Tuition Fees: EU Students

Debate between Matt Western and Chris Skidmore

Monday 29th April 2019 Commons Chamber

[Chris Skidmore]

I will happily take a look at that specific issue and take it up with the Student Loans Company, which I visited in Glasgow about a month ago, and I am happy to continue our correspondence about the issue.

[Matt Western (Warwick and Leamington) (Lab)]

Our higher education sector has been one of the great success stories of recent years, and we have seen huge expansion, which has been predicated on our being part of the European Union and attracting the best international students. The Minister speaks of talking this country down, but the reality is that universities such as Warwick, which is part of the Russell Group, have lost 3% of undergraduate applications from the EU and 9% of postgraduate applications. Will the Minister meet me, and the vice-chancellor of Warwick University—one of our finest international universities—to discuss his proposals and what their economic and financial impact will be?

[Chris Skidmore]

I should be happy to have the opportunity to meet the hon. Gentleman and the vice-chancellor of Warwick University. I do not remember exactly where Warwick comes in my universities tour, but it may be coming up shortly. I recognise its international importance. I last visited it two years ago, in a different ministerial guise, and had the opportunity to meet Lord Bhattacharyya, who, sadly, departed recently. He worked across an international field to establish the university’s manufacturing centre.

I listen to concerns that are expressed. I have quoted figures that have been published, but some Members have raised issues relating to the current academic year, in respect of which figures have not been published. I want to ensure—as I do when I go to Brussels, when it comes to some of the negotiations on Horizon Europe—that I make the positive case that we want to protect postgraduate students in particular. We are committed to spending 2.4% of GDP on research and development, and if we are to hit that target by 2027, it is vital that we have a pipeline of talent that is national, European and international. That was a long answer to the hon. Gentleman’s question, but, yes, I will certainly meet him and the vice-chancellor.

Draft Designs and International Trade Marks (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019

Debate between Matt Western and Chris Skidmore

Tuesday 5th March 2019 General Committees

[Chris Skidmore]

In terms of the consultation process and the individuals acting in a personal capacity, I am not sure whether I have the authority to divulge their names on the Floor of the Committee at this particular moment. Perhaps I can write to the hon. Gentleman if I can request their permission to be named. They acted in a personal and private capacity as part of the consultation following the Cabinet Office statutory instrument guidelines on consultations. The framework and process was a trusted one. I am sure that having an opportunity to give private views provided for a greater opportunity to scrutinise the legislation and to be more honest and robust as a result.

We assessed the impact of the SI using the better regulation framework in line with the Treasury’s Green Book guidance. It was obviously deemed to be less than £5 million, so a full impact assessment was not required. Analysis has been focused on the direct impact of the relevant SI compared with current legislation, and analysis of wider impacts on the UK’s exit from the EU has been previously published in the form of long-term economic analysis, which was published in November 2018.

On the impact on business and the conversion of existing rights to comparable UK rights, we have committed to ensuring that the administrative burden on business is minimal. The teams at the ICO are making good progress on numbering systems for the new comparable rights and will communicate the changes as soon as possible. The IPO will also publish guidance in every language of the EU on its website so that rights holders in every member state will be able to access all the necessary information on their UK rights.

When it comes to the process of notification both within the EU and the UK, the IPO will publish a standard website notice in all languages, as I have said, confirming that holders of re-registered UK designs and comparable UK trademarks have been granted equivalent UK rights. The notice will continue to remain on the website after exit, and individual notifications to holders of EU and international trademark designs will not be issued. We are confident that there has been significant interest that will be progressed towards the guidance being published.

If rights holders do not want to be given the new rights, the statutory instrument contains an opt-out provision that allows the holder of a comparable UK design or trademark to request that it be treated as if it was never registered in the UK. That process can be exercised via completion of a no-fee letter or email to the registrar, requesting an opt-out.

Several issues related to costs for businesses. This has been covered in interventions, but I state again that there will be no fee associated with the creation of the new UK rights. The comparable UK registered design or trademark rights will be independent from the corresponding EU rights. Obviously, there will continue to be charges for renewal. When the comparable UK right expires, the standard UK renewal fees will apply. In terms of comparable UK registered design, the renewal fee, which will be the same as it is at the moment, will increase for each successive five-year period of protection, from £70 for the first renewal up to £140 for the fourth and final renewal period. That is consistent with current practice. The holder of the comparable UK registered design will be required to pay these UK renewal fees in addition to those associated with the corresponding EU right in order to preserve protection in both the UK and the EU. For a comparable UK trademark, renewal fees will be charged according to the goods and services protected under the mark.

The hon. Member for Sefton Central raised the issue of the costs for Government—trading funds. The IPO receives no central Government funding, so costs are recovered through fees. In terms of the process for creating UK comparable rights, the actual process will be automated. Because these rights are currently valid and enforceable in the UK, the IPO already has access to related data—these are recorded in the IPO’s records system and published on web-based search platforms—and as a result we will be able to create the new comparable UK rights without a significant amount of additional work.

When it comes to the issues about preparation for EU exit by the IPO, resources have been managed as part of the preparations. That includes staff recruitment and training. The creation of new rights on exit day will not itself create a need for additional resources beyond those already being addressed as part of our business-as-usual operational management.

[Matt Western]

Can the Minister—perhaps in writing, because I assume that he will not have the numbers at his fingertips—provide detail about the staffing that has been brought in, to provide reassurance to businesses? They are really concerned. Intellectual property, as we well know, is an incredibly valuable thing for this country, and it would be very helpful for us to explain the scaling up that has been going on in that department.

[Chris Skidmore]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his point. I would be happy to write to him with some of the details on the resource issues of staffing. I went to visit the IPO’s headquarters down in Newport and was deeply impressed by the organograms and the plans that it had put in place. Almost week by week and day by day, it has been planning for EU exit. Its staff morale is one of the highest for a Government organisation across the country, not just in Wales. I really got the sense that the IPO was content with the process, was managing the process and was a happy organisation in taking forward the process, but I will write to the hon. Gentleman on some of those details. I got no sense that there was undue pressure on the IPO as a result of the changes taking place.

Let me turn to the issues raised about designers and disclosure of unregistered designs. An unregistered design will need to be first disclosed in the EU to be protected in the EU should we leave without a deal. However, disclosure in the EU may have implications regarding any corresponding UK unregistered rights, such as the supplementary unregistered design and the existing UK unregistered design rights. This statutory instrument contains provisions to allow us to negotiate reciprocal arrangements on first disclosure with third countries, which may be the EU, individual countries within the EU, or more widely, but that will still be subject to future agreement.

If we retain first disclosure in the EU as a basis for establishing post-exit UK unregistered design, we will create an imbalance between the UK and EU systems, providing EU-based designers with an unfair advantage. Designs disclosed in the EU would count for establishing both UK and EU protection, whereas designs disclosed in the UK would count for establishing UK protection only.

The law in this area remains unclear, with prominent legal commentators disagreeing on the subject, but our approach reflects the published interpretation of the EU IPO. We think that that provides a more consistent approach for designers to understand and apply. The approach may be subject to future change if courts decide to take a different interpretation, but the SI does recognise disclosure in other qualifying territories, and although we will not have a reciprocal arrangement with the EU on exit day, we may have the opportunity to reach such an arrangement in the future.