Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department has made an assessment of the sectoral economic impact of US tariffs.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
My department has been assessing the impact of US tariffs on the economy. This includes sector-by-sector impact assessments and scenario modelling. We are constantly engaging directly with businesses from across all sectors to gather real time intelligence on the impact of tariffs to directly inform our discussions with the US and the ways that we support UK businesses in this rapidly changing environment.
This analysis underpinned our agreement of the Economic Prosperity Deal (EPD), which protects jobs in the automotive, steel, aluminium, pharmaceutical and aerospace sectors - sectors that employ over 320,000 people across the UK.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 4 September 2025 to Question 72359 on Economic Situation: Subversion, what progress he has made in establishing a supply chain centre.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The government has announced its intention to launch a Supply Chain Centre within the Department of Business and Trade. Work is now underway to establish the Centre, which is currently operating in shadow form. The Centre will lead work to strengthen the resilience of supply chains critical to the UK's economic growth and security, with particular emphasis on bolstering the resilience of high-growth industries identified in the Industrial Strategy.
The Centre will be formally launched in 2026, with more detail on these plans to be shared in due course.
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Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many civil monetary penalties have been imposed by the Office for Trade Sanctions Implementation since October 2024.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
None.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what action they are taking to improve the quality and consistency of sorted scrap metal to meet future demand for electric arc furnace steelmaking in the UK.
Answered by Lord Leong - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government recognises that the UK steel industry's shift towards electric arc furnaces will significantly elevate the importance of high-quality scrap as a material for UK steelmaking. Consequently, the Government is committed to securing an ample supply of high-quality scrap, while also ensuring the market remains fair and beneficial for all stakeholders. We are actively listening to the perspectives of all involved parties and will be exploring various options to address this issue.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 4 September 2025 to Question 72359 on Economic Situation: Subversion, what progress he has made on establishing an Economic Security Advisory Service.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Economic Security Advisory Service (ESAS) will streamline government expertise and guidance to help protect UK business competitiveness against economic security risks and threats. The Service is being piloted during the current financial year, with the ambition to scale up over the Spending Review period. To date, extensive engagement with industry and partners in the UK and overseas is being used to develop a digital offer, which will sit alongside bespoke sector specific support.
We will continue to monitor progress and draw on industry feedback to ensure that the Service meets user needs.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he has conducted an impact assessment for the UK-India trade deal.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
I refer the member for Mid Bedfordshire to the answer my predecessor gave to UIN 73978 on 5 September 2025.
Asked by: Baroness Hoey (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to support The National Archives to establish an economic operator within the European Union under the terms of the Windsor Framework to ensure it can sell merchandise to people in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Lord Leong - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The National Archives shop operates on a self-funding commercial basis and aims to resume sales to Northern Ireland in the future.
Some GB based businesses have faced changes due to the updated EU General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR). We have issued guidance, will keep this under review and continue to engage businesses directly to ensure we are supporting them to trade freely within the UK and with the EU. DBT signposts businesses to verified external service providers specialising in GPSR.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, which Minister has responsibility for the Post Office.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Departmental Ministerial portfolios can be found at Department for Business and Trade - GOV.UK
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to page 36 of the National Security Strategy, published on 24 June 2025, what progress he has made in unlocking investment across a range of cutting-edge technologies via the Technology Security Initiative with India.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Technology Security Initiative (TSI) is a landmark agreement aimed at strengthening UK-India collaboration on critical and emerging technologies - such as AI - to drive growth and strengthen national security in both countries. It was launched by the Foreign Secretary and Prime Minister Modi in India in July 2024. Since then, it has enabled industry, academia, and government to deliver a number of new strategic opportunities - for example, a £7 million joint research programme on Future Telecoms.
For the sixth year running, India remains the second-largest source of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) projects into the UK. Last year, Indian FDI created over 6,000 jobs - with many of these in the tech sector. More than 300 Indian tech companies attended London Tech Week, with most of them expressing interest in AI, a key area within TSI.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of US tariffs on economic growth.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
My department has been assessing the impact of US tariffs on the UK economy, in a rapidly changing global trading environment. We are constantly engaging directly with businesses from across all sectors to gather real time intelligence on the impact of tariffs to directly inform our discussions with the US. This analysis underpinned our agreement of the Economic Prosperity Deal, which protects jobs in the automotive, steel, aluminium, pharmaceutical and aerospace sectors - sectors that employ over 320,000 people across the UK.
By securing and implementing this deal, we are supporting the conditions necessary for economic growth.