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1625632

	registered interest
	date	03/05/2023
	answering body	Department for Business and Trade
	answering dept id	214
	answering dept short name	Business and Trade
	answering dept sort name	Business and Trade
	hansard heading	Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 28 April 2023 to Question 182031 on the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, whether UK negotiators sought to disapply ISDS provisions in CPTPP with Canada and Brunei.
	tabling member constituency	Arfon
	tabling member printed	Hywel Williams
	uin	183664
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/05/2023 answer text <p>CPTPP's investment chapter provides important protections for investors, which it is in the UK’s interest to accept, including with both Brunei and Canada. The Government is clear that where we negotiate investment protection and ISDS provisions, we will not hinder our right to regulate in the public interest. This right is protected in CPTPP, and the Government also negotiated additional protections for our ability to regulate areas such as public services.</p> answering member constituency Mid Worcestershire answering member printed Nigel Huddleston question first answered 10/05/2023 15:14:16 answering member 4407 label Biography information for Nigel Huddleston
	tabling member	1397 label Biography information for Hywel Williams

1665704

	registered interest
	date	18/10/2023
	answering body	Department for Business and Trade
	answering dept id	214
	answering dept short name	Business and Trade
	answering dept sort name	Business and Trade
	hansard heading	Exports: EU Countries
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent assessment she has made of the impact of the UK's withdrawal from the EU (a) single market and (b) customs union on costs for small businesses that export to the EU.
	tabling member constituency	Arfon
	tabling member printed	Hywel Williams
	uin	203225
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/10/2023 answer text <p>We do not have the information you are asking for, however, what we can say is that 94% of all businesses that responded to the ONS business survey in the 2 weeks to the 3rd September were not planning to open any new branches or subsidiaries in the EU in the next 12 months.</p><p> </p><p>We understand that SMEs have had to adapt to the new post-Brexit environment, and that’s why we are ensuring they have what they need to do so, including comprehensive guidance on GOV.UK, and support from UK Export Finance (UKEF) and the Export Support Service (ESS).</p><p> </p><p>Now we have left the single market, we can turn our focus to the rest of the world, where in the 12 months to June 2023 trade is up 38% in current prices compared to pre-pandemic (2018) levels.</p> answering member constituency Thirsk and Malton answering member printed Kevin Hollinrake grouped question UIN 203227 question first answered 23/10/2023 16:36:02 answering member 4474 label Biography information for Kevin Hollinrake
	tabling member	1397 label Biography information for Hywel Williams

1665705

	registered interest
	date	18/10/2023
	answering body	Department for Business and Trade
	answering dept id	214
	answering dept short name	Business and Trade
	answering dept sort name	Business and Trade
	hansard heading	Exports: EU Countries
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent assessment she has made of the impact of trends in the level of export costs to the EU for small businesses on the economy of (a) Wales and (b) Arfon constituency.
	tabling member constituency	Arfon
	tabling member printed	Hywel Williams
	uin	203226
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/10/2023 answer text <p>Our export strategy sets out a 12-point plan, which is helping businesses in Arfon and across Wales expand their export opportunities. Welsh businesses can access a wide range of free support services, including a network of sector specialists and overseas trade advisers, our Export Academy, the Export Support Service, and UK Export Finance.</p><p>My department has also recently announced that we will be appointing new International Trade Advisors (ITAs) in Wales, boosting our support for Welsh SME exporters. This expansion should see a further 400-600 companies across Wales receiving tailored support to seek new export opportunities.</p> answering member constituency Thirsk and Malton answering member printed Kevin Hollinrake question first answered 23/10/2023 11:06:22 answering member 4474 label Biography information for Kevin Hollinrake
	tabling member	1397 label Biography information for Hywel Williams

1665706

	registered interest
	date	18/10/2023
	answering body	Department for Business and Trade
	answering dept id	214
	answering dept short name	Business and Trade
	answering dept sort name	Business and Trade
	hansard heading	Exports: EU Countries
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent estimate she has made of the number of small businesses that have (a) relocated and (b) part-relocated their operations to the EU due to export costs in (i) Wales, (ii) England, (iii) Scotland and (iv) Northern Ireland.
	tabling member constituency	Arfon
	tabling member printed	Hywel Williams
	uin	203227
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/10/2023 answer text <p>We do not have the information you are asking for, however, what we can say is that 94% of all businesses that responded to the ONS business survey in the 2 weeks to the 3rd September were not planning to open any new branches or subsidiaries in the EU in the next 12 months.</p><p> </p><p>We understand that SMEs have had to adapt to the new post-Brexit environment, and that’s why we are ensuring they have what they need to do so, including comprehensive guidance on GOV.UK, and support from UK Export Finance (UKEF) and the Export Support Service (ESS).</p><p> </p><p>Now we have left the single market, we can turn our focus to the rest of the world, where in the 12 months to June 2023 trade is up 38% in current prices compared to pre-pandemic (2018) levels.</p> answering member constituency Thirsk and Malton answering member printed Kevin Hollinrake grouped question UIN 203225 question first answered 23/10/2023 16:36:02 answering member 4474 label Biography information for Kevin Hollinrake
	tabling member	1397 label Biography information for Hywel Williams

1665853

	registered interest
	date	18/10/2023
	answering body	Department for Business and Trade
	answering dept id	214
	answering dept short name	Business and Trade
	answering dept sort name	Business and Trade
	hansard heading	Exports: EU Countries
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps she is taking to reduce exporting costs for small business that export to the EU.
	tabling member constituency	Arfon
	tabling member printed	Hywel Williams
	uin	203228
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/10/2023 answer text <p>My department are better equipped than ever to support UK businesses to export. We offer a wide range of free support services, including a network of domestic and overseas trade advisers, sector specialists, Export Support Service, Export Academy, and International Markets network.</p><p>UK Export Finance (UKEF) also continues to focus on supporting SMEs. In 2022-23, 84% of the companies supported directly with a UKEF product were small and medium-sized enterprises.</p><p>But we are doing more – maximising uptake of new Free Trade Agreements by SMEs, using data to better target our services and working across Government to reduce barriers to exporting and simplify border processes.</p> answering member constituency Thirsk and Malton answering member printed Kevin Hollinrake question first answered 23/10/2023 14:14:58 answering member 4474 label Biography information for Kevin Hollinrake
	tabling member	1397 label Biography information for Hywel Williams

1665855

	registered interest
	date	18/10/2023
	answering body	Department for Business and Trade
	answering dept id	214
	answering dept short name	Business and Trade
	answering dept sort name	Business and Trade
	hansard heading	Delivery Services: Standards
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps she is taking to help ensure that parcel delivery companies (a) adopt and (b) adhere to her Department's Statement of principles for parcel deliveries, published in July 2014.
	tabling member constituency	Arfon
	tabling member printed	Hywel Williams
	uin	203229
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/10/2023 answer text <p>While the principles in this guidance still stand, through the Consumer Protection Partnership, we have undertaken further work to ensure retailers provide information about delivery options upfront in the purchasing process to ensure consumers can make informed decisions.</p><p> </p><p>In its 2022 review of postal regulation Ofcom, the independent regulator of the postal sector, committed to ongoing monitoring of operators’ performance, keeping under review the need for additional regulation to protect consumers.</p><p> </p><p>Current guidance for parcel operators and retailers on their obligations is available from the Chartered Trading Standards Institute’s Business Companion website and through the dedicated deliverylaw.uk website.</p> answering member constituency Thirsk and Malton answering member printed Kevin Hollinrake question first answered 23/10/2023 11:00:08 answering member 4474 label Biography information for Kevin Hollinrake
	tabling member	1397 label Biography information for Hywel Williams

1191010

	registered interest
	date	28/04/2020
	answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept id	201
	answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	hansard heading	Parental Leave
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the Government's announcement on 24 April 2020 that employees whose period of family-related leave begins on or after 25 April 2020 will be entitled to full pay, what assessment he has made of the level of financial support required by employees whose period of family-related leave began before that date.
	tabling member constituency	Arfon
	tabling member printed	Hywel Williams
	uin	40996
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/05/2020 answer text <p>The Government laid regulations last week to ensure that where a worker has been furloughed under the CJRS and is receiving lower earnings as a result, this does not affect his or her eligibility for statutory family-related pay.</p><p> </p><p>For Statutory Maternity Pay and Statutory Adoption Pay, eligible parents receive 90% of normal earnings for the first 6 weeks, followed by up to 33 weeks at the statutory flat rate (£151.20 per week). The new regulations also ensure that the amount of statutory maternity or adoption pay that new mothers and adopters receive over the first 6 weeks is calculated based on their normal earnings, not their furloughed pay.</p><p> </p><p>Individuals who have been furloughed and whose period of family-related pay or Maternity Allowance begins on or after 25th April 2020 will be in scope of the change. Individuals whose period of family-related pay began before 25th April 2020 may see their entitlement affected. However, we anticipate that this will be a small number of people due to the fact that, for most people starting family-related pay before 25 April, the earnings assessment period will have taken place before the furlough scheme was initiated.</p><p> </p><p>In a situation where employers decide to ‘top-up’ statutory pay for their employees on a contractual basis, they are able to claim this money through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.</p> answering member constituency Sutton and Cheam answering member printed Paul Scully question first answered 05/05/2020 10:36:55 answering member 4414 label Biography information for Paul Scully previous answer version 18645 answering member constituency Sutton and Cheam answering member printed Paul Scully answering member 4414 label Biography information for Paul Scully
	tabling member	1397 label Biography information for Hywel Williams

1222868

	registered interest
	date	10/07/2020
	answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept id	201
	answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	hansard heading	Redundancy: Coronavirus
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential merits for (a) people who have worked in excess of 20 years and (b) workers more widely of revising the level of support offered under statutory redundancy in light of the covid-19 pandemic.
	tabling member constituency	Arfon
	tabling member printed	Hywel Williams
	uin	72172
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/07/2020 answer text <p>The Government recognises this is a challenging time both for employers and employees and that is why we introduced the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and Job Retention Bonus, to protect jobs and avoid redundancies. We hope that employers will use these schemes follow this lead and do everything they can to avoid making redundancies.</p><p> </p><p>Where redundancies are unavoidable it is important that employees receive the payments they are entitled to. Employees with the necessary qualifying period will have access, as a minimum, to Statutory Redundancy Pay based on their age and length of employment.</p> answering member constituency Sutton and Cheam answering member printed Paul Scully question first answered 15/07/2020 16:10:49 answering member 4414 label Biography information for Paul Scully
	tabling member	1397 label Biography information for Hywel Williams

1222869

	registered interest
	date	10/07/2020
	answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept id	201
	answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	hansard heading	Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that businesses do not use funds received though the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme for redundancy payments.
	tabling member constituency	Arfon
	tabling member printed	Hywel Williams
	uin	72173
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/07/2020 answer text <p>Employees who are dismissed due to redundancy and who satisfy certain qualifying conditions are statutorily entitled to a lump sum from their employer, based on their age, length of service and contractual weekly earnings, subject to a statutory upper limit.</p><p> </p><p>As per the latest updates to the guidance for the Coronavirus Job Retention scheme, grants cannot be used to cover redundancy payments.</p> answering member constituency Sutton and Cheam answering member printed Paul Scully question first answered 15/07/2020 16:11:53 answering member 4414 label Biography information for Paul Scully
	tabling member	1397 label Biography information for Hywel Williams

1222874

	registered interest
	date	10/07/2020
	answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept id	201
	answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	hansard heading	Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the number of businesses making staff redundancies while using the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, and what assessment he has made of the potential merits of restricting employers from making redundancies while Government support is available.
	tabling member constituency	Arfon
	tabling member printed	Hywel Williams
	uin	72174
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/07/2020 answer text <p>The Department does not hold statistics on the number of business making staff redundant while using the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. However, we are monitoring the broader picture on unemployment closely, with official data showing the number of payroll employees in April fell by 612,000 (2.1%) compared with March 2020.</p><p> </p><p>The legal position in relation to redundancy and dismissal remains the same whether or not an employee has been furloughed. Any redundancy process should be fair and reasonable with appropriate equalities considerations. Employees with the necessary qualifying service who believe that they have been unfairly selected for redundancy, or that the redundancy was unfair in some other way, may be able to complain to an employment tribunal.</p> answering member constituency Sutton and Cheam answering member printed Paul Scully question first answered 15/07/2020 16:12:42 answering member 4414 label Biography information for Paul Scully
	tabling member	1397 label Biography information for Hywel Williams