Asked by: Charlotte Leslie (Conservative - Bristol North West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to prevent hostile foreign takeovers of UK firms.
Answered by Nick Hurd
The Government’s statutory powers to intervene in mergers are set out in the Enterprise Act 2002. My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State may intervene on specified public interest grounds, currently national security, financial stability and media plurality.
Asked by: Charlotte Leslie (Conservative - Bristol North West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of foreign company takeovers on the UK economy.
Answered by Nick Hurd
The UK is one of the world’s top destinations for inward investment. As part of that, mergers can bring real benefits to consumers and the economy through higher growth, greater innovation and increased productivity.
Asked by: Charlotte Leslie (Conservative - Bristol North West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the effect of late payment by large firms on small businesses and suppliers in the last 12 months.
Answered by Margot James
The Department does not collect data on the effect of late payment by large firms on small businesses and suppliers. Other organisations have made assessments. For example, in December 2016 BACs reported the overall level of late payment debt owed to small and medium businesses standing at £26.3 billion.
Asked by: Charlotte Leslie (Conservative - Bristol North West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, when the Government plans to enter into talks with non-EU countries on initiating free trade agreements.
Answered by Anna Soubry
This will ultimately be up to the new Prime Minister and their team to decide. However, I have been encouraged by the interest coming from a range of non-EU countries, including some of our closest allies.
Asked by: Charlotte Leslie (Conservative - Bristol North West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 3 March 2016 to Question 27866, whether all other EEA members would be required to agree to the UK retaining membership of the EEA on a basis other than that which applies to Norway.
Answered by Anna Soubry
If the UK left the EU and sought to retain its membership of the EEA, as the UK would be changing its relationship with the EEA, the EEA Agreement would need to be modified. This would require the unanimous agreement of all EEA members.
Asked by: Charlotte Leslie (Conservative - Bristol North West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 3 March 2016 to Question 27866, what powers EEA states which are not EU members have to (a) terminate and (b) change the terms of the membership of the EEA of another EEA state which is not a member of the EU.
Answered by Anna Soubry
As set out by the Agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA), the contracting parties of the Agreement are the EU, the EU Member States and Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. The Agreement does not set out what powers Contracting Parties have over the termination or change of others’ engagement with the Agreement. The only mention in the Agreement of termination is that each Contracting Party may withdraw from this Agreement provided it gives at least twelve months' notice in writing to the other Contracting Parties. Meanwhile, the Agreement states that any European State becoming a member of the EU or of the European Free Trade Association may apply to become a party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area and that the terms and conditions for such participation shall be the subject of an agreement between the Contracting Parties and the applicant State.
Asked by: Charlotte Leslie (Conservative - Bristol North West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the effect of a result in favour of leaving the EU at the EU referendum would be on the UK's membership of the (a) European Economic Area and (b) European Free Trade Area.
Answered by Anna Soubry
At the February European Council, the Government negotiated a new settlement, giving the United Kingdom a special status in a reformed European Union. The Government's position, as set out by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister to the House on 22 February, is that the UK will be stronger, safer and better off remaining in a reformed EU.
As required by the EU Referendum Act 2015, the Government is committed to producing clear information, ahead of the Referendum, on: the outcome of the renegotiation, rights and obligations in European Union law, the process for leaving and alternatives to membership.
The UK is not a member of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). EFTA is an intergovernmental organisation to which Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland are parties. If the UK sought to retain membership of the European Economic Area (EEA) along the lines of the Norway model, all EEA members, including Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland, would also need to agree.
Asked by: Charlotte Leslie (Conservative - Bristol North West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the incidence of workplace bullying.
Answered by Nick Boles
Bullying and harassment have no place in today’s workplace environment and are unacceptable wherever they occur. The UK has a strong safety net of legislation to protect people from harassment in the workplace. This covers harassment on the grounds of sex, race, disability, religion or belief or sexual orientation and age. In addition, harassment is a criminal offence and victims have a right to damages.
The best way to address unacceptable behaviour in the first instance is within the workplace. That’s why my Department’s supports the Health and Safety Executive Management Standards approach for work-related stress which includes a standard for relationships at work that covers unacceptable behaviour such as conflict, bullying and harassment. The Management Standards help organisations manage the causes of work-related stress in a simple and pragmatic way.
The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) also aims to support better employment relations by offering free impartial advice. Acas operates a nationwide telephone helpline for employers and employees, they can be contacted on: 0300 123 1100. Acas recently published new guidance addressing the need to conduct fair and thorough grievance and disciplinary investigations; and published new research seeking better solutions to deal with bullying.
Acas also offers training and business solutions including free eLearning and advisory booklets explaining how employers and individuals can tackle and prevent bullying, ill treatment and harassment more effectively in Britain’s workplaces - raising employee motivation, attendance and productivity.