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 proportion of export-focused civil service posts are vacant.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Export-focused civil servants are primarily employed in the Exports Directorate within the Domestic and International Markets and Exports Group (DIME) of DBT. The relevant units are currently going through a restructuring and therefore this vacancy rate is likely to change significantly by the next financial year. As of September 2025, the vacancy rate was 32% among the civil service posts in the Exports Directorate. In the Department for Business and Trade, there are other civil servants whose work relates to exports as part of their wider roles, but not the majority of their responsibilities.
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 the year-on-year spending has been for export-focused civil service teams since 2020.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The year-on-year spending is as follows:
Year | Total spend (£m) |
2020/21 | 52.6 |
2021/22 | 54 |
2022/23 | 63.7 |
2023/24 | 58.9 |
2024/25 | 45.4 |
All data has been taken from DBT's Financial Forecasting Tool (FFT). The current financial year has not been finalised, therefore response to end of 2024-25 provided.
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 estimate he has made of the projected cost to British businesses of the European Union's carbon border taxes.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism’s (EU CBAM) definitive regime begins January 2026. UK businesses may face administrative costs providing emissions data to EU importers to support their compliance with the EU CBAM. The cost of certificates for the carbon price liability of embedded emissions is borne by EU importers.
To support business readiness, the Department for Business and Trade has compiled a comprehensive package, including webinars, and an upcoming explainer on business.gov.uk. The Government is also engaging with the European Commission on emissions trading scheme linking, which is expected to facilitate a mutual UK-EU CBAM exemption in due course.
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 estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of Post Office (a) litigation, (b) compensation schemes and (c) public communications related to Horizon IT.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
No public funding commitments nor costs have been incurred to date with regards to litigation.
At the Autumn Budget 2024, the government set aside £1.8 billion of funding for redress payments from 2024-25 in addition to around £200 million that had already been distributed. This is not a target or limit. As of 31 October 2025, approximately £1,273 million has been paid to over 9,500 claimants.
As part of the spending review settlement over £500 million has been committed over the Parliament to allow the Post Office to implement its Strategic Transformation Plan, including the replacement of the legacy Horizon computer system.
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 progress he has made on establishing mutual recognition of professional qualifications between the UK and the EU.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
HMG remains committed to making it easier for UK and EU professionals to have their qualifications recognised.
The Trade and Cooperation Agreement contains provisions which allow the UK and EU to agree recognition of professional qualifications arrangements for specific sectors. HMG is encouraging and supporting UK regulators to work with their EU counterparts to use these provisions.
In the UK-EU Common Understanding, the UK and EU committed to setting up dedicated dialogues on the implementation of the recognition of professional qualifications provisions. These dialogues will provide a dedicated space for deeper UK-EU collaboration on the recognition of professional qualifications.
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 he has had with the (a) Post Office Board and (b) Fujitsu on accountability for the Horizon IT system.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Sir Wyn Williams is currently preparing the full report of his statutory Inquiry into the Horizon scandal. Until all parts of the report are published, action on accountability would be premature.
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, whether his Department is taking steps to help simplify (a) paperwork and (b) accountancy processes required for Post Office Horizon IT compensation claims.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government has taken several steps to simplify the claims process across the Horizon redress schemes, ensuring that all postmasters have the support they need to set out their claims. We continue to work closely with the Horizon Compensation Advisory Board to explore ways to further improve claimants’ experiences. Eligible claimants across the schemes can access interim payments once their claim has been accepted.
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, whether he has made an assessment of the adequacy of interim compensation payments made to sub-postmasters affected by Horizon IT in Surrey.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government has taken several steps to simplify the claims process across the Horizon redress schemes, ensuring that all postmasters have the support they need to set out their claims. We continue to work closely with the Horizon Compensation Advisory Board to explore ways to further improve claimants’ experiences. Eligible claimants across the schemes can access interim payments once their claim has been accepted.
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 his Department has made of the potential merits of compelling companies that provide services to the public to maintain (a) clear and (b) accessible channels for customer complaints.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Businesses are required under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 to provide contact information in a clear and comprehensible manner which is easily, directly and permanently accessible. This includes the business name, the geographical address where the business is established, a telephone number, and email address.
Government expects businesses to treat consumers fairly and provide channels for complaints. However, the specific mechanisms they use to provide customer services is a commercial decision that the government does not normally seek to intervene in.
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, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential economic merits of a UK-EU mutual recognition of conformity assessments agreement.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Ahead of the UK-EU summit in May 2025 we explored a number of proposals with our EU partners on manufactured goods. To inform these discussions, the government assessed the potential economic benefits of a range of measures, including a mutual recognition agreement, which indicated that such an agreement would be mutually beneficial for both the UK and EU. What was announced at the UK-EU summit reflects the outcome of these discussions.