Asked by: Chris Bryant (Labour - Rhondda)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact on patients receiving letters from the NHS of changes to the universal service obligation.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Ofcom, as the independent regulator of postal services, is responsible for ensuring that the universal postal service meets the reasonable needs of customers as well as being financially sustainable and efficient. The Government does not have a role in Ofcom’s regulatory decisions.
The Government expects Ofcom to take full account of users’ needs, including users of important public services, in assessing the feedback on its recent Call for Inputs.
The Government will consider any recommendations that Ofcom puts forward, but Ministers are not currently minded to introduce new legislation to change the obligations on postal deliveries.
Asked by: Chris Bryant (Labour - Rhondda)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, when she will publish a response to her Department’s consultation entitled Smarter regulation: strengthening the economic regulation of the energy, water and telecoms sectors, which closed on 28th January 2024.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The response to the consultation is expected to be published shortly as part of the Department’s Smarter Regulation programme.
Asked by: Chris Bryant (Labour - Rhondda)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2024 to Question 10114 on UK Tradeshow Programme, how many SMEs were provided with grants to participate in tradeshows overseas through the (a) UK Tradeshow Programme in financial year 2022-23 and (b) Tradeshow Access Programme in financial year 2019-20; and how many of those grants in each year were given to SMEs operating in the (i) fashion and (ii) fashion retail sectors.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK Tradeshow Programme in the financial year 2022-23 awarded 93 grants, seven of those grants were for businesses in the fashion industry.
The Tradeshow Access Programme in the financial year 2019-20 awarded 2531 grants, approximately 442 of those grants were for businesses in the fashion industry.
No further information is held to distinguish between businesses in the fashion or fashion retail sector.
Asked by: Chris Bryant (Labour - Rhondda)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how much from the public purse was spent by each of his Trade Envoys in the last year.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Trade Envoys are a valuable resource and support Ministers in progressing our trade and investment agenda in 66 markets across the world. A total of £264,192 was spent in the last year (June 2022 – June 2023). These costs represent the cost of flights and some hotel and other sundry expenses when the official British residence was unavailable or inappropriate. It would not be in the national interest to publish individual breakdowns, given it could create misconceptions that certain countries were favoured or prioritised over others, undermining the UK’s international relations and diplomacy.