Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether the government intends to equalise the National Living Wage rates for workers over 18 years old.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The removal of the 18–20-year-old age band is a manifesto pledge; we remain committed to the equalisation of the National Minimum Wage (NMW) and National Living Wage (NLW).
The latest increase to the NMW of 8.5% continues to close the gap between the 18-20 NMW rate and the NLW rate, moving towards a single adult rate.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what discussions he has had with the Welsh government on increasing the economic potential of Holyhead Port relative to UK - Ireland trade.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Department for Business and Trade ministers and officials engage regularly with the Welsh Government on the modern industrial strategy, including the economic potential of Holyhead Port and Freeport. The Port of Holyhead carries substantial trade between Ireland and the UK. UKG has invested £20 million into the breakwater at the port, and Holyhead’s potential will be further advanced by the designation of the AI Growth Zone, as well the selection of Wylfa as the preferred site for small modular nuclear in the UK. UKG and WG officials have been working closely together to ensure these opportunities are maximised.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what discussions he has had with local authority trading standards teams about assessing the potential risk of purchasing imported e-bikes and e-scooters, and fire risk from sub standard batteries and chargers.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) within my Department leads the UK’s product safety framework, and works closely with Local Authority Trading Standards (LATS) to enforce product safety laws, including safety requirements for e-bikes, e-scooters and their batteries. OPSS shares border profiling with LATS to target unsafe products entering the UK and supports LATS with training, testing and scientific advice. In 2024, OPSS funded a programme of LATS inspections of businesses repairing or modifying e-bike and e-scooter products to raise compliance.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he is taking steps to support the rebuilding of Ukraine through UK to Ukraine economic trade expansion.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
My department is working to match British business expertise with Ukraine’s reconstruction needs, including through commitments in the UK-Ukraine 100 Year Partnership Agreement.
We extended tariff-free trade under our bilateral Free Trade Agreement on most goods until 2029, offering the most generous tariff concessions of any country. The UK-Ukraine Digital Trade Agreement has updated our digital trading arrangements for the modern age to help Ukraine rebuild its economy. Additionally, we continue to work with the Government of Ukraine to address market access barriers and identify and address priority reconstruction needs through the UK-Ukraine Infrastructure Taskforce and our Project Development Programme.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what information his Department holds on the assessed domestic (a) brick (b) roof tile (c) steel (d) aggregate (e) plasterboard (f) construction grade timber production capacity for each year from 2015 to date.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department does not hold data on assessed domestic production capacity for bricks, roof tiles, steel, aggregates, plasterboard or construction-grade timber. Information on building materials is published in our official statistics - Building material and components: monthly statistics – GOV.UK, UK Manufacturers’ sale by product – Office for National Statistics, World Steel in Figures and 2025 - 2: UK-Grown Timber - Forest Research.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many sub postmasters have had claims (a) settled and (b) not settled related to the Horizon issue.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
As of 31 October 2025, around 9,300 claims have been settled across the Horizon redress schemes, with around 3,000 claims received not yet settled.
The total number of settled claims includes 71 full and final settlements made under the former Overturned Convictions scheme prior to its closure on 2 June 2025. The 40 Overturned Convictions claims not fully settled are now being administered through the Horizon Convictions Redress Scheme (HCRS).
The table below illustrates the progress to date across the schemes and is available on GOV.UK. The Department only reports on claims received, as there is not a fixed cohort of claims across these schemes.
Scheme | Full & Final Claims received | Full & Final Offers made | Full & Final Offers accepted | Full & Final claims paid |
Horizon Shortfall Scheme: eligible claims before deadline | 2,417 | 2,417 | 2,129 | 2,129 |
Horizon Shortfall Scheme: eligible late claims | 8,823 | 6,919 | 6,236 | 6,192 |
Group Litigation Order Scheme | 476 | 473 | 400 | 396 |
Horizon Convictions Redress Scheme | 462 | 460 | 447 | 445 |
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of trends in the number of self service check outs at supermarkets and convenience stores on the number of jobs in those sectors since 2015.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department for Business and Trade has no plans to assess the impact of self-service checkouts on employment levels in the retail sector since 2015.
Decisions about in-store services in supermarkets, including provision of staffed and self-checkout tills are rightly a matter for individual retailers. The Government recognises that the retail sector continues to be an important employer in the UK economy and while technological changes may alter the nature of some roles within the sector, they can also create new opportunities and job types across the retail industry.
The Government continues to engage with the industry, including through the Retail Sector Council, which brings together employers, unions and other stakeholders to address challenges and opportunities.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what the total number of calls (a) answered (b) abandoned was for each public helpline numbers provided by his Department and its executive agencies for each year from 2015 to date.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
This information is not held centrally and would exceed the disproportionate cost threshold to estimate these figures.
Any member of the public can get in touch with the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) helplines on +44 (0) 20 4551 0011 or via our website.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment has been made of the effectiveness of checks on new company formation with Companies House.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Companies House has developed and is continuing to develop capabilities in data analysis and measures to prevent the registration of misleading information and to better understand what measures will prove effective in preventing the registration of misleading information.
As of 31 October 2025, Companies has addressed 148,084 compliance issues involving 85,201 companies. Performance in this reporting period is on track to meet the ministerial target set out in Companies House’s 2025-2026 Business Plan to act against 150,000 companies.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many companies registered with Companies House were a). trading b). dormant and c). pending strike off action for each year from 2015 to date.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The following table shows the total size of the Register of Companies and the trading status of companies in the specified periods:
Financial Year | Total register at end of period | Trading Status | |
Trading | Dormant | ||
2015-16 | 3,678,860 | 3,191,442 | 487,418 |
2016-17 | 3,896,755 | 3,398,018 | 498,737 |
2017-18 | 4,033,355 | 3,528,417 | 504,938 |
2018-19 | 4,202,044 | 3,681,450 | 520,594 |
2019-20 | 4,350,913 | 3,811,504 | 539,409 |
2020-21 | 4,716,126 | 4,159,227 | 556,899 |
2021-22 | 4,894,356 | 4,294,680 | 599,676 |
2022-23 | 5,116,743 | 4,474,920 | 641,823 |
2023-24 | 5,350,759 | 4,697,033 | 653,726 |
2024-25 | 5,427,787 | 4,757,947 | 669,840 |
The following table shows the status of entities on the register at the start and end of the reporting period:
Financial Year | Total register at end of period | Effective register at end of period | In course of dissolution | In liquidation |
2015-16 | 3,678,860 | 3,433,780 | 160,419 | 84,661 |
2016-17 | 3,896,755 | 3,648,478 | 159,802 | 88,475 |
2017-18 | 4,033,355 | 3,770,022 | 172,455 | 90,878 |
2018-19 | 4,202,044 | 3,926,374 | 185,065 | 90,605 |
2019-20 | 4,350,913 | 4,064,063 | 194,049 | 92,801 |
2020-21 | 4,716,126 | 4,410,236 | 210,732 | 95,158 |
2021-22 | 4,894,356 | 4,499,342 | 293,784 | 101,230 |
2022-23 | 5,116,743 | 4,645,402 | 364,998 | 106,343 |
2023-24 | 5,350,759 | 4,876,374 | 365,033 | 109,352 |
2024-25 | 5,427,787 | 4,872,293 | 443,076 | 112,418 |
Figures in both tables are extracted from management information. They are unaudited and subject to change.
Due to timing differences, discrepancies can occur between the register status statistics and the trading status statistics. Consequently, the trading status statistics have been adjusted proportionally to align with the Official Statistics publication.
A review of the statistics regularly published is ongoing.