Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
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 amount of private capital expected to be leveraged as a result of the UK–US critical minerals partnership over the next five years.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
We do not have concrete estimates for private capital that will be leveraged and note that the MoU will serve to advance UK projects beyond just investment, including potential offtake agreements with US industry. In 2024, the UK exported around £2 billion worth of critical minerals and their immediate derivatives to the US, whilst importing around £1 billion originating from the US.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what criteria his Department will use to determine priority projects under the UK–US critical minerals partnership.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The MoU will help unlock more high‑quality potential investment into UK mining, processing and recycling. Our bilateral coordination will align with priorities set out in UK’s Critical Minerals Strategy with a view to boosting local growth and developing UK capabilities.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what mechanisms will be used to monitor supply chain resilience outcomes arising from the UK–US critical minerals partnership.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK’s Critical Mineral Strategy sets out ambitious success features to build domestic resilience and diversify global supply chains. These include meeting 10% of UK demand from domestic production, 20% from recycling and no more than 60% of any critical mineral from a single country. Our Memorandum of Understanding with the US will seek to deliver against these success features, with outcomes monitored by the Department for Business and Trade.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
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 potential impact of an enhanced UK-Switzerland trade agreement on jobs in the UK.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The current UK-Swiss Free Trade Agreement dates back to 1972 and covers goods but not services. UK-Swiss services trade is worth around £30 billion annually and our exports to Switzerland support over 100,000 jobs across the UK. Negotiations on an enhanced trade deal with Switzerland are focused on unlocking more opportunities for UK services firms with our 6th largest services export market, to help support jobs across the UK. The Department will publish an assessment of the finalised agreement.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of how export credit support affects business resilience to global economic shocks.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The recently published report by Oxford Economics, Analysing UKEF-Supported Supply Chains (which is available online at: Research and Analysis: Analysing UKEF-supported supply chains - GOV.UK), shows that in the last five years, deals supported by UK Export Finance (UKEF), the UK’s export credit agency, were responsible for £23 billion gross value added contributions to the UK economy, and supported an average of up to 66,000 jobs per annum. That report also showed that the supply chains of the businesses directly supported by UKEF include 115,000 businesses around the UK.
In April 2025, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced an expansion of UKEF’s support to bolster the resilience of British businesses. This included increasing its financial capacity by £20 billion, to £80 billion, and targeting £10 billion of that to support firms that had been impacted by uncertainties in the world economy, including the new tariff environment.
Further information about the nature and extent of UKEF’s support is available in the Annual Report and Accounts, available online at: UK Export Finance annual reports and accounts - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
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 contribution of export credit to the UK economy over the last five years.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The recently published report by Oxford Economics, Analysing UKEF-Supported Supply Chains (which is available online at: Research and Analysis: Analysing UKEF-supported supply chains - GOV.UK), shows that in the last five years, deals supported by UK Export Finance (UKEF), the UK’s export credit agency, were responsible for £23 billion gross value added contributions to the UK economy, and supported an average of up to 66,000 jobs per annum. That report also showed that the supply chains of the businesses directly supported by UKEF include 115,000 businesses around the UK.
In April 2025, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced an expansion of UKEF’s support to bolster the resilience of British businesses. This included increasing its financial capacity by £20 billion, to £80 billion, and targeting £10 billion of that to support firms that had been impacted by uncertainties in the world economy, including the new tariff environment.
Further information about the nature and extent of UKEF’s support is available in the Annual Report and Accounts, available online at: UK Export Finance annual reports and accounts - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how UK Export Finance measures the economic impact of its support across domestic supply chains.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The recently published report by Oxford Economics, Analysing UKEF-Supported Supply Chains (which is available online at: Research and Analysis: Analysing UKEF-supported supply chains - GOV.UK), shows that in the last five years, deals supported by UK Export Finance (UKEF), the UK’s export credit agency, were responsible for £23 billion gross value added contributions to the UK economy, and supported an average of up to 66,000 jobs per annum. That report also showed that the supply chains of the businesses directly supported by UKEF include 115,000 businesses around the UK.
In April 2025, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced an expansion of UKEF’s support to bolster the resilience of British businesses. This included increasing its financial capacity by £20 billion, to £80 billion, and targeting £10 billion of that to support firms that had been impacted by uncertainties in the world economy, including the new tariff environment.
Further information about the nature and extent of UKEF’s support is available in the Annual Report and Accounts, available online at: UK Export Finance annual reports and accounts - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what measures are in place to monitor repayments among businesses in Buckingham and Bletchley constituency receiving government-backed loans.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The package is a commitment from the UK’s top high-street banks to lend more to small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) using UK Export Finance’s (UKEF’s) guarantee, to boost UK exports and economic growth. It signals to SMEs that want to export that there is a dedicated pool of capital available for them from lenders whom they trust.
Repayment of the loans will be managed by the respective banks, applying their regular criteria and processes. UKEF has robust legal agreements in place which set requirements regarding monitoring of potential defaults and making relevant recoveries.
While we have not made formal assessments of the economic impact of the SME Exporter Fund, last year UK Export Finance (UKEF) provided £14.5 billion of support to UK exporters, in turn supporting up to 70,000 jobs and contributing £5.4 billion to the economy.
Each bank has agreed to make the funds available across the whole of the UK. UKEF also has a network of export finance managers (EFMs) around the whole country who are valuable points of contact for local businesses and can provide information on the range of support available. Contact details for the EFM covering Buckingham and Bletchley, and others, can be found at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/find-an-export-finance-manager
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what evaluation criteria will be used to assess the economic impact of the £11 billion lending support on businesses in Buckingham and Bletchley constituency.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The package is a commitment from the UK’s top high-street banks to lend more to small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) using UK Export Finance’s (UKEF’s) guarantee, to boost UK exports and economic growth. It signals to SMEs that want to export that there is a dedicated pool of capital available for them from lenders whom they trust.
Repayment of the loans will be managed by the respective banks, applying their regular criteria and processes. UKEF has robust legal agreements in place which set requirements regarding monitoring of potential defaults and making relevant recoveries.
While we have not made formal assessments of the economic impact of the SME Exporter Fund, last year UK Export Finance (UKEF) provided £14.5 billion of support to UK exporters, in turn supporting up to 70,000 jobs and contributing £5.4 billion to the economy.
Each bank has agreed to make the funds available across the whole of the UK. UKEF also has a network of export finance managers (EFMs) around the whole country who are valuable points of contact for local businesses and can provide information on the range of support available. Contact details for the EFM covering Buckingham and Bletchley, and others, can be found at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/find-an-export-finance-manager
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
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 of regulation on scale-ups operating across multiple sectors.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
We routinely engage businesses to get their views to assess the impact of regulation on businesses, including through our business questionnaire ‘Unlocking business: reform driven by you’ and our regular Business Perceptions Survey.
Our Regulation Action Plan introduced a series of regulatory reforms designed to make the UK the best place to grow and scale and a business. Building on this, we are shifting the way we support our scale-ups to grow, as set out in the package of growth measures announced by the Secretary of State on 20th January.