Asked by: Josh Newbury (Labour - Cannock Chase)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what steps he has taken with Cabinet colleagues to support energy intensive businesses with energy costs.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade) (Jointly with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The British Industry Supercharger cuts electricity costs for around 600 of the most electricity-intensive businesses, including Goodfish, a plastics manufacturer in Cannock. Last April, the Government uplifted relief from network charges for Supercharger recipients from 60% to 90%, raising the average electricity discount to around £65 to £87 per megawatt hour.
Around 120 of the most electricity-intensive and trade-exposed businesses also benefit from the EII Compensation Scheme, which provided a discount of around £24 per megawatt hour in 2025.
From 2027, the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme will reduce electricity costs for over 10,000 manufacturers by up to £40 per megawatt hour.
Asked by: Josh Newbury (Labour - Cannock Chase)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what proportion of vehicles rented by his Department are electric vehicles.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department has a contract with Enterprise for car hire. In the 2024/25 financial year there were 672 rentals, of which 4 were electric vehicle (EV) rentals (0.61%). All vehicle types were rented for 1672 days in total, of which 7 were EV rental days (0.42%).
Asked by: Josh Newbury (Labour - Cannock Chase)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 5 November 2024 to Question 11619 on the Groceries Code Adjudicator: Finance, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential impact of the £1 billion turnover threshold on farmers.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is responsible for monitoring effectiveness of the Groceries (Supply Chain Practices) Market Investigation Order 2009 in ensuring that businesses, including farmers, that supply groceries directly to designated retailers are treated lawfully and fairly. This includes the £1 billion threshold at which a retailer can be designated by the CMA.
Asked by: Josh Newbury (Labour - Cannock Chase)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of lowering the turnover threshold of £1 billion for businesses that are required to fund the Groceries Code Adjudicator.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA) is currently funded by an annual levy on the 14 large retailers that are designated under the Code by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). The CMA assesses annually whether retailers which have a turnover exceeding £1bn of grocery sales in the UK should be designated under the Code. The £1bn threshold is set out in the Groceries (Supply Chain Practices) Market Investigation Order 2009 which is the responsibility of the CMA.