Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent assessment she has made of the impact of trends in the level of export costs to the EU for small businesses on the economy of (a) Enfield North constituency, (b) the London Borough of Enfield and (c) London.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
We are better equipped than ever to support SMEs, including those in Enfield and across London, to export. The Department offers a wide range of free support services via great.gov.uk including our Export Support Service, International Markets network and through Export Champions, such as PME Cakes in Enfield. UK Export Finance (UKEF) also supports SMEs, which make up 84% of the companies supported directly with a UKEF product in 2022-23.
London exported £20.3 billion goods to the EU in the 12 months to June 2023. An increase of 26% in current prices since 2018; the largest percentage increase of all the English regions. The Department does not hold data on Enfield at a borough or constituency level.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what estimate she has made of the number of pubs that have closed in (a) Enfield North constituency, (b) the London Borough of Enfield and (c) London in each of the last five years.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The latest ONS data[1] (as of 09 November 2023) shows the overall number of public houses and bars in Enfield North, Enfield and London for each of the last 5 years (Table 1).
Table 1: Number of Public House and Bar Local Units, 2019 – 2023
Date | Enfield North | Enfield | London |
2019 | 15 | 40 | 2,215 |
2020 | 15 | 45 | 2,245 |
2021 | 15 | 45 | 2,225 |
2022 | 15 | 45 | 2,265 |
2023 | 15 | 40 | 2,255 |
Business closures (VAT de-registrations) are not available at this level of industrial and geographical detail. However, the Insolvency Service[2] do publish monthly data on the total number of insolvencies in the food and beverage services sector in England and Wales from 2019 to 2022 (Table 2).
Date | Food and beverage service activities insolvencies |
2019 | 2,150 |
2020 | 1,542 |
2021 | 1,542 |
2022 | 2,523 |
[1] ONS Business counts via NOMIS. Data relates to SIC 56.302 – Public houses and bars.
[2] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/monthly-insolvency-statistics-september-2023
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many people are on zero hour contracts in (a) Enfield North constituency, (b) the London Borough of Enfield and (c) London.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Zero hours contracts are an important part of the UK’s flexible labour market. They are useful where there is not a constant demand for staff, allowing flexibility for both employers and individuals – like carers, people studying, or retirees. For some, a zero hours contract may be the type of contract which works best for them.
Individuals on zero hours contracts represent a very small proportion of the workforce. The ONS estimates that 155,000 people aged 16 and over were employed on a zero hours contract in London in April – June 2023, representing 3.3% of people in employment in the area.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she is taking steps to reduce the number of people on zero hour contracts in (a) Enfield North constituency, (b) the London Borough of Enfield and (c) London.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Individuals on zero hours contracts represent a very small proportion of the workforce. The ONS estimates that 155,000 people aged 16 and over were employed on a zero hours contract in London between April – June 2023, representing 3.3% of people in employment in the area.
Zero hours contracts are an important part of the UK’s flexible labour market. They are useful where there is not a constant demand for staff, allowing flexibility for both employers and individuals – like carers, people studying, or retirees. For some, a zero hours contract may be the type of contract which works best for them.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps her Department has taken to increase opportunities for economic growth in (a) Enfield North constituency, (b) the London Borough of Enfield and (c) London in the last three years.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department for Business and Trade supports businesses to invest, grow and export, creating jobs and opportunities across the whole country including Enfield and wider London.
For example, as of August 2023, the Department provided Start Up Loans worth over £2.2m to local businesses in Enfield North.
£14.76m has been awarded to Energetik, an Enfield council-owned heating company developing low carbon infrastructure. A further £1m for Enfield's Retrofit Accelerator Programme is generating green jobs in construction, manufacturing, and project management.
London has also benefited from the national Help to Grow scheme which supports small and medium sized enterprises across the UK.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many breaches of minimum wage legislation by employers in Enfield North constituency there were in the last four years.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
All businesses – irrespective of their size, business sector or location – are responsible for paying the correct minimum wage to their staff.
National Minimum Wage enforcement data is not held at constituency level but regional data for London can be seen in the table below.
Financial Year | Region | Arrears (£) | Workers |
2018-19 | London | 6,456,315 | 59,147 |
2019-20 | London | 3,298,935 | 42,917 |
2020-21 | London | 1,285,697 | 10,005 |
2021-22 | London | 5,408,629 | 55,133 |
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will make an estimate of the number of breaches of minimum wage legislation by employers in Enfield North constituency in each of the last four years.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
All businesses – irrespective of their size, business sector or location – are responsible for paying the correct minimum wage to their staff.
National Minimum Wage enforcement data is not available at constituency level but regional data for London can be seen in the table below.
Financial Year | Region | Arrears (£) | Workers |
2018-19 | London | 6,456,315 | 59,147 |
2019-20 | London | 3,298,935 | 42,917 |
2020-21 | London | 1,285,697 | 10,005 |
2021-22 | London | 5,408,629 | 55,133 |
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant of the Answer of 13 June 2023 to Question 187340 on the Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023, what secondary legislation will be required to implement the Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023; and when he plans to bring forward each item of secondary legislation.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
We anticipate approximately seven statutory instruments will be necessary to implement the leave and pay entitlements. These will be laid in due course, subject to parliamentary time.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant of the Answer of 13 June 2023 to Question 187340 on the Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023, if he will publish minutes of meetings where the implementation of the Neonatal care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023 has been discussed since May 2023.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is committed to introducing Neonatal Care Leave and Pay as soon as possible. Discussions have taken place across Government on work necessary to deliver this entitlement and the implementation timeline. The Government does not hold any formal minutes of meetings to discuss the implementation of the Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023, and does not intend to publish notes of internal discussions.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent assessment her Department has made of the impact of the services sector on (a) exports and (b) economic growth in (i) Enfield North constituency, (ii) the London Borough of Enfield and (iii) London.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Department periodically monitors the impact of its work supporting the services sector to increase exports via our Made in the UK: Sold to the World Analytical Framework.
In 2021, Enfield ITL3 area exported £295 million services. The services sector generated £6.1 billion Gross Value Added (GVA), contributing towards 78% of total GVA in Enfield.
The same year, London exported £152 billion services. The services sector generated £452 billion GVA, contributing towards 93% of total GVA in London.
The Department does not hold trade and GVA data at a constituency level.