Lord Leong (Lab)

My Lords, I thank all noble Lords for the warm welcome to this statutory instrument. In fact, when I was asked to take this SI, I thought it would be happening in Grand Committee and we would probably look at it for half an hour and then complete it, but obviously we have wider issues to consider today. I am grateful for the support given from across the House to these regulations. I thank all noble Lords for their consideration of this instrument and all their excellent questions and contributions. I will respond to as many of the questions posed as possible and, if I run out of time, I will obviously write to noble Lords accordingly. I shall first address the issue of the Windsor Framework. Look, is the Windsor Framework perfect? Of course it is not; nothing is perfect, other than being in a single market and customs union—we are not there and that boat has sailed—but it is definitely better than the Northern Ireland protocol. What is important here is that the Windsor Framework has delivered substantial improvements to the operation of the Northern Ireland protocol. It has removed routine checks for the overwhelming majority of goods moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, ensured that supermarket shelves are stocked normally, secured long-term continuity of medicine supplies and restored the free flow of parcels for households and businesses. At the same time, the Government have always been clear that the Windsor Framework is not the end of the journey but a significant step forward. There remain areas where further work with the EU is required, particularly around the practical implementation of the red and green lane arrangements and certain aspects of agrifood certification. We continue to engage constructively through the Joint Committee to reduce burdens where possible, provide clarity to businesses and ensure that the framework operates in a way that fully supports Northern Ireland’s place in the UK’s internal market. On the point made by the noble Baroness, Lady Hoey, about consultation and engagement for business, my officials regularly and continuously engage and consult with businesses, and they have found that many businesses are already coming into compliance. They have also issued guidance to support industry. These engagements include UK retail and trade associations representing, for example, the manufacturers of small and large domestic appliances. They reported that there were no particular problems from this instrument relating to its impending GB-to-NI trade that they were aware of from discussions with their member companies. They also welcome the Government’s guidance and confirmation that products can continue to be placed on the GB market as long as they comply with the requirements of the PSTI Act, where relevant. In addition, the Government share the EU’s desire to ensure that manufacturers are considering measures to improve the cybersecurity of relevant devices. We are also looking at further options for securing digital devices, as evidenced by our recent call for views on enterprise-connected devices, and will take into account arrangements in Northern Ireland, including impacts on SMEs. The noble Baroness, Lady Hoey, mentioned dual access, and said it was a myth and that companies were not investing. I disagree. Just last month, the parcel delivery company Evri announced the opening of a new £1.3 million EU gateway depot in Mallusk, creating something like 650 jobs, which Evri itself said would enable it to avail itself of dual market access. The noble Lord, Lord Dodds, asked about new cars, a subject that I think was in today’s papers. The Government are engaging closely with manufacturers to better understand what is needed to sell vehicles on the market in Northern Ireland, and we expect to make a further announcement on the next steps. The noble Lord also asked whether this would create divergence between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK. We consider that the additional legislative requirements that this SI puts in place in Northern Ireland will have limited impact in practice. My officials have engaged in discussions with a range of industry stakeholders, such as the AMDEA, which is the UK trade association for domestic appliances, the British Retail Consortium and government departments. These discussions have not identified any significant impacts or concerns for this instrument. Many businesses across the UK have already adapted to the new requirements. We therefore do not anticipate significant impacts on the supply of products from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.