for new homes on top of purpose-built blocks of flats; new space on top of houses in certain circumstances; and conversion or replacement of disused commercial, industrial and other buildings with residential, if well-designed and sustainably located.
• The Housing Infrastructure Fund, which has allocated nearly £4.1 billion for provision of infrastructure for housing projects, including some on brownfield.
• The £10 billion Single Housing Infrastructure Fund, to help with provision of roads, schools and other infrastructure for housing schemes, which may include some on brownfield.
• Land Remediation Relief, which cuts tax for companies cleaning up contaminated land.

On 1st February, the Government announced an additional £40m for victims’ services. This funding will include £9.7m for Domestic Abuse, £16m to further expand the availability of Independent Domestic Violence Advisers and Independent Sexual Violence Advisers and this funding will be available for two years, and £800k for Finding Legal Options for Women Survivors (FLOWS), a digital tool that helps victims of domestic abuse to apply for emergency protection from the courts.

In 2020/21, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) provided £1.85m in core grant funding to the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for Sussex, for local commissioning of support services for victims of crime, including Domestic Abuse. In addition, MoJ provided £842,538 in emergency COVID-19 funding last year to Sussex PCC to provide additional support for Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence service providers. It is not possible to disaggregate spending on victims of Domestic Abuse from the total funding, as victims of Domestic Abuse are supported by specific providers as well as providers offering a range of services. PCCs also spend money from other sources outside of the MoJ grant on victims’ services including Domestic Abuse.

For 2021/22, the MoJ has committed to match the same levels of funding for the Core Victims Grant for PCCs to ensure that victims of Domestic Abuse continue to receive the support they need.

As set out in the government’s White Paper, A Smarter Approach to Sentencing, published on 16 September, we will be increasing the maximum penalties for causing death by dangerous driving and causing death by careless driving when under the influence of drink or drugs to life imprisonment. We will also create a new offence of causing serious injury by careless driving. We will introduce legislation on these changes in the near future.

The number of offenders convicted for offences under section 44 of the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 at courts in Sussex and England between 2015 and 2019 can be found in the table below.

The Ministry of Justice has published data on the number of prosecutions and convictions for offences in England and Wales for the years 2013 to 2019. This data is available in the Principal offence proceedings and outcomes by Home Office offence code data tool available here:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/888344/HO-code-tool-principal-offence-2019.xlsx

The Home Office offence code 81403 includes information on offences under section 44 of the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994, however please note that this offence code also includes a very low volume of offences (typically 1 or 2 a year) under sections 45 and 59 of the legislation.

The Ministry of Justice does not hold data on offences. The offences covered by sections 42, 43 and 59 of the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 are not notifiable offences and therefore do not require the police to inform the Home Office for statistical purposes. The Home Office therefore are also not able to report on the number of crimes associated with these sections of the Act.

The Ministry of Justice has published data on the number of prosecutions and convictions for offences in England and Wales for the years 2013 to 2019. This data is available in the Principal offence proceedings and outcomes by Home Office offence code data tool available here:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/888344/HO-code-tool-principal-offence-2019.xlsx

In the ‘Offence Code’ filter, select ‘81403’ in the drop-down menu to filter for the offence of non-compliance with section 44 of the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994.

In the ‘Police Force Area’ filter, select the relevant police force areas required.

After doing the above, the number of convictions for non-compliance with section 44 of the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 between 2013-2018 can be seen in row 32 of the resulting pivot table.

The Ministry of Justice does not hold data on offences. The offences covered by sections 42, 43 and 59 of the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 are not notifiable offences and therefore do not require the police to inform the Home Office for statistical purposes. The Home Office therefore are also not able to report on the number of crimes associated with these sections of the Act.

The Ministry of Justice has published data on the number of prosecutions and convictions for offences in England and Wales for the years 2013 to 2019. This data is available in the Principal offence proceedings and outcomes by Home Office offence code data tool available here:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/888344/HO-code-tool-principal-offence-2019.xlsx

In the ‘Offence Code’ filter, select ‘81403’ in the drop-down menu to filter for the offence of non-compliance with section 44 of the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994.

In the ‘Police Force Area’ filter, select the relevant police force areas required.

After doing the above, the number of convictions for non-compliance with section 44 of the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 between 2013-2018 can be seen in row 32 of the resulting pivot table.

The Government has always stressed the importance of the Union. This year is the centenary of Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom as we know it today, and the Government is committed to levelling up across all four nations of the UK.

The £400m New Deal and the £562m in City and Growth Deals will boost economic growth, with Deals covering the whole of Northern Ireland. This includes the Derry-Londonderry and Strabane City Deal that the Government signed Heads of Terms for in February.

Northern Ireland will also benefit from the Community Renewal Fund, the Levelling Up Fund and the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. We will continue working tirelessly for our family of nations going forward.

The pandemic has posed an unprecedented challenge to the Northern Ireland economy and to the UK as a whole. Throughout the crisis the Government’s priority has been to protect lives and livelihoods.

We have taken robust action to support individuals and businesses in Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland businesses and individuals have benefited from UK-wide support schemes and policies, including the Job Retention Scheme, Self-Employment Income Support Scheme, the 5% reduced rate of VAT for the hospitality sector, and government backed loan schemes, such as Bounce Back Loans and the Business Interruption Loan Scheme.

Around one in four jobs in Northern Ireland have been supported by the UK Government’s employment support package, with around 250,000 people benefiting from the furlough scheme and almost 80,000 self-employed supported through SEISS. In addition, £1.3bn in government-backed loans has been issued to almost 35,000 businesses in Northern Ireland.

The UK Government has also provided £3 billion in additional funding to the Northern Ireland Executive to support its response to Covid-19. This has funded a range of economic interventions locally, including business rates relief, grants for businesses, and tailored support for certain sectors, such as hospitality, which have been disproportionately impacted.

These policies have kept people in work, supported their incomes and supported businesses, delivering one of the most generous and comprehensive packages of support globally.

As measures to control the virus change, it is right that Government support should also evolve. The Government keeps all policies under review, and will continue to work with businesses and representative groups to inform our efforts to support businesses.

Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, the UK Government has supported businesses and employees throughout Northern Ireland. I have regular discussions with HM Treasury on economic support, and am grateful for the generous support that has been given so far.

Northern Ireland has benefited from the UK Government’s employment support package, with around one in four jobs in Northern Ireland protected by this, as well as loans and support of over £1.3billion to more than 34,000 firms across Northern Ireland. A UK-wide VAT cut and the Eat Out to Help Out Scheme have ensured that the world renowned hospitality industry of Northern Ireland can support its 65,000 workers.

In the current financial year, the UK Government also provided the Executive with £2.8 billion to respond to Covid-19. The Executive has used some of this to support businesses in Northern Ireland. In the recent Spending Review, the Chancellor announced an additional £0.5 billion of further funding for the Executive for Covid-19 in 2021/22.

Northern Ireland is brimming with potential, including world-class goods and services and as a fantastic place to work, live and visit. Prior to the Covid-19 crisis, we saw exports from Northern Ireland increasing and we are confident this will be re-established.

The UK Government is committed to supporting the NI Executive to see economic growth return and we will work closely with the Executive so that Northern Ireland and its businesses can seize the opportunities ahead, including new trading relationships. An important part of this will be working with the Department for International Trade and with the Executive authorities, including the Department for the Economy and Invest NI to champion Northern Ireland around the world as we look to see Northern Ireland’s exports increase.

Throughout the year ahead, and particularly in Northern Ireland’s centenary year, the Government will be doing everything it can to support Northern Ireland’s economic recovery and to promote its trade. As part of this, the Secretary of State is looking forward to welcoming the Board of Trade to Northern Ireland early next year.

Northern Ireland Office Ministers have engaged extensively and regularly with Northern Ireland business representatives and businesses through a programme of business roundtable events; individual business engagements; and webinars to inform the UK Government response to Covid-19 and economic recovery in Northern Ireland. When Covid restrictions have allowed, we have also visited Northern Ireland businesses to hear first-hand their experience and the experience of employees at this challenging time.

This Government will do everything it can to help people and businesses through this extraordinary time and businesses in Northern Ireland will continue to benefit from the Furlough Scheme, VAT reductions and the extension of bounce back loans, which have all been extended to the end of March 2021.

Businesses in Northern Ireland have always exhibited a tremendous resilience and ability to bounce back from adversity, and I have been impressed by their resilience and adaptability through this crisis. We will continue to work closely with businesses, with the Northern Ireland Executive and other local partners to get the Northern Ireland economy back up and running, to lay the foundations for economic growth and to seize the opportunities ahead.

The Treasury is providing unprecedented support for jobs and businesses across the UK in the face of coronavirus, including an unprecedented £8.6bn upfront guarantee to the Scottish Government. Scotland’s Budget will increase by over £2.4bn during the next financial year.

This is on top of the UK-wide schemes, such as the support for workers, self-employed people and the British Business Bank-administered business loan schemes.

Where policy responsibilities are devolved, the Scottish Government can use this very substantial additional funding to grow the economy, improve public services and support people and businesses across Scotland. I urge the Scottish Government to take swift action to make sure that the funding is made available as soon as possible.

The unprecedented package of measures we have put in place to support all parts of the country shows the clear benefits for Scotland of being part of a strong United Kingdom.

I have frequent discussions with Cabinet colleagues on the opportunities which COP26 offers for businesses in Scotland and the whole of the UK. The Government is committed to delivering an ‘all of UK’ COP26 in Glasgow. All parts of the UK will have important roles to play in ensuring the summit’s success. We are working with the Scottish Government, Welsh Government and Northern Ireland Executive to ensure an inclusive and ambitious summit for the whole of the UK.

The UK Government is committed to leading the way in tackling climate change working with all countries and with civil society, companies and people on the frontline of climate change, in the UK and globally, to inspire action ahead of COP26. The COP26 Business Leaders group brings together key internationally focused businesses across a broad range of sectors who are taking positive climate action. We are inviting businesses from every corner of the UK to join us in the Race to Zero. Race To Zero is a global initiative, backed by science-based targets, to commit businesses, cities, regions, investors and universities to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 at the very latest.

I am encouraged by the engagement that we have seen so far and look forward to continuing to work with businesses to maximise the opportunities which the summit brings.

My Department works closely with the Department for International Trade (DIT) to ensure Scottish businesses and Scottish products are promoted across the Globe. DIT has recently launched a UK Trade Hub based in Edinburgh’s Queen Elizabeth House to support Scottish businesses. This new Trade Hub will be dedicated to helping businesses in Scotland thrive and grow internationally, providing much-needed support for thousands of companies in these economically challenging times and helping businesses in Scotland recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

DIT has an extensive global reach and expertise that will add value to the services already provided by Scottish Development International (SDI). Businesses will be able to utilise the UK Government’s global networks, expertise and influence, as well as world-leading credit agency UK Export Finance (UKEF), to grow their overseas trade and build back from the impact of coronavirus.

Trade is crucial to the UK’s recovery from coronavirus and will be the foundation of our relationships across the globe after the transition period ends. I want to ensure that businesses in Scotland benefit from our new trade deals with the world’s biggest markets, as we remove barriers they previously faced.

We have ambitious goals for British trade, and aim to have 80 per cent of UK trade covered by free trade agreements within the next three years. We have already agreed the UK-Japan Free Trade Agreement which has paved the way for more UK goods to be protected – increasing geographical indications (GIs) from just seven under the terms of the EU-Japan deal to around 70 under our new agreement.

This will not only mean that products like Scotch Whisky will enjoy continued protection under the agreement, but also additional products, such as Arbroath Smokies and Stornoway Black Pudding could be protected in Japan from next year. This would allow producers in Scotland to have their products’ unique heritage protected and could lead to improved recognition of key Scottish brands in the Japanese market.

The UK Government is also making strong progress in our negotiations with the USA, Australia and New Zealand. We are committed to working closely with the Devolved Administrations to deliver an independent trade policy that works for the whole of the United Kingdom.

My ministerial team and I have regular discussions with Scottish businesses and trade bodies.

Scottish businesses of all sizes are benefitting from the UK-wide Covid-19 support measures, with over £2.9 billion in loans taken out by nearly 80,000 Scottish businesses, over 290,000 claims worth around £770 million made through the UK-wide Self Employment Income Support Scheme, and our furlough scheme continuing to benefit workers and businesses in Scotland.

In addition to these UK-wide measures, the Scottish Government has received an additional £7.2 billion to support Scotland’s response to Covid-19.

The UK Government regularly engages with the Scottish Government and Space Hub Sutherland on their plans to build the vertical launch site at Melness. The launch site is expected to create up to 250 jobs, 61 of which will be in the Caithness and Sutherland area.

I would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate them on receiving planning permission earlier this year and I look forward to seeing how the proposal develops in future.

We signed a Final Deal Agreement for the North Wales Growth Deal on 17 December 2020. We also successfully agreed Heads of Terms for a Mid Wales Growth Deal on 22 December with a view to negotiating a Final Deal Agreement. When this is signed, it will mean that the whole of Wales will be covered by £790m of UK Government City and Growth Deal funding. The Government is committed to ensuring that these deals deliver economic growth and jobs across the whole of Wales and I will continue to work closely with my colleagues to enable that to happen.

The UK Government is focused on supporting Welsh businesses and jobs through the Covid-19 outbreak. We have provided over £1.3 billion in Bounce Back Loans, £374 million in Coronavirus Business Interruption Loans, £523 million through the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme, as well as £20 million through the Future Fund.

The UK Government has also protected over 400,000 Welsh jobs through the Job Retention Scheme, introduced VAT deferrals and VAT cuts for the tourism industry, provided an additional £9.3 billion to the welfare system across the UK, and created new innovative schemes such as ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ from which Wales has benefitted to the value of £13 million.

On top of this direct support we have provided the Welsh Government with a £5.2 billion funding guarantee for the current financial year to help tackle coronavirus. The Welsh Government will also receive an additional £1.3 billion next year, including £770 million for tackling the pandemic.

I have regular discussions with my Rt hon Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the UK Government’s support for jobs and businesses in Wales during the Covid-19 outbreak.

Wales is benefitting directly from UK Government support to enable businesses and employees to get through the covid-19 outbreak. Our Coronavirus Business Loan Scheme has supported over 1,600 Welsh businesses; we have backed 48,000 bounce back loans; our Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) has protected over 401,000 jobs and our Self-Employed Income Support Scheme has helped over 113,000 self-employed people in Wales. The UK Government has also guaranteed £5 billion in further funding to the Welsh Government for 2020-21 to support its response to the virus.

At the Spending Review 2020, the Chancellor of the Exchequer confirmed an additional £1.3 billion for the Welsh Government for 2021-22, including £770m to support the response to Covid-19. This demonstrates that we are taking the steps needed to support businesses in Wales and right across the UK.

My Department works closely with the Department for International Trade to support Welsh businesses and promote Welsh Exports. The UK Government is working to secure new opportunities through free trade agreements and market access agreements. The recently signed Japan and Canada trade agreements will give Welsh businesses greater opportunities to export. The UK Government has negotiated a return to market access to the USA for British beef exports which resulted in beef from Merthyr Tydfil being exported to the USA in September for the first time in over 20 years.

When COVID restrictions allow, I look forward to promoting Welsh exports in person.

I have regular discussions with a wide range of Welsh businesses and business representative organisations about the effects of Covid-19 and economic recovery.

It is clear that thriving businesses are critical to economic growth and the Government has provided unprecedented levels of support to businesses across the UK to ensure that we are in the best possible place to drive economic recovery from the Covid-19 outbreak.