Lord Taylor of Warwick

Stellantis announced a strategic review of the UK operations this July. We have regularly engaged with the company throughout and stand ready to help following its conclusion. Stellantis transformed their plant at Ellesmere Port to solely produce electric vans from 2023 following a £100m investment that was secured with HMG support. Stellantis also announced that they will make small volumes of the larger electric vans at their plant at Luton.

This Government is focused on its five-point plan to breathe life back into Britain’s high streets. We understand how important the high street is to our businesses which is why our plans include tackling retail crime, ensuring a level playing field between online and high street businesses, stamping out late payments and ending the blight of empty spaces. This work will ensure that our high streets are great places for our businesses, supporting economic growth across the UK.

I am looking forward to working with the Sector Councils for Retail and Hospitality on the strategic issues facing the sectors, including high street regeneration and investment, labour and retail careers, sustainability and supply chain resilience.

Steel is vital for a vibrant, secure economy. This Government is working in partnership with trade unions and industry to secure a green steel transition that’s both right for the workforce and delivers economic growth.

We have already agreed a better deal for steelworkers at Tata Steel and are continuing negotiations with British Steel. However, we are clear we need long-term jobs, not short-term subsidies.

We will publish a steel strategy in spring. This will guide our commitment to invest £2.5 billion in partnership with the private sector as part of our wider commitment to invest in jobs and boost growth across the UK.

We are committed to ensuring the UK remains a leading destination for companies to invest and do business. The International Investment Summit in October will showcase our commitment to partnering with global businesses to secure the investment we need for growth. We are answering investors’ calls for stability and predictability with our new Industrial Strategy, providing long-term confidence to invest. The National Wealth Fund will bring together key institutions to offer compelling propositions to investors.

We recognise that recent times have been challenging for business. The Government is committed to support small businesses. Our Plan for Small Business set out nine pledges, including a pledge to reduce the cost of energy bills. We will be setting out further detail over the coming months.

Total UK imports from Germany amounted to £89 billion in the 12 months to March 2024, a 6% increase in current prices (compared to the previous 12 months). The largest increase was for machinery and transport equipment up £5bn (13%), in particular cars up £4bn (22%) and aircraft up £1bn (153%).

This Government is committed to resetting our relationship with our European partners. The Secretary of State for Business and Trade has already met his German counterpart, Vice Chancellor Habeck, and discussed how we can grow trade further with Germany to support sustainable growth for our businesses, workers and consumers.

The first mission of this Government is to drive economic growth. As part of delivering that mission, the Government will publish a trade strategy, aligned with our industrial strategy, to support jobs and communities in every part of the UK. Free Trade Agreements have a critical role to play in delivering this.

The Government has set out its intention to deliver trade negotiations with key trading partners including the GCC and India. Our trade programme, which is driven by engagement with businesses and stakeholders, will play to the UK’s strengths, boost trade, and strengthen our ties with our international partners.

Through the Plan to Make Work Pay we will deliver a new deal for working people. A number of these measures already have strong support from businesses, and we will consult with them as we put these plans into practice to ensure they are as effective as possible. We also expect that stronger employment practices could aid recruitment and retention, and ultimately save business costs.

The Department for Business and Trade wants to reset our relationship with the EU and deepen ties with our European neighbours.

The Department will work to improve the UK's trade and investment relationship by tearing down unnecessary barriers to trade.

The Department will seek to negotiate a veterinary agreement to prevent unnecessary border checks, to help touring artists, and to secure mutual recognition for professional qualifications to open up priority markets for service exporters.

The Secretary of State has already held positive discussions with his European Commission counterpart Valdis Dombrovskis and has met with German Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck to discuss UK-German shared trade interests.

There are different levels of smart meter penetration across Great Britain. The Department collects and publishes annual statistics on electricity smart meter installation progress at a regional level.

The latest regional statistics show that at the end of March 2024, 64% of domestic electricity meters across Great Britain were smart.

Local Authorities with the highest number of smart meters (74% - 75%) are in the East Midlands, North East, and Yorkshire and The Humber. London and Scotland have experienced slower progress to date, where 54% and 51% of meters were smart respectively.

The Government is interested in opportunities to reduce decommissioning costs in the North Sea/UK Continental Shelf. We work closely with the North Sea Transition Authority, Oil and Gas industry partners, and those working on new and emerging technologies in support of this aim.

The Government is committed to transforming Britain into a clean energy superpower and is working closely with Ofgem; to ensure energy is fair and affordable for consumers now and in the future.

Ofgem already regulate the cost of the transmission network, which safely and efficiently transports gas across GB, and under the current price cap represents an average annual cost of £7 per consumer.

Capacity of GB’s gas storage is not regulated by Ofgem however analysis published the Energy Security Plan Update in December 2023 shows we have sufficient and flexible gas storage to meet peak gas demand on any given day.

The Government will continue to deliver the Warm Home Discount, which provides a £150 rebate off energy bills for eligible low-income households. We expect around 3 million households to receive this support this winter.

My Hon. Friend the Minister for Energy Consumers has met with energy suppliers on several occasions and encouraged them to build on the Voluntary Debt Commitment for this winter, and we are continuing to work with suppliers to ensure consumers are supported.

The Government has announced work to strengthen cooperation on energy as per the joint-statement between the Prime Minister and the President of the European Commission at her visit to the UK in early October.

They agreed to work closely to address global challenges including, among others, climate change and energy prices.

The Government is continuing to deliver the Warm Home Discount which provides a £150 annual rebate on energy bills for eligible low-income households and has also extended the Household Support Fund for an additional 6 months until 31 March 2025 with an extra £500 million in funding.

The Minister for Energy Consumers is having regular discussions with energy suppliers to ensure that consumers are supported this winter. This includes through encouraging them to build on the support offered to vulnerable consumers through last winter’s Voluntary Debt Commitment.

The Government has established The Mission Control for Clean Power, led by climate expert Chris Stark, which will work alongside GB Energy, a new publicly owned company, to accelerate the transition to clean power.

The Government will collaborate with the Offshore Wind Industry Council (OWIC) to address supply chain constraints within the offshore wind industry. Industry published their Industrial Growth Plan in April which sets out opportunities to grow the offshore wind supply chain.

Furthermore, the Government is preparing to launch the first phase of the British Jobs Bonus for renewables as part of Contracts for Difference Allocation Round 7.

We are committed to building an AI sector that can scale and win globally, ensuring conditions are right for global AI companies to want to call the UK home. The AI Opportunities Action Plan will outline how we achieve this by securing the necessary infrastructure, talent and data access.

Our publicly funded portfolio of AI R&D investments is worth over £1 billion, with commitments extending beyond 2030. Key investments include £217M in two tranches of AI centres for doctoral training, £86M in AI research hubs, and £100M into BridgeAI, which supports businesses to adopt AI and develop cutting-edge AI technologies.

The Government believes that greater certainty over copyright and AI would support growth in both the creative industries and the AI sector.

This is a complex topic, and the Government is taking the time to hear stakeholder views and to carefully consider the issues, including the use of creative works to train generative AI models.

The Government is engaging with stakeholders to inform its approach and will soon be launching a consultation on a package of measures to address copyright and AI issues.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is at the heart of the Government’s plan to kickstart economic growth, transform public services, and boost living standards. The AI Opportunities Action Plan will set out how we achieve these goals by securing the necessary infrastructure, talent and data access, and detailing steps to support AI adoption across the economy. The Government has secured over £24 billion worth of investment into digital and AI infrastructure at the International Investment Summit.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is at the heart of the Government’s plan to boost economic growth, transform public services, and boost living standards. The AI Opportunities Action Plan will set out how we achieve these goals, by securing the necessary infrastructure, talent and data access, and setting out steps to support AI adoption across the economy.

In the King’s Speech we committed to introducing new, binding requirements on the handful of companies developing the most advanced AI models which will support growth and innovation by ending uncertainty for AI developers, strengthening public trust and boosting business confidence in AI adoption.

GOV.UK Chat is a prototype chatbot developed by the Government Digital Service. It was first tested with users in November 2023. Results showed that nearly 70 percent of users found the chatbot’s responses useful and that its answers were accurate 80 percent of the time. These insights were used to improve the prototype ahead of the current pilot, which commenced on 7 November 2024. This pilot will be live for approximately 4 weeks, after which GDS will make an assessment of its effectiveness.

The government is committed to boosting the responsible adoption of AI across all parts of the economy to drive innovation and kickstart economic growth. The AI Opportunities Action Plan will set out a roadmap to achieve this, including how we can strengthen our AI skills and talent base to ensure AI can be used by workers across the economy. The establishment of Skills England will also be key to embedding the right skills in workers, tackling skills shortages and supporting sustained economic growth.

The AI Opportunities Action Plan will outline steps needed to support the growth of the AI sector, including training and attracting top AI talent. This will build on existing programmes including the AI and Data Science Masters Conversion courses. This year over 4,000 students are expected to graduate from these courses, and historically 90% employed graduates from these programmes work in a role related to AI or data science.

The Government is taking action to support the UK’s world-leading technology industry, which will be at the heart of our new industrial strategy. The Budget will see Research and Development spending rising to a record level of over £20 billion, with DSIT’s R&D budget increasing by 8.5% in real terms. The new Regulatory Innovation Office will reduce red tape for our most innovative companies and speed up technology development. And we are unlocking further investment in industries of the future, including from institutional investors, through the British Growth Partnership, the National Wealth Fund and the Pensions Review.