Asked by: Imran Hussain (Independent - Bradford East)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the decision to continue issuing licenses for F-35 fighter jet components that are sold indirectly to Israel through an intermediary country on human rights in (a) Gaza and (b) the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The F35 programme has a significant dependence on the UK, which provides unique and critical components. At the present time, any suspension of F-35 components to Israel through the programme is not possible without undermining the programme overall, and the government’s judgement is that this would have a significant negative impact on international peace and security. Therefore, at the present time, exports to the F-35 programme are excluded from the current suspension of export licences. We are keeping this under close review.
The Secretary of State for Business and Trade has set out this decision in further detail to the House in his written ministerial statement on 2 September 2024: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2024-09-02/hcws64
Asked by: Imran Hussain (Independent - Bradford East)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of section V of the International Court of Justice, Advisory Opinion, Legal Consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, published by the United Nations Palestinian Rights Committee on 18 October 2024 on the issuing of export licenses for F-35 fighter jet components to be sold indirectly to Israel through an intermediary country.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK is fully committed to international law and fully respects the independence of the International Court of Justice. We continue to consider the Court’s Advisory Opinion carefully, with the seriousness and rigour it deserves.
The F35 programme has a significant dependence on the UK, which provides unique and critical components. At the present time, any suspension of F-35 components to Israel through the programme is not possible without undermining the programme overall, and the government’s judgement is that this would have a significant negative impact on international peace and security. Therefore, at the present time, exports to the F-35 programme are excluded from the current suspension of export licences. We are keeping this under close review.
Asked by: Imran Hussain (Independent - Bradford East)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will publish a list of items licensed for sale to Israel for (a) military and (b) dual-use which are being used in the West Bank by the Israeli (i) military, (ii) police and (iii) other government body.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
We publish annual and quarterly reports on export licences issued, refused, or revoked, by destination, including the overall value, type (e.g. Military, Other) and a summary of the products covered by these licences. They are available to view on GOV.UK at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/strategic-export-controls-licensing-data.
Summary data on our current export licences to Israel was also published on 11 June 2024: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/export-control-licensing-management-information-for-israel.
Asked by: Imran Hussain (Independent - Bradford East)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of removing Israel from the list of approved recipients for the Open General license.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Following the decision by the Secretary of State for Business and Trade on 2 September 2024 to suspend licences related to use by Israel in the current military operations in Gaza, a number of open general export licences were amended. Further detail on the affected licences can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/notice-to-exporters-202420-suspension-of-licences-for-israel.
The OGEL for exports in support of the F-35 programme has been amended to exclude exports direct to Israel. Any broader suspension with respect to this OGEL is not possible without undermining the programme overall, which would have a significant negative impact on international peace and security.
Asked by: Imran Hussain (Independent - Bradford East)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the press release entitled UK suspends around 30 arms export licences to Israel for use in Gaza over International Humanitarian Law concerns, published on 2 September 2024, what the value is of each arms export licence that has been suspended.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
We have suspended export licences for Israel where these relate to items for use in military operations in Gaza. It includes licences for components for fighter aircraft, helicopters and drones, naval systems and targeting equipment.
The details of individual suspended licences contain sensitive information relevant to the individual exporter companies, and therefore the government is not providing further comment on them.
Asked by: Imran Hussain (Independent - Bradford East)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the press release entitled UK suspends around 30 arms export licences to Israel for use in Gaza over International Humanitarian Law concerns, published on 2 September 2024, which companies have had arms export licences suspended.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
We have suspended export licences for Israel where these relate to items for use in military operations in Gaza. It includes licences for components for fighter aircraft, helicopters and drones, naval systems and targeting equipment.
The details of individual suspended licences contain sensitive information relevant to the individual exporter companies, and therefore the government is not providing further comment on them.
Asked by: Imran Hussain (Independent - Bradford East)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether there are any extant export licenses for the supply of (a) R902W engines and (b) related components for use on (i) Hermes 450, (ii) Hermes 900 and (iii) IAI Heron unmanned aerial vehicles by (A) the Israeli military and (B) other entitles controlled by the Israeli government.
Answered by Alan Mak - Shadow Economic Secretary (Treasury)
There are no extant licences which meet these criteria.
Asked by: Imran Hussain (Independent - Bradford East)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what the model numbers were of drone engines that were authorised for export in the last 12 months; what the end (a) uses and (b) users were of each drone (i) aero-engine and (ii) other component; and what (A) Export Control Joint Unit and (B) other criteria were used to assess those applications.
Answered by Alan Mak - Shadow Economic Secretary (Treasury)
We do not release confidential or commercially sensitive information provided by exporters as part of their export licence application. However, we do publish data on export licensing decisions on a quarterly basis in the Official Statistics, including data on outcome, end user destination, overall value, type (e.g. military, other) and a summary of the items covered by these licences.
All export licence applications are assessed on a case-by-case basis against the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria.
Asked by: Imran Hussain (Independent - Bradford East)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 6 September 2023 to Question 196273 on Fireworks: Licensing, if she will publish a list of the (a) organisations and (b) stakeholders her Department has met with to (i) listen to and (ii) understand their views on inconsiderate use of fireworks between 2019 and 2023.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
The Government engages with a wide range of stakeholders in relation to product safety, both in person but also through regular correspondence. We do not hold a full list of organisations and stakeholders that have been met where fireworks have been discussed. However, our engagement includes, but is not exclusive to, trade associations, animal welfare organisations, the industry, members of the public, parliamentarians and other government departments.
Asked by: Imran Hussain (Independent - Bradford East)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing legislation to (a) reduce the noise levels of all categories of fireworks, (b) ban the sale of category 3 and 4 fireworks and (c) introduce licences for selling fireworks.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
The Government endorses the considerate use of fireworks and believes that the existing regulatory framework strikes the right balance between allowing individuals to enjoy fireworks while reducing the risks and disturbances to individuals, animals and property. The majority of individuals who use fireworks do so in a responsible and safe manner and there are enforcement mechanisms in place to tackle situations when fireworks are misused.
The Department has no plans to i) reduce the maximum permitted noise level of fireworks for public sale, ii) ban the sale of category 3 and 4 fireworks or iii) amend the existing licensing scheme for selling fireworks but the Government continues to monitor the situation and engage with stakeholders to listen to and understand their views.