Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the level of administrative costs incurred by businesses in applying for the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade) (Jointly with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department does not have a formal estimate of the average time businesses are expected to spend on an application for the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme, or the associated administrative costs. This reflects the fact that businesses vary in size and circumstances, meaning the time and effort required will differ between applicants.
There are several features of scheme design that are intended to minimise administrative burden. This includes an online eligibility checker, comprehensive business guidance, flexibility on evidence requirements where appropriate, the option to use third parties to support applications, and regular webinars to help scheme understanding and process.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what estimate his Department has made of the average amount of time businesses are expected to spend completing an application for the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade) (Jointly with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department does not have a formal estimate of the average time businesses are expected to spend on an application for the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme, or the associated administrative costs. This reflects the fact that businesses vary in size and circumstances, meaning the time and effort required will differ between applicants.
There are several features of scheme design that are intended to minimise administrative burden. This includes an online eligibility checker, comprehensive business guidance, flexibility on evidence requirements where appropriate, the option to use third parties to support applications, and regular webinars to help scheme understanding and process.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, with reference to his Department’s press release entitled Joint Statement of 16th Meeting of the India–UK JETCO, published on 12 October 2026, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the UK-India Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement on the total sum value of UK (a) exports to India and (b) imports from India since the agreement entered into force.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade) (Jointly with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The government has assessed the potential long-run impact of the UK-India CETA through its published impact assessment. It estimated that in the long-run CETA could increase UK exports to India by nearly 60% and UK imports from India by 25%, equivalent to £15.7 billion (UK exports to India) and £9.8 billion (UK imports from India) when applied to projections of future trade in 2040. The Department has not assessed actual impacts since CETA’s entry into force in July 2026 as there is not yet enough data available for credible and robust analytical assessment.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, with reference to the Department’s press release entitled Joint Statement of 16th Meeting of the India–UK JETCO, published on 12 October 2026, what assessment has been made of the potential economic benefits of the UK-India Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement for businesses based in Essex.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The government has assessed the impact of the UK-India Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement through its published impact assessment. This estimates that the agreement could increase UK GDP by 0.13%, equivalent to around £4.8 billion annually in the long run. The assessment indicates that all UK nations and English regions are expected to benefit from the agreement. For the East of England region, which includes Essex, real GVA is estimated to increase by around 0.11% in the long run. Businesses in Essex may benefit from the opportunities created by improved access to the Indian market and lower barriers to trade.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the HM Revenue and Customs press release entitled “More than £300 million paid out through Help to Save with thousands more savers set to benefit”, published on 21 September 2026, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the scheme in helping participating households build financial resilience.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
Help to Save supports people on low incomes to build their financial resilience by providing a 50% government bonus on savings.
HMRC’s 2025 evaluation of Help to Save found that awareness and affordability were key barriers to take-up, with 58% of eligible non-users surveyed saying they had not heard of the scheme and 20% saying they could not afford to save. The evaluation also found evidence of positive impacts on saving behaviour and financial resilience, including that 62% of users were not saving before opening their account and 66% reporting that Help to Save had improved their financial circumstances.
In 2028, eligibility will be expanded to all Universal Credit claimants with children or caring responsibilities. The Government has not published an estimate of expected take-up among the additional households that will become eligible from 2028. The approach to evaluating the expanded scheme, including the metrics used, will be determined in due course.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the HM Revenue and Customs press release entitled “More than £300 million paid out through Help to Save with thousands more savers set to benefit”, published on 21 September 2026, what metrics will be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the expanded Help to Save scheme from 2028.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
Help to Save supports people on low incomes to build their financial resilience by providing a 50% government bonus on savings.
HMRC’s 2025 evaluation of Help to Save found that awareness and affordability were key barriers to take-up, with 58% of eligible non-users surveyed saying they had not heard of the scheme and 20% saying they could not afford to save. The evaluation also found evidence of positive impacts on saving behaviour and financial resilience, including that 62% of users were not saving before opening their account and 66% reporting that Help to Save had improved their financial circumstances.
In 2028, eligibility will be expanded to all Universal Credit claimants with children or caring responsibilities. The Government has not published an estimate of expected take-up among the additional households that will become eligible from 2028. The approach to evaluating the expanded scheme, including the metrics used, will be determined in due course.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the level of electricity costs faced by eligible manufacturing businesses after the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme is implemented compared with those faced by comparable businesses in European countries.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade) (Jointly with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme will reduce electricity costs for eligible manufacturing businesses by exempting them from the indirect costs of the Renewables Obligation (RO), Feed-In Tariffs (FIT), and Capacity Market (CM).
This support is expected to reduce electricity costs by up to £40 per megawatt-hour, equivalent to up to 25% of a business’s electricity bill, helping to bring electricity costs faced by eligible manufacturers more in line with those in other European economies.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of NHS services for people with hypermobility spectrum disorders.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answers given on 6 July to Questions 10869 and 10873, and the answers given on 8 July to Questions 10868 and 10871.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme in helping to tackle the underlying causes of high electricity costs for manufacturing businesses.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade) (Jointly with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme will reduce electricity costs for eligible manufacturing businesses by exempting them from the indirect costs of the Renewables Obligation (RO), Feed-In Tariffs (FIT), and Capacity Market (CM).
This support is expected to reduce electricity costs by up to £40 per megawatt-hour, equivalent to up to 25% of a business’s electricity bill, helping to bring electricity costs faced by eligible manufacturers more in line with those in other European economies.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the HM Revenue and Customs press release entitled “More than £300 million paid out through Help to Save with thousands more savers set to benefit”, published on 21 September 2026, what assessment he has made of the reasons why take-up of Help to Save remains below the number of people eligible for the scheme.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
Help to Save supports people on low incomes to build their financial resilience by providing a 50% government bonus on savings.
HMRC’s 2025 evaluation of Help to Save found that awareness and affordability were key barriers to take-up, with 58% of eligible non-users surveyed saying they had not heard of the scheme and 20% saying they could not afford to save. The evaluation also found evidence of positive impacts on saving behaviour and financial resilience, including that 62% of users were not saving before opening their account and 66% reporting that Help to Save had improved their financial circumstances.
In 2028, eligibility will be expanded to all Universal Credit claimants with children or caring responsibilities. The Government has not published an estimate of expected take-up among the additional households that will become eligible from 2028. The approach to evaluating the expanded scheme, including the metrics used, will be determined in due course.