Alison Griffiths

As of 17 December, the Secretary of State for Business and Trade and his ministerial team have not yet visited Northern Ireland, but plan to do so in the upcoming months.

Since 5^th July 2024, the Department for Business and Trade has sent 838 officials on foreign visits at a total cost of £1,632,898.02.

Ministers have met with many trade unions, representing millions of British workers, on numerous occasions since 5 July 2024. This is part of this government’s regular engagement with union leaders to support our growth mission, including on multiple industrial issues neglected by the previous government. Information about ministerial meetings can be found on Gov.uk.

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) promotes and supports investment opportunities across all of the UK. We are scaling the Office for Investment to become the UK’s full investment promotion function providing support to our most important international and domestic investors and help turn the Industrial Strategy and regional growth plans into a clear and commercially credible pipeline of investment opportunities.

For the North of England specifically, we will continue to collaborate with Mayoral Combined Authorities and local partners to showcase investment opportunities across the region to potential investors and to work with them to deliver transformative investment.

On Monday 21 October, the Government published a comprehensive package of analysis on the impact of the Employment Rights Bill. This is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/employment-rights-bill-impact-assessments

The majority of employees will benefit from new protections in the Bill and our assessment finds that workers in low-paying sectors, including social care, hospitality, retail, transport, and some manufacturing sectors will benefit the most from the Bill. The assessment suggests that the construction, steel, materials, critical minerals and shipbuilding sectors are unlikely to be disproportionately impacted by the Bill.

The Bill will also deliver wider benefits for the business environment by improving wellbeing, incentivising higher productivity, and creating a more level playing field for good employers. This could have a positive knock-on impact on productivity and growth.

On 21 October, the Government published a comprehensive impact assessment for the Employment Rights Bill, which included analysis on the impacts on the public sector.

Given the early stages of policy development, many reforms require further development and consultation before implementation. The Department will engage closely with the public sector and wider stakeholders as policy development continues to ensure the detail is right before changes are implemented.

Where measures require secondary legislation and codes of practice to implement, the Government will update and refine its analysis following the consultation based on additional evidence to inform policy options and impacts.

On Monday 21 October, the Government published a comprehensive package of analysis on the impact of the Employment Rights Bill. This is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/employment-rights-bill-impact-assessments

The majority of employees will benefit from new protections in the Bill and our assessment finds that workers in low-paying sectors, including social care, hospitality, retail, transport, and some manufacturing sectors will benefit the most from the Bill. The assessment suggests that the construction, steel, materials, critical minerals and shipbuilding sectors are unlikely to be disproportionately impacted by the Bill.

The Bill will also deliver wider benefits for the business environment by improving wellbeing, incentivising higher productivity, and creating a more level playing field for good employers. This could have a positive knock-on impact on productivity and growth.

On Monday 21 October, the Government published a comprehensive package of analysis on the impact of the Employment Rights Bill. This is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/employment-rights-bill-impact-assessments

The majority of employees will benefit from new protections in the Bill and our assessment finds that workers in low-paying sectors, including social care, hospitality, retail, transport, and some manufacturing sectors will benefit the most from the Bill. The assessment suggests that the construction, steel, materials, critical minerals and shipbuilding sectors are unlikely to be disproportionately impacted by the Bill.

The Bill will also deliver wider benefits for the business environment by improving wellbeing, incentivising higher productivity, and creating a more level playing field for good employers. This could have a positive knock-on impact on productivity and growth.

On Monday 21 October, the Government published a comprehensive package of analysis on the impact of the Employment Rights Bill. This is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/employment-rights-bill-impact-assessments

The majority of employees will benefit from new protections in the Bill and our assessment finds that workers in low-paying sectors, including social care, hospitality, retail, transport, and some manufacturing sectors will benefit the most from the Bill. The assessment suggests that the construction, steel, materials, critical minerals and shipbuilding sectors are unlikely to be disproportionately impacted by the Bill.

The Bill will also deliver wider benefits for the business environment by improving wellbeing, incentivising higher productivity, and creating a more level playing field for good employers. This could have a positive knock-on impact on productivity and growth.

The Budget has made a positive impact on the steel sector by confirming the funding required for work to begin on the new Electric Arc Furnace at Port Talbot. This £500 million grant not only secures the future of steelmaking in south Wales and up to 5,000 jobs but also ensures workers have enhanced support during the transition period.

More widely, after the budget, the National Wealth Fund is now in a position to consider funding propositions for investments in steel.

This Budget is focused on delivery of the government’s Growth Mission and the development and delivery of the government’s modern Industrial Strategy. The creation of the National Wealth Fund, catalysing over £70bn of private investment, will potentially benefit the maritime sector, where at least £5.8bn of NWF’s capital will focus on the five sectors announced in the manifesto, including ports. Shipbuilding supports 42,600 jobs nationwide and adds £2.4 billion to the economy every year and Government is committed to supporting vibrant and successful enterprises, and the skilled workforce who deliver them, in all parts of the UK.

I can confirm that the Budget will support growth for our critical minerals industry. Already, following decisions made at the Autumn Budget, the National Wealth Fund has confirmed it can co-invest in domestic critical mineral projects to support our clean energy transition.

Furthermore, the Chancellor has expanded UK Export Finance’s mandate to enable it to finance overseas critical minerals projects that secure supply for the UK’s high-growth export industries. I will continue to engage with industry to develop a new, targeted Critical Minerals Strategy, matched to UK strengths, set for publication next year.

The Government is committed to supporting growth and investment in the construction sector. At the Budget, plans were announced to boost capital investment by over £100 billion over the next five years, including in transport and housing, to help unlock long-term growth.

We are providing over £5 billion of investment in housing next year, increasing the affordable homes programme to £3.1 billion and providing £3 billion of guarantees to boost the supply of homes and support small house builders. Alongside our planning reforms and our new Industrial Strategy, we are providing the stability needed to enable a thriving construction sector.

At Autumn Budget 2024 HM Treasury announced the funding settlement agreed for my department for 2024-25 and 2025-26. By working with HM Treasury we have ensured that the settlement provides the funding required for the public bodies, for which my department is responsible, to successfully deliver against their objectives and priorities.

There are currently no employees in DBT who are paid at the level of the National Living Wage or the National Minimum Wage.

There are currently no employees in DBT who are paid at the level of the National Living Wage or the National Minimum Wage.