Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Normanton and Hemsworth)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how much money has been spent on hospitality for the UK trade envoy programme in each of the last 3 years.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
DBT spend* in the last 3 years on the UK Trade Envoy programme
2023/2024 | 2024/2025 | 2025/2026 |
£228,853 | £59,178 | £203,026 |
*Figures do not include DBT staff costs and only relate to UK Trade Envoy expenditure such as flights, hotels, visas etc.
Hospitality costs for the UK Trade Envoy programme in each of the last 3 years
2023/2024 | 2024/2025 | 2025/2026 |
£1657.55 | £597.22 | £2216.30 |
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Normanton and Hemsworth)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how much his Department spent in each of the last 3 years on the UK Trade Envoy programme.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
DBT spend* in the last 3 years on the UK Trade Envoy programme
2023/2024 | 2024/2025 | 2025/2026 |
£228,853 | £59,178 | £203,026 |
*Figures do not include DBT staff costs and only relate to UK Trade Envoy expenditure such as flights, hotels, visas etc.
Hospitality costs for the UK Trade Envoy programme in each of the last 3 years
2023/2024 | 2024/2025 | 2025/2026 |
£1657.55 | £597.22 | £2216.30 |
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Normanton and Hemsworth)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, for what reason the contract with Palantir was awarded without competition in December 2025.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Palantir Enterprise Agreement was a Direct Award justified under the Procurement Act 2023. The Enterprise Agreement covers existing services and where there is a robust technical justification for using Palantir products and services for Defence outcomes. The decision to proceed by way of a Direct Award under Schedule 5, Paragraph 7 reflected the need to maintain continuity of critical Defence capabilities. All procurement procedures were followed with the publication of a Transparency Notice.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Normanton and Hemsworth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether her Department has had discussions with the Venezuelan Government on the operation of UK oil companies in Venezuela.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government's engagement with the Venezuelan authorities is limited and is conducted in line with UK policy. Where necessary, this may include discussions to protect British commercial interests.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Normanton and Hemsworth)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the Palantir system for managing his Department's data could be unilaterally shut down by Palantir without the Government’s consent.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has put in place extensive data security and protection measures to ensure that UK Defence information is appropriately managed. All UK Defence Data used and developed within Palantir software remains sovereign and under the full control of the MOD. Clear contractual controls are in place to ensure this, including controls over the underlying data systems on which Palantir software operates.
These contractual arrangements mean that Palantir cannot unilaterally shut down the MOD’s use of the system, or alter MOD access to its data, without the explicit consent of the MOD. Any such change would require our agreement.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Normanton and Hemsworth)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many planning applications which re-designate green belt as grey belt land there have been since December 2024; and how many of those applications were approved for each English region.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department does not hold the information requested.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Normanton and Hemsworth)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to ensure that data analysed by Palantir is protected from access by foreign governments.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
All data used and developed in Palantir's software deployed across the Ministry of Defence (MOD) will remain under the ownership of the MOD. The MOD has put in place extensive data security and protection measures to ensure UK Defence information is appropriately managed. UK Defence Data used and developed in Palantir's software remains sovereign and under the control of the MOD. We have clear contractual controls in place to ensure this as well as control over the data system that Palantir software sits upon. Any change from this cannot be conducted without consent from the MOD. All data will remain sovereign, freely available across the MOD to be exploited wherever it is needed, including the broader supply chain, and technical ecosystem.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Normanton and Hemsworth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions her Department has had with representatives of the Venezuelan oil company PDVSA in the last 12 months.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
There is no record of any such discussions.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Normanton and Hemsworth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what funding her Department has directly or indirectly provided to organisations for the purposes of advocacy in Venezuela in each year for which information is available.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 15 May 2025 to Question 50066. He can find details of all programmes supported in Venezuela on the GOV.UK Development Tracker (https://devtracker.fcdo.gov.uk/).
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Normanton and Hemsworth)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether there are British armed forces personnel in active service in Venezuela.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
There are no British Armed Forces personnel in active service in Venezuela.