Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support the manufacturing sector in the light of increased inflationary pressure as a result of supply disruptions in the Red Sea.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Lainston - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department is monitoring the situation closely, engaging with businesses, stakeholders and across government to identify and mitigate supply chain issues.
In November 2023 my department published our Advanced Manufacturing Plan which included measures to support the resilience of the UK’s manufacturing supply chain. More recently we published our Critical Import and Supply Chain Strategy, which will help build secure and reliable supply chains vital to the UK economy – including in advanced manufacturing. The Advanced Manufacturing Plan and our Critical Import and Supply Chain Strategy also build on our semiconductor, battery and critical minerals strategies.
Asked by: Scott Benton (Independent - Blackpool South)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps she is taking to increase trade with Saudi Arabia.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The Government is currently negotiating an ambitious UK-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Free Trade Agreement (FTA) to boost trade with the region by cutting tariffs and removing red tape. The ongoing FTA negotiations with the GCC show our commitment to move towards a strengthened and more formalised trade relationship with Saudi Arabia.
Bilaterally, the UK and Saudi Arabia engage together as part of the Strategic Partnership Council to underpin bilateral relations, bolster mutually beneficial trade and investment, and develop partnerships between UK and Saudi giga-projects. I also recently travelled to Saudi Arabia to represent the UK at the Future Minerals Forum, one of the world’s largest critical mineral events.
The Government is also supporting British businesses operating in Saudi Arabia through our extensive market access work, which aims to reduce or remove regulatory or administrative restrictions that can impede a business exporting or investing overseas.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps she is taking to ensure that (a) human rights and (b) environmental protections are incorporated in the critical minerals supply chain strategy.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
Last year my Department published the UK's Critical Minerals Strategy to accelerate domestic production, collaborate with international partners, and enhance international markets to strengthen supply chains.
The Strategy commits to boost global environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance to support a more transparent, responsible, and sustainable critical minerals and mining industry. The UK is playing a leading role in international efforts to drive up ESG performance through its bilateral and multilateral engagements, including the Minerals Security Partnership. The UK is also a strong supporter and implementing country of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.
Further, we will ensure UK domestic mining complies with permitting and planning regulations that protect the interests of communities and our natural environment.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to strengthen the environmental duties and responsibilities of British mining companies operating overseas.
Answered by Lord Offord of Garvel - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Last year my Department published the UK’s Critical Minerals Strategy to accelerate domestic production, collaborate with international partners, and enhance international markets to strengthen supply chains.
The Strategy commits to boost global environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance to support a more transparent, responsible, and sustainable critical minerals and mining industry. The UK is playing a leading role in international efforts to drive up ESG performance through its bilateral and multilateral engagements, including the Minerals Security Partnership and Sustainable Critical Minerals Alliance.
The UK has re-affirmed its commitment as a member of the Extractives Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), advocating for better governance of the extractives and critical minerals sectors. At COP 15 the UK, along with Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and the United States, signed up to the Canada-led Sustainable Critical Minerals Alliance, committing to promote high environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards and net zero mining practices, employing a nature forward approach.
The UK Government is supporting the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) to rationalise the range of existing mining sustainability standards and bring them together.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham, Hodge Hill)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what her Department's definition of a critical supply chain is; and which supply chains meet that definition.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The government defines a critical supply chain as one that is vital to the UK’s economy, national security, or essential services. This covers a range of supply chains from critical minerals to essential medicines.
The government does not publish details on which supply chains are critical due to the sensitive nature of this information. My department will shortly be publishing a Critical Imports and Supply Chains Strategy, which will outline the steps that the UK has taken and will be taking to enhance critical imports and supply chain resilience.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she has held recent discussions with the lithium battery manufacture industry on support for Cornwall Lithium.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
To accelerate the growth of domestic capabilities, government has supported several critical mineral projects. Funding has been targeted towards projects that actively build innovative, resilient value chains in the UK and contribute to our clean energy transition.
Cornish Lithium have received support via the government’s Automotive Transformation Fund (ATF). Government has also backed British Lithium through the ATF, which on 29 June announced a joint venture with Imerys to mine lithium in Cornwall.
Additionally, UK Infrastructure Bank recently announced an equity investment of approximately £24 million to support Cornish Lithium in the development of the UK’s critical minerals supply chain.
Asked by: Derek Thomas (Conservative - St Ives)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps her Department is taking to strengthen regulatory certainty for (a) the lithium industry and (b) other critical mineral industries.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The government’s Critical Minerals Strategy sets out how we are improving the resilience of critical mineral supply chains, safeguarding UK industry, increasing confidence in the UK’s energy transition, and protecting national security.
In terms of regulatory certainty, the Strategy sets out how we will ensure that UK domestic critical mineral companies comply with permitting and planning regulations, and how we will encourage the proportionate use of globally recognised frameworks and guidelines for responsible mining that protect the interests of communities and our natural environment.
Specifically on lithium, the Health and Safety Executive has published a Technical Report on the mandatory classification of three lithium substances (lithium carbonate, lithium chloride and lithium hydroxide) which identified additional information which requires further consideration and assessment before a Ministerial decision is made on the mandatory classification and labelling of these lithium substances in Great Britain.
To strengthen the UK’s domestic lithium industry, UK Infrastructure Bank recently invested approximately £24 million to support the mineral exploration company Cornish Lithium in St Ives.
Asked by: Lord Leong (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to protect UK businesses from potentially being locked out of new markets created by the Inflation Reduction Act in the absence of a free trade agreement with the United States of America.
Answered by Lord Offord of Garvel - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
We have been working with the U.S. on the Inflation Reduction Act including through negotiations on a Critical Minerals Agreement.
UK firms are already part of U.S. supply chains, and we are a net exporter of raw materials for batteries to the U.S. This agreement will support UK based firms to continue to supply the large U.S. market for these materials.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what plans he has to promote economic cooperation between the UK and Namibia.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Namibia will be one of 25 selected African countries attending the UK-African Investment Summit in April 2024, a high-level event promoting UK-African partnerships in trade and investment, finance, technology, clean energy, food security, critical minerals and women's entrepreneurship. There will be a particular focus on the UK's distinctive role in supporting the economic capabilities of the future (e.g. financial sectors; renewable energy) in African countries. The summit will provide an opportunity to enhance economic cooperation, with particular interest in Namibia's strong and progressive ambitions in the green hydrogen industry, which has strong potential to attract UK investment, fitting the UK's leadership in the renewable energy sector.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential of extracting valuable secondary materials from scrap steel.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Defra has not made a formal assessment of the potential of extracting valuable secondary materials from scrap steel.
Through the critical minerals strategy, the Government is committed to accelerating the UK’s domestic capabilities and developing a more efficient circular economy for critical minerals in the UK.
The flagship, four-year, £30m National Interdisciplinary Circular Economy Research Programme (NICER) is targeting funding to support innovation in advanced metal sorting techniques to promote a circular economy for metals.
Also, Innovate UK’s Circular Critical Materials Supply Chains (CLIMATES) programme is committing £15 million towards recycling critical minerals through R&D investments, skills and engagement with international partners.
Our forthcoming document “Maximising Resources, Minimising Waste” will also consider how best to prevent waste in several key economic sectors, including construction, and we are working with groups such as the Green Construction Board to realise those ambitions.