To match an exact phrase, use quotation marks around the search term. eg. "Parliamentary Estate". Use "OR" or "AND" as link words to form more complex queries.


Keep yourself up-to-date with the latest developments by exploring our subscription options to receive notifications direct to your inbox

Written Question
Department for Business and Trade: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution
Thursday 19th December 2024

Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many government procurement cards were held by staff within (a) his core Department and its predecessor departments and (b) executive agencies of those departments at the end of calendar years (i) 2022 and (ii) 2023.

Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

UKSBS have confirmed the following numbers of government procurement cards were held by the Department for Business and Trade/Department for International Trade:

Department

Year

GPC Cards held

Department for Business and Trade/Department for International Trade

2023

211

Department for International Trade

2022

171

UKSBS have confirmed that totals for executive agencies are not held.


Written Question
Department for Business and Trade: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution
Wednesday 18th December 2024

Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how much his Department spent on government procurement card purchases (a) above and (b) below £500 net of refunded payments in (i) 2022 and (ii) 2023.

Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Department for Business and Trade (formerly Department for International Trade until July 2023) publishes all government procurement card (GPC) spend of over £500. This is available at:

a) (i) GPC spend over £500 for 2022:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dit-spending-over-500-for-2022

(ii) GPC spend over £500 for 2023 (Jan to June)

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dit-spending-over-500-for-2023

GPC spend over £500 for 2023 (July and August)

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dbt-spending-over-500

GPC spend over £500 for 2023 (September to December)

£57,661.27

b) (i) GPC spend below £500 for 2022:

£233,872.67

(ii) GPC spend below £500 for 2023:

£380,373.90

The guiding policy setting out the requirement to publish GPC transactions over £500 remains in place. Guidance is available to all government departments on gov.uk at the following link:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5e8b402686650c18ce2cb541/Procurement_Cards_-_Pan_Government_Policy_V4_06042020.pdf

The policy clearly sets out the standard that departments must publish to which covers transaction date, transaction reference, merchant name and the amount spent.


Written Question
Food: Japan
Wednesday 24th April 2024

Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 19 April 2024 to Question 20567 on Food: Japan, which two products were included in the second tranche submitted to the Japanese authorities other than Armagh Bramley Apples, Ayrshire New Potatoes, Beacon Fell Lancashire Cheese, Bonchester Cheese, Buxton Blue, Carmarthen Ham, Cornish Sardines, Darnibole Wine, Dorset Blue Cheese, Dovedale Cheese, Exmoor Blue Cheese, Fal Oyster, Fenland Celery, Gloucestershire Cider, Gloucestershire Perry, Lakeland Herdwick, Native Shetland Wool, New Season Comber Potatoes, Newmarket Sausage, Orkney Beef, Orkney Lamb, Rutland Bitter, Scottish Wild Salmon, Shetland Lamb, Swaledale Cheese, Swaledale Ewes Cheese, Teviotdale Cheese, Traditional Welsh Cider, Traditional Welsh Perry, Vale of Clwyd Denbigh Plum, Vale of Evesham Asparagus, West Wales Coracle Caught Salmon, West Wales Coracle Caught Sewin, Whitstable Oysters, Worcestershire Cider, Worcestershire Perry and Yorkshire Forced Rhubarb.

Answered by Greg Hands

I refer the Honourable Member to response UIN 20567, tabled on 26 March 2024.


Written Question
Food: Japan
Friday 19th April 2024

Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to her Department's press release entitled UK businesses welcome protection for iconic British food and drink in Japan, published on 27 February 2024, how many food and drink products are included in the second group for which her Department are seeking geographical indication protection in Japan under the terms of the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership.

Answered by Greg Hands

For the second tranche of GIs, the UK has put forward 39 food and drink products seeking GI protection under the terms of the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership. The second group is set to be announced once Japan has concluded its examination of the names.


Written Question
Food: Japan
Friday 19th April 2024

Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to her Department's press release of 27 February 2024 entitled UK businesses welcome protection for iconic British food and drink in Japan, for what reason Yatsushiro Tokusan Banpeiyu was not included among the 37 Japanese products listed in that press release as receiving geographical indication status in the UK, but was included among the 37 Japanese products added to the protected food and drink names website maintained by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on 8 March 2024.

Answered by Greg Hands

Kikuchi Suiden Gobo was added onto the UK GI register as a protected product on 8 March 2024. The department has amended the press release of 27 February 2024 to include Kikuchi Suiden Gobo. The updated press release can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-businesses-welcome-protection-for-iconic-british-food-and-drink-in-japan.

The entry for Yatsushiro Tokusan Banpeiyu was delayed but has now been completed and is listed alongside the other 37 first tranche products from Japan.

The UK was unable to register Iwate Mokutan as a GI because there is no classification under current UK domestic legislation which could include charcoal. The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs wrote to the Japanese authorities in 2022 to explain this decision, which they accepted.


Written Question
Food: Japan
Friday 19th April 2024

Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to her Department's press release of 27 February 2024 entitled UK businesses welcome protection for iconic British food and drink in Japan, for what reason Kikuchi Suiden Gobo was included among the 37 Japanese products listed in that press release as receiving geographical indication status in the UK, but was not included among the 37 Japanese products added to the protected food and drink names website maintained by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on 8 March 2024.

Answered by Greg Hands

Kikuchi Suiden Gobo was added onto the UK GI register as a protected product on 8 March 2024. The department has amended the press release of 27 February 2024 to include Kikuchi Suiden Gobo. The updated press release can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-businesses-welcome-protection-for-iconic-british-food-and-drink-in-japan.

The entry for Yatsushiro Tokusan Banpeiyu was delayed but has now been completed and is listed alongside the other 37 first tranche products from Japan.

The UK was unable to register Iwate Mokutan as a GI because there is no classification under current UK domestic legislation which could include charcoal. The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs wrote to the Japanese authorities in 2022 to explain this decision, which they accepted.


Written Question
Food: Japan
Friday 19th April 2024

Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to his Department's press release of 27 February 2024 entitled UK businesses welcome protection for iconic British food and drink in Japan, what the outcome was of the application by the Japanese authorities to award geographical indication status in the UK to Iwate Mokutan/Iwate Kirizumi, as published for consultation by the Department for International Trade on 21 December 2021.

Answered by Greg Hands

Kikuchi Suiden Gobo was added onto the UK GI register as a protected product on 8 March 2024. The department has amended the press release of 27 February 2024 to include Kikuchi Suiden Gobo. The updated press release can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-businesses-welcome-protection-for-iconic-british-food-and-drink-in-japan.

The entry for Yatsushiro Tokusan Banpeiyu was delayed but has now been completed and is listed alongside the other 37 first tranche products from Japan.

The UK was unable to register Iwate Mokutan as a GI because there is no classification under current UK domestic legislation which could include charcoal. The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs wrote to the Japanese authorities in 2022 to explain this decision, which they accepted.


Written Question
Department for Business and Trade: Liability
Wednesday 17th April 2024

Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what the value of her Department's (a) remote and (b) non-remote quantifiable contingent liabilities was on (i) 31 March (A) 2017, (B) 2018, (C) 2019, (D) 2020, (E) 2021, (F) 2022 and (G) 2023 and (ii) 26 March 2024.

Answered by Alan Mak - Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology

The value of departmental contingent liabilities for the periods up to and including the 2022/23 financial year have already been published in the former Department for International Trade's Annual Report and Accounts which is available at the following location:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/department-for-international-trade-annual-report-and-accounts.

Contingent liabilities for the current financial year will be published in the Department for Business and Trade's Annual Report and Accounts in due course.


Written Question
Food: Japan
Monday 15th April 2024

Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 4 March 2024 to Question 15852 on Scallops: Isle of Man, whether (a) Isle of Man queenies, (b) Isle of Man manx loaghtan lamb and (c) Jersey royal potatoes were included in the original list of 77 food and drink products submitted by the Department for International Trade to the Japanese authorities on 30 April 2021 for which it was seeking geographical indication protection in Japan under the terms of the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership.

Answered by Greg Hands

I refer the Honourable Member to the response provided to Question UIN 15852 published on 4 March 2024.


Written Question
Small Businesses: Telephone Services
Monday 15th April 2024

Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 22 February 2024 to Question 14506 on Small Businesses: Telephone Services, how much her Department spent on the operation of the Business Support Helpline in (a) 2021, (b) 2022 and (c) 2023.

Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

The Government supports all types of businesses through its core services, including GOV.UK and Growth Hubs operating in England.

Additionally, we also provide, as part of this package of support, The Business Support Helpline, which provides information, advice, guidance, and support to around 30,000 people in England every year.

The chart below details our last three full years' spending on this service.

Year

Business Support Helpline Spend

2020/21

£4.026m

Years 20/21 expenditure was increased due to scale up activity in response to COVID and UK transition from the EU

2021/22

£1.887m

2022/23

£1.889m