Asked by: Maria Eagle (Labour - Garston and Halewood)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she has made an estimate of the cost to the public purse of expenditure by UK Defence and Security Exports on (a) domestic and (b) overseas trade shows in each year since 2010.
Answered by Alan Mak - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade) (jointly with the Cabinet Office)
The Department for Business and Trade has made no such estimate.
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
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 potential impact of increasing trade with the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the aid required by that country.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) does not have an office in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to assess the commercial opportunities, either in general or the specific sectors named in the questions. However, DBT can support opportunities in DRC via its hub in South Africa or sector advisers. The Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy, Lord Popat, has a watching brief to evaluate the opportunities in DRC and His Majesty’s Trade Commissioner (HMTC) for Africa is working to ensure we understand the potential for British Business to operate ethically in the DRC. Both our Trade Envoy and HMTC are due to visit the DRC in April.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Overseas Territories are permitted to negotiate their own free trade agreements with third countries.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
In international law the Overseas Territories (OTs) are not sovereign states in their own right and have no separate international legal personality. As such, they cannot enter into international agreements directly (including Free Trade Agreements), unless expressly authorised to do so by the UK Government under an entrustment. Agreements entered into by the UK may provide for their application to the OTs, or be extended to the OTs at a later date.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many operational personnel of the British Army are currently based in (1) England, (2) Wales, (3) Scotland, (4) Northern Ireland, and (5) overseas.
Answered by Earl of Minto - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
I refer the Noble Lord to the below table which shows the number of Trade Trained Regular Army Personnel by Stationed Location, as of 1 January 2024.
Location | Personnel |
England | 59,920 |
Wales | 1,350 |
Scotland | 3,520 |
Northern Ireland | 1,370 |
Overseas | 3,010 |
Notes/Caveats:
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help (a) support the economy of and (b) increase trade between the UK and Gibraltar.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The UK is committed to supporting Gibraltar, its people and its economy. We are working side-by-side with the Government of Gibraltar to conclude a UK-EU treaty which can secure the future prosperity of Gibraltar and the region. We continue to collaborate on shared prosperity goals. For example, the UK's £500 million Loan Guarantee to support Gibraltar's economy was extended in 2023 for a further three years and the implementation of the Gibraltar Authorisation Regime will facilitate financial services business between the two jurisdictions on a permanent basis.
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 the impact of recent fluctuations in the exchange rate of the pound sterling on the price of imports and exports.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Many factors have been relevant in driving movements in aggregate trade prices.
While movements in the exchange rate would likely have influenced these changes in trade prices, movements in broader global prices (such as energy and other tradable commodities) have been a far bigger factor in driving movements in aggregate trade prices.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to help (a) support and (b) increase (i) creative and (ii) cultural exports.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
In June 2023, the Government and the Creative Industries Council launched the Creative Industries Sector Vision, which sets out our long term strategy for supporting and growing the creative industries. The Sector Vision can be found at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/creative-industries-sector-vision
The Government is delivering on its plan to grow the creative industries by a further £50 billion and add another 1 million jobs by 2030.
Since 2010, the Government has introduced a range of tax reliefs across the creative industries, from film and television, to animation, video games, orchestras, theatres and more. The Chancellor announced further support at the Spring Budget, with £1 billion of additional tax relief over the next five years. This has led to significant growth in the creative industries over the last 14 years, helping to double the economic value of the creative industries and create more than one million new jobs since 2010.
Our tax reliefs are driving inward investment, helping unleash job creation and economic growth across the country. The Government’s generous screen sector tax reliefs have driven a record breaking spend of £6.3 billion on film and high-end TV production in 2022, of which £5.4 billion - 86% - was inward investment.
Our tax reliefs have also helped drive an increase in cultural and creative service exports. DCMS works with other departments including FCDO and DBT, industry bodies and trade associations to promote the creative industries overseas, from delivering creative trade missions to HMG-backed funding schemes. Examples include the £28 million UK Global Screen Fund, delivered by the British Film Institute, which provides grants to develop, distribute and promote independent UK and UK co-produced screen content in international markets and the Music Export Growth Scheme, which provides grant funding to support UK-based independent music SMEs to develop export campaigns to grow their international business and export revenue. My department is also committed to ensuring that the interests of the creative industries are pursued in the UK’s ambitious programme of Free Trade Agreements, including on audiovisual services, intellectual property rights and supporting the movement of creative professionals.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has a long-term strategy to support the (a) expansion and (b) global competitiveness of creative industries.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
In June 2023, the Government and the Creative Industries Council launched the Creative Industries Sector Vision, which sets out our long term strategy for supporting and growing the creative industries. The Sector Vision can be found at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/creative-industries-sector-vision
The Government is delivering on its plan to grow the creative industries by a further £50 billion and add another 1 million jobs by 2030.
Since 2010, the Government has introduced a range of tax reliefs across the creative industries, from film and television, to animation, video games, orchestras, theatres and more. The Chancellor announced further support at the Spring Budget, with £1 billion of additional tax relief over the next five years. This has led to significant growth in the creative industries over the last 14 years, helping to double the economic value of the creative industries and create more than one million new jobs since 2010.
Our tax reliefs are driving inward investment, helping unleash job creation and economic growth across the country. The Government’s generous screen sector tax reliefs have driven a record breaking spend of £6.3 billion on film and high-end TV production in 2022, of which £5.4 billion - 86% - was inward investment.
Our tax reliefs have also helped drive an increase in cultural and creative service exports. DCMS works with other departments including FCDO and DBT, industry bodies and trade associations to promote the creative industries overseas, from delivering creative trade missions to HMG-backed funding schemes. Examples include the £28 million UK Global Screen Fund, delivered by the British Film Institute, which provides grants to develop, distribute and promote independent UK and UK co-produced screen content in international markets and the Music Export Growth Scheme, which provides grant funding to support UK-based independent music SMEs to develop export campaigns to grow their international business and export revenue. My department is also committed to ensuring that the interests of the creative industries are pursued in the UK’s ambitious programme of Free Trade Agreements, including on audiovisual services, intellectual property rights and supporting the movement of creative professionals.
Asked by: Sarah Atherton (Conservative - Wrexham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department's assessment of companies against its social value criteria gives equal weighting to benefits that are brought (a) direct to the UK and (b) overseas.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) applies the Social Value Model to all of its in-scope competitive procurements, in accordance with the Cabinet Office Social Value Policy. The MOD ensures correct and consistent application of the Social Value Model through additional policy, guidance, training and through engagement with industry through the Defence Supplier Forum. Its application is monitored through appropriate governance, reporting and reviews.
Weightings are applied to the award criteria, and supplier proposals are assessed qualitatively not quantitively in tender evaluation. The Social Value Model does not discriminate based on where social value is delivered. However where appropriate, and having due regard to UK market access obligations to our international fair-trade agreements (FTAs), procurements may specify, within their social value requirement, the social value to be delivered in specific geographical locations.
MOD currently applies Cabinet Office Social Value rules, and further, Defence specific values. For example, the New Medium Helicopter procurement has a strong weighting for UK workshare and exportability. To ensure the maximum impact of the Integrated Procurement Model, particular in supporting the development of sovereign capability, I will be undertaking a rapid review of how MOD applies social content rules on Defence Procurement.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many people from (a) the UK and (b) overseas, excluding speakers and hosts, were projected to visit in person the UK House venue run by her Department at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games from 28 July to 8 August 2022 in the final business case approved by her Department for that event.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
UK House was part of the wider Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games Tourism, Trade & Investment Programme business case led by West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) & West Midlands Growth Company (WMGC) in partnership with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Department for International Trade and Visit Britain.
The final business case provides no UK House visitor projections, either virtually or in person.