Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to improve export capacity within the UK.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
We recognise the importance of increasing the capacity of businesses to export and succeed around the world.
UK businesses can access DBT’s export support via Great.gov.uk. This comprises an online support offer and a wider network of support including the Export Academy, UK Export Finance, the International Markets network and one-to-one support from International Trade Advisers.
As part of our work on a new trade strategy and a small business strategy, we are looking at further proposals to help UK businesses to export more.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what progress his Department has made on trade talks with India.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Business and Trade Secretary travelled to New Delhi to meet his counter Piyush Goyal in February 2025 where they relaunched negotiations.
We are continuing to work closely with the Government of India to progress negotiations towards a deal that drives economic growth for every region and nation.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to increase UK aviation exports.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
DBT works with UK aerospace companies to open markets, tackle trade disputes, provide SME support, and connect business to export opportunities.
Through the Aerospace Growth Partnership and Aerospace Technology Institute, we support industry to increase supply chain productivity, competitiveness, innovation and exports. In defence, we work with industry to develop campaigns to pursue a pipeline of global opportunities. In 2024 the UK aerospace industry exported £23 billion of its production and over 5 years to 2023 on average achieved annual orders of £5.4 billion across aerospace products relating to defence.
The Industrial Strategy will set out our further support for these sectors.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of trends in levels of footfall on high streets since 1 January 2025.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes weekly reports retail footfall traffic across the UK. This data can fluctuate due to factors such as seasonal trends, economic conditions and consumer confidence. Due to the highly volatile nature of the high-street footfall data the department does not estimate footfall trends on high streets. All ONS reports on real-time UK wide retail footfall for each week in 2025 can be found here: https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/economicoutputandproductivity/output/bulletins/economicactivityandsocialchangeintheukrealtimeindicators/previousreleases
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what discussions he has had with his counterpart in Northern Ireland on encouraging international steel investment in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
We believe that our Plan for Steel will be a once-in-a-generation opportunity to make a real difference for this industry. It will address the problems the sector faces and create a competitive business landscape across the entirety of the United Kingdom.
Supporting the strategy is the Steel Council to which the Minister for the Economy is a member and met in January. In addition, I met with Minister Archibald prior to the launch of the consultation on the strategy in February.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
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 the chemical industry from (a) site closures and (b) job losses.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The chemicals sector underpins almost all manufacturing in the UK and is fundamental to maximising growth and productivity across the economy to drive forward the government’s missions, including delivering growth for all. Reforms are underway to address planning barriers to growth, channel finance towards growth priorities and accelerate the transition to net zero.
This will be supported by our modern Industrial Strategy which will implement targeted policy interventions to drive long-term sustainable, inclusive and secure growth.
Last autumn’s Budget announced continued support for Energy Intensive Industries – including chemical companies - through £350M of additional funding across the next two years.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will take steps to provide additional incentives to help encourage people to establish small businesses.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government supports entrepreneurs with funding and mentoring through, for example the British Business Bank, via Start-up Loans.
The recently announced Business Growth Service which is due to be landed later this year, will help businesses access the support they need to grow, whether they are starting out or looking to scale up. One aim is to ensure that businesses can access more targeted support that considers their particular needs.
We will publish our Small Business Strategy later this year, setting out how the Government will encourage entrepreneurship across the UK and enable small businesses to grow, empowering entrepreneurs to innovate, export and create new jobs.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
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 Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on introducing more flexible paternity leave.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is committed to ensuring that employed parents receive the best possible support to balance their work and family responsibilities.
The Employment Rights Bill will increase the flexibility of Paternity Leave. This Bill will make Paternity Leave available from ‘day one’ in a new job and enable it to be taken after Shared Parental Leave.
We will also review the parental leave system to ensure that it supports working families. Planning work is already underway across Government, including with the Department of Work and Pensions.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
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 adequacy of flexible working patterns offered to enable parents to (a) work and (b) afford the costs of childcare.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
We know from reviews of the existing legislative framework as well as the impact assessment of the measures in the Employment Rights Bill that there is clear demand for adequate flexible working arrangements from parents, as there is with other groups in the workforce. Flexible working can help parents manage their childcare responsibilities and reduce the cost of childcare.
Through Make Work Pay the Government committed to making flexible working the default except where not reasonably feasible, making it more likely that requests are accepted. Clauses contained in the Employment Rights Bill will achieve this aim.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make a comparative assessment of (a) the UK's regulatory system and (b) those of international comparators.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is committed to delivering a regulatory system that addresses market failures, creates economic certainty, and drives innovation to stimulate growth while protecting consumers and businesses. As part of this, HMG regularly makes comparative assessments of the UK's regulatory system and those of international comparators.