Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
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 support high streets in (a) Mid Cheshire constituency, (b) Cheshire and (c) England.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Revitalising our high streets is a priority for this government. We are taking active steps towards creating better conditions for high street businesses to thrive, including addressing anti-social behaviour and crime, reforming business returns, working with the banking industry to roll out 350 banking hubs, stamping out late payments, empowering communities to make the most of the vacant properties, strengthening the Post Office network, reforming the apprenticeship levy, and business rates.
Our Small Business Strategy Command Paper, to be published in 2025, will set out this Government’s intentions on supporting small businesses across key areas, including thriving high streets.
This will build on targeted high street support from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government that is already being delivered in Cheshire.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
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 ensure participants in multi-level marketing schemes are protected from misleading claims about the financial benefits of said schemes.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Although multi-level schemes are not illegal, it is a criminal offence to persuade someone to make a payment to a scheme by promising benefits from getting other people to join the same scheme (Fair Trading Act 1973 section 120(3)).
Also, the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPRs) prohibit unfair and misleading marketing tactics towards consumers. This includes “establishing, operating or promoting a pyramid promotional scheme where a consumer gives consideration for the opportunity to receive compensation that is derived primarily from the introduction of other consumers into a scheme rather than from the sale or consumption of products.”
To strengthen the enforcement of these and other consumer rights, the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 increases the powers available for enforcement bodies.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, which regulations govern multi-level marketing schemes; and if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the regulatory framework of such schemes.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Although multi-level schemes are not illegal, it is a criminal offence to persuade someone to make a payment to a scheme by promising benefits from getting other people to join the same scheme (Fair Trading Act 1973 section 120(3)).
Also, the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPRs) prohibit unfair and misleading marketing tactics towards consumers. This includes “establishing, operating or promoting a pyramid promotional scheme where a consumer gives consideration for the opportunity to receive compensation that is derived primarily from the introduction of other consumers into a scheme rather than from the sale or consumption of products.”
To strengthen the enforcement of these and other consumer rights, the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 increases the powers available for enforcement bodies.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the regional spread of business debt in each of the last five years.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Business debt in the UK is spread across each of the regions, with the biggest proportions found in London, the South East and South West. Please find a detailed breakdown of the changes in the regional spread of business debt in each of the last five years, using figures from UK Finance:
Table: The share of the value of SME loan facilities (with each year-on-year difference)
Region | Q2 2019 | Q2 2020 | Q2 2021 | Q2 2022 | Q2 2023 | Q2 2024 |
London | 19.7% | 21.0% (+1.3%) | 21.6% (+0.6%) | 20.9% (-0.7%) | 21.6% (+0.6%) | 21.4% (-0.2%) |
South East | 13.0% | 13.5% (+0.6%) | 13.3% (-0.2%) | 13.2% (-0.1%) | 13.8% (+0.6%) | 12.9% (+1.0%) |
South West | 12.1% | 10.9% (-1.2%) | 10.7% (-0.2%) | 10.7% (+0.1%) | 10.9% (+0.2%) | 11.9% (+1.0%) |
East Midlands | 5.6% | 5.7% (+0.1%) | 5.7% (-0.1%) | 6.1% (+0.4%) | 5.8% (-0.3%) | 6.1% (+0.3%) |
West Midlands | 9.1% | 9.0% (+0.0%) | 8.9% (-0.1%) | 8.6% (-0.3%) | 8.8% (+0.2%) | 8.5% (-0.2%) |
East of England | 6.7% | 6.6% (-0.1%) | 6.7% (+0.0%) | 6.5% (-0.1%) | 6.7% (+0.2%) | 6.8% (+0.1%) |
Yorkshire & The Humber | 7.1% | 7.1% (+0.1%) | 7.3% (+0.2%) | 7.1% (-0.2%) | 7.4% (+0.3%) | 7.2% (-0.2%) |
North East | 3.2% | 3.1% (-0.1%) | 3.1% (+0.0%) | 3.1% (+0.0%) | 3.0% (-0.1%) | 2.9% (-0.1%) |
North West | 10.1% | 10.5% (+0.4%) | 10.4% (-0.1%) | 11.2% (+0.8%) | 9.7% (-1.5%) | 9.5% (-0.2%) |
Wales | 4.7% | 4.3% (-0.5%) | 4.2% (-0.1%) | 4.5% (+0.3%) | 4.3% (-0.2%) | 4.3% (+0.0%) |
Scotland | 8.7% | 8.2% (-0.6%) | 8.2% (+0.1%) | 8.1% (-0.2%) | 8.0% (-0.1%) | 8.5% (+0.5%) |
Source: UK Finance (Aggregated SME Database, average of small and medium businesses value of loan facilities). Quarterly figures may not be directly comparable between years due to a re-segmentation of businesses and improvements in reporting from 2023 Q2 onwards. This includes some regional re-classification.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what estimate he has made of the prevalence of zero-hours contracts in the labour market in (a) Mid Cheshire constituency, (b) Cheshire and (c) England.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The latest figures (for April to June 2024) from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) suggest that around 1,030,000 people (3.1% of total employment) were employed on a zero-hours contract in the UK.
ONS do not publish constituency level data on zero-hours contracts, however Cheshire is part of the North West (England) region in the ONS regional breakdowns. Over the same period, there were approximately 100,000 people (2.7% of total employment) employed on a zero-hours contract in the North West, and approximately 890,000 people employed on a zero-hours contract in England as a whole (3.2% of total employment).
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent estimate his Department has made of the number of insolvencies of road haulage businesses in each of the last five years.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Estimated numbers of companies with the SIC code 49410 that entered insolvency in the UK in each of the last five calendar years (including 2024 to date) are presented in the table below.
Calendar Year | Companies Entering Insolvency (SIC Code 49410 – Freight Transport by Road) |
2019 | 285 |
2020 | 195 |
2021 | 265 |
2022 | 411 |
2023 | 503 |
2024 (to 31st August) | 334 |
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what (a) financial and (b) other steps his Department is taking to encourage the creation of businesses in Mid Cheshire constituency.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The creation of new businesses is essential to our economic success.
The Government will boost small business growth and productivity by delivering upon the commitments within Labour’s pre-election nine-point pledge - Plan for Small Business.
The UK Shared Prosperity Fund provides £31million for Cheshire & Warrington, including support to Mid Cheshire businesses. The Department also provides core funding to the local Growth Hub operating across Cheshire & Warrington. Additionally, all businesses can access support through the Business Support Service, the GOV.UK website, Help to Grow and the Government-backed British Business Bank.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department is taking steps to help support the Post Office to (a) recruit postmasters and (b) maintain existing post offices.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
While Government recognises the important role postmasters play in our communities and for small businesses across the UK, issues surrounding staffing are an operational matter for the Post Office.
Government protects the branch network by setting minimum access criteria, and protects services by setting minimum services to be provided at post offices across the country. The Post Office network meets the access criteria at a national level.