Mark Pawsey

As an independent trading nation, we are building strong trading relationships across the world and removing market access barriers for British businesses. We have secured trade agreements with 66 non-EU countries, worth £217bn in 2019. We have formally applied to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership, an agreement which removes tariffs on 95% of goods between members and will deepen UK access to key markets around the world, from Mexico to Malaysia.

The Government will confirm any next steps in due course.

In February 2022, the Motorcycle Industry Association and Zemo Partnership published a government-commissioned action plan, “Realising the Full Potential of Zero Emission Powered Light Vehicles”, to support the transition to zero emission L-category vehicles. The Government has also made up to £350,000 of funding available to grow the zero-emission motorcycle supply chain in the UK that could lead to thousands of new jobs and the Government continues to work with investors through our Automotive Transformation Fund to build a globally competitive electric vehicle supply chain in the UK.

The consultation on when to end the sale of new non-zero emission L-category vehicles was open to written responses from 14 July to 21 September 2022. The Department is in the process of analysing the responses and will bring forward the Government’s response in due course which will consider impacts to industry.

In February 2022, the Motorcycle Industry Association and Zemo Partnership published a government-commissioned action plan, “Realising the Full Potential of Zero Emission Powered Light Vehicles”, to support the transition to zero emission L-category vehicles. The Government has also made up to £350,000 of funding available to grow the zero-emission motorcycle supply chain in the UK that could lead to thousands of new jobs and the Government continues to work with investors through our Automotive Transformation Fund to build a globally competitive electric vehicle supply chain in the UK.

The consultation on when to end the sale of new non-zero emission L-category vehicles was open to written responses from 14 July to 21 September 2022. The Department is in the process of analysing the responses and will bring forward the Government’s response in due course which will consider impacts to industry.

The new illicit vapes enforcement unit, led by National Trading Standards, is now operational. The two-year, £3 million funded project commenced work in early summer 2023. National Trading Standards is gathering data and intelligence, training staff, and bolstering capacity, and will begin field work operations in the coming weeks.

The current Track and Trace system only covers illicit tobacco. However, we are currently exploring a range of new measures to tackle illicit vapes as part of response to youth vaping call for evidence. We will publish our response to this shortly.

No assessment has been made of the adequacy of the fines for retailers which sell vaping products to young people under the age of 18 years old.

However, a post implementation review of The Nicotine Inhaling Products (Age of Sale and Proxy Purchasing) Regulations 2015 was published in January 2021 and is available at the following link:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/957073/pir-tobacco-legislation-web-accessible.pdf

The review concluded that the legislation had met its objectives.

We are fully aware of issues around youth vaping and have recently launched a youth vaping call for evidence. We will assess a range of options based on the evidence provided, including potential future changes to vaping policy and regulation.

The Department does not collect information centrally on non-compliant vape products seized. Local enforcement agencies are responsible for taking action against non-compliant vape products that are placed on the UK market.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency work with manufacturers of vape products at the pre-market stage of notification. If necessary, they request corrective actions to bring each submission into compliance with notification requirements set out in the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016.

The NHS People Plan commits to creating a diverse workforce and reforming staff recruitment and promotion practices to ensure greater inclusivity.

The Workforce Disability Equality Standard (WDES) is a mandated framework of ten measures, including recruitment, which compares the workplace experiences of disabled and non-disabled staff. National Health Service organisations use the data collected to develop action plans and it provides comparative information to demonstrate progress. Following the WDES’s data analysis report in 2021, recommendations include developing opportunities for local unemployed disabled people to gain work experience within NHS organisations and convening inclusive recruitment panels to include disabled staff, particularly for senior roles.

We are taking action to improve water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in developing countries through global leadership, strengthening WASH and health systems, improving hygiene and as part of our humanitarian programmes. FCDO work in this area is an integral part of Global Health policy and programming, as laid out in our ending preventable deaths approach paper.

The economic implications of COVID-19 will be huge for Africa, possibly worse than the health impact itself. The IMF predict the worst growth rates in Sub Saharan Africa since the 1970s – a recession for 2020 of -3.2%.

I am therefore working with the IMF, World Bank and the African Union to ensure we support their efforts to mitigate the impacts of the pandemic across the continent, including through support to the IMF’s Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust, and its Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust, both of which will support African recovery.

The Government remains committed to supporting the whole business sector including hospitality, public houses and other businesses. The Energy Bills Discount Scheme (EBDS) provides all eligible businesses and other non-domestic energy users with a discount on high energy bills for 12 months from 1 April 2023 until 31 March 2024. It also provides businesses in sectors with particularly high levels of energy use and trade intensity with a higher level of support.

Wholesale gas prices have now fallen to levels before Putin’s invasion. The new EBDS therefore strikes a balance between supporting businesses for a further 12 months and limiting taxpayer’s exposure to volatile energy markets. This provides long term certainty for businesses and reflects how the scale of the challenge has changed since September last year.

The government has had to make some difficult decisions this Budget to maintain economic stability and secure the public finances. The government has provided a series of cuts and freezes on alcohol duties in the past decade. The most recent freeze from Autumn Budget 2021, including the extension to 1 August 2023, represents a total tax cut of £2.7 billion over the next 4 years. Whilst we are raising rates by RPI, we have increased the value of Draught Relief to support pubs, meaning a pint of draught beer sold in a pub will not pay more duty from August.

We have provided extensive support to the hospitality and tourism sector through an over £8 billion reduction in VAT during the pandemic, and are also increasing and extending business rates support with a tax cut worth over £2 billion in 2023-24 for the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors. This will support around 230,000 businesses, including pubs, with 75 per cent relief off their business rates bill, up to a cash cap of £110,000 per business. Pubs will also benefit from the freeze to the business rates multiplier for 2023-24, a tax cut worth £9.3 billion over the next 5 years, meaning all bills are 6% lower than without the freeze.

Tax matters, including the Excise Duties (Deferred Payment) Regulations 1992, are matters for HM Treasury and are kept under constant review, with any announcements made at fiscal events.

All required legislation relating to excise duties and Retained EU Law will be made via the Finance Bill (or subordinate tax legislation) which is usual and appropriate for tax provisions.

Tax matters, including the Excise Duties (Deferred Payment) Regulations 1992, are matters for HM Treasury and are kept under constant review, with any announcements made at fiscal events.

All required legislation relating to excise duties and Retained EU Law will be made via the Finance Bill (or subordinate tax legislation) which is usual and appropriate for tax provisions.

Tax matters, including the Excise Duties (Deferred Payment) Regulations 1992, are matters for HM Treasury and are kept under constant review, with any announcements made at fiscal events.

All required legislation relating to excise duties and Retained EU Law will be made via the Finance Bill (or subordinate tax legislation) which is usual and appropriate for tax provisions.

Tax matters, including the Excise Duties (Deferred Payment) Regulations 1992, are matters for HM Treasury and are kept under constant review, with any announcements made at fiscal events.

All required legislation relating to excise duties and Retained EU Law will be made via the Finance Bill (or subordinate tax legislation) which is usual and appropriate for tax provisions.

Fees for firearms licences were last increased in 2015 and the Government is currently considering proposals for new firearms licensing fees.

I hope to make an announcement about fees shortly.

Income received from firearms licensing fees should be invested into ensuring forces’ licensing teams are adequately resourced, trained and equipped.

Domestic abuse is an abhorrent crime and tackling it remains a top priority for this Government.

We remain committed to delivering our Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy and complimentary Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan. We have doubled funding for the National Domestic Abuse Helpline and added violence against women and girls - including domestic abuse - to the revised Strategic Policing Requirement elevating it to a national threat for police forces to respond to accordingly.

The Government currently has no plans to regulate the locksmith industry.

All locksmiths approved by the Master Locksmith Association (MLA) undergo strict vetting including a criminal record check; are regularly inspected to ensure they conform to legal requirements and customer charters; and must pass the MLA’s qualifications to demonstrate competence.

Although the current easements to death registration in the Coronavirus Act 2020 have not enabled the electronic registration of deaths, the General Register Office continues to look for opportunities to modernise the death registration process.

The current easements for death registration are currently planned to expire in line with the Coronavirus Act 2020, to retain them would require changes to the Primary Legislation which underpins the death registration process

The Government’s guidance for those managing funerals is available through the Deceased Management Advisory Group website. This guidance details the actions funeral directors and others managing funerals should take to ensure funerals take place in a COVID-19 safe and secure way. This includes ensuring a COVID-19 risk assessment is in place and that all reasonable steps are taken to limit the risk of transmission, taking into account the risk assessment and relevant legislation including around attendance.

The Home Office does not provide guidance to police forces as they are operationally independent. Operational guidance is provided by the National Police Chiefs’ Council.

A funeral director should notify the police if they reasonably believe that despite their best efforts, the numbers attending are likely to breach the legal limits. The police can decide the most appropriate enforcement which may include issuing a fixed penalty notice.

The forthcoming levelling up white paper will set out the UK Government’s approach to tackling spatial inequalities across the country in order to improve outcomes in places where they are weakest. Addressing stark disparities in health outcomes between places is a important part of levelling up, because people should have the opportunity to live long, healthy lives wherever they live. We recognise that smoking is a key driver of these disparities.

We are clear that the best thing a smoker can do for their health is to quit smoking and e-cigarettes have an important role to play to support this. However, while e-cigarettes are safer than smoking, they are not risk free. They should only be used as a tool to help people stop smoking.

The Department for Health & Social Care is considering a range of policy and regulatory changes to achieve our ambition to be smoke-free by 2030. These will be set out in our new Tobacco Control Plan, which we will publish in due course