Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Answer of 21 January 2021 to Question 138883 on: UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement, if he will publish an update on the formation of a Parliamentary Partnership Assembly with the European Parliament as outlined in Article INST.5 of the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
We welcome dialogue between Parliament and the European Parliament. At the first meeting of the Partnership Council last week, both we and the EU encouraged continuing work on the establishment of the Parliamentary Partnership Assembly, and noted its importance.
Work is ongoing between members of this House and the Other Place. We look forward to their proposals so that we can support the early establishment of the Assembly.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate his Department has made of the number of SMEs in Wales that have been unable to export goods to the EU since 1 January 2021.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
Further to my answer to PQ 160771 on 11 March 2021, the Government does not hold information on the number of businesses, if any, who have been unable to export goods to the EU since 1 January 2021. However, as the Office for National Statistics trade statistics to February, released this week, have shown, goods exports to the EU are now getting close to their average 2020 monthly levels once again. We continue to offer a wide range of support to businesses exporting to the EU. This includes the £20m SME Brexit Support Fund, which provides access to grants and practical support.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to encourage hauliers to transport goods from SMEs in the UK to consumers in the EU.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
The Government has regular dialogue with representatives of the haulage sector and general business representative organisations through the Brexit Business Taskforce.
The Government is offering various avenues of support to hauliers, including over 20 helplines to provide advice to specific sectors. We have also published a Haulier Handbook - translated into 13 different languages - to provide information and advice to hauliers on how they can get ready for changes at the GB-EU border. This is in addition to the 46 Information and Advice sites across the UK.
The Government continues to provide support for businesses, as outlined in the statement made by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster on Thursday 11 February in which he announced the launch of the £20m SME Brexit Support Fund, which has been met with support from SMEs and provides them with access to grants and practical support.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to reduce export (a) costs and (b) delays for hauliers transporting small quantities of goods directly from SMEs in the UK to consumers in the EU.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
The Government has regular dialogue with representatives of the haulage sector and general business representative organisations through the Brexit Business Taskforce.
The Government is offering various avenues of support to hauliers, including over 20 helplines to provide advice to specific sectors. We have also published a Haulier Handbook - translated into 13 different languages - to provide information and advice to hauliers on how they can get ready for changes at the GB-EU border. This is in addition to the 46 Information and Advice sites across the UK.
The Government continues to provide support for businesses, as outlined in the statement made by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster on Thursday 11 February in which he announced the launch of the £20m SME Brexit Support Fund, which has been met with support from SMEs and provides them with access to grants and practical support.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of the current export arrangements between the UK and the EU on the ability of hauliers to transport small quantities of goods directly from SMEs in the UK to consumers in the EU.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
The Government has regular dialogue with representatives of the haulage sector and general business representative organisations through the Brexit Business Taskforce.
The Government is offering various avenues of support to hauliers, including over 20 helplines to provide advice to specific sectors. We have also published a Haulier Handbook - translated into 13 different languages - to provide information and advice to hauliers on how they can get ready for changes at the GB-EU border. This is in addition to the 46 Information and Advice sites across the UK.
The Government continues to provide support for businesses, as outlined in the statement made by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster on Thursday 11 February in which he announced the launch of the £20m SME Brexit Support Fund, which has been met with support from SMEs and provides them with access to grants and practical support.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, on what dates the UK and Welsh Governments held discussions on procurement of supplies and services relating to the covid-19 pandemic since 1 March 2020.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
The UK government has been committed to working closely with the devolved administrations and there have been regular discussions throughout the Covid response, including in relation to the procurement of supplies and services.
We have procured vaccines for the whole of the UK, and provided testing capacity to all of the Devolved Administrations, including operating testing sites across the UK. Mutual aid and cooperation across and between all four nations has been a key part of ensuring PPE gets to where it is needed.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent assessment his Department has made of the Government’s compliance with the applicant blind principle of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Answered by Chloe Smith
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to PQ 120952 on 30 November 2020.
In a three month period between July and September 2020, departments received around 8,000 freedom of information requests and responded to almost 90% of them within 20 working days or with a permitted extension. This reflects the Government’s commitment to fulfill its freedom of information obligations despite the pressures of responding to COVID-19.
The FOI statistics for October to November 2020, and the annual statistics for 2020, will be published in April 2021, at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-foi-statistics