Asked by: Joe Morris (Labour - Hexham)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department plans to take to monitor participation in trade promotion programmes by SMEs in Northumberland.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
I refer my hon. friend to the answer I provided to UIN 89172 on 18th November: Written questions and answers - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament
Asked by: Joe Morris (Labour - Hexham)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department plans to take to monitor participation in trade promotion programmes by SMEs in Hexham constituency.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
I refer my hon. friend to the answer I provided to UIN 89172 on 18th November: Written questions and answers - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament
Asked by: Joe Morris (Labour - Hexham)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps the Department plans to take to monitor participation in trade promotion programmes by SMEs in the North East.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
I refer my hon. friend to the answer I provided to UIN 89172 on 18th November: Written questions and answers - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament
Asked by: Joe Morris (Labour - Hexham)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department has taken to improve parental rights for workers in the North East.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Through the Employment Rights Bill, we are strengthening rights for parents by making Paternity Leave and Unpaid Parental Leave ‘day one’ rights for qualifying employees, removing restrictions on taking Paternity Leave after Shared Parental Leave, strengthening flexible working rights, and bolstering protections for new and expectant mothers. On 1 July we launched the Parental Leave Review which will consider how parental leave can better reflect modern work and childcare realities and support working families.
Asked by: Joe Morris (Labour - Hexham)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 4 November 2025 to Question 85401 on Public Houses: Rural Areas, what his planned timeframe is for publishing the outcome from the Call for Evidence on Reforming the licensing system.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is inviting views and evidence to inform the development of a modern, proportionate and enabling licensing system. A Call for Evidence ran for four weeks until 6 November. This attracted a significant number of responses and work is now underway to analyse these. We are working at pace and aim to share findings as soon as possible.
Asked by: Joe Morris (Labour - Hexham)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of reduced electricity costs for employers on employment growth in energy- intensive sectors in Hexham constituency.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Government delivers electricity cost relief schemes that provide support to businesses in energy intensive sectors across the country, helping UK businesses to remain competitive and protect thousands of well paid, British jobs. The British Industry Supercharger cuts electricity costs for around 550 energy intensive businesses, and Government recently confirmed an uplift in relief through its Network Charging Compensation Scheme from 60% to 90%. This will further reduce the gap in electricity prices between the UK and other countries. Alongside this, from 2027, the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme will cut electricity costs for even more businesses.
Asked by: Joe Morris (Labour - Hexham)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps the Office for Investment is taking to help increase private sector investment in Hexham constituency.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Office for Investment is piloting an Investment Opportunities Accelerator in partnership with the North East Combined Authority. This programme aims to facilitate and expedite investment prospects by working collaboratively with regional partners, relevant government departments, and industry stakeholders. The North East’s designation as the UK’s first AI Growth Zone which includes sites in Northumberland, positions it as a national leader in AI innovation. NECA is also receiving support through DSIT’s £30m Innovation Accelerator Fund to strengthen its R&D ecosystem and drive commercialisation in advanced manufacturing, clean energy and digital sectors.
Asked by: Joe Morris (Labour - Hexham)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of investor-state dispute settlement provisions on the UK's climate targets.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK is party to 78 Bilateral Investment Treaties and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership that contain Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS). ISDS provides an independent means to resolve disputes with states where investors believe they have experienced arbitrary, discriminatory or unfair treatment or expropriation without compensation. ISDS does not remove governments' right to regulate in the public interest, including with respect to the UK's climate targets.
The UK has a longstanding record of supporting foreign investment, including through fulfilling its obligations in international investment agreements it is party to.
Asked by: Joe Morris (Labour - Hexham)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what estimate his Department has made of the potential impact of foreign direct investment projects on economic growth in the North East in the last (a) five years and (b) ten years.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
DBT’s Official Statistics on inward investment at Inward investment results - GOV.UK show the number of Foreign Direct Investment projects and new jobs created in the North East as per the tables below.
| 2015-16 | 2016-17 | 2017-18 | 2018-19 | 2019-20 |
FDI projects | 77 | 69 | 69 | 59 | 73 |
New jobs | 2,991 | 4,609 | 2,379 | 2,188 | 2,979 |
| 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 |
FDI projects | 51 | 71 | 61 | 67 | 63 |
New jobs | 1,373 | 5,843 | 3,047 | 4,296 | 2,064 |
The estimated economic impact is only published for DBT-supported projects at a UK level. This has been published since 2019-20 and is shown below.
| 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 |
Estimated economic impact (£m) | 3,091 | 3,875 | 7,034 | 5,769 | 5,757 | 6,041 |
Asked by: Joe Morris (Labour - Hexham)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the level of the UK's exposure to Investor State Disputes in the fossil fuel industry.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) provides an independent means for investors to resolve disputes with states where they believe they have experienced arbitrary, discriminatory, or unfair treatment or expropriation without compensation. An independent Tribunal will determine the level of liability, if any, in Investor State Dispute proceedings. The Government has never faced a successful ISDS claim.
The UK has a longstanding track record of supporting foreign investment, including through fulfilling its obligations in the international investment agreements to which it is a party.