Liam Byrne

The National Security and Investment (NSI) Act has an important role to play in ensuring businesses in the UK can thrive and access vital investment without compromising our national security. We are therefore considering the responses to the previous Government’s Call for Evidence and reflecting on our own experiences of making decisions in the NSI system over the past six months.

In relation to my answer of 4 November 2024 to Question 11837, decisions about parliamentary engagement are matters for the relevant department owners of each review.

The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster committed to a review of UK national resilience in his statement to the House of Commons on 19 July, in response to the Covid-19 Inquiry’s Module 1 report. The review is expected to conclude in Spring 2025 and includes a broad programme of engagement, including Parliamentary, to ensure the UK Government’s approach to resilience best helps mitigate the challenges we face. The review will also consider the future approach to reporting on and scrutiny of UK national resilience.

In relation to my answer of 4 November 2024 to Question 11837, the aforementioned reviews are scheduled to conclude in the first half of 2025. Decisions about publication and consultation are matters for the relevant department owners.

The Cabinet Office owns the resilience review which will conclude in Spring 2025 and will set the future direction for the resilience system. It is an internally-led review which will draw on existing evidence to inform what is working well and what could change, including the findings from the Covid-19 Inquiry Module 1 and the Grenfell Inquiry. In addition to regular discussions with stakeholders, Ministers and officials are continuing to meet with those from devolved, regional and local Government, businesses and civil society.

In relation to my answer of 4 November 2024 to Question 11837, the aforementioned reviews are scheduled to conclude in the first half of 2025. Decisions about publication and consultation are matters for the relevant department owners.

The Cabinet Office owns the resilience review which will conclude in Spring 2025 and will set the future direction for the resilience system. It is an internally-led review which will draw on existing evidence to inform what is working well and what could change, including the findings from the Covid-19 Inquiry Module 1 and the Grenfell Inquiry. In addition to regular discussions with stakeholders, Ministers and officials are continuing to meet with those from devolved, regional and local Government, businesses and civil society.

The Government continues to follow the EU’s Economic Security Strategy closely and engages regularly with the EU on these matters, including through the relevant committees under Trade and Cooperation Agreement.

The Department for Business and Trade is keeping the potential national security risk posed by outward direct investment in sensitive sectors under review, and continuing to engage with businesses and financial stakeholders on this issue. In May, the Cabinet Office issued public guidance on how the existing National Security and Investment Act powers allow the Government to intervene in certain outward direct investment transactions.

The Government is developing a steel strategy, in partnership with the steel sector and trade unions, that will set out a long-term vision for steel and create opportunities for public and private investment.

We have committed to providing up to £2.5bn for steel which will be available through the National Wealth Fund and other routes. This is in addition to the £500m for Tata at Port Talbot steelworks. When designing how best to invest this money, we will consider a range of factors, including leveraging private sector investment and making the UK a great place to invest.

The Government is developing a steel strategy, in partnership with the steel sector and trade unions, that will set out a long-term vision for steel and create opportunities for public and private investment.

We have committed to providing up to £2.5bn for steel which will be available through the National Wealth Fund and other routes. This is in addition to the £500m for Tata at Port Talbot steelworks. When designing how best to invest this money, we will consider a range of factors, including leveraging private sector investment and making the UK a great place to invest.

The methodology for determining the eight growth-driving sectors is outlined in the Invest 2035 Green Paper. This included assessing historic trends since 2019-20, such as gross value added and productivity, at Standard Industrial Classification-2 level where data was available. The Government complemented this with wider internal and external data sources such as specialist industry reports and qualitative assessments, particularly in emerging subsectors where historic data is unavailable. Government will continue to draw in evidence such as sector performance and employment trends using responses to the Green Paper consultation questions; engagement with external stakeholders such as businesses, local leaders, academic experts; and other data sources.

The Budget committed over £2bn to 2030 for zero-emission vehicle manufacturing and their supply chains. This funding will build on previous ATF and APC programmes which have leveraged over £6bn of investment from the private sector so far. We will continue with this success, unlocking billions more in private investment to support our automotive industry. Further details will be announced as part of the industrial strategy.

On 4^th October, the government reached commercial agreement with the private sector and announced up to £21.7bn of available funding over 25 years to launch the UK’s new carbon capture, usage and storage industry. We expect this funding to crowd in £8bn in private sector investment for the 25 years, and demonstrating the investability of CCUS will unlock a further pipeline of billions of pounds in private sector investment. It is estimated that industry has spent £1 billion in investment already. The government also announced over £2bn of funding over 15 years for the projects in the first Hydrogen Allocation Round (HAR1). These projects will invest over £400m of private capital during construction across the UK.

A formal part of the policy design and delivery process involves reviewing prior relevant efforts to ensure government is maximising value for money wherever possible. Our value for money judgement is evidenced by appraisal and analysis developed in line with the HMT Green Book and has supported policy development at each stage of the CCUS programme and the first Hydrogen Allocation Round (HAR1). All future carbon capture build out projects and subsequent HARs will require approved business cases, which will contain robust value for money assessments. The business models supporting both CCUS and electrolytic ‘green’ hydrogen are designed to address the risks that currently are a barrier to first of a kind projects, incentivise project behaviour in line with government objectives and deliver value for money for consumers and taxpayers.

The trend of economic inactivity is a long-term challenge; the UK is the only country in the G7 with an inactivity rate higher than before the pandemic. Building a thriving labour market, reducing economic inactivity and increasing the number of people in work is central to growing the economy.

Fundamental reforms announced in the Get Britain Working white paper will help us achieve the bold, long-term ambition of an 80% employment rate, meaning over two million more people in work and the UK as one of the top performing labour markets in the OECD.

Backed by £240m of funding announced in the Budget, the White Paper sets out ambitious reform outlined in three interconnected parts:

• a new jobs and careers service, bringing Jobcentre Plus together with the National Careers Service in England. This new service will support more people into work and help them get on in work, including through an enhanced focus on skills and careers, and will be kickstarted by an initial £55m of funding for tests and trials next year. It will be open to all, helping the 890,000 people who have left the workforce since the pandemic and the 1.9 million who may wish to join it, back into the labour market.
• a new Youth Guarantee for all 18-21 year olds in England, to ensure they have an offer of education, training or help to find work. This is backed by £45m in funding for trailblazers across eight mayoral authorities in England starting next year to help bring the 946,000 young people not in education, employment or training back into the workforce.
• £15m to support the development of local Get Britain Working plans for areas across England. These plans will set out how economic inactivity will be tackled at a local level, led by Mayors and local areas. An additional £125m will fund eight trailblazers across England and Wales to tackle economic inactivity through increased engagement and tailored approaches because we know that one size does not fit all and inactivity rates vary between areas, with the North East at 26.8% and the South West at 17.9%.

The trend of economic inactivity is a long-term challenge; the UK is the only country in the G7 with an inactivity rate higher than before the pandemic. Building a thriving labour market, reducing economic inactivity and increasing the number of people in work is central to growing the economy.

Fundamental reforms announced in the Get Britain Working white paper will help us achieve the bold, long-term ambition of an 80% employment rate, meaning over two million more people in work and the UK as one of the top performing labour markets in the OECD.

Backed by £240m of funding announced in the Budget, the White Paper sets out ambitious reform outlined in three interconnected parts:

• a new jobs and careers service, bringing Jobcentre Plus together with the National Careers Service in England. This new service will support more people into work and help them get on in work, including through an enhanced focus on skills and careers, and will be kickstarted by an initial £55m of funding for tests and trials next year. It will be open to all, helping the 890,000 people who have left the workforce since the pandemic and the 1.9 million who may wish to join it, back into the labour market.
• a new Youth Guarantee for all 18-21 year olds in England, to ensure they have an offer of education, training or help to find work. This is backed by £45m in funding for trailblazers across eight mayoral authorities in England starting next year to help bring the 946,000 young people not in education, employment or training back into the workforce.
• £15m to support the development of local Get Britain Working plans for areas across England. These plans will set out how economic inactivity will be tackled at a local level, led by Mayors and local areas. An additional £125m will fund eight trailblazers across England and Wales to tackle economic inactivity through increased engagement and tailored approaches because we know that one size does not fit all and inactivity rates vary between areas, with the North East at 26.8% and the South West at 17.9%.

The FCDO's International Humanitarian Law Cell undertakes regular assessments of Israel's commitment and capability to comply with International Humanitarian Law in relation to the conflict in Gaza, in order to meet our legal obligations under the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria (SELC). Since 4 July 2024 assessments were submitted on 24 July 2024 and 1 October 2024. Assessments continue to take place.

We continue to keep Israel's compliance with International Humanitarian Law (IHL) in Gaza under review through a regular assessments process. Our judgment on Israel's IHL compliance remains as set out in the Foreign Secretary's statement to Parliament on 2 September.

The UK uses sanctions to deter and disrupt malign behaviour and demonstrate our defence of fundamental principles, including democracy, human rights and the rule of law.

I recently convened Ministers from across government to deepen our cooperation on sanctions, and review enforcement measures. I also discussed sanctions enforcement with leaders of the Overseas Territories during the Joint Ministerial Council. We regularly coordinate with allies including in the United States, Canada, EU and others to maximise our impact.

This month we announced our largest sanctions package against Russia since May 2023, and working with our allies we will continue to use sanctions to further restrict the revenues and military goods Russia relies on. We have also recently used sanctions to respond to Iran's malign activity, as part of UK efforts to support a more stable West Bank, and targeted members of a Russian cybercrime gang.

UK sanctions are designed and targeted to deter and disrupt malign behaviour, and to demonstrate our defence of fundamental principles, including democracy, human rights and the rule of law. The FCDO conducts reviews of the effectiveness and impact of our sanctions regimes. Any assessment will depend on the intended purposes of each individual regime - which are set out in the regulations for that regime. For example on Russia we consider wider macro-economic impacts, reduction in UK exports and imports and wider changes to trading patterns, changes to designated persons' behaviour, volume of frozen assets, and alignment with international partners. I launched a cross-Government review of sanctions enforcement with the support of Ministers from His Majesty's Treasury, the Department of Business and Trade, the Department for Transport and the Home Office. Through this review the Government will consider whether we have the right powers, approach, capacity and resourcing on policy, implementation and enforcement of sanctions.

In October, I convened the first Small Ministerial Group on sanctions, which launched a cross-Government review to examine whether we have the right powers, approach, capacity and resourcing on policy, implementation and enforcement, with an urgent focus on strengthening the latter. This grouping brings together key sanctions Departments: the FCDO; His Majesty's Treasury (with responsibility for both the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation and HMRC); the Department for Business and Trade (with responsibility for the Office for Trade Sanctions Implementation and shared responsibility for the Export Controls Joint Unit with the Ministry of Defence and FCDO); the Department for Transport; and the Home Office.

The Government recognises the positive effect that saving can have on financial resilience and is committed to incentivising greater saving and investment. The Government supports people of all incomes and at all stages of life to save and offers a wide range of savings products, including the Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs), Junior ISA and Help to Save. We have also committed to consider what more can be done to support household savings as part of the Financial Inclusion Strategy which will be published later this year.

The purpose of the National Wealth Fund is to support the delivery of the Government’s industrial strategy, mobilise private capital and make an overall return for the taxpayer. This will support the Government’s clean energy and growth missions.

Delivering growth is the government’s number one mission; through the growth mission, the government is restoring stability, increasing investment, and reforming the economy to drive up prosperity and living standards across the UK. This will be reflected in the government’s approach to the Spending Review, as part of which departments will be required to prioritise growth within their spending plans. The Growth Mission Board will continue to drive forward the government’s growth mission to rebuild Britain and make every part of the country better off.