Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many Crown post offices make a profit.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Directly Managed Branches are loss-making for the Post Office. As such, Post Office has been clear that it’s their ambition to operate the network on a fully franchised basis in time, as they believe that this is a more sustainable model. The Post Office's Transformation Plan aims to deliver a reduction in central costs and look seriously at other ways to deliver efficiencies.
The Post Office will however continue to deliver on the 11,500 minimum branch requirement and geographical access criteria set by Government.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many Security Industry Authority licence applications were made at a Crown Post Office last year.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
According to the Post Office, the number of Security Industry Authority (SIA) licence applications made at Directly Managed Branches for the 2023/2024 Financial Year was 15,150.
Across the total network, the number of SIA licensed applications made for the same Financial Year was 97,954.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many DVLA photocard renewals were made at a Crown Post Office last year.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
According to the Post Office, the number of DVLA photocard renewals made at Directly Managed Branches for the 2023/2024 Financial Year was 55,014.
Across the total network, the number of DVLA photocard renewals made for the same Financial Year was 525,827.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many Paper Check and Send for (a) new and (b) renewal Passports appointments were made at Crown Post offices in the last year for which figures are available.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
As it is not possible to categorise Paper Check & Send applications by whether they are ‘New’ or ‘Renewal’, the Post Office have also shared their statistics for Digital Check & Send applications.
The number of Passport Paper Check & Send applications made at Directly Managed Branches for the 2023/2024 Financial Year was 16,733. Across the total network, the number of Passport Paper Check & Send applications made for the same Financial Year was 175,924
Comparatively, the number of Passport Digital Check & Send applications made at Directly Managed Branches for the 2023/2024 Financial Year was 60,253. Across the total network, the number of Passport Digital Check & Send applications made for the same Financial Year was 430,755.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if his Department will introduce an enforceable liability provision in legislation to ensure that consumers can seek redress for defective products bought via online marketplaces.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK’s product liability legislation has been in place since 1987. My department is undertaking a review of this legislation and, as part of the review, we will consider the range and types of products that should be in scope, given recent technological advancements. We will also consider the ways that modern supply chains operate, as well as the parties and the circumstances in which they should be held liable for any damages caused by defective products.
I will keep the House updated on the Government’s progress with this review and plans for engagement on this important area of law.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if his Department will bring forward legislative proposals to strengthen the duties of online marketplaces to protect consumers.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Online marketplaces, like other traders, will be required to comply with new laws arising from the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act, which the Government is currently implementing and updates the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008. The Act sets out new ‘banned practices’ relating to the buying, selling, and publishing of fake consumer reviews and prohibiting ‘drip pricing’. It also strengthens consumer law enforcement by giving the CMA new administrative powers, and the CMA and courts the ability to impose significant monetary penalties.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 28 October 2024 to Question 9980 on Products: Labelling, if his Department will make an estimate of the number of items of (a) furniture and (b) other products that have been tested on animals.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Animal testing of chemical substances is prohibited in all but a very limited number of circumstances where it is essential for the protection of human and animal health or environmental safety, as prescribed by the REACH Regulation. Therefore, where testing does occur it is in relation to individual chemical substances, which may then be used in the manufacture of another product. As a result, we do not hold information for specific products
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing mandatory labelling on (a) furniture and (b) other products that have been tested on animals.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Animal testing of chemical substances is prohibited in all but a very limited number of circumstances where it is essential for the protection of human and animal health or environmental safety, as prescribed by the REACH Regulations. As a result, there are no plans to make it mandatory for labelling of furniture or other products to indicate whether animal testing has been undertaken in the manufacture of that product.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to limit the number of dangerous toys sold by third-party sellers on online marketplaces.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Office for Product Safety and Standards leads a national programme of regulatory action to tackle risks from unsafe and non-compliant goods from online marketplaces. This includes test purchasing products, including toys, to assess compliance and remove non-compliant products; requiring action from marketplaces to ensure they are taking the steps to meet their responsibilities under the law; and taking enforcement action where necessary.
The Product Regulation and Metrology Bill, currently before the House of Lords, will enable requirements for online marketplaces to be modernised to improve the safety of products sold on their platforms to UK consumers.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what discussions the Joint Committee established by the bilateral Free Trade Agreement between the Faroe Islands and the United Kingdom has had about whale and dolphin hunts.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is strongly opposed to the hunting of whales and dolphins. The Department for Business and Trade utilises the opportunities provided by the UK-Faroe Islands Free Trade Agreement to engage the Faroese government on this important matter. The UK-Faroe Islands Free Trade Agreement Joint Committee meets annually, and UK officials highlight our strong opposition to the practice at every opportunity, including at the last meeting in February 2024.