Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the production and distribution of illicit drugs from China, especially synthetic opioids such as nitazenes; and what estimate they have made of scale on which such drugs are smuggled into the UK.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Tackling Class A drugs, including synthetic opioids, is a priority for the Government due to the harm caused to users, society and the economy.
We assess that the scale of trafficking of synthetic opioids into the UK remains small, relative to countries like the USA where they have caused devastation. However, nitazenes, which the National Crime Agency (NCA) assess as often being produced in illicit labs in China, have been linked to more than 100 deaths in the UK during the last year, and we are taking action.
The cross-Government Synthetic Opioids Taskforce is working with partner agencies, such as the NCA, the Department for Health and Social Care and the National Police Chiefs Council to deliver an evidence-based response to the risk posed by synthetic opioids, and to implement effective action to stem the demand and supply of these dangerous substances.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the announcement on 19 March 2024 by China's Ministry of Defence of the establishment of the Information Support Force.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
On Friday 19 April, the eight-year-old People's Liberation Army (PLA) Strategic Support Force was broken up into three organisations (the Information Support Force, Aerospace Force and Cyberspace Force) as part of China's programme of military modernisation. These three organisations, alongside the pre-existing Joint Logistics Support Force, are now described as the "four arms" of the PLA alongside its "four services" (Ground, Navy, Air Force & Rocket Force).
The UK's Ministry of Defence routinely monitors military developments across the globe as part of its policy and strategy process. This includes developments in China.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what information his Department holds on the attendance at the 19th Western Pacific Naval Symposium.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The 19th Western Pacific Naval Symposium took place in Qingdao, China in April 2024. The Royal Navy was represented by the First Sea Lord, supported by three members of the Naval Staff.
Other Chiefs of Navy (or their representatives) attended from: Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Fiji, France, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Republic of Korea, Russia, Singapore, Thailand, Tonga, the United States, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Ecuador, India, Mexico, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Melton)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether UK Research and Innovation have (a) staff and (b) offices in China.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
UK Research Innovation (UKRI) has one overseas office in China with seven staff, co-located in the British Embassy Beijing.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether national security clearance was sought by the Science and Technology Facilities Council, and approved, before purchasing the Lenovo supercomputer from a Chinese electronics company.
Answered by Viscount Camrose - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The government has been clear that when tensions arise between its objectives in relation to China, national security will always come first. This procurement took place through a robust public sector procurement process with all necessary qualifying security criteria
The UK's world leading cyber security experts are providing the necessary support and advice to assure the security of the system, as is normal.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports of a decline in venture capital investment in UK start-ups in the first quarter of 2024; and what steps they are taking to support the growth of the UK's innovation ecosystem.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government notes that while there have been reports of a decline in venture capital (VC) investment in UK start-ups, this has been broad based and global in nature. We also note that because of the nature of private markets, there is a lag in data reporting for VC deals, meaning that final data on investments made in Q1 2024 will not be available until later in the year.
The BBB’s Small Business Finance Monitor 2024, which covers data up to the end of Q3 2023, found that there has been a “slowdown in activity that has occurred in the market since Q2 2022” and that the market decline over the past 18 months is not unique to the UK and can be seen across other global regions.
However, we also note that VC funding in the UK has reduced from record levels in 2021/2022, and that despite this slowdown, early stage/seed funding has remained robust, indicating that there is a pipeline of future investment opportunities still being created.
The government recognises that VC funding is an important source of finance for innovative companies and is proud of the fact that the UK has the third largest VC market in the world, behind only the US and China. The government is backing British business by tackling barriers to investment, cutting taxes and rewarding work, and by supporting the priority growth sectors, including digital technology, which are helping to turn the UK into the world’s next Silicon Valley.
This includes making over £3.5 billion of public investment in the AI ecosystem since 2014, extending the sunset clause for the Enterprise Investment Scheme and the Venture Capital Trust scheme to 6 April 2035, making changes to simplify and improve R&D tax reliefs, extending the British Business Bank’s Future Fund: Breakthrough investment programme, and implementing the measures the Chancellor announced at last year’s Mansion House speech to reform the pensions market to unlock investment into high growth sectors and generate increased returns for savers.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether the Minister for Asia raised the trial and detention of Jimmy Lai with (a) Chinese and (b) Hong Kong officials during her recent visit.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Minister for the Indo-Pacific raised Jimmy Lai's case with Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Deng Li in Beijing and in Hong Kong with Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Christopher Hui during her visit to China and Hong Kong in April. Further details are available on gov.uk: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-minister-for-indo-pacifics-key-meetings-in-mainland-china-and-hong-kong-sar-april-2024.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the value of imports of (a) vapes and (b) vaping equipment was in (i) 2022 and (ii) 2023; and what proportion of the total value of those imports came from China.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is responsible for the collection and publication of data on imports and exports of goods to and from the UK. HMRC releases this information monthly, as a National Statistic called the Overseas Trade in Goods Statistics (OTS), which is available via their dedicated website (www.uktradeinfo.com). From this website, it is possible to build your own data tables based upon bespoke search criteria.
Classification codes (according to the Harmonised System) are available to assist you in accessing published trade statistics data in the UK Global Tariff. Goods moving to and from the UK are identified by an eight-digit commodity code. These are publicly available from the UK Trade Tariff at https://www.gov.uk/trade-tariff.
The data on the import for these items, including country of export can be obtained from www.uktradeinfo.com.
If you need help or support in constructing a table from the data on uktradeinfo, please contact uktradeinfo@hmrc.gov.uk.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, how much aid his Department has provided to China in the last five years.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We stopped direct government-to-government aid to the Chinese Government in 2011. Total FCDO Official Development Assistance (ODA) China spend between 2018-2022 was £103.5 million, including ODA spend such as British Council activity. In a Written Ministerial Statement (WMS) in April 2021, the FCDO committed to cut ODA funded programmes in China by 95 per cent from the 2021-22 financial year, which it has delivered. All new ODA programme funding has been limited to supporting our open societies and human rights objectives in China. The projects we fund using ODA typically aim to support those in China who work to improve human rights. Final data for UK ODA spend in 2023 will be available when the next Statistics on International Development (SID) is published in September 2024. A significant proportion of this funding was spent by the British council.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the UK’s aid relationship with China.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We stopped direct government-to-government aid to the Chinese Government in 2011. In a Written Ministerial Statement (WMS) in April 2021, the FCDO committed to cut Official Development Assistance (ODA) funded programmes in China by 95 per cent from the 2021-22 financial year, which it has delivered. All new ODA programme funding has been limited to supporting our open societies and human rights objectives in China.