Asked by: Amanda Martin (Labour - Portsmouth North)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what steps the Government is taking to support women in the workplace with flexible working.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Minister of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)
Through the Employment Rights Act 2025, the government is strengthening the flexible working framework. We are introducing a new requirement that employers must only reject requests where it is reasonable to do so and we will set out a statutory process employers must follow before rejecting a request. Together, these measures will encourage more meaningful discussions about whether flexibility can be accommodated. This will benefit women, particularly mothers, by giving them the chance to balance work alongside their family life and personal circumstances. The government intends to bring these measures into effect in Autumn 2027.
Asked by: Amanda Martin (Labour - Portsmouth North)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to encourage enforcement action by the Competition and Markets Authority on consumer protection.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Minister of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)
The Competition and Markets Authority's decision-making is independent of government. Each parliament the government issues a Strategic Steer to the CMA setting out its priorities. Earlier this year the government encouraged the CMA to use its range of tools, including consumer enforcement, “to grow the economy through promoting consumer trust and confidence, while deterring poor corporate practices.”
The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act, which we brought into force in April of this year, strengthened consumer law enforcement by giving the CMA new administrative powers, and empowering the CMA and courts to impose significant monetary penalties of up to 10% of turnover.
Asked by: Amanda Martin (Labour - Portsmouth North)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the Competition and Markets Authority's (CMA) document entitled Improving Trader recommendation platforms: consumer law compliance advice for businesses, published on 12 November 2024, if he will list the enforcement actions the CMA has taken since the publication of that guidance; and what steps the CMA is taking to monitor compliance with the guidance.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Minister of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)
The Competition and Markets Authority's decision-making is independent of government. Each parliament the government issues a Strategic Steer to the CMA setting out its priorities for the CMA and the wider policy objectives to which it should have regard. Information about the CMA's enforcement activities is available on its website.
Under the Digital Markets Competition and Consumers Act 2024, trader recommendation platforms must take reasonable steps to ensure consumer reviews on their sites are genuine. The CMA has published separate guidance for businesses that publish reviews to help meet their legal obligations.