Tag: Business and Trade Department

The Department for Business and Trade has today announced an indefinite extension to the use of CE marking for UK businesses.

This comes as part of a wider package of smarter regulations designed to ease business burdens and help grow the economy by cutting barriers and red tape. Following extensive engagement with industry, British firms will be able to continue the use of CE marking alongside UKCA.

The Business Secretary acted urgently on this issue, to prevent a cliff-edge moment in December 2024 when UKCA was set for entry. This intervention will ensure businesses no longer face uncertainty over the regulations and can cut back on unnecessary costs freeing them up to focus on innovation and growth.

Business Minister Kevin Hollinrake said:

The Government is tackling red tape, cutting burdens for business, and creating certainty for firms – we have listened to industry, and we are taking action to deliver.

By extending CE marking use across the UK, firms can focus their time and money on creating jobs and growing the economy.

Tina McKenzie, Policy Chair of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) said:

It’s welcome to see the continued recognition of CE marked products. This will allow time for small firms to adjust to the UKCA marking system and focus on growing their business both at home and overseas.

Stephen Phipson, CEO of Make UK, the manufacturers’ organisation said:

This is a pragmatic and common sense decision that manufacturers will very much welcome and support. This announcement will help safeguard the competitiveness of manufacturers and aid the UK as a destination for investment.

It should bring more confidence about doing business in the UK and recognises the need to work with the reality of doing business. Make UK has worked extensively with UK Government pushing hard for this decision and we are pleased the ongoing engagement has delivered this positive outcome.

The extension will provide businesses with flexibility and choice to use either the UKCA or CE approach to sell products in Great Britain.

Richard Moriarty has today (31 July 2023) been announced as the CEO of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC). He replaces Sir Jon Thompson, who has led the FRC since 2019.

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) promotes transparency and integrity in business. It regulates auditors, accountants and actuaries, and sets the UK’s Corporate Governance and Stewardship Codes. Richard will continue the work started by Sir Jon to transform the FRC into a new regulator – the Audit, Reporting and Governance Authority.

Business Minister Kevin Hollinrake said:

Richard Moriarty is a fantastic appointment to this role. His extensive background in leadership and specialised experience in regulatory and market reform will ensure the FRC continues to ensure business integrity and transparency.

I’m grateful to Sir Jon Thompson for all his hard work in his time as CEO and wish him the best in his role as Chair of HS2.

Richard Moriarty said:

The FRC has a critical role to play in underpinning investor and public confidence in financial reporting and corporate governance in the UK. It is a privilege to be asked to lead the organisation at this important time and oversee its successful transformation into the new Audit, Reporting and Governance Authority.

I want the organisation to be ambitious for how effectively it engages with all those who have an interest in its purpose and its place in supporting the UK as a great place for business growth and investment.

Biography

Richard recently stepped down from the Board of the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority where he served as CEO for five years and deputy CEO for two years. Under his leadership the CAA earned positive recognition from independent reviews, both nationally and internationally, as a highly effective and world leading regulatory authority.

He has over 20 years of board level experience across a range of regulated sectors. Among his roles he has been CEO of the Legal Services Board, an executive director and subsequently deputy chair of the Social Housing Regulator, deputy CEO of a communications regulator and a director of a regulated water company. He is currently a non-executive and the senior independent director with a social housing association charity.

Richard has specialised in regulatory and market reform, governance and financial oversight, professional services regulation, safety cultures, economic regulation, and competition policy.  He has undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in economics, and later obtained an MBA from the University of Warwick Business School.

• UK to host 26th annual UK-Taiwan Trade Talks and strengthen the long-standing trade & investment relationship.
• Taiwan is an important trading partner for the UK, with bilateral trade worth £8.6bn in 2022.
• The Taiwan market offers significant potential for UK companies in areas such as off-shore wind and hydrogen.

Minister for International Trade Nigel Huddleston will co-host the 26th annual Trade Talks later this year with Deputy Minister Chern-Chyi Chen. They held an introductory call to discuss it today.

The UK and Taiwan have a long-standing trade relationship with annual ministerial trade talks held since 1991.

At the last Trade Talks held in Taiwan in late 2022, the UK and Taiwan discussed barriers to trade in sectors like fintech, food and drink and pharma, aimed at helping more UK firms export and invest in Taiwan. This year’s Trade Talks will take place in London and aim to help more UK firms export and invest in Taiwan in areas of mutual interest.

Minister Huddleston also spoke to John Deng, Trade Representative / Minister without Portfolio, to endorse the start of official-level talks on an Enhanced Trade Partnership (ETP), which will be underpinned by non-legally binding Memoranda of Understanding in key areas such as two-way investment, digital trade, and energy & net-zero.

The ETP will build on our ongoing collaboration through annual Trade Talks to tackle barriers to trade and promote UK expertise, deepening our relationship to take advantage of increasing commercial opportunities. Both sides will begin engaging businesses on the ETP in due course.

Like the UK, Taiwan is a champion of free and fair trade underpinned by a rules-based global trading system. The UK is already a major partner in Taiwan’s green transition, with more than 40 British companies already having set up offices in Taiwan.

The British Office holds regular discussions with the Taiwanese authorities focusing on how to enhance trade and investment ties and tackle market access issues and those relating to the wider business environment.

• Government launches new scheme to help buyers purchase UK-built ships.
• Shipbuilding Credit Guarantee Scheme expected to create hundreds of UK jobs and contribute hundreds of millions to UK economy.
• Part of £4 billion National Shipbuilding Strategy Refresh plan to revitalise UK shipbuilding sector, which contributes £2.8 billion a year to UK economy and supports 42,000 jobs.

A new government scheme to help ship buyers access finance to buy UK-built vessels and upgrade existing ones will boost Britain’s coastal communities.

Through the Shipbuilding Credit Guarantee Scheme (SCGS) the Government will act as a guarantor for lenders, unlocking credit for maritime firms.

It will help to boost the UK shipbuilding industry and drive growth in areas such as Liverpool, Plymouth, the Solent, Rosyth, Clydebank and Belfast.

Minister for Industry and Economic Security Nusrat Ghani said:

Shipbuilding is an integral part of the UK’s industrial identity and through this scheme we are backing our great maritime businesses to get ahead of the competition.

With cutting-edge vessels designed and built here in the UK this will be a boost to high-skilled careers and every company involved in the supply chain for shipbuilding, helping us to grow the economy.

The SCGS is expected to create hundreds of new jobs and contribute hundreds of millions of pounds to the economy, according to government estimates based on the demand for commercial shipbuilding in the UK.

The scheme also forms part of the Government’s £4 billion plan to revitalise UK shipbuilding and coastal communities through the National Shipbuilding Strategy Refresh announced last year.

Industry Minister Nusrat Ghani will formally launch the scheme at an event onboard a Thames Clippers’ boat – built at Wight Shipyard, one of the UK firms which stands to benefit from the new scheme – today (26 July) in London.

The SCGS will guarantee a percentage of the value of loans used to purchase, refit, retrofit or repair vessels, sharing the risk with lenders to encourage offers of finance to UK vessel owners and operators.

Shipbuilding Tsar and Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said:

As I set out in the National Shipbuilding Strategy Refresh, this scheme will help build confidence in UK shipyards, allowing them to invest in the people and the technology to drive productivity forward in this vital sector of the UK economy.

Shipbuilding is hugely important to the UK, supporting 42,600 jobs nationwide and adding £2.4 billion to the economy every single year. A strong domestic sector helps to support the wider economy’s export ambitions, with 95 percent of UK trade moved by sea.

Maritime UK CEO Chris Shirling-Rooke MBE said:

We applaud the Government for delivering on the pledge it made to industry in the National Shipbuilding Strategy Refresh by launching the Shipbuilding Credit Guarantee Scheme.

The SCGS is a massive vote of confidence from government, and it will empower the UK’s shipbuilding enterprise to compete fairly on the global stage in doing what it does best: building Great British ships.

The shipbuilding industry is a growing part of the UK’s new green economy. Supporting the purchase, construction and repair of high-value vessels will encourage continued investment in innovative, sustainable, low-carbon maritime technologies.

Background:

• The Shipbuilding Credit Guarantee Scheme is one of a number of targeted measures being taken as part of the government’s National Shipbuilding Strategy Refresh to encourage ship owners and operators to place new orders and upgrade their existing fleets with the world-leading shipyards that are based up and down the UK.
• Supporting shipbuilding, with its presence from Belfast to Birkenhead, and from Plymouth to Clydebank, builds on the government’s commitments to grow the economy and level up.
• The wider maritime sector employs 113,000 people nationwide and contributes £11 billion to the economy.
• As well as supporting a vast supply chain and sustaining skilled jobs across the UK, the shipbuilding industry delivers world-leading capabilities for the Royal Navy, making a significant contribution to national security.

On 18 July 2023, the United Kingdom and the Republic of India concluded the eleventh round of talks for a UK-India Free Trade Agreement (FTA).

As with previous rounds, this was conducted in a hybrid fashion – a number of Indian officials travelled to London for negotiations and others attended virtually.

On 10-11 July, the Honourable Minister for Commerce and Industry, Government of India, Piyush Goyal, visited the UK as part of the eleventh round of the UK-India FTA negotiations. He met with Rt Hon Kemi Badenoch MP, the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, and Nigel Huddleston MP, the Minister of State for International Trade, where they discussed ways to make progress on the FTA negotiations and wider trade and investment opportunities for the UK and India.

Shri Sunil Barthwal, Commerce Secretary, Government of India also visited the UK during the round. He met with senior UK trade officials and took stock of the progress made in the eleventh round of negotiations.

Technical discussions were held across 9 policy areas over 42 separate sessions. They included detailed draft treaty text discussions in these policy areas.

The twelfth round of negotiations is due to take place in the coming months.

• Minimum Service Levels balance the ability of workers to strike with the rights of the public, who expect essential services they pay for to be there when they need them.
• Government will now launch a public consultation on the reasonable steps unions should take to ensure their members comply with a work notice given by an employer.

The Strikes (Minimum Service Level) Act has today [Thursday 20 July] received Royal Assent in Parliament, ensuring workers maintain the ability to strike whilst giving the public access to the essential services they need.

Government will now proceed with plans to implement minimum service levels for passenger rail services, ambulance services and fire and rescue services.

Minimum service levels will ensure a minimum service operates in specified services during periods of strike action.

This will help protect the safety of the general public and ensure essential services are there when they need them – whether getting the train to work or being able to call an ambulance in times of emergency.

This will follow public consultations on the most appropriate approach for delivering Minimum Service Levels in passenger rail and blue light services. The Government is currently analysing responses and will respond in due course.

A public consultation will also be launched this Summer on the reasonable steps unions must take to comply with a work notice issued by employers under minimum service levels legislation.

This Government firmly believes that the ability to strike is an important part of industrial relations in the UK, rightly protected by law, and understands that an element of disruption is inherent to any strike. But the public expects government to act when their essential services are put at risk.

Business Minister Kevin Hollinrake said:

This legislation is an appropriate balance between the ability to strike, and protecting lives and livelihoods.

The UK remains a world leader for workers’ rights and these new laws will not prevent a union from organising industrial action.

Industrial action has had a strong impact on access to emergency services and the UK economy, resulting in over 600,000 rescheduled medical appointments since December 2022 and at least £1.2 billion lost in the period June 2022-23 according to analysis by the Centre for Economic and Business Research (CEBR).

Following public consultation and approval by both Houses of Parliament, the Government will be able to set minimum service levels within key sectors, including emergency services, border security, education, passenger rail and the nuclear sector.

Rail Minister Huw Merriman said:

The ability of workers to take strike action is an integral part of industrial relations, however, this should not be at the expense of members of the public.

The passing of this Bill will help give passengers certainty that they will be able to make important journeys on a strike day.

When minimum service levels are in force for a specified service, if the relevant trade union gives notice of strike action, employers can issue a work notice ahead of the strike, to specify the workforce required to maintain necessary and safe levels of service. They must consult with the relevant unions on the number of persons and the work to be specified in the work notice and take their views into account before issuing the work notice.