Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to encourage investment from (a) OpenAI, (b) Google, (c) Anthropic and (d) Meta in local communities.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department for Business and Trade will continue to work with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and the Office for Investment to support significant overseas companies to invest and expand their footprint in the UK, and ensure that local communities benefit from the digital industrial revolution. As set out in the AI Opportunities Action Plan presented earlier this month, AI Growth Zones will be established across the UK. Government will support these dedicated hotbeds of development to build the infrastructure needed to power and train cutting-edge AI. By partnering with the private sector, we will create vibrant hubs that attract investment, support new jobs, and rejuvenate communities.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what representations his Department has made to industry on investment in towns historically impacted by de-industrialisation.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department works across the UK, including towns impacted by deindustrialisation, to showcase strong commercial investment opportunities to potential investors and support business to grow, and provides extensive support to small businesses through the network of Growth Hubs. The government’s Industrial Strategy will focus on tackling barriers to growth in highest potential growth-driving sectors and places, creating the right conditions for increased investment, high-quality jobs and ensuring tangible impact in communities right across the UK. The National Wealth Fund will support its delivery and mobilise billions of pounds of investment. Through the Government owned British Business Bank, we are also investing over £1billion through their regional Investment Fund programmes.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to attract investment to towns historically impacted by de-industrialisation.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department works across the UK, including towns impacted by deindustrialisation, to showcase strong commercial investment opportunities to potential investors and support business to grow, and provides extensive support to small businesses through the network of Growth Hubs. The government’s Industrial Strategy will focus on tackling barriers to growth in highest potential growth-driving sectors and places, creating the right conditions for increased investment, high-quality jobs and ensuring tangible impact in communities right across the UK. The National Wealth Fund will support its delivery and mobilise billions of pounds of investment. Through the Government owned British Business Bank, we are also investing over £1billion through their regional Investment Fund programmes.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of levels of costs for businesses of UK customs clearance fees on imported goods from the EU.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
Under the Postal Services Act 2000, postal operators are authorised to recover customs or excise duties charged on imported postal packets, including those from the EU. Goods over £135 attract a VAT or Customs Duty. Postal operators may collect these charges on behalf of HMRC from the recipient prior to delivery. A handling fee is also applied to cover the associated administrative costs.
All international courier and postal operators charge fees for their customs support services, and the Government does not have any authority over the charges they make, as these are commercial decisions for the operators.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, who (a) the Government invited and (b) attended the Global Investment Summit 2023 dinner on 27 November 2023 at Hampton Court Palace.
Answered by Greg Hands
The Global Investment Summit 2023 was held at Hampton Court Palace on 27th November, the event took place during the day and no dinner was held.