Asked by: Apsana Begum (Independent - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether any Magni-X drones have been exported from the UK by Elbit Systems UK to partner companies in Israel.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Exports of these items from the UK would be subject to an export licence. Our records indicate that we have not issued any individual export licences for Israel to the company for the Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) referenced.
The company is also registered to two Open General Export Licences which in theory permit exports of UAVs to Israel, among other countries. The licences in question however only relate to transfers in support of UK Government defence contracts (e.g. for products that are then delivered back to the UK), or for the return of military goods that have been temporarily imported into the UK for exhibition or demonstration purposes.
As the Secretary of State announced to Parliament on 2 September, we have suspended export licences for Israel for military goods which could be used by the IDF in military operations in Gaza.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Independent - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether any Thor drones have been exported from the UK by Elbit Systems UK to partner companies in Israel.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Exports of these items from the UK would be subject to an export licence. Our records indicate that we have not issued any individual export licences for Israel to the company for the Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) referenced.
The company is also registered to two Open General Export Licences which in theory permit exports of UAVs to Israel, among other countries. The licences in question however only relate to transfers in support of UK Government defence contracts (e.g. for products that are then delivered back to the UK), or for the return of military goods that have been temporarily imported into the UK for exhibition or demonstration purposes.
As the Secretary of State announced to Parliament on 2 September, we have suspended export licences for Israel for military goods which could be used by the IDF in military operations in Gaza.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Independent - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department takes steps to (a) monitor and (b) assess the extent to which countries participating in the Developing Countries Trading Scheme comply with their international (i) human rights, (ii) labour rights, (iii) gender rights and (iv) environmental obligations.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is committed to working with international partners and businesses to ensure global supply chains are free from human and labour rights abuses. The UK monitors all countries on the Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS) on an ongoing basis for serious and systemic violations of human rights (including gender rights), labour rights and environmental obligations based on international conventions.
The tools to monitor compliance may include reports from international convention bodies, reports produced by international organisations and reporting from the Government’s diplomatic network. The criteria the Government may consider include the nature, scale, impact, frequency and pattern of violations.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Independent - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department (a) monitors and (b) assesses the extent to which countries participating in the Developing Countries Trading Scheme comply with international (i) human rights, (ii) labour rights, (iii) gender rights and (iv) environmental obligations.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is committed to working with international partners and businesses to ensure global supply chains are free from human and labour rights abuses. The UK monitors all countries on the Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS) on an ongoing basis for serious and systemic violations of human rights (including gender rights), labour rights and environmental obligations based on international conventions.
The tools to monitor compliance may include reports from international convention bodies, reports produced by international organisations and reporting from the Government’s diplomatic network. The criteria the Government may consider include the nature, scale, impact, frequency and pattern of violations.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Independent - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs on the human rights situation in Bangladesh in respect of that country's participation in the Developing Countries Trading Scheme.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK has been deeply saddened by the violence and loss of life in Bangladesh. The interim government has the UK’s full support as it works to restore peace and order. The Secretary State for Business and Trade and the Foreign Secretary speak regularly on a range of issues. The UK monitors all countries on the Developing Countries Trading Scheme for serious and systemic violations of human rights, labour rights and environmental obligations. We are monitoring the situation in Bangladesh closely and raising matters regularly with the Government of Bangladesh in London and via our High Commission in Dhaka.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Independent - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department has made a recent assessment of the potential impact of the provisions of the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023 on the ability of trade unions to represent their members in workplace disputes.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
The Strikes Act does not prevent or restrict the ability of trade unions to represent their members in workplace disputes, nor does it remove the ability for strikes to take place. It simply ensures there is a balance between the ability to strike and the need to ensure the public can continue to access essential services during strike action.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Independent - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether her Department has had discussions with CK Hutchison Holdings in the last year.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
Details of Ministers' and Permanent Secretaries' meetings with external individuals and organisations are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK. Published declarations include the purpose of the meeting and the names of any additional external organisations or individuals in attendance.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Independent - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment their Department has made of the potential effect of the merger between Three and Vodafone on their Department's contracts with Vodafone.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
As an open economy, this Government welcomes and encourages investment where it supports the Prime Minister’s goal of boosting UK growth and jobs, meets our stringent legal and regulatory requirements, and does not compromise our national security. The Government has robust powers under the National Security & Investment Act, which it introduced, to block or impose remedies on transactions that pose a national security risk.
As you will appreciate, we cannot comment on specific acquisitions nor the applicability of the National Security and Investment regime.
It is the responsibility of Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to assess the impact on consumers and competition in the market, with input from sectoral regulators.