Asked by: Liam Fox (Conservative - North Somerset)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the strength of China’s role in the rare earth mineral supply chain on the supply of electric vehicles in the UK.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The automotive sector relies on rare earths for magnets in electric vehicle motors, and other critical minerals – like lithium, graphite and cobalt – for batteries.
Of the 18 critical minerals defined in the UK criticality assessment, China is the largest producer for 12 of them as refined products. China produced 76% of rare earth elements between 2016 and 2020.[1]
We are working closely with international partners in the G7, International Energy Agency and Mineral Security Partnership to strengthen and diversify our critical mineral supply chains and improve environmental and social governance – including engaging with China to achieve our objectives.
[1] British Geological Survey, World Mineral Statistics Database 2022
Asked by: Liam Fox (Conservative - North Somerset)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to include companies with under 500 properties in the 2016 Pubs Code Regulations.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government will retain the current scope of the Pubs Code in England and Wales, which excludes pub-owning companies with fewer than 500 tied pubs, provided that these companies continue to engage in the voluntary rent dispute and complaints procedures and the level of complaints remains low. The Government will keep the threshold under review.