Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, pursuant to the Department's Answer to Question 36404, when his Department intends to next meet with Royal Mail to discuss the NHS barcode option.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Minister of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)
Ministers meet with Royal Mail regularly in its capacity as the universal service provider and I have been frank in my conversations with the company’s leadership, and with my statements to the House in recent debates, that service performance has been unacceptable for too long and that the pace of improvement must increase including in relation to concerns about the NHS barcode system.
The Secretary of State and I met with Royal Mail and the Communication Workers Union on 3 November 2026, and we stressed the importance of management and the workforce working together constructively to improve service going forward.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what estimate he has made of the annual cost to consumers of rogue traders operating in the home improvements and fitted interiors sector.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Minister of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)
The 2024 Consumer Detriment Survey suggests £10.3bn of net monetised consumer detriment within the Home Improvement sector.
Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, services must be performed with reasonable care and skill, with remedies where these standards are not met. We have supported the Furniture and Home Improvement Ombudsman’s new Approved Code, requiring participating businesses to meet robust standards of workmanship, transparency and dispute resolution.
The Government is working with Trader Recommendation Platforms to strengthen trader verification, monitoring and complaints handling, while developing longer-term reforms to improve consumer advice, redress and the ability of Trading Standards to tackle rogue operators.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what steps he is taking to protect consumers from poor-quality installation work.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Minister of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)
The 2024 Consumer Detriment Survey suggests £10.3bn of net monetised consumer detriment within the Home Improvement sector.
Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, services must be performed with reasonable care and skill, with remedies where these standards are not met. We have supported the Furniture and Home Improvement Ombudsman’s new Approved Code, requiring participating businesses to meet robust standards of workmanship, transparency and dispute resolution.
The Government is working with Trader Recommendation Platforms to strengthen trader verification, monitoring and complaints handling, while developing longer-term reforms to improve consumer advice, redress and the ability of Trading Standards to tackle rogue operators.
Asked by: Michelle Scrogham (Labour - Barrow and Furness)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what steps he is taking to ensure independent hospitality businesses can access the Hospitality Support Fund.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Minister of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)
The Hospitality Support Fund supports projects delivering wider benefits for hospitality businesses and communities, rather than funding individual businesses’ commercial expansion or refurbishment.
Eligible applicants include charities, not-for-profit organisations, social enterprises, SMEs acting as delivery partners, local authorities, public bodies and accountable organisations leading consortia. Independent hospitality businesses can benefit through projects delivered by these organisations.
The first application window closed on 13 October 2026, and applications are being assessed. A further competitive funding window is expected in early 2027.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what recent discussions he has made with representatives from the fitted interiors and installation sector on a) standards, b) workforce competency and c) consumer protection.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade) (Jointly with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
BIST published its Construction Jobs Plan in October 2026. This sets out how government, industry and delivery partners will work together to deliver outcomes that increase the capacity and capability of the construction sector.
Embedding competence is a key industry commitment of the jobs plan. Driving this is the Building Safety legal requirement to demonstrate competence. The construction industry, including the interiors and installation sector, is developing competence frameworks to increase competence expectations, accountability and continuous professional development.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what plans he has in place to ensure the long-term future of the postal service.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Minister of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)
The postal service connects every community, and we are committed to its future. Ofcom, the independent regulator, has a statutory duty under the Postal Services Act 2011 to secure a financially sustainable and efficient universal postal service.
Ofcom announced changes to modernise the universal service obligation in July 2025, and Royal Mail is still implementing its new operational model. On 16 October Ofcom proposed extending its price cap on Second Class letters for a further year, until March 2028, while it develops a stronger evidence base for its long-term approach to the affordability, sustainability, and reliability of the universal service.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what support his Department is providing to help small and medium-sized enterprises in Leicestershire to scale up and expand into international markets.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade) (Jointly with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is committed to helping small and medium-sized enterprises in Leicestershire and across the UK scale up and expand internationally. The Department has brought together business and export support through the Business Growth Service (BGS), providing tailored market advice, free Business Academy training and support from our international network to help businesses navigate global markets and seize opportunities.
Leicestershire businesses can access BGS support and free, impartial advice through Business Gateway, their local Growth Hub, at every stage of their business journey.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, pursuant to the answer of 9 October 2026, to Question 28792, on International Court of Justice, if he will place in the Library a copy of the transcript or speaking notes for the oral statement by HM Government on 7 October 2025 to the International Court of Justice on the right to strike under the ILO Convention.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Minister of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)
The Government delivered its oral statement before the International Court of Justice on 7 October 2025 in proceedings concerning the right to strike under International Labour Organization Convention No. 87. A verbatim record of the hearing, including the United Kingdom's oral statement, has been published by the International Court of Justice and is available at the following link: https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/191/191-20251007-ora-02-00-bi.pdf.
As the record is already publicly available, the Government does not plan to place a copy in the Library of the House.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of Royal Mail’s complaints process, including the time taken to resolve complaints about lost and severely delayed items; and whether he plans to require postal operators to resolve complaints within a fixed timeframe.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Minister of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)
Ofcom, as the independent regulator, is responsible for monitoring and assessing the adequacy of Royal Mail’s complaints process. While the government is not involved in Ofcom’s decisions, we support the clear guidance it has put in place on complaints handling processes.
The government has also been clear that some operators need to do more to meet the expectations of their customers including when things go wrong. Ofcom has recognised growing public concerns about operators’ delivery performance and has written to, and met with, the main companies to remind them of their consumer protection obligations and to obtain additional information on their compliance.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what fiscal steps he plans to take to support the food manufacturing industry in Lincolnshire.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Minister of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)
The Government recognises the important contribution made by food and drink manufacturers in Lincolnshire and across the UK. Decisions on fiscal policy are a matter for the Chancellor and HM Treasury. The Government continues to support the sector through measures designed to improve the business environment, encourage investment and support growth.