Asked by: Virginia Crosbie (Conservative - Ynys Môn)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will make it her policy to maintain the existing terms of the universal service obligation for Royal Mail delivery services.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
The Government is committed to ensuring the provision of a financially sustainable and accessible universal postal service which meets consumer needs.
The Government will consider any recommendations that Ofcom puts forward, but we have made clear the importance of maintaining a Saturday delivery service and we are not currently minded to introduce new legislation to change the current obligations on postal deliveries.
Asked by: Virginia Crosbie (Conservative - Ynys Môn)
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 representatives of Fujitsu on compensation for subpostmasters affected by the Horizon case.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
Whilst DBT Ministers have not met Fujitsu, officials in this and other Government Departments have done so. The subject of those discussions is commercially confidential.
Asked by: Virginia Crosbie (Conservative - Ynys Môn)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps she is taking to help protect farmers from competition from countries with lower animal welfare standards; and what steps she is taking to help ensure that food labelling accurately reflects the origin of produce.
Answered by Greg Hands
HM Government is committed to uphold our high standards of food in any trade deal. All food and drink products imported into the UK must comply with our import requirements and regulatory standards for food safety.
Country of origin information is already required for a range of fresh and frozen meat products, as well as for uncut fresh fruit and vegetables, honey, olive oil and wine.
At the Oxford Farming Conference, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs announced a rapid consultation to gather views on how we can make packaging information clearer. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs will announce more details on this in due course.
Asked by: Virginia Crosbie (Conservative - Ynys Môn)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of implementing the recommendations on the sale of fireworks in the (a) Policy Statement BVA position on the use and sale of fireworks, published by the British Veterinary Association in October 2019, and (b) RSPCA campaign entitled Change firework laws to protect animals on the welfare of animals.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
The Government believes the legislative framework controlling fireworks strikes the right balance and has no plans to replace it at this current time.
The majority of individuals who use fireworks do so in a responsible and safe manner and there are enforcement mechanisms in place to tackle situations when fireworks are misused.
A number of animal welfare organisations provide advice and guidance to enable people to minimise the impacts of fireworks on animal welfare. We are working with these organisations to amplify this messaging during key dates when fireworks are commonly used.
Asked by: Virginia Crosbie (Conservative - Ynys Môn)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she is taking steps to encourage inward investment for (a) components and (b) other equipment to enable the scaling up of low carbon hydrogen.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
My department has been working closely with the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero to showcase the opportunity for investment in the UK hydrogen sector. Together we’ve published a Net Zero Investment Roadmap setting out the UK’s strategy, policies and funding for scaling-up low-carbon hydrogen. The Sector Development Action Plan published in 2022 committed to regular meetings with investors and ‘Meet the-Specifier’ events to help industry understand supply chain opportunities. My officials in the UK and overseas are in communication with equipment manufacturers across the world to ensure they understand what the UK has to offer investors and to advertise the pipeline of hydrogen production projects in development across the country.
Asked by: Virginia Crosbie (Conservative - Ynys Môn)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what discussions she has had with her counterpart in the Faroe Islands on the hunting of whales and dolphins; and whether she plans to take steps through the UK's trade relationship with the Faroe Islands to discourage that practice.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston
The Government is strongly opposed to the hunting of whales and dolphins. UK Officials have raised concerns about this through many engagement channels including at the International Whaling Commission and through the Faroese Embassy in London. My Department continues to utilise the opportunities provided by our Trade Agreement to engage the Faroese government on this important matter, including through specifically raising our serious concerns with the practice at the Joint Committee of the agreement that took place in February 2023.
We continue to use our diplomatic relationship to lobby the Faroes to stop this practice altogether.