Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether (a) she and (b) Ministers from her Department have met with insurance company Unum since 4 July 2024.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

Details of ministers’ meetings with external individuals and organisations are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK and can be found here(opens in a new tab).

There have been no meetings with Unum.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what guidance his Department has issued on ensuring that consumers receive compensation when (a) a business enters liquidation and (b) there is evidence to suggest that business has knowingly defrauded customers prior to liquidation.

Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

If a business enters formal insolvency, consumers can refer to the guidance on the UK government's website (Gov.UK) for information on recovering their money for undelivered goods or services. The guidance advises consumers to contact their card provider to request a refund or, alternatively, submit a claim to the insolvency office holder. If there is evidence of misconduct by the insolvent business, it should be reported to the insolvency office holder, who will investigate and if necessary take appropriate action.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an estimate of the potential cost to the public purse of the Bank of England's Quantitative Tightening programme (a) since July 2024 and (b) since its commencement in November 2022.

Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

Since October 2022, HM Treasury has transferred £85.9bn to the Bank of England to cover losses arising from the Asset Purchase Facility, of which £25bn was transferred since July 2024. This covers losses incurred from net interest costs and the sale and redemption of bonds as the portfolio is unwound.

Data on these quarterly cash transfers between HM Treasury and the Bank of England are made publicly available by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in its monthly Public Sector Finances publication. The data are available at the following link under the ONS series ID MF7A in worksheet PSA9B:

https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/governmentpublicsectorandtaxes/publicsectorfinance/datasets/publicsectorfinancesappendixatables110

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many Investment Fund for Scotland applications have been (a) received and (b) approved for each of the funds administered by (i) DSL Business Finance, (ii) FSE Group and (iii) Maeven; and what was the average time taken to consider a funding application by (A) DSL Business Finance, (B) FSE Group and (C) Maeven.

Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The £150 million Investment Fund for Scotland was launched in November 2023 and provides debt and equity finance to Scottish businesses. Similar funds are available in Wales, Northern Ireland, and three regions of England. As at November 2024, the Investment Fund for Scotland had provided over £10 million of finance to 26 businesses. Updated information will be published by September 2025. The British Business Bank does not publish information on numbers of applications received or hold information on time taken to review applications. All investment decisions are taken by the fund managers who analyse the application and complete due diligence.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how much has been allocated from the Investment Fund for Scotland to businesses to date; and what estimate he has made of the amount that will be allocated in each year of the Fund's operation.

Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

A total of £150 million has been committed to the Investment Fund for Scotland. Three fund managers have been contracted to provide £110 million of this total in debt and equity finance to small businesses. The British Business Bank has retained the remaining £40 million in reserve, which will be allocated during the life of the fund depending on market conditions and fund performance. The funding has initially been split approximately 45% to equity and 55% to debt. The expectation is that the funding will be fully deployed during the first five years.

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 Investment Fund for Scotland management fees paid to (a) DSL Business Finance, (b) FSE Group and (c) Maeven (i) to date and (ii) during the life of the Fund.

Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The British Business Bank routinely commissions independent evaluations of its programmes to quantify their impact and an overall assessment of performance and value for money. An interim evaluation of the Investment Fund for Scotland (IFS) programme is expected to be commissioned during the first five years of the Fund’s operation. Fees paid to individual managers is commercially sensitive information and therefore not able to be published.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will introduce a digitalised ID system for horses to (a) ensure effective enforcement of the ban on live exports for slaughter and (b) prevent illegal horse smuggling.

Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Government recognises the importance of the equine sector to the UK economy and of improving equine identification. We have no current plans to implement mandatory digital identification, but we remain in close touch with the industry.

Exporting livestock and horses from Great Britain for slaughter is banned under the Animal Welfare (Livestock Exports) Act 2024. We have put in place regulations to ensure that the ban is enforced robustly. The Animal Welfare (Livestock Exports) Enforcement Regulations 2024 came into force on 1st January 2025 and provide a range of regulatory and enforcement powers to the Animal and Plant Health Agency and Local Authority Inspectors.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure enforcement of the ban on live (a) horse and (b) other animal exports for slaughter.

Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Government recognises the importance of the equine sector to the UK economy and of improving equine identification. We have no current plans to implement mandatory digital identification, but we remain in close touch with the industry.

Exporting livestock and horses from Great Britain for slaughter is banned under the Animal Welfare (Livestock Exports) Act 2024. We have put in place regulations to ensure that the ban is enforced robustly. The Animal Welfare (Livestock Exports) Enforcement Regulations 2024 came into force on 1st January 2025 and provide a range of regulatory and enforcement powers to the Animal and Plant Health Agency and Local Authority Inspectors.

Arbroath Football Club

20th anniversary of Fyne Futures

Inverness Airport

Lauren Bell

Ailie MacLeod

Lorna Williamson

Zoe Barclay

Arbikie Distillery

Arbroath's award-winning black pudding

LED headlights

Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty

British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme

Tackling child poverty

Found: _3 Stephen Flynn Dave Doogan Kirsty Blackman Pete Wishart Brendan O'Hara Graham Leadbitter Chris

Found: Còmhdhail Michael Matheson BPA/MSP a b c d T : 0300 244 4000 E : scottish.ministers@gov.scot Dave Doogan