Oral Answers to Questions

Graham Stuart Excerpts

Thursday 29th March 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mark Pawsey (Rugby) (Con)]

3. What steps his Department is taking to support small and medium-sized businesses to export.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Trade (Graham Stuart)]

Helping SMEs to export is a high priority for the Department, and we are working through our overseas network, through online services on great.gov.uk, which has had more than 3 million visitors, through our international trade advisers and through export finance. Last year, 79% of companies supported by UK Export Finance were SMEs. Mr Speaker, if, like Roger Federer, I can press on—albeit without the same grace—I would say that exports from the west midlands increased in value by more than 80% between 2010 and 2016.

[Mr Speaker]

The Minister knows which buttons to press.

[Mark Pawsey]

It is great news about the west midlands, but a constituent of mine who has a small business providing services around the world came to tell me about the challenges he faces in getting appropriate banking facilities and about the need to minimise losses on currency transfers. What steps is the Department taking to make sure that UK banks provide the facilities, support and advice that SMEs need in order to export?

[Graham Stuart]

As my hon. Friend will know from running a business, and as I do from my experience, this is a challenge and a work in progress. But we have established strategic relationships with the five leading UK banks. UK Export Finance launched a partnership with those banks in October 2017 to help not only exporters, but those who supply exporters, to easily access Government-backed financial support.

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)]

The Minister wants to talk about his experience; I recall that when he worked for a living he certainly did not work in the manufacturing sector, and nor did the Secretary of State, who worked in the health sector. I worked in the manufacturing sector, and I can tell the Minister that up and down the country SMEs are struggling to export, given that they are going to be blocked off from a 600 million market and left with a 60 million one.

[Graham Stuart]

This is a truly grim and sad time for those who want to see our departure from the EU lead to a collapse in investment and exports, as instead we have seen the exact opposite. We had record levels of foreign direct investment in this country. We have an improving climate for that and we have record numbers of exports from the hon. Gentleman’s area—from Yorkshire. It is about time he put the gloom away, because the facts keep defying him.

[Tom Brake (Carshalton and Wallington) (LD)]

Actually, it is £500 million less in the automotive sector. On supporting SMEs, will the Minister explain what the Government are going to do to help those businesses export to China and India? He will be aware that Germany, within the EU, exports twice as much to India as we do and four times as much within the EU as we do.

[Graham Stuart]

I am afraid the right hon. Gentleman is a member of the same club. I hate to share this with the House, but exports to China were up by 30% last year.

[Kirsty Blackman (Aberdeen North) (SNP)]

rose—

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[Kirsty Blackman]

Many of our small and medium-sized enterprises are involved in premium manufacturing and other forms of high-value production. Will the Minister ensure that, in discussions with the EU, those things are taken into account when negotiators are discussing origin and the calculation of origin?

[Graham Stuart]

All such issues are taken into account. Of course, the Department for Exiting the European Union leads on the negotiations on our exit from the EU.

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[Kevin Foster (Torbay) (Con)]

9. What recent assessment he has made of trends in the level of education exports.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Trade (Graham Stuart)]

The latest statistics, released earlier this year, estimate total UK education exports and transnational education activity to have been £19.3 billion in 2015. That is an increase of 3% on the previous year and of 22% since 2010, in current prices. The Government continue to support education providers in this vital sector.

[Alberto Costa]

Many small businesses in and around my constituency either need help to begin to export or are already exporting in education and other goods and services. For example, a constituent of mine, Mr John Bowers, owns the company Bowers & Freeman, an SME that specialises in groundbreaking and innovative fasteners for the aerospace industry. What is the Department doing to ensure that SMEs such as Bowers & Freeman get the help that they need, whether in education or other goods and services sectors?

[Graham Stuart]

UK Export Finance offers competitive finance and insurance to SMEs of all sorts that want to export. My hon. Friend mentions one company in his constituency; I am pleased to say that UKEF recently provided bond support to another, Ram Universal, to help it to export its high-quality valves to India. The Government’s export strategy will look at SMEs’ need and design information and services appropriate to them.

[Kevin Foster]

Torbay’s language schools provide a valuable source of educational exports by encouraging students from across the world to learn here. What work is the Minister’s Department doing to assist them in securing trade from growing economies in Asia, as the Devon School of English recently did in Taiwan?

[Graham Stuart]

The Department for International Trade’s dedicated education teams are focused on developing a pipeline of overseas opportunities that are then matched with UK providers. That is enhanced by the DIT-led English language working group, which brings representatives together from across the sector. I look forward to seeking further export opportunities in Taiwan when I visit there in a couple of weeks.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

Further to the reports that education exports are worth some £19 billion annually, does the Minister have an indication of how that figure will grow as we attempt to move our eyes away from only Europe towards a greater global vision?

[Graham Stuart]

I am delighted to say, as has been discussed so often today, that exports are up—not least in the education area. As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has said, 90% of global growth is expected to be outside the EU. We will have a close and extremely important partnership with the EU, but the opportunities are out there, which is why he and other colleagues in this Department are so dedicated to building economic international opportunities for the country in the future.

[Jeremy Quin (Horsham) (Con)]

6. What recent assessment he has made of trends in the level of tech sector exports.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Trade (Graham Stuart)]

Technology is at the heart of the Government’s industrial strategy, placing the UK at the forefront of the artificial intelligence and data revolutions. Exports of telecommunication, computer and information services increased from £17.8 billion in 2015 to £19 billion in 2016. Digital goods and services overall contributed £116.5 billion to the UK’s economy in 2016.

[Jeremy Quin]

“Total War” is the phenomenally successful computer game produced by Creative Assembly in my Horsham constituency and exported to 98% of all the countries on earth. Creative Assembly is brilliant at nurturing domestic talent, but it also employs workers from 34 different countries. What reassurance can the Minister give that it will continue to be able to recruit the brightest and the best?

[Graham Stuart]

Like my hon. Friend, I am enthusiastic about the development of mathematics and digital and technical education. Some £406 million extra was announced in the industrial strategy to help address a shortage in science, technology, engineering and maths skills. The creative industries sector deal was published on Tuesday, and that highlighted the Government’s determination to ensure that we have the right digital skills for the future.

[David Hanson (Delyn) (Lab)]

7. What assurances he has received from his counterparts in the US Administration that the section 232 tariffs imposed by that country on steel and aluminium imports will not apply to UK exports.

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[Mr John Hayes (South Holland and The Deepings) (Con)]

T4. SMEs are the backbone of our economy. As a Minister, I tried to help SMEs in the security sector to export. Food and farming businesses in Lincolnshire would like to do the same, but they need encouragement, advice and support. Will the Secretary of State meet me and a small group of others to see how we can help to feed the world and make it safe too?

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Trade (Graham Stuart)]

I am grateful for my right hon. Friend’s question. I would of course be delighted to meet him and colleagues to discuss food and drink, which is so important both to his constituency and mine. I am delighted to say that last year food and drink exports went up by £2 billion to £22 billion, and that, for the first time ever, we have a Department of State whose only role is to focus on the international economic interests of this nation. I will be delighted to meet him to discuss how we can do more.

[Chris Elmore (Ogmore) (Lab)]

T3. The dumping of steel from states including China has had a detrimental impact on the steel industry in the UK. Ahead of the further dumping that is anticipated when the US tariffs come into force, Canada has announced that it will be offering extra powers for border security checks to crack down on cheap steel. What assessment has the Secretary of State made of this policy?