Lord Elliott of Ballinamallard (UUP)

My Lords, I welcome the opportunity to speak in this debate and to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Chapman, who made some very interesting points—some of which I do not agree with, but that is politics. It is quite clear that there is a UK conformity assessment in this legislation. It is not going to be as simple as some people try to make out; that is the difficulty that we have. I agree with the noble Baroness, Lady Chapman, that some people may see the Windsor Framework as positive in the business sense. Many others do not, and that is the difficulty. If you are running a small or medium-sized business, the extra burden of administration and bureaucracy put on to you sometimes makes it hugely difficult to find your way around it. The second issue, which has been mentioned by a number of speakers, is the control that there will be on those who break the law. There will very severe penalties that, as has been highlighted, the UK will have no control over. I note that the instrument did not require a full consultation and that the de minimis amount has been put on it regarding costs. I am not sure what all that covers. Maybe the Minister can help us out and say what the best estimates are. I see the estimates in the legislation, but I am not sure whether they are the full amount. My final point goes back to the management of the entire Windsor Framework process. The noble Lord, Lord Murphy, who is in the Chamber, had a report out last year. He stated: “The UK Government should work to make Windsor Framework related guidance accessible in a single ‘all-in-one service’ and do more to signpost businesses, especially small to medium-sized businesses, towards this support”. I am not sure that has taken place yet. I am not sure whether there has been any progress on it. I would like to hear from the Minister about this. It will not resolve the issue of divergence between the UK and Northern Ireland, but it would, at least in the meantime, help small and medium-sized businesses in Northern Ireland by signposting to them so that they get the proper help and security they may need. I would like to hear whether there has been some progress on that.