Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, for what purposes (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department have used AI in the last 12 months.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department for Business and Trade is committed to improving its productivity, including through AI and effective use of data. A range of AI tools are available for use by Ministers and officials across various roles the department, including: Microsoft Copilot, Open AI models and other models for specific uses. There are teams focussed on enabling use of AI by building necessary infrastructure and developing specific AI use cases.
Ministers and officials also have access to a range of data services which allow them to deploy AI and data tools.
We report against the Algorithmic Transparency Reporting Standard on GOV.UK.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, on what occasions Ministers in his Department met representatives of Vodafone in the last five years.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Details of the meetings held by Ministers of the Department for Business and Trade and its predecessor the Department for International Trade are available on transparency pages of gov.uk and are released as part of the Government’s transparency agenda.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many full-time equivalent diversity, equality and inclusion staff are employed by the Low Pay Commission.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
There are zero full-time equivalent diversity, equality and inclusion staff employed by the Low Pay Commission.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will take steps to prevent companies from changing commissions to franchisees at short notice.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The franchising industry self-regulates through the British Franchise Association (BFA) and its Code of Ethics, and the Quality Franchise Association, which offers a Code of Conduct. Franchise agreements are the primary instrument that govern the relationship between franchisors and franchisees and those should normally include details such as fees, territory rights, contract duration and dispute resolution mechanisms. Disputes are, therefore, a private matter in which it would be inappropriate for Government to intervene.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department awarded financial assistance to Vodafone during the 2020 lockdown.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government does not comment on whether individual businesses received financial assistance during the 2020 lockdown as that information is considered commercially sensitive.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to ensure that people in (a) South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (b) Lincolnshire are able to access essential postal services.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government provides an annual £50m Network Subsidy to support the delivery of a minimum number of Post Office branches and a geographical spread of these branches in line with published access criteria. This requires 99% of the UK population to be within three miles of their nearest Post Office outlet. The Government-set Access Criteria ensures that however the network changes, services remain within local reach of all citizens.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, for what reason there is no mention of (a) farming and (b) agriculture in the Government's industrial strategy entitled Invest 2035: the UK's modern industrial strategy, published in October 2024.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Industrial Strategy identified eight growth-driving sectors but all sectors can shape and will benefit from wider policy reform through the Industrial Strategy’s cross-cutting policies alongside the broader Growth Mission. This will create the pro-business environment for all businesses to invest and employ, with growth that supports high-quality jobs and ensures that the benefits are shared across people, places, and generations. The Government is engaging with the food, drink and farming industries regularly. The Government has committed £5 billion to the farming budget for England over two years directed at sustainable food production and nature’s recovery.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many full time equivalent diversity, equality and inclusion staff are employed by the Competition and Markets Authority.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Competition and Markets Authority does not have any full time equivalent staff dedicated to diversity, equality and inclusion.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to reduce the (a) risk of and (b) impact from fires in agricultural vehicles.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations 2008 set out the essential requirements that must be met before a machinery product is placed on the UK market, in order to protect users of that machinery from any undue harm. This includes agricultural vehicles in scope.
As part of those existing requirements, machinery must be designed and constructed in such a way as to avoid any risk of fire or overheating posed by the machinery itself or by gases, liquids, dust, vapours or other substances produced or used by the machinery.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to support food producers from Lincolnshire to increase exports.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
DBT provides a wide-ranging package of export support for food and drink businesses in Lincolnshire and the whole of the UK. This includes educational support to upskill food producers via our Export Academy and one to one support from International Trade Advisors and our extensive overseas network, with trade advisors promoting UK food in over 100 countries. Overseas we deliver a comprehensive programme of trade shows, trade missions and events to connect exporters with buyer and new market opportunities. Our UK Export Finance agency helps companies access export finance, with a dedicated finance manager covering Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire and Rutland.