Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she has made a recent assessment of the potential impact of the level of paid carers leave on rates of economic activity.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
A new entitlement of up to a week of unpaid carer’s leave was introduced for employees from 6 April 2024. The published Impact Assessment (IA) contains a cost benefit analysis and full evaluation of the policy. We estimate there are 2.5 million people balancing employment and unpaid care, who could benefit from this new entitlement.
The IA commits to reviewing the effectiveness and rationale for the policy by seeking evidence from businesses and employees in 5 years. The IA was published during the passage of the Bill on https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3199/publications under the Impact Assessment tab.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she has made a recent assessment of the potential merits for (a) businesses and (b) workers of introducing paid carers leave.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
A new entitlement of up to a week of unpaid carer’s leave was introduced for employees from 6 April 2024. The published Impact Assessment (IA) contains a cost benefit analysis and full evaluation of the policy. We estimate there are 2.5 million people balancing employment and unpaid care, who could benefit from this new entitlement.
The IA commits to reviewing the effectiveness and rationale for the policy by seeking evidence from businesses and employees in 5 years. The IA was published during the passage of the Bill on https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3199/publications under the Impact Assessment tab.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 11 March 2024 to Question 16834 on Trade Agreements: Dispute Resolution, whether she has made an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the findings of the UN Special Rapporteur's report entitled Paying polluters: the catastrophic consequences of investor-State dispute settlement for climate action and human rights relating to the transparency of investor-State dispute settlements.
Answered by Alan Mak - Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
I refer the Hon. Member to the response provided to Question 16553 on 11 March.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps her Department has taken to raise awareness of carer's leave amongst employers.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
The Department for Business and Trade has carried out a range of activities to raise awareness of Carer’s Leave with employers. This includes producing associated guidance, which is available through GOV.UK (https://www.gov.uk/carers-leave), and working closely with a range of stakeholders, including Carers UK and the Business Representative Organisations, to communicate the changes directly to employers, for example through newsletters and webinars. The Department is also promoting Carers Leave through the ‘Help to Grow’ website (https://helptogrow.campaign.gov.uk/new-changes-to-employment-law/).
Acas has also produced guidance (https://www.acas.org.uk/carers-leave).
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
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 the report entitled Paying polluters: the catastrophic consequences of investor-State dispute settlement for climate and environment action and human rights by the Special Rapporteur on the issue of human rights obligations relating to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment, published on 13 July 2023.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) is an effective means of resolving investment disputes. The UK has investment agreements containing ISDS with around 90 trading partners. There has not been a successful ISDS claim brought against the UK, nor does ISDS hinder our right to regulate in the public interest, including in areas such as the environment and human rights. This right is recognised in international law.
Where the UK negotiates ISDS, in line with modern international best practice, it ensures the mechanism delivers fair outcomes of disputes, has independent arbitrators bound by high ethical standards, and that proceedings are transparent.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to pages 3-5 paragraphs 1-9 of the report by UN Special Rapporteur entitled Paying polluters: the catastrophic consequences of investor-State dispute settlement for climate and environment action and human rights, published on 13 July 2023, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of not including the investor state dispute settlement in future trade agreements.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) is an effective means of resolving investment disputes. The UK has investment agreements containing ISDS with around 90 trading partners. There has not been a successful ISDS claim brought against the UK, nor does ISDS hinder our right to regulate in the public interest, including in areas such as the environment and human rights. This right is recognised in international law.
Where the UK negotiates ISDS, in line with modern international best practice, it ensures the mechanism delivers fair outcomes of disputes, has independent arbitrators bound by high ethical standards, and that proceedings are transparent.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
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 include protections for (a) public health and safety, (b) environment, (c) public morals and (d) cultural diversity in future trade deals.
Answered by Greg Hands
The criteria listed are protected in UK FTAs by provisions in the General Exceptions chapter, most notably via the incorporation of GATT XX and GATS XIV and environmental clarifications related to them. These exceptions protect domestic policy space and allow the UK to introduce and maintain measures necessary to govern; for example, in order to protect public morals or protect human, animal or plant life and health. These Exceptions are included in all of the UK’s existing free trade agreements and will continue to be included in all future deals.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will introduce a minimum wage of £12 per hour for (a) early years and (b) elder care.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
This Government is committed to building an economy that works for everyone. Through the National Minimum Wage (NMW) and the National Living Wage (NLW), the Government protects the lowest paid within our society. The Government has accepted all of the recommendations of the Low Pay Commission.
From April, the NLW will increase for workers aged 21 years and over to £11.44 an hour. For workers aged 18-20, the NMW rate will increase to £8.60 an hour. For those under 18, and for apprentices under 19, the NMW rate will increase to £6.40 an hour.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
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 Post Office Limited on preventing errors with the current Horizon software.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
There have been several iterations of the Horizon system since its introduction in 1999. The current version of the system was introduced from 2017. Post Office continue to make improvements to the system and will be moving away from Horizon to a new IT cloud-based system. Government recently announced that it is providing £103 million to help with the development of the replacement for the Horizon IT system and to ensure Horizon is maintained while that replacement is rolled out.
While publicly owned, Post Office operates at arm’s length from Government as a commercial business with its own Board. Post Office reports to Government on key issues and Government has robust mechanisms in place to maintain oversight of the company.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to regulation 13 of the draft Carer's Leave Regulations 2024 laid on 11 December 2023, for what reason the average rate of remuneration is calculated over a period of 12 weeks.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
The calculation for establishing a week’s pay in the Employment Rights Act 1996 is set out in Part 14 Chapter II and the relevant period provided for the calculation is 12 weeks. Regulation 13 of the Carer’s Leave Regulations ensures that when making this calculation, weeks which include unpaid Carer’s Leave are discounted when it comes to calculating a week’s pay, as is the case with other forms of family leave, including unpaid Parental Leave.