Alison Griffiths

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 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.

Two astronauts are undertaking training for future crewed space flights, and a third is undertaking similar training in January.

The current framework agreement between the UK Space Agency and Goonhilly Earth Station Ltd runs until March 2025. Any further agreements will need to be considered in light of the upcoming spending review.

During the current spending period, the Government has invested a total of £4.2 million to support the Cornwall region to develop its local space capabilities, enabling Spaceport Cornwall to conduct the first ever orbital launch attempt from UK soil and supporting Goonhilly Earth Station Ltd to deliver deep space commercial services. The cluster is also being supported to attract investment from international space companies, and progress Cornwall’s strategic ambitions to become a global leader in satellite operations and communications and the testing and development of spaceflight systems.

Digital inclusion is a priority for me and for Government. It means ensuring everyone has the access, skills and confidence to participate in a modern digital society, whatever their circumstances. We are working to develop our approach on digital inclusion, including with other government departments to ensure it is joined-up. To support this, I am, and will continue, engaging with my counterparts in other departments on this important issue.

No.

I refer the honourable Member to the GOV.UK page where the Ministry of Justice publishes monthly management information on the progress of the Post Office Convictions casework team. This page can be found at: Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Act 2024: Quashed convictions management information - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

As of the 29 November, the Department had assessed 875 individual cases and had written to 526 individuals or their appropriate contacts to inform them that they had one or more convictions quashed by the Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Act 2024. A further update will be published in mid-January.

I would actively encourage anyone who believes they have a conviction in scope of the legislation and has not heard from my department to register for the Horizon Convictions Redress Scheme on GOV.UK so their case can be considered.