Lord Davies of Abersoch: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is committed to providing British companies with information on a range of security related issues they might face when operating or investing overseas. On 1 May the Government launched a new product, titled Overseas Security Information for Business (OSIB), which will provide this information free of charge through the website of UK Trade and...
Lord Davies of Abersoch: No conflicts of interest have been identified.
Lord Davies of Abersoch: There has been regular contact with Magna and none with Oleg Deripaska in respect of Vauxhall production.
Lord Davies of Abersoch: My right honourable friend the Minister of State (Business) (Pat McFadden) has made the following Statement. The EU Competitiveness Council took place in Brussels on 28 and 29 May 2009. The then Minister for Trade and Consumer Affairs represented the UK on the morning of 28 May, covering the then BERR agenda items on EU Industry Policy and EU Small Business Act. In the afternoon session,...
Lord Davies of Abersoch: My honourable friend the Minister of State for Trade, Development and Consumer Affairs (Gareth Thomas) has today made the following Statement. The following Statement provides information on the EU Informal Competitiveness Council which took place in Prague on 5 May 2009, at which my official Claire Durkin, director of Europe International Trade and Development, at BERR represented the UK....
Lord Davies of Abersoch: My right honourable friend the Minister of State for Employment Relations and Postal Affairs (Pat McFadden) has today made the following Statement. In March 2008 the Government asked the Low Pay Commission to produce their next report on the national minimum wage by the end of February 2009. Due to the exceptional economic circumstances the Low Pay Commission asked the Government for more...
Lord Davies of Abersoch: My right honourable friend the Minister of State for Employment Relations and Postal Affairs has made the following Statement. The Government firmly believe that the blacklisting of trade unionists has no place in a modern system of employment relations. Individuals should not be systematically and secretly victimised for their trade union membership and for engaging in the activities of a...
Lord Davies of Abersoch: My honourable friend the Economic and Business Minister (Ian Pearson) has today made the following Statement. The Government have today agreed to make available a one-off £5 million bridging loan facility to prevent LDV going into administration, and to facilitate the purchase of the company by Weststar of Malaysia. Weststar's proposed purchase of LDV offers the only credible chance of...
Lord Davies of Abersoch: My right honourable friend the Minister of State for Employment Relations and Postal Affairs (Mr Pat McFadden) has made the following Statement. I am pleased to announce that I have decided to appoint two new business position RDA board members to the East of England Development Agency and the East Midlands Development Agency. RDA Board member new appointees East of England Development...
Lord Davies of Abersoch: My Lords, on behalf of Her Majesty's Government, I thank my noble friend Lord Gavron for explaining the background and the purpose of his Bill. In reply to my noble friend Lord Donoughue—the only career I think he has not done is estate agency—there is very little negative comment from my officials in what I am about to say. Over the past few months, unsurprisingly, in the US and Europe...
Lord Davies of Abersoch: My Lords, the Government aim to improve the economic performance of all English regions and reduce the gap in economic growth rates between regions. We have devolved decision-making to the most appropriate geographical levels and are tackling the barriers to economic growth in the regions. We have given the regional development agencies a stronger focus on achieving regional growth and...
Lord Davies of Abersoch: My Lords, it is critical to make sure that there is not a divide between the north and the south. The introduction of regional development agencies over the past decade has narrowed the gap in growth rates between the south and the north but there is still more to do. I was in Newcastle last week, an area that has been regenerated. We have to make sure that there is co-operation between the...
Lord Davies of Abersoch: My Lords, I shall begin by saying, "Prynhawm da", which means "Good afternoon". The SME sector is critical to a thriving economy. I met the Small Business Federation last week. There is no doubt that the RDAs need to work closely with all SMEs. I cannot make any comment on what the Chancellor has in mind but this is clearly an important aspect to look at. I thank the noble Lord for his comments.
Lord Davies of Abersoch: My Lords, the RDAs were set up in 1999 and in the past 10 years we have spent about £15 billion on them. We have spent about £2 billion a year. When one compares their performance against the EU 15, they have done very well. We have had three independent reviews of the RDAs: by the National Audit Office, by a Select Committee in the other House and now by PWC, in a report published...
Lord Davies of Abersoch: My Lords, as the Minister for Trade and therefore responsible for UKTI, I see it as fundamental to my role to ensure that it is working with the regional development agencies and the local authorities. I believe that it is. Look at the international co-ordination that is going on; that is why the UK has been so successful in attracting inward investment. It is the partnership between UKTI and...
Lord Davies of Abersoch: My Lords, we had about 40 inquiries about the automotive assistance programme and we are working though those proposals as we speak. About £1 billion of working capital loans are going through the working capital scheme. The noble Lord omitted to mention the enterprise finance scheme, which has been taken up by more than 1,300 businesses. A whole series of measures have been put in place to...
Lord Davies of Abersoch: My Lords, I will answer this one very carefully. Our economy has changed significantly over the past 10 to 20 years. There is no doubt that in areas such as advanced engineering we now excel. We have to ensure that we are training and skilling up the right workforce, which is why we are putting a focus on apprenticeships and why I as the Minister am spending a huge amount of time with the...
Lord Davies of Abersoch: My Lords, three independent reviews have all said that they are adding value. Their boards are accountable, and they are working very closely with the local authorities. We believe that that is sufficient.
Lord Davies of Abersoch: In accordance with government policy on trade and regulation of defence exports, Her Majesty's Government are supporting the United Kingdom defence and security industry in bidding for contracts for the re-equipment of the Iraqi armed forces. This support has involved hosting delegations of senior Iraqi officials and officers in the UK, logistical support to companies visiting Iraq, inviting...
Lord Davies of Abersoch: My right honourable friend the Minister of State for Employment Relations and Postal Affairs (Pat McFadden) has made the following Statement. I am today launching a consultation on proposed amendments to the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003. These regulations govern the conduct of the private recruitment industry and set minimum standards for...