Feb. 04 2026
Source Page: I. UK FTA [Free Trade Agreement] monitoring report. Final report. 81p.II. Letter dated 28/01/2026 from Chris Bryant MP to Liam Byrne MP regarding the Free Trade Agreement monitoring report covering the UK-Australia, UK-New Zealand and UK-Japan FTAs. 1p.Feb. 04 2026
Source Page: I. UK FTA [Free Trade Agreement] monitoring report. Final report. 81p.II. Letter dated 28/01/2026 from Chris Bryant MP to Liam Byrne MP regarding the Free Trade Agreement monitoring report covering the UK-Australia, UK-New Zealand and UK-Japan FTAs. 1p.Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment has been made of the average administrative cost per cross-border haulage journey arising from (a) certification and (b) documentation requirements into the European Union.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department for Business and Trade has not undertaken an assessment of the administrative costs incurred by UK haulage operators. However, we continue to engage with businesses to understand and resolve the barriers they face in trading with the EU. We are also making strong progress on last year’s historic agreement with the EU that is good for bills, jobs, and our borders.
HMRC provides data on customs administrative burdens: Estimating the customs administrative burden of 2022 declarations - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent assessment has been made of the economic costs arising from paper-based certification requirements for UK haulage operators trading with the European Union.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department for Business and Trade has not undertaken an assessment of the administrative costs incurred by UK haulage operators. However, we continue to engage with businesses to understand and resolve the barriers they face in trading with the EU. We are also making strong progress on last year’s historic agreement with the EU that is good for bills, jobs, and our borders.
HMRC provides data on customs administrative burdens: Estimating the customs administrative burden of 2022 declarations - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent discussions his Department has had with the European Union on reducing barriers related to product testing and certification.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The government remains committed to tackling barriers to trade, including through implementation of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA), to bring benefits to businesses and achieve economic growth. DBT holds regular engagement with the EU, including through the UK-EU Specialised Committee on Technical barriers to Trade (TBT). This joint forum ensures the proper functioning of the TCA’s TBT chapter, and provides the opportunity to hold technical discussions and exchange information on topics such as regulatory developments, conformity assessment and product safety. The most recent committee was held on the 22 October 2025 and minutes of the meeting will be published shortly.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to his answer of 28 January 2026 to Question 107450, if he will publish a breakdown of the administration and programme expenditure for 2024/5 in the categories of "Subsidies to private sector companies" and "Current grants to persons and non-profit (net)".
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The requested breakdowns are below:
CURRENT GRANTS TO PERSONS AND NON-PROFIT (NET)
Description | Capital DEL (£000) | Resource DEL (Programme) (£000) | Total (£000) |
Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) | 180,149 | - | 180,149 |
Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC) | 68,688 | 116 | 68,804 |
Citizens Advice | - | 42,317 | 42,317 |
Automotive Transformation Fund (ATF) | 26,044 | 1,915 | 27,959 |
Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CCAV) | 24,356 | 531 | 24,887 |
Help to Grow | - | 20,913 | 20,913 |
Consumer advocacy for Energy, Post and cross-sector | - | 19,502 | 19,502 |
National Trading Standards (NTS) | - | 12,518 | 12,518 |
Global Centre of Rail Excellence | 6,865 | - | 6,865 |
Exceptional Regional Growth Fund (eRGF) | 3,000 | 2,651 | 5,651 |
Music Export Growth Scheme | - | 2,983 | 2,983 |
Materials Processing Institute | 2,042 | - | 2,042 |
The British Standards Institution | - | 1,896 | 1,896 |
Convention of Scottish Local Authorities | - | 1,301 | 1,301 |
Other | 2,053 | 6,480 | 8,533 |
| 313,197 | 113,123 | 426,320 |
SUBSIDIES TO PRIVATE SECTOR COMPANIES
Description | Capital DEL (£000) | Resource DEL (Programme) (£000) | Total (£000) |
Energy Intensive Industries (EII) Compensation Scheme | - | 141,679 | 141,679 |
Postmaster Horizon redress-Suspension Renumeration Review-Provision utilisation | - | 8,979 | 8,979 |
Other | - | 23 | 23 |
| - | 150,681 | 150,681 |
CAPITAL GRANTS TO PRIVATE SECTOR COMPANIES (NET)
Description | Capital DEL (£000) | Resource DEL (Programme) (£000) | Total (£000) |
Movement on financial guarantee liabilities-Growth Guarantee Scheme | 62,332 | - | 62,332 |
Exceptional Regional Growth Fund (eRGF) | 34,766 | - | 34,766 |
Steel infrastructure | 15,263 | - | 15,263 |
Automotive Transformation Fund (ATF) | 7,930 | - | 7,930 |
Called financial guarantees-Enterprise Financial Guarantee Scheme | 6,099 | - | 6,099 |
| 126,390 | - | 126,390 |
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to his answer of 28 January 2026 Question 107135, if he will publish a breakdown of the £126m in CDEL outturn for 2024/5 in the category of "Capital grants to private sector companies (net)".
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The requested breakdowns are below:
CURRENT GRANTS TO PERSONS AND NON-PROFIT (NET)
Description | Capital DEL (£000) | Resource DEL (Programme) (£000) | Total (£000) |
Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) | 180,149 | - | 180,149 |
Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC) | 68,688 | 116 | 68,804 |
Citizens Advice | - | 42,317 | 42,317 |
Automotive Transformation Fund (ATF) | 26,044 | 1,915 | 27,959 |
Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CCAV) | 24,356 | 531 | 24,887 |
Help to Grow | - | 20,913 | 20,913 |
Consumer advocacy for Energy, Post and cross-sector | - | 19,502 | 19,502 |
National Trading Standards (NTS) | - | 12,518 | 12,518 |
Global Centre of Rail Excellence | 6,865 | - | 6,865 |
Exceptional Regional Growth Fund (eRGF) | 3,000 | 2,651 | 5,651 |
Music Export Growth Scheme | - | 2,983 | 2,983 |
Materials Processing Institute | 2,042 | - | 2,042 |
The British Standards Institution | - | 1,896 | 1,896 |
Convention of Scottish Local Authorities | - | 1,301 | 1,301 |
Other | 2,053 | 6,480 | 8,533 |
| 313,197 | 113,123 | 426,320 |
SUBSIDIES TO PRIVATE SECTOR COMPANIES
Description | Capital DEL (£000) | Resource DEL (Programme) (£000) | Total (£000) |
Energy Intensive Industries (EII) Compensation Scheme | - | 141,679 | 141,679 |
Postmaster Horizon redress-Suspension Renumeration Review-Provision utilisation | - | 8,979 | 8,979 |
Other | - | 23 | 23 |
| - | 150,681 | 150,681 |
CAPITAL GRANTS TO PRIVATE SECTOR COMPANIES (NET)
Description | Capital DEL (£000) | Resource DEL (Programme) (£000) | Total (£000) |
Movement on financial guarantee liabilities-Growth Guarantee Scheme | 62,332 | - | 62,332 |
Exceptional Regional Growth Fund (eRGF) | 34,766 | - | 34,766 |
Steel infrastructure | 15,263 | - | 15,263 |
Automotive Transformation Fund (ATF) | 7,930 | - | 7,930 |
Called financial guarantees-Enterprise Financial Guarantee Scheme | 6,099 | - | 6,099 |
| 126,390 | - | 126,390 |
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent discussions he has had with motorsport manufacturers and related bodies on growing the sector in the UK.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The UK’s globally recognised motorsport cluster continues to play a vital role in driving engineering excellence and supporting investment across the automotive sector. DBT Ministers have engaged on issues affecting the UK motorsports sector, including a cross‑Whitehall F1 Ministerial Roundtable on 15 January 2024, where Ministers discussed industry priorities with F1 and government partners. The Department engages regularly with the Motorsports Industry Association (MIA) and motorsport manufacturers as part of our wider work to support the UK’s world leading high performance engineering sector. These discussions cover support for innovation, supply chain competitiveness and opportunities for growth through export support and technology‑focused trade missions.