Asked by: Andrew Griffith (Conservative - Arundel and South Downs)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assumptions his Department uses regarding cost pass-through to consumers when assessing the impact of new trade-related regulatory requirements on businesses, and whether those assumptions have been revised since the publication of the Department’s 2024 Green Book-aligned appraisal guidance.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Addressing regulatory barriers to trade can help reduce costs for UK businesses trading internationally and support economic growth. Cost pass‑through to consumers is subject to uncertainty and may differ significantly depending on market conditions, products and supply chains in scope. Reflecting the Green Book’s principles‑based approach to appraisal, which emphasises judgement and proportionality where impacts are uncertain, cost pass-through impacts are considered on a case‑by‑case basis where evidence indicates that they can be assessed.
Asked by: Andrew Griffith (Conservative - Arundel and South Downs)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of regulatory divergence from the EU on UK exporters since July 2024, broken down by sector and by firm size.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
No, we will not be making such a precise assessment, but the EU is our closest partner and biggest trading market and we are committed to making trade easier by removing unnecessary barriers to trade. To date, many UK regulations continue to align in the main with EU regulations. We are aware that EU divergence is an important issue for many UK exporters to the EU. We continue to monitor potential instances of divergence and undertake assessments on a case-by-case basis.
Asked by: Andrew Griffith (Conservative - Arundel and South Downs)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many secondary legislation (a) laid and (b) planned under the Employment Rights Act 2025 have been submitted to the Regulatory Policy Committee.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Regulatory Policy Committee (RPC) does not review secondary legislation. Where applicable under Better Regulation guidance, the RPC produces opinions of Option Assessments and Impact Assessments to help Government ensure that the evidence and analysis in them is sufficiently robust. As is best practice, my department will adhere to the Better Regulation Framework on the implementation of the Employment Rights Act 2025.
Asked by: Andrew Griffith (Conservative - Arundel and South Downs)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential impact on domestic British glass manufactures as a result of the decision by UK Export Finance to finance £100m for a new bottle plant in Belgium.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
In its role as the UK’s export credit agency, UK Export Finance (UKEF) provided a loan guarantee on commercial terms that will enable UK companies to supply goods and services to the Belgian bottle plant.
Through this guaranteed loan, UKEF is supporting Tecoglas Limited, a Sheffield based company, which will export two glass furnaces and is expected to back a further 15 UK SMEs in its supply chain, helping to secure and support UK jobs.
Asked by: Andrew Griffith (Conservative - Arundel and South Downs)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he plans to respond to the correspondence of (a) 21 November 2025, (b) 15 December 2025 and (c) 20 January 2026 from the hon. Member for Arundel and South Downs.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
A response to the correspondence was sent on 27 January 2026.
The Department apologises for the delay in responding on this occasion and we regret that this fell short of expected standards.
Asked by: Andrew Griffith (Conservative - Arundel and South Downs)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to respond to correspondence of (a) 2 December 2025, (b) 2 January 2026 and (c) 20 January 2026 from the hon. Member for Arundel and South Downs.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Minister for Policing responded on 29 January.