Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, whether his Department has considered making Government-held customs, tariff and rules of origin information available through an API for integration into ecommerce platforms used by small exporters.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade) (Jointly with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Customs, tariff and rules of origin information for over 140 export markets is available to businesses through the Check duties and customs procedures for exporting goods - GOV.UK digital service. This is provided through a commercial licence from a third-party supplier who provides and maintains the database. Sub-licencing via a publicly available API for integration is not permitted within the conditions of the department's license. A suitable service offering is provided to the market by the supplier.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, whether his Department has considered developing a single Government-backed digital service to enable small exporters to calculate the landed cost of goods sold to customers in the EU, including applicable customs duties, VAT and rules of origin requirements.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade) (Jointly with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The government is committed to making it easier for small businesses to export. Businesses can use the GOV.UK ‘Check duties and customs procedures for exporting goods’ tool, which provides information on customs procedures, origin requirements, and tariffs for overseas markets. Exporters can identify the requirements that apply to their destination country based on the HS code of the good that is being exported.
More widely, the Business Growth Service is helping UK businesses start, scale and succeed through tailored market advice, free Business Academy training, UK Export Finance support and our overseas network, making it easier for businesses to navigate global markets and seize opportunities.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, whether he plans to increase testing and import controls for products at risk of asbestos contamination.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Minister of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)
The Office for Product Safety and Standards oversees and coordinates the UK’s product safety framework which covers products sold in-store and online, and activity at the border. Businesses placing products on the UK market must ensure they’re safe and free from asbestos and OPSS has published business guidance on controls they need to have in place, including testing.
To date 69 recalls of products have been recalled as a result of action by OPSS and local authorities, including at the border. OPSS are continuing their market surveillance activities and will take action if businesses are not meeting their legal obligations.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether Ministers from his Department took Government phones and laptops on recent delegations to the People's Republic of China.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Minister of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)
The Department for Business and Trade takes security of its information and devices seriously.
Ministers (and officials) are provided with guidance on appropriate use of government-issued devices during overseas travel, in line with cross-government security policies. DBT Ministers have taken DBT devices on overseas visits to China, including April 2025, September 2025, and January 2026; Lord Stockwood did not take DBT devices when he visited China in April/May 2026.
The Department asks travellers to apply proportionate mitigations, based on specific risks associated with countries. For security reasons, it would not be appropriate to provide detailed information on those measures.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to support small and medium-sized construction businesses facing insolvency as a result of planning delays and late payment practices.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade) (Jointly with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
We recognise the impact that late payment has on small and medium-sized businesses including those within the construction industry. This Government will legislate to end the scourge of late payments and will give the UK the strongest legal framework on late payments in the G7. We outlined a set of proposed measures in our Late Payments Consultation, which concluded in October 2025. We will publish our response to the consultation shortly and intend to legislate as soon as parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps the Government is taking to incentivise UK-based companies to retain and create skilled jobs in the UK rather than offshore them.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade) (Jointly with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Our modern Industrial Strategy is a 10-year plan to back our strengths and create a highly skilled, economically prosperous country, with key objectives to drive up business investment and create high-quality jobs across the UK. We are focused on capturing a greater share of internationally mobile capital and supporting businesses to employ skilled workers in the UK, including through investing over £1 billion in tailored sector skills packages. We have also published the Clean Energy Jobs Plan with ambitions to recruit 400,000 people in the UK, with Jobs Plans covering other priority sectors to follow.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will publish a break down of the billions in investment secured on his visit to China in January 2026.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
As set out in the 30 January press release, hundreds of millions worth of new investment was secured as part of the visit, alongside £2.2 billion in export deals. This includes investment from HiTHIUM, Chery Commercial Vehicle, Asymchem, and POP MART.
Further detail can be found in the press release.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he has met with Britten-Norman to discuss the Chinese Company Yitong UAV Systme Co's newly designed model based on the British Islander design.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Secretary of State for Business and Trade has not met with Britten-Norman.
Details of Ministerial meetings with external organisations are published routinely on Gov.uk as part of the Government’s transparency agenda. The latest returns can be found here for Ministers: DBT: ministerial gifts, hospitality, travel and meetings, July to September 2024 - GOV.UK
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing controls to prevent the import of products made with Uyghur forced labour.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Secretary of State for Scotland
No company in the UK should have forced labour in its supply chain. The Department for Business and Trade will continue to assess and monitor the effectiveness of the UK's existing measures, alongside the impacts of new policy tools that are emerging, to ensure it can best tackle forced labour in supply chains, and work with businesses and international partners to understand the impact of measures to combat forced labour.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 13 May 2024 to Question 24720 on Fertilisers: Russia, from which countries have imports of fertiliser increased since March 2022.
Answered by Alan Mak
As per the answer of 13 May 2024, UK imports of fertiliser originating from Russia fell 80% in 2023, compared to 2022 import values.
Across a similar period, from March 2022 to February 2023, the value of direct fertiliser imports grew most significantly from the following 10 countries: Egypt, Netherlands, Spain, Germany, USA, Poland, Trinidad and Tobago, France, Lithuania, and Israel. These countries accounted for around 82% of the total increase.
More recent data shows that the largest increases, between March 2023 and February 2024, were from: Egypt, Israel, Morocco, USA, Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, China, Canada, Greece, and Nigeria. These countries accounted for around 93% of the total increase for this period.