Asked by: Calum Kerr (Scottish National Party - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with representatives of the fishing industry on the status of the 1964 London Fisheries Convention.
Answered by George Eustice
Ministers and officials have had meetings with a number of organisations to discuss a range of issues associated with EU exit including the 1964 London Fisheries Convention. As the Prime Minister told Parliament on 29 March, we hope to be able to say something about this soon.
Asked by: Calum Kerr (Scottish National Party - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will publish a timetable outlining the measures required for the UK to establish itself as an independent coastal state under the UN Convention on the Law of the Seas.
Answered by George Eustice
In accordance with international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, following EU exit, the UK will be responsible for managing living resources, including fisheries, within its territorial waters and Exclusive Economic Zone.
Asked by: Calum Kerr (Scottish National Party - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what the reasons are for his Department providing information to the public which describes trade within the UK domestic market as an export.
Answered by David Mundell
Scottish Government statistics have revealed that trade with the rest of the UK is worth over four times more to Scotland than its trade with the rest of the EU. The UK Government has sought to inform people about the important trading relationship that Scotland and the rest of the UK enjoy, and the relative scale of Scotland’s trade with the rest of the UK as compared to its trade with the rest of the EU. The term ‘exports’ to describe this intra-UK trade is used in the Scottish Government’s own publication, “Export Statistics Scotland 2015”, which is based on the results of the Global Connections Survey.
Asked by: Calum Kerr (Scottish National Party - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment the Government has made of the implications for telecoms rating of the separation of Openreach into a separate company; and whether that separation will enable BT's business rates liability to be assessed in the same way as its competitors.
Answered by Matt Hancock
Rateable values are set independently by the Valuation Office Agency. All telecom networks are assessed for business rates in the normal way to the common standard of rateable value.
Asked by: Calum Kerr (Scottish National Party - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what contingency plans the Government has made to ensure that broadband and telecom companies are not left operating under the current regulatory framework in the event that the new European Electronic Communications Code is not transposed into UK law before the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Matt Hancock
The department is in consultation with all stakeholders its to understand how leaving the EU will impact them, including the UK telecoms industry. We want our new partnership with the EU to minimise the regulatory and market access barriers for both goods and services.
Asked by: Calum Kerr (Scottish National Party - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment the Government has made of the cost to UK telecoms providers of any divergence between EU and UK electronic communications regulatory regimes after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Matt Hancock
The Government is currently assessing the EU Electronic Communications Code. No such proposal for divergence has been made.
Asked by: Calum Kerr (Scottish National Party - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment the Government has made of the potential effect on the Dark Fibre Access remedy proposal for BT by Ofcom of the policy of levying business rates on BT customers.
Answered by Matt Hancock
My Department has regular discussions with other Government Departments on a range of issues impacting on the regulation of the telecoms sector and regularly receives proposals which contribute to policy development, which are considered on their merits as part of this process.
Asked by: Calum Kerr (Scottish National Party - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions her Department has had with other departments on whether Ofcom's Dark Fibre Access regulatory remedy is affected by the application of business rates on electronic communications providers purchasing Dark Fibre Access from BT Openreach when it becomes available in October 2017.
Answered by Matt Hancock
My Department has regular discussions with other Government Departments on a range of issues impacting on the regulation of the telecoms sector and regularly receives proposals which contribute to policy development, which are considered on their merits as part of this process.
Asked by: Calum Kerr (Scottish National Party - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment the Government has made of the cost to UK telecoms providers of any divergence between EU and UK data protection laws after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Matt Hancock
The Government is currently assessing the full impact the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will have on areas of data processing. The UK made several interventions throughout the negotiations on the GDPR, with support from industry, which have secured real benefits and avoided excessive burdens on business.
Asked by: Calum Kerr (Scottish National Party - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will take steps to ensure that the UK negotiates future fisheries management as an independent coastal state.
Answered by George Eustice
As a coastal state outside the EU, the UK will be responsible, under international law, for controlling UK waters and the sustainable management of fisheries resources within the UK’s Exclusive Economic Zone. The UK will negotiate as an independent coastal state.