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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The Department recognises the opportunities presented by AI while ensuring that accessibility and quality remain central to the procurement of services. The Government Communications guidance on using BSL was also updated in October 2026 and provides advice on commissioning and quality assuring BSL content. We will continue to consider developments in AI alongside accessibility, quality and the needs of BSL users.

The Department has not made a specific assessment of the potential competition impact described. Responsibility for investigating competition issues in digital markets falls to Competition and Markets Authority, the UK’s principal competition authority with responsibility for operating the digital markets regime.

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.

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.

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.

The Department has not made an assessment of the potential impact on UK businesses of the requirement to accept Meta's revised website-crawling provisions or cease using its commercial services. Responsibility for investigating competition issues falls to Competition and Markets Authority, the UK’s principal competition authority.

On 30 October the Competition and Markets Authority opened an investigation into Meta's commercial terms using its Competition Act 1998 (CA98) powers.

Neither Ministers or officials have had any meetings with Meta specifically regarding its revised Commercial Terms and the use of content to train artificial intelligence products.

Responsibility for investigating competition issues falls to Competition and Markets Authority, the UK’s principal competition authority. On 30 October the Competition and Markets Authority opened an investigation into Meta's commercial terms using its Competition Act 1998 (CA98) powers.

On 30 October the Competition and Markets Authority opened an investigation into Meta's commercial terms using its Competition Act 1998 (CA98) powers.

The Government is supporting UK AI research businesses to reduce their costs. The AI Research Resource provides eligible UK small and medium-sized enterprises and researchers with free specialist AI compute for research projects.

Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, provides funding to enable businesses to undertake high-risk research and development and access compute, alongside shared datasets and evaluation assets that reduce duplication and data-development costs. Through the Catapult Network and wider ecosystem partners, businesses can also access specialist expertise, testing, assurance and real-world environments, which can reduce the cost of AI development and deployment and accelerate routes to market.

The Minister for Artificial Intelligence, joint Minister in BIST and the Cabinet Office, leads on Sovereign AI. The Government will continue to keep Parliament informed of progress on AI sovereignty through mechanisms including ministerial statements, responses to Parliamentary Questions, appearances before Select Committees, and published updates.

The project was contracted by the European Space Agency on Friday 23 October 2026 and delivery is now due to commence. As the project is at an early stage, none of the allocated funding has been spent and it has not yet delivered on its objectives. The activity will now proceed in line with the contracted project schedule through the European Space Agency. The Government will monitor delivery as the project moves into implementation as part of its management of ESA programmes.

UK Export Finance (UKEF) keeps its product offer constantly under review. UKEF has considered this problem and has not observed sufficient evidence of any significant gap in the existing market that UKEF could fill while fulfilling its remit to provide support for viable exports at no net cost to the taxpayer.

The Small Business Commissioner maintains an ongoing dialogue with Amazon on issues affecting small businesses, including cases where funds are withheld. Amazon has advised that implementation of its DD+7 policy has been delayed to provide the remaining sellers transferring to the policy additional time to prepare. The policy remains a contractual matter between Amazon and its sellers.

There is no general requirement for an office-holder to notify a proposed defendant before assigning a claim.

Regulation 13 of the Insolvency Practitioners Regulations 2005 sets out that insolvency practitioners must maintain records sufficient to explain material decisions taken during the administration of a case. These records must be retained for six years after the office-holder’s release.

Following assignment, there is no general statutory duty to provide new information. Any obligations will depend on the terms of the assignment or directions of the Court. Recognised Professional Bodies monitor insolvency practitioners’ compliance with professional obligations.

There is no general requirement for an office-holder to notify a proposed defendant before assigning a claim.

Regulation 13 of the Insolvency Practitioners Regulations 2005 sets out that insolvency practitioners must maintain records sufficient to explain material decisions taken during the administration of a case. These records must be retained for six years after the office-holder’s release.

Following assignment, there is no general statutory duty to provide new information. Any obligations will depend on the terms of the assignment or directions of the Court. Recognised Professional Bodies monitor insolvency practitioners’ compliance with professional obligations.

There is no general requirement for an office-holder to notify a proposed defendant before assigning a claim.

Regulation 13 of the Insolvency Practitioners Regulations 2005 sets out that insolvency practitioners must maintain records sufficient to explain material decisions taken during the administration of a case. These records must be retained for six years after the office-holder’s release.

Following assignment, there is no general statutory duty to provide new information. Any obligations will depend on the terms of the assignment or directions of the Court. Recognised Professional Bodies monitor insolvency practitioners’ compliance with professional obligations.

The Government is currently reviewing consultation responses to inform the next steps in policy development. Officials have regularly engaged with businesses, fire services, consumer organisations, and other interested groups before and during the consultation process and are continuing to do so as policy proposals are refined.

The Government will publish a formal response to the consultation setting out further details and next steps in due course.

The Government is currently reviewing consultation responses to inform the next steps in policy development. Officials have regularly engaged with businesses, fire services, consumer organisations, and other interested groups before and during the consultation process and are continuing to do so as policy proposals are refined.

The Government will publish a formal response to the consultation setting out further details and next steps in due course.

Memory is essential to advanced computing and artificial intelligence (AI), and global production is concentrated in a small number of overseas markets. The Government's approach is to strengthen the United Kingdom's sovereign capability where it has competitive advantages, such as chip design, photonics and advanced materials, and to improve resilience through trusted international partnerships. The UK AI Hardware Plan puts this into practice, with memory and data-storage technologies within its scope. The plan is backed by over £1.1 billion of investment, including £120 million for innovation and £750 million for a new heterogeneous supercomputer, £400 million of which will procure next-generation chips.

On 24 October, as part of the Budget, the Chancellor announced investment in home-grown AI firms and AI security and resilience. The Government is supporting UK AI businesses to grow and building domestic capability, in line with the Industrial Strategy. International investment is also critical to the UK’s AI sector, helping to finance the infrastructure, talent and innovation needed for growth. We will continue to use the best technology and welcome inward investment. As AI evolves, we will maintain a proportionate and agile approach to support growth and protect UK interests.

The use of different types of AI models can have different implications for data protection and privacy. Open-weight models can be hosted locally, giving organisations greater control over how data is processed. However, all AI models can present security, privacy and data protection risks that need to be appropriately managed, including around their provenance, potential biases, and the protection of personal data.

The Government provides a range of guidance, resources and standards to support the responsible use of AI across the public sector.

The UK takes an actor and technology-agnostic approach to protecting publicly funded research from loss, misuse or exploitation. Several legislative measures provide safeguards for research institutions working in areas of greater risk. Export control guidance, for example, explicitly recognises that applied research can be misused for military purposes and that controlled technology or software may require an export licence.

Additionally, BIST’s Research Collaboration Advice Team (RCAT) provides advice to research institutions on the national security risks linked to international research. This includes advice to help safeguard valuable UK research, knowledge and intellectual property.

A comprehensive approach was used to identify eligible HS codes for the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme. Eligibility requires manufacturers to operate under an eligible Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code and produce a product covered by an eligible Harmonised System (HS) code.

An initial list of HS codes was published for consultation, which identified further codes for consideration. Both the initial and suggested codes underwent a multi-stage assessment against the narrative definition of the relevant frontier or foundational industry and additional eligibility questions. Consultation responses and supporting research informed these assessments, which determined the final list of eligible HS products.

The Government is committed to ensuring that environmental regulation supports both our environmental objectives and the competitiveness of UK manufacturing. We are reforming our regulatory system through our regulatory action plan to create a regulatory environment that is proportionate, predictable and supportive of investment and growth whilst maintaining essential protections for consumers and the environment.

Defra consulted on modernising environmental permitting for industry in August 2025. These reforms will support Britain’s re-industrialisation and the delivery of our Modern Industrial Strategy by modernising environmental regulation of industry to help get Britain building, deliver clean energy, and improve public health and the environment. The reforms will enable innovation through regulatory sandboxes for R&D trials, reduce the regulatory burden on many businesses and streamline outdated guidance to support investment, and support deployment of clean power through proportionate and risk-based regulation of new technologies.

Defra published the government response to its August 2025 consultation on modernising environmental permitting for industry, on 15 April 2026. Work with stakeholders on the reforms is now underway with further announcements on the detail of reforms and regulatory changes planned for 2027.

The Government recognises the importance of high quality aluminium scrap to UK manufacturing, circularity and supply chain resilience. Through the Metals Circularity Group, the Department is working with industry, academia, regulators and other government departments, including HM Treasury and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, to gather evidence on the challenges facing UK scrap markets. This includes topics such as levels of scrap exports, domestic processing capacity, and barriers to investment and competitiveness. The Group's work will inform the development of policy recommendations to Ministers.

By financial year, the following volume of notifications have been accepted under the NSIA involving investors linked to the People’s Republic of China. Data on notifications received broken down by country is published in the NSIA Annual Report. The figures below include notifications for acquisitions of both UK businesses and UK assets.

2021/22: not reported

2022/23: 33

2023/24: 27

2024/25: 22

2025/26: 20

Data covering the 2026/27 financial year will be published in next year’s report.

There is no general statutory requirement for an insolvency practitioner to check with, or defer to, an ongoing Insolvency Service investigation before assigning a civil claim. Insolvency practitioners are, however, subject to statutory reporting requirements concerning the conduct of directors of insolvent companies, including a requirement to provide relevant new information to the Secretary of State. These obligations continue to apply where the information concerns matters which also give rise to a potential claim.

The Department considers that existing legal and regulatory measures provide appropriate safeguards. Insolvency office holders are qualified and regulated professionals, subject to statutory duties, professional standards, and court oversight.

The Insolvency Act 1986 allows for rights of action to be assigned, and case law supports the transfer of necessary information to pursue the claim.

The transfer of information remains governed by the Data Protection Act 2018 and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Where the office holder considers it necessary, they may make an application to the court for permission before providing confidential information to the assignee.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) research helps protect public health by developing new treatments, diagnostics, vaccines and prevention strategies to combat infections that no longer respond to existing antimicrobial medicines.

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) funds a wide range of funding programmes across the organisation to improve our understanding of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and deliver innovative solutions to this growing global challenge.

In July 2026, UKRI announced the outcomes of STFC's prioritisation exercise, detailing the decisions taken across its portfolio to reach a balanced position by 2029/2030 while protecting the facilities, capabilities and research strengths most critical to its mission. Among these is Diamond Light Source, which provides national-scale infrastructure for structural biology, drug discovery, imaging and biological materials research that support a range of life science research areas including tackling AMR.

The Insolvency Service does not hold figures for the total number of complaints investigated by Recognised Professional Bodies (RPBs). It records complaints referred to RPBs through the Insolvency Practitioner Complaints Gateway:

These figures do not represent the total number of RPB investigations. Investigations may also arise following regulatory inspections or intelligence received from other sources and not every Gateway referral results in an investigation; the RPB determines whether further investigation is appropriate under its regulatory processes.

The Insolvency Service does not record assignment of claims as a separate category of complaint.

Recognised Professional Bodies (RPBs) can investigate complaints about an insolvency practitioner’s conduct when carrying out their duties where that conduct falls short of professional or ethical standards.

This can include the practitioner’s conduct in deciding to assign a claim notwithstanding that ownership of the claim has subsequently transferred.

The Insolvency Practitioner Complaints Gateway considers whether a complaint raises a disciplinary matter for referral to the relevant RPB. Neither the Gateway nor the RPBs determine commercial or legal disputes, including disputes about ownership of a claim or the validity of its assignment, which are generally matters for the courts.

Where a claim belonging to an insolvent company is assigned to another party, the assignee must be able to establish its legal entitlement to pursue that claim. The validity and effect of an assignment are governed by the applicable law, including, where relevant, section 136 of the Law of Property Act 1925. This provides requirements for the legal assignment of debts and other choses in action, including written assignment and written notice. Where entitlement is disputed, it can ultimately be determined by the courts. Insolvency practitioners are also subject to professional and regulatory requirements when dealing with assets of an insolvent estate.

The EU Cloud and AI Development Act (CADA) proposes draft measures which are going through the EU legislative process for amendments. We are working with like-minded partners across the EU to ensure the final outcome guarantees continued access to Europe’s digital markets

The costs for companies aligning with the sovereignty requirements in CADA will depend on the final proposals, which we expect to see in 2027.

I refer the Rt. hon. Member to the answer I gave on 23 October to question UIN 30469.

The Department holds a readout of the meeting involving Flint Global. Standard routes for requesting recorded information held by the Department are available. James Purnell attended the 4 March 2025 meeting referenced in the transparency return.

The Government has announced its intention to introduce measures under the Protection of Trading Interests (PTI) legislation as part of the UK’s response to specified Argentine measures targeting lawful commercial activity linked to the Falkland Islands. These measures are not directed at business activity taking place in Argentina. PTI will provide additional protection for UK businesses against attempts to compel compliance with specified Argentine measures applied outside Argentina’s jurisdiction, including by providing legal grounds for UK persons to seek recovery of damages arising from their application.

His Majesty's Government is aware of several companies affected by recent Argentine actions relating to the Falkland Islands. We are working closely with affected businesses to understand their concerns and provide support.

The Falkland Islands are British and our support for the Islanders’ right of self-determination and lawful economic development is unwavering. We reject Argentina’s attempts to apply its domestic legislation extraterritorially to obstruct lawful economic activity connected with the Falkland Islands. The Government has announced its intention to introduce measures under the Protection of Trading Interests (PTI) legislation as part of the UK’s response to specified Argentine measures.

The UK economy thrives as a result of inward investment, and the vast majority of investment into this country poses no threat to national security.

The National Security and Investment (NSI) Act 2021 gives the government powers to scrutinise and potentially intervene in acquisitions of control over entities asset in or linked to the UK that may pose national security risks.

The powers under the Act cover all areas of the economy. For some deals involving companies operating in 17 sensitive areas of the economy, acquirers must notify the deal to the Government and receive clearance before the deal can be concluded.