Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what tariffs applied to steel exports to the United States of America on 9 July 2025.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
Thanks to our trade deal with the US, the UK remains the only country to have avoided 50% tariffs on steel and aluminium. A 25% tariff continues to apply to UK steel exports. President Trump’s Executive Order on 3 June reconfirmed this will be removed once a US for UK quota is implemented, as per the Economic Prosperity Deal.
We are in constant dialogue with domestic steel and aluminium sectors. We will continue to work with the US to get this deal implemented as soon as possible and in industry's best interests – supporting industry and protecting jobs.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how much funding has been allocated to the Post Office in each year of the 2025 Spending Review period.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The settlement following the Spending Review provides investment of over £500 million over the Parliament to modernise the Post Office, including £86 million from the Transformation Fund. This will allow the Post Office to implement its Strategic Transformation Plan, including the replacement of the legacy Horizon computer system, and will put the Post Office and the crucial services its network provides on a more sustainable footing.
The Spending Review settlement also ensures the Department will have maximum capacity and flexibility to provide full redress to the victims of the Post Office Horizon IT Scandal as quickly as possible. At Autumn Budget 2024, the Government set aside £1.8 billion of funding for redress payments from 2024-25 in addition to around £200 million that had already been distributed.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to ensure that the UK Export Finance expansion reaches small businesses.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Recognising the impact of the support it offers, the government recently increased UK Export Finance’s maximum commitment limit to £80 billion, enabling it to expand its finance support for UK businesses of all sizes.
In 2023 to 2024, 88% of the businesses UKEF directly supported were SMEs. Its most popular product was the General Export Facility, which helped businesses to access around £576 million in working capital support.
UKEF has an ambition to support over 1,000 SMEs by 2029 and will continue to innovate and launch new products, working with a wider range of banks and non-bank financial institutions to tailor the financing support that the UK’s SME exporters need.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made on the potential impact of the accelerated Trade Strategy timetable on business planning.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Government published its Trade Strategy on 26 June which was positively received by business. The Government will work closely with stakeholders on the implementation of the strategy, to ensure that resources are prioritised to deliver on key commitments such as opening new export and market opportunities and strengthening our trade defence capabilities.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to paragraph 7 of the document entitled Implementing the Employment Rights Bill: Roadmap, published on 1 July 2025, what criteria his Department plans to use to determine which provisions of the Trade Union Act 2016 will be repealed (a) through secondary legislation and (b) upon Royal Assent of the Employment Rights Bill.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Clause 156 of the Employment Rights Bill sets out the clauses of the Bill, which repeal various provisions of the Trade Union Act 2016, that will be repealed two months following Royal Assent. Commencement dates for remaining clauses that repeal provisions of the Trade Union Act 2016 will be provided for in secondary legislation. The commencement dates for these clauses will be confirmed in due course.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the document entitled Implementing the Employment Rights Bill: Roadmap, published on 1 July 2025, whether his Department plans to publish a cost-benefit analysis of the phased implementation approach outlined in that document.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
My department has published a set of Impact Assessments that provide a comprehensive analysis on the potential impact of the Employment Rights Bill. This analysis is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/employment-rights-bill-impact-assessments
This represents the best estimate for the likely impacts, given the current stage of policy development. We already intend to publish further analysis, both in the form of an Enactment Impact Assessment when the Bill secures Royal Assent and further assessments when we consult on proposed regulations, to meet our Better Regulation requirements
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to help protect (a) jobs and (b) supply chains which are dependent on British Steel.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Steel is a priority for this Government. As shown with the passing of the Steel Industry (Special Measures) Act on 12 April, this Government will not hesitate to take unprecedented steps to safeguard the future of steelmaking in the UK, protecting jobs, national security and supply chains.
Since the legislation was passed on 12 April, we have acted round the clock to secure the raw materials needed to keep the blast furnaces operating safely at Scunthorpe. British Steel, the UK’s only manufacturer of rail, has secured a new £500 million long-term supply contract with Network Rail, and the statutory redundancy consultation initiated by British Steel’s owners, Jingye, has been cancelled, removing the immediate risk to 2,700 jobs.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business and Trade of 1 July 2025 in the debate on Hospitality Sector, Official Report, column 81WH, if he will publish reports produced by the licencing taskforce.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The taskforce was co-chaired by Nick Mackenzie, Chair of the British Beer & Pub Association and CEO of Greene King, one of the UK’s leading pub retailers and brewers, and I as Minister for Services, Small Business and Exports. Other members include industry representatives and experts, police and local authority representatives. It concluded on 23 March 2025 and provided Government with ten key licensing recommendations to consider.
Government is currently in the process of reviewing these recommendations and will respond in due course.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business and Trade of 1 July 2025 in the debate on Hospitality Sector, Official Report, column 81WH, what the membership of the licensing taskforce is.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Taskforce Terms of Reference and membership is published: Terms of Reference and taskforce member list - GOV.UK
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business and Trade of 1 July 2025 in the debate on Hospitality Sector, Official Report, column 81WH, when he plans to make an announcement on his Department’s response to the licensing taskforce's recent report.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department for Business and Trade is working across Government to review the recommendations put forward in the licensing taskforce report. This review is currently being finalised, we plan to publish the report alongside the Government’s response this summer.