Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee Central)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what assessment he has made of the strategic importance of a future UK-Canada trade agreement; and whether he has set a timetable for determining the next phase of UK-Canada trade relations.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade) (Jointly with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Canada is one of the UK’s closest partners and a trusted ally, with whom we share deep ties, common values and a commitment to open, rules-based trade. The Government remains committed to strengthening our trade and investment relationship with Canada and continues to engage closely on shared economic priorities.
The UK wants to continue to grow bilateral trade, and we are working with the Canadians through a range of fora including the bilateral Economic and Trade Working Group. Within this, our priority is to update the UK-Canada Trade Continuity Agreement’s Rules of Origin chapter with more modern rules reflecting today’s supply chains. We aim to conclude this over the coming months.
The Secretary of State keeps his travel plans under regular review and the Ministerial team at the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade work closely with their Canadian counterparts.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee Central)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, whether he plans to seek an interim arrangement with Canada to address tariff quota-related trade disruptions before the conclusion of a comprehensive trade agreement.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade) (Jointly with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Canada is one of the UK’s closest partners and a trusted ally, with whom we share deep ties, common values and a commitment to open, rules-based trade. The Government remains committed to strengthening our trade and investment relationship with Canada and continues to engage closely on shared economic priorities.
The UK wants to continue to grow bilateral trade, and we are working with the Canadians through a range of fora including the bilateral Economic and Trade Working Group. Within this, our priority is to update the UK-Canada Trade Continuity Agreement’s Rules of Origin chapter with more modern rules reflecting today’s supply chains. We aim to conclude this over the coming months.
The Secretary of State keeps his travel plans under regular review and the Ministerial team at the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade work closely with their Canadian counterparts.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee Central)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, whether he is seeking the reinstatement of tariff rate quotas in any future UK-Canada trade agreement.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade) (Jointly with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Canada is one of the UK’s closest partners and a trusted ally, with whom we share deep ties, common values and a commitment to open, rules-based trade. The Government remains committed to strengthening our trade and investment relationship with Canada and continues to engage closely on shared economic priorities.
The UK wants to continue to grow bilateral trade, and we are working with the Canadians through a range of fora including the bilateral Economic and Trade Working Group. Within this, our priority is to update the UK-Canada Trade Continuity Agreement’s Rules of Origin chapter with more modern rules reflecting today’s supply chains. We aim to conclude this over the coming months.
The Secretary of State keeps his travel plans under regular review and the Ministerial team at the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade work closely with their Canadian counterparts.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee Central)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, whether he plans to visit Canada in the next six months.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade) (Jointly with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Canada is one of the UK’s closest partners and a trusted ally, with whom we share deep ties, common values and a commitment to open, rules-based trade. The Government remains committed to strengthening our trade and investment relationship with Canada and continues to engage closely on shared economic priorities.
The UK wants to continue to grow bilateral trade, and we are working with the Canadians through a range of fora including the bilateral Economic and Trade Working Group. Within this, our priority is to update the UK-Canada Trade Continuity Agreement’s Rules of Origin chapter with more modern rules reflecting today’s supply chains. We aim to conclude this over the coming months.
The Secretary of State keeps his travel plans under regular review and the Ministerial team at the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade work closely with their Canadian counterparts.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee Central)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what steps he is taking to establish a minimum floor of employment rights for workers in the parcel delivery sector regardless of their contractual status; and what assessment he has made of the adequacy of current protections for those workers.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Minister of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)
It is important that the parcel delivery market works for businesses, customers and workers.
Ofcom has powers to independently regulate parcel delivery companies although this does not extend to their employment models.
Employment rights are determined by employment status, which is based on the reality of the relationship between the individual and the person for whom services are provided. Employers should never seek to deny people their employment rights and avoid legal obligations by claiming someone is self-employed when in reality they are not.
The Government plans to consult on employment status in due course and we will engage with stakeholders across the postal services industry as part of this work.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee Central)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what steps he is taking to introduce proactive enforcement of employment status rules in the parcel delivery sector.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Minister of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)
It is important that the parcel delivery market works for businesses, customers and workers.
Ofcom has powers to independently regulate parcel delivery companies although this does not extend to their employment models.
Employment rights are determined by employment status, which is based on the reality of the relationship between the individual and the person for whom services are provided. Employers should never seek to deny people their employment rights and avoid legal obligations by claiming someone is self-employed when in reality they are not.
The Government plans to consult on employment status in due course and we will engage with stakeholders across the postal services industry as part of this work.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee Central)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what steps he is taking to tackle the misclassification of workers as self-employed in the parcel delivery sector.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Minister of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)
It is important that the parcel delivery market works for businesses, customers and workers.
Ofcom has powers to independently regulate parcel delivery companies although this does not extend to their employment models.
Employment rights are determined by employment status, which is based on the reality of the relationship between the individual and the person for whom services are provided. Employers should never seek to deny people their employment rights and avoid legal obligations by claiming someone is self-employed when in reality they are not.
The Government plans to consult on employment status in due course and we will engage with stakeholders across the postal services industry as part of this work.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee Central)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what discussions he has had with Ofcom on whether the current delivery regulatory framework adequately accounts for the growth of unregulated parcel delivery operators; and what steps he is taking to address any resulting imbalance.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Minister of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)
It is important that the parcel delivery market works for businesses, customers and workers.
Ofcom has powers to independently regulate parcel delivery companies although this does not extend to their employment models.
Employment rights are determined by employment status, which is based on the reality of the relationship between the individual and the person for whom services are provided. Employers should never seek to deny people their employment rights and avoid legal obligations by claiming someone is self-employed when in reality they are not.
The Government plans to consult on employment status in due course and we will engage with stakeholders across the postal services industry as part of this work.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee Central)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make an assessment of the potential economic impact of foreign government subsidies on the competitiveness of UK natural stone producers; and whether the Government plans to introduce targeted support for UK SMEs in the sector.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) is the UK’s investigatory body that exists to defend the UK against unfair international trade practices, including foreign government subsidies.
I encourage UK industry to engage directly with the TRA if they believe they are being injured by unfair trading practices as it will be for the TRA to decide whether evidentiary thresholds to initiate a trade remedies investigation are met.
The Department remains vigilant to any reports of potential injury to industries from unfair trading practices and regularly engages with the natural stone sector.
We have no specific plans to introduce the specific kind of support he refers to.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee Central)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will hold discussions with his US counterpart on removing the 10% levy on Scottish whisky during forthcoming discussions on the UK-US trade deal.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
We have already secured preferential access for Scotch whisky to the US market compared with other major economies and continue to have discussions on getting the best possible deal for all UK businesses and sectors.