Asked by: Tony Lloyd (Labour - Rochdale)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether there have been any civil society dialogue meetings with Colombia under the UK-Andean countries trade agreement.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston
Officials met with Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, within the framework of the first UK-Andean Civil Society Dialogue on Trade and Sustainable Development on 18 July 2023. The event was open to the public and attended by representatives from each partner’s civil society, including the domestic advisory groups established under the UK-Andean Countries Trade Agreement. This was a helpful step in the implementation of the Trade and Sustainable Development commitments.
Asked by: Tony Lloyd (Labour - Rochdale)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, which civil society organisations she is consulting in the civil society dialogue meetings with Colombia under the UK-Andean countries trade agreement.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston
The Civil Society Dialogue between the UK and Colombia, Ecuador and Peru – held on 18 July 2023 - was attended by representatives from the domestic advisory groups of the parties and open to the public. The UK’s Trade and Sustainable Development Domestic Advisory Group consists of 12 member organisations, representing a broad range of labour and environmental stakeholders including businesses, trade unions and academia.
Asked by: Tony Lloyd (Labour - Rochdale)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she has had recent discussions with the International Seabed Authority on (a) the likelihood of the Authority agreeing to issue exploitation licences for deep-sea mining projects and (b) what assessment is required to examine the potential impact of such mining projects on deep-sea ecosystems prior to exportation licences being issued.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
The UK is fully engaged in the ongoing negotiations at the International Seabed Authority (ISA) Council and Assembly, to agree deep sea mining exploitation regulations. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office leads the UK delegation to the ISA.
The UK’s policy is not to sponsor or support the issuing of any exploitation licences for deep sea mining projects unless and until there is sufficient scientific evidence about the potential impact on deep sea ecosystems, and strong enforceable environmental Regulations, Standards and Guidelines have been developed by the ISA and are in place. The UK’s approach is both precautionary and conditional.
Asked by: Tony Lloyd (Labour - Rochdale)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 3 May 2023 to Question 183026 on Companies: Sanctions, what resources her Department plans to make available for the enforcement of director disqualification sanctions.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill will introduce a new director disqualification sanctions measure. It will be an offence for a designated person subject to this new measure to form a UK company, or to act as a director or otherwise be involved in the company’s promotion or management.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and the Department of Business and Trade are in ongoing discussions regarding the implementation of these new sanctions, including the enforcement function.
Asked by: Tony Lloyd (Labour - Rochdale)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will bring forward legislation to make it a criminal offence for people under sanctions to set up UK companies.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill, which is currently in Committee stage in the House of Lords, will create a completely new type of sanctions measure in the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 called ‘director disqualification sanctions’. It will be an offence for a designated person subject to this new measure to form a UK company, or to act as a director or otherwise be involved in the company’s promotion or management.
It will be for the Foreign Secretary to decide when and how to deploy the measure, alongside the full suite of other sanctions measures.
Asked by: Tony Lloyd (Labour - Rochdale)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what discussions she has had with HMRC on a recent change of a policy on the way in which HMRC deals with those individuals who are both directors and employees for redundancy payment purposes in the event of a company going into liquidation.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
It is the Insolvency Service’s Redundancy Payments Service (RPS) that processes redundancy claims from employees of companies in liquidation.
In order to determine whether a company director is also an employee and entitled to payment from RPS, the relationship with the employer is reviewed. It has always been the case that a claimant must have been an employee of an insolvent employer to qualify for payment. RPS must protect the National Insurance Fund and not make payments to individuals who do not qualify. We therefore ask all directors to provide proof to support their claim that they were an employee.
Guidance on director claims can be found at Gov.uk - director claims.