Asked by: John Cooper (Conservative - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the Policy paper entitled Amplify: The Local Media Action Plan of 17 March 2026, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of a 14-day cooling-off period on the effectiveness of local and regional news publishers in adopting a digital-first and sustainable future.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The government is committed to ensuring a healthy and plural local media for the benefit of communities and citizens across the UK. We have launched a Local Media Action Plan to help local newsrooms across the country innovate and adapt their business models for the online world, while incentivising and encouraging the production of high quality, trustworthy news.
We have consulted on how the subscriptions regime will be implemented and Ministers and officials have engaged with representatives from the news media sector. We are working closely with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to reflect on the issues raised and a Government Response will be published in due course.
The impact assessment for the subscriptions chapter in the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Act can be found here: Subscription traps: annex 2 impact assessment. Together, the subscription measures are anticipated to provide £400m of consumer benefits per year and the estimated net direct cost to businesses is £171m per year.
Sector-specific analysis has not been conducted.
Asked by: John Cooper (Conservative - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, when his Department plans to engage with stakeholders on the implementation of the new subscription contracts regime.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
This government is committed to protecting consumers who enter subscription contracts. We have consulted on the implementation of the new subscriptions regime (Consultation on the implementation of the new subscription contracts regime - GOV.UK) which included meeting with interested stakeholders. After carefully analysing responses a full Government Response is to be published in due course.
We have engaged with consumer advocacy groups, enforcers and business representatives from across the economy and will continue to do so in advance of the regime’s commencement.
Asked by: John Cooper (Conservative - Dumfries and Galloway)
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 potential impact of the cooling-off period proposals in section 267 of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 on printed news products.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government has consulted on how refunds should work when consumers exercise their statutory cooling-off rights (Consultation on the implementation of the new subscription contracts regime). We are analysing all the responses, including in relation to digital platform fees and views from the printed news sector.
The impact assessment for the subscriptions chapter in the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Act can be found here: Subscription traps: annex 2 impact assessment. Together the subscription measures are anticipated to provide £400m of consumer benefits per year and the estimated net direct cost to businesses is £171m per year. Sector-specific analysis has not been conducted.
Asked by: John Cooper (Conservative - Dumfries and Galloway)
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 section 267 of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 on platform fees for digital subscriptions.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government has consulted on how refunds should work when consumers exercise their statutory cooling-off rights (Consultation on the implementation of the new subscription contracts regime). We are analysing all the responses, including in relation to digital platform fees and views from the printed news sector.
The impact assessment for the subscriptions chapter in the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Act can be found here: Subscription traps: annex 2 impact assessment. Together the subscription measures are anticipated to provide £400m of consumer benefits per year and the estimated net direct cost to businesses is £171m per year. Sector-specific analysis has not been conducted.
Asked by: John Cooper (Conservative - Dumfries and Galloway)
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 number of postmasters convicted as a result of failures in the Capture software; and how many of those convictions have been quashed.
Answered by Gareth Thomas
There is no definitive number or record of the number of convictions related to Capture. The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) has received 31 pre-Horizon applications to date. Incomplete due to the passage of time complicates confirming they are Capture-related. To support the CCRC, we commissioned the Post Office to review its branch files for the period from 1992 to 2000 for potential prosecutions. 448 potential cases have been reviewed with 31 confirmed Capture-related cases. The findings have been sent to the CCRC. If convictions related to Capture are overturned by the courts, we will provide appropriate redress.
For non-convicted postmasters, the Government announced the Capture scheme design on 19 June. We expect to launch in Autumn, starting with an initial 150 claimants before broader rollout.
Asked by: John Cooper (Conservative - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what plans his Department has to review the convictions of postmasters affected by Capture errors in instances where those convictions have not already been quashed.
Answered by Gareth Thomas
There is no definitive number or record of the number of convictions related to Capture. The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) has received 31 pre-Horizon applications to date. Incomplete due to the passage of time complicates confirming they are Capture-related. To support the CCRC, we commissioned the Post Office to review its branch files for the period from 1992 to 2000 for potential prosecutions. 448 potential cases have been reviewed with 31 confirmed Capture-related cases. The findings have been sent to the CCRC. If convictions related to Capture are overturned by the courts, we will provide appropriate redress.
For non-convicted postmasters, the Government announced the Capture scheme design on 19 June. We expect to launch in Autumn, starting with an initial 150 claimants before broader rollout.
Asked by: John Cooper (Conservative - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what progress he has made on providing (a) redress and (b) justice for people affected by Capture software.
Answered by Gareth Thomas
There is no definitive number or record of the number of convictions related to Capture. The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) has received 31 pre-Horizon applications to date. Incomplete due to the passage of time complicates confirming they are Capture-related. To support the CCRC, we commissioned the Post Office to review its branch files for the period from 1992 to 2000 for potential prosecutions. 448 potential cases have been reviewed with 31 confirmed Capture-related cases. The findings have been sent to the CCRC. If convictions related to Capture are overturned by the courts, we will provide appropriate redress.
For non-convicted postmasters, the Government announced the Capture scheme design on 19 June. We expect to launch in Autumn, starting with an initial 150 claimants before broader rollout.
Asked by: John Cooper (Conservative - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many permanent civil servants in his Department are staff without assigned posts; and how many are placed in an equivalent (a) people action team, (b) priority movers list, (c) redeployment register, (d) talent pool and (e) skills match hub in the most recent period for which data is available.
Answered by Justin Madders
At any point in time, there is likely to be a number of individuals who have been displaced due to restructures within business units or have returned from a loan from another department and their role no longer exists. The exact number changes on a day to day basis.
Asked by: John Cooper (Conservative - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how much (a) his Department and (b) each of its arm’s length bodies has paid to external public relations firms since 5 July 2024; and to list those firms.
Answered by Justin Madders
Public relations activity is a subset of communication spend. As such, this data is not held. The Government Communication Service encourages the prioritisation of low and no cost public relations activities wherever possible.
It is recommended that all external communications support should be procured through approved government frameworks, with strict controls in place to ensure cost-effectiveness.
Asked by: John Cooper (Conservative - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how much their Department spent on (a) media and (b) voice training for Ministers since 5 July 2024.
Answered by Justin Madders
The Department for Business and Trade has not spent anything on media and voice training for Ministers since 5 July 2024.