Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to encourage companies to increase diversity in senior leadership roles, particularly in relation to (1) ethnic minorities, and (2) women.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Department for Business and Trade sponsors two voluntary and business-led initiatives: the FTSE Women Leaders Review and the Parker Review on ethnic minority leadership. Both reviews encourage companies to achieve voluntary targets - 40% representation of women on boards and in senior management, and at least one ethnic minority director on company boards.
The 2024 report showed that 42.1% of the FTSE 350 board members were women behind only France who has adopted a quota approach to diversity and ahead of other countries with quotas. The 2024 Parker review reported that 77% of boards FTSE 350 boards had met their target.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to increase business confidence and encourage firms to increase their (1) expansion, (2) investment and (3) recruitment.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Growth is the number one mission of the government. To encourage expansions, investment and recruitment, we are beginning to tackle barriers to investment, like skills, international talent, data, R&D, technology adoption, access to finance, competition, regulation, energy prices, grid connections, infrastructure, and planning – through a new Industrial Strategy that will support growth sectors to create more high-quality, well-paid jobs across the country, backed by employment rights fit for a modern economy.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the reduction in the number of new businesses opening in the UK.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Start-ups play a crucial role in fostering competition, inducing innovation and supporting the emergence of brand new sectors. The number of UK business births has fallen by 6%, to around 316,000 in 2023.
ONS UK Business Demography 2023, published 18 November 2024.
Count Of Births of New Enterprises For 2018 to 2023, by year | |
2018 | 348,630 |
2019 | 363,825 |
2020 | 333,020 |
2021 | 363,995 |
2022 | 336,925 |
2023 | 316,025 |
The Government is committed to hardwiring the voice of small business into everything we do. Our Small Business Strategy next year will set out our vision for all small businesses from tackling the scourge of late payments, tailored Business Support Advice, Access to finance, and Local Growth Hubs Networks, providing a strong business environment to drive economic growth in the UK.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure the UK’s trade relationships with the US and EU remain strong.
Answered by Baroness Gustafsson - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The EU and the US are two of our largest trading markets, together accounting for over 64% of total UK trade. We are committed to strengthening our trade and investment relationships with both the EU and US and to working together to remove unnecessary barriers to trade
As set out by the Chancellor, we recognise that our markets are highly interconnected. This government’s main priority is growing the UK economy – strengthened trade with our most economically important partners is a major part of that.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what support they are providing to the hospitality industry following the rise in national insurance announced in the Autumn Budget.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government is creating a fairer business rate system by introducing permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure businesses from 2026-27 and extending the current relief for 1 year at 40%. From 2026-27 the Government intends to introduce permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality and leisure properties with rateable values less than £500,000, which will be funded by the introduction of a Large Business Multiplier from 2026-27 on properties with a rateable value of £500,000 and above (less than 1% of all properties.)
The Government recognises the need to protect the smallest employers which is why we have more than doubled the Employment Allowance to £10,500, meaning more than half of businesses with NICs liabilities either gain or see no change next year. Businesses will still be able to claim employer NICs reliefs including those for under 21s and under 25 apprentices, where eligible. We will transform the apprenticeship levy into a more flexible growth and skills levy to support business and boost opportunity.
We are working further with the Hospitality Sector Council to address other strategic issues such as high street regeneration, skills, sustainability, and productivity.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to increase the number of workers with AI-driven skills.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government has developed a number of initiatives to increase the number of workers with AI-driven skills.
DBT’s Global Talent Network AI Futures programme attracts top young AI talents to the UK by focusing on exceptional international early to mid-career AI researchers, engineers, and entrepreneurs which will support the upskilling of our domestic workforce.
Skills England will build the highly trained workforce needed to deliver the national, regional and local skills needs of the next decade by setting both young people and adults up to succeed in an increasingly technology-driven world.
The AI Action Plan, commissioned by the Technology Secretary and drafted by the tech entrepreneur Matt Clifford, will set out, in part, the steps needed to equip our workforce with the right skills to support the AI sector’s growth.
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Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to protect the jobs of Vauxhall factory workers following concerns on the part of its parent company over net-zero targets.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
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.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to protect the jobs of steelworkers.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
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.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to protect high street businesses, particularly independent traders.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
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.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the decline in confidence among small businesses following (1) rises in energy prices, (2) the increase in material costs, and (3) the anticipated rise in employment costs.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
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.