Asked by: Brian Leishman (Labour - Alloa and Grangemouth)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what support his Department has provided to improving workers' rights in Northern Ireland, in the context of the time taken for the Northern Ireland Executive to implement its Good Jobs Bill.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Minister of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)
Employment Rights policy is transferred in Northern Ireland. Officials and Ministers from the Department for Business and Trade engage regularly with counterparts in the Northern Ireland Executive on our respective plans to improve workers’ rights. For example, by working together on the Employment Rights Act, we expanded eligibility for statutory sick pay in Northern Ireland by removing the lower earnings limit and waiting period, so it became a day-one entitlement.
Asked by: Brian Leishman (Labour - Alloa and Grangemouth)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what discussions he has had with the Northern Ireland Executive on the Good Jobs Bill.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Minister of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)
Employment Rights policy is transferred in Northern Ireland. Officials and Ministers from the Department for Business and Trade engage regularly with counterparts in the Northern Ireland Executive on our respective plans to improve workers’ rights. The UK Government is proud to be delivering its Plan to Make Work Pay, which will strengthen workers’ rights and improve protections for over 18 million workers across Great Britain - the biggest upgrade to rights at work in a generation.
Asked by: Brian Leishman (Labour - Alloa and Grangemouth)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answers of 1 April 2025 to question 41654 on Trade: Occupied Territories and Western Sahara, if he will update that guidance to include the need for consent to comply with international law.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The UK keeps its overseas business risk guidance, available on gov.uk, relating to Western Sahara and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs) under review and will update it as necessary to reflect relevant international law considerations.
The UK is clear that Israel's illegal settlements and decisions designed to further them are a flagrant violation of international law. The business risk guidance on OPTs states there are clear risks to UK operators related to economic and financial activities in the settlements. We discourage such activity and advise that those contemplating any economic or financial involvement in settlements should seek appropriate legal advice.
Asked by: Brian Leishman (Labour - Alloa and Grangemouth)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of changes to UK steel safeguarding measures and import quotas on small and medium‑sized enterprises that rely on a stable supply of imported steel; and what steps his Department is taking to ensure that businesses such as Central Rebar in Alloa are not adversely affected by disruption to their supply chains.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK steel industry faces challenging global conditions due to overcapacity and trade deflection, which threatens the long‑term viability of domestic production. That is why last year the government amended the steel safeguard to ensure the overall effectiveness of the measure.
The safeguard is due to expire in June 2025, and we are developing a new, robust trade measure to support resilient and secure supply chains. Officials are working closely with stakeholders across the sector, including trade associations representing SMEs, and we are assessing a full range of supply chain interests in designing the measure.
Asked by: Brian Leishman (Labour - Alloa and Grangemouth)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what access the UK government has had to the business accounts of ExxonMobil at Mossmorran.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Both UK government Ministers and officials have engaged extensively with ExxonMobil regarding the Mossmorran Fife Ethylene Plant.
Following the closure announcement, Ministers met with Unite and GMB union representatives to discuss workforce support options.
The UK Government has not had access to ExxonMobil's internal management accounts for Mossmorran operations.
Asked by: Brian Leishman (Labour - Alloa and Grangemouth)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what engagement the UK government has had with the trade unions representing the workers at ExxonMobil Mossmorran.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Both UK government Ministers and officials have engaged extensively with ExxonMobil regarding the Mossmorran Fife Ethylene Plant.
Following the closure announcement, Ministers met with Unite and GMB union representatives to discuss workforce support options.
The UK Government has not had access to ExxonMobil's internal management accounts for Mossmorran operations.
Asked by: Brian Leishman (Labour - Alloa and Grangemouth)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what engagement the UK government has had with ExxonMobil.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Both UK government Ministers and officials have engaged extensively with ExxonMobil regarding the Mossmorran Fife Ethylene Plant.
Following the closure announcement, Ministers met with Unite and GMB union representatives to discuss workforce support options.
The UK Government has not had access to ExxonMobil's internal management accounts for Mossmorran operations.
Asked by: Brian Leishman (Labour - Alloa and Grangemouth)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the oral contribution, Volume 768, column 142 of 2 June 2025, what is the programme relating to the £120 million worth of military licenses for Israel issued in 2024 for components to support exports of military items from Israeli companies to a single programme for a NATO ally.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
We have released extensive information on export licences involving Israel, including those that cover components for products for onward export from Israel. This can be accessed at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/export-control-licensing-management-information-for-israel/israel-export-control-licensing-data-31-july-2025. The government does not provide further detailed commentary as individual licences contain commercial and other sensitive information.
Values included on export licence applications represent the maximum value of exports permitted rather than the actual exports under these licences, which may be lower.
Asked by: Brian Leishman (Labour - Alloa and Grangemouth)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many arms export licences to Israel were approved and subsequently (a) adjusted and (b) rejected between September and December 2024.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Secretary of State for Scotland
On 2 September, the Government announced the suspension of certain export licences to Israel, related to items for use in military operations in Gaza. New licence applications for such items were also refused on the same basis following this decision.
Detail on individual licences are published periodically by the Export Control Joint Unit. On 10 December, an ad hoc data release was published on ‘Export control licensing management information for Israel’. These figures show that in addition to the 29 licences issued prior to September 2024 that were suspended or amended as a consequence of the suspension, between 2 September and 6 December 2024, 34 military licences were issued, 17 were refused and none were revoked.
Examples of licence applications issued during this period include items for academic research, items for commercial aircraft, military equipment for re-export, and components for trainer aircraft, not assessed to be used in relation to current military operations in Gaza. (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/export-control-licensing-management-information-for-israel/israel-export-control-licensing-data-6-december-2024).
Asked by: Brian Leishman (Labour - Alloa and Grangemouth)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will bring forward secondary legislation under the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 to prevent the importation of goods from illegal Israeli settlements.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Secretary of State for Scotland
The Government does not comment on future sanctions measures, as to do so would reduce their impact.
The UK government considers Israeli settlements illegal under international law and goods produced in these settlements are not entitled to benefit from tariff and trade preferences under the UK’s current trade agreements with the Palestinian Authority and Israel.
We support accurate labelling of settlement goods, so as not to mislead the consumer. We routinely update our guidance to British businesses on the Overseas Business Risk website and advise British businesses to bear in mind the UK Government's view on the illegality of settlements under international law when considering their investments and activities in the region.