Asked by: Gregor Poynton (Labour - Livingston)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of reinstating funding for UK exhibitors at key international trade fairs in (a) the natural stone sector and (b) other sectors where export potential is strong.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Through our Trade Strategy, Industrial Strategy, and Small Business Plan, we are putting in place the policies, support, and services needed to drive export-led growth. For the first time, DBT is integrating its support for SMEs across all sectors in a single, accessible platform - the Business Growth Service - designed to help businesses across the UK start, scale, and succeed globally.
From tailored market advice and free Export Academy training to UK Export Finance and our on-the-ground network around the world that facilitate trade missions, we are making it easier for businesses to navigate global markets. We continue to review how we can improve our support, including how we connect firms to new opportunities, and build the capability to seize them.
Asked by: Gregor Poynton (Labour - Livingston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of supporting access to second-hand battery electric vehicles through reduced benefit-in-kind taxation on used electric cars.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is fully committed to the transition to electric vehicles and a strong second-hand market for EVs plays an important role in this.
The Company Car Tax regime helps support the used electric vehicle markets, where electric company cars are sold after the end of their lease.
The majority of cars are bought in the UK’s second hand markets. At Autumn Budget the Government announced new Company Car Tax rates for 2028-29 and 2029-30 which will maintain very generous incentives to support electric vehicle take-up, and therefore the entry of electric vehicles into the second-hand market.
Asked by: Gregor Poynton (Labour - Livingston)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of introducing targeted funding support for the purchase of used battery electric vehicles; and what steps her Department is taking to ensure parity of financial assistance between the (a) new and (b) used battery electric vehicle markets.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We continue to work with industry to support a sustainable second-hand zero emission vehicle market. The Government expects that the Electric Car Grant (ECG) will have some benefit in the used market due to a higher supply of affordable vehicles in future years, and the grant’s requirement for an 8-year or 100,000-mile warranty for the vehicle’s battery, ensuring it will have a long useful life.
Asked by: Gregor Poynton (Labour - Livingston)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will take steps to ensure that imported construction products are subject to the same UKCA marking requirements as those manufactured in the UK.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Construction products supplied to the GB market must be affixed with a UKCA or CE mark where they are covered by a designated standard under the UK Construction Product Regulations or where they conform to a UK technical assessment which has been issued for that product.
This reflects the written ministerial statement issued by the Minister for Building Safety and Homelessness on 2 September, which confirmed that CE marking would continue to be recognised when placing construction products on the market to remove unnecessary trade friction, promote growth and protect the UK internal market. Any subsequent changes to the recognition of CE marking would be subject to a minimum 2-year transitional period.
We published a construction products green paper setting out proposals for system wide reform including options for product marking. We will set out next steps in due course.
Asked by: Gregor Poynton (Labour - Livingston)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department has undertaken a recent review of the effectiveness of enforcement mechanisms for CE marking of imported products.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
We keep the effectiveness of our enforcement regime under review. The Product Regulation and Metrology Act 2025, received Royal Assent in July and contains powers to strengthen product enforcement.
The Office for Product Standards and Safety (OPSS) is the UK's national product regulator. It uses risk to target its enforcement activities, protecting people and places from product-related harm. OPSS has established a co-ordinated system of targeted product safety checks at the border. In 2024-25 this resulted in checks covering over 14 million goods at the border, with 2.63 million non-compliant goods refused entry to the UK.
Asked by: Gregor Poynton (Labour - Livingston)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether his Department plans to require AI developers to demonstrate that their models include technical protections against the generation of (a) child sexual abuse imagery and (b) other (i) illegal and (ii) harmful material.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government recognises the importance of tackling AI-generated child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Creating, possessing, or distributing CSAM, including AI Generated CSAM, is illegal. The Online Safety Act requires services to proactively identify and remove this content. We are taking further action in the Crime and Policing Bill to criminalise CSAM image generators.
As set out in the AI Opportunities Action Plan, we believe most AI systems should be regulated at the point of use, with our expert regulators best placed to do so. Departments are working proactively with regulators to provide clear strategic direction and support them on their AI capability needs.
Asked by: Gregor Poynton (Labour - Livingston)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether his Department plans to include statutory obligations for AI developers to adopt safety-by-design measures to prevent the creation of child sexual abuse content.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government recognises the importance of tackling AI-generated child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Creating, possessing, or distributing CSAM, including AI Generated CSAM, is illegal. The Online Safety Act requires services to proactively identify and remove this content. We are taking further action in the Crime and Policing Bill to criminalise CSAM image generators.
As set out in the AI Opportunities Action Plan, we believe most AI systems should be regulated at the point of use, with our expert regulators best placed to do so. Departments are working proactively with regulators to provide clear strategic direction and support them on their AI capability needs.
Asked by: Gregor Poynton (Labour - Livingston)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that AI models are developed with safeguards to prevent their use in generating child sexual abuse material.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government recognises the importance of tackling AI-generated child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Creating, possessing, or distributing CSAM, including AI Generated CSAM, is illegal. The Online Safety Act requires services to proactively identify and remove this content. We are taking further action in the Crime and Policing Bill to criminalise CSAM image generators.
As set out in the AI Opportunities Action Plan, we believe most AI systems should be regulated at the point of use, with our expert regulators best placed to do so. Departments are working proactively with regulators to provide clear strategic direction and support them on their AI capability needs.
Asked by: Gregor Poynton (Labour - Livingston)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what recent assessment his Department has made of the risk of generative AI being used to produce child sexual abuse material.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government recognises the importance of tackling AI-generated child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Creating, possessing, or distributing CSAM, including AI Generated CSAM, is illegal. The Online Safety Act requires services to proactively identify and remove this content. We are taking further action in the Crime and Policing Bill to criminalise CSAM image generators.
As set out in the AI Opportunities Action Plan, we believe most AI systems should be regulated at the point of use, with our expert regulators best placed to do so. Departments are working proactively with regulators to provide clear strategic direction and support them on their AI capability needs.
Asked by: Gregor Poynton (Labour - Livingston)
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 the Industrial Strategy on Scotland.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Our modern Industrial Strategy will drive growth in Scotland's globally competitive sectors – from advanced manufacturing in Glasgow and the UK’s second-largest financial services sector in Edinburgh, to life sciences in Dundee and Aberdeen’s status as a global energy capital. Investments including up to £750 million in a new supercomputer at the University of Edinburgh and our support for the Acorn Carbon Capture and Storage project will have a major positive impact on Scottish growth.