Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
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 impact of Chinese state export subsidies, including the export VAT rebate applied to zero-emission vehicles, on the competitiveness of UK bus manufacturers.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
DBT keeps the impact of overseas state support for zero emissions vehicles under close review and engages regularly with UK manufacturers to understand effects on competitiveness. While reports include mechanisms such as export VAT rebates, only the independent Trade Remedies Authority can formally investigate whether such measures constitute countervailable subsidies and have caused injury to UK industry, based on evidence from producers. DBT will continue to monitor the position closely.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that publicly funded electric bus procurement schemes support domestic manufacturing supply chains.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
DBT works closely with DfT, the Cabinet Office and Crown Commercial Service to ensure publicly funded electric bus procurement supports UK manufacturing where possible, within procurement and trade rules. This includes through setting up the DfT UK Bus Manufacturing Expert Panel, the recent publication of a zero emission bus order pipeline and promoting stronger, more consistent use of social value to reflect UK jobs, skills and supply chain resilience.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps the Government is taking to ensure coordination between the Groceries Code Adjudicator and the Agricultural Supply Chain Adjudicator to provide a coherent regulatory framework for the food supply chain.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government's Statutory Review of the Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA) 2022-2025 published on 14 April 2026. The Statutory Review invites the operationally independent GCA to consider recommendations about its existing confidentiality protections, transparency of enforcement activity and the potential publication of practical Code examples.
On 7 April 2026 the Government announced that responsibility for the GCA would move from the Department for Business and Trade to Defra to strengthen fairness across the UK's grocery supply chain, streamline oversight of the supply chain and to strengthen links to the Agricultural Supply Chain Adjudicator (ASCA).
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment has been made of the effectiveness of the Groceries Code Adjudicator's existing confidentiality protections in encouraging smaller and harder-to-reach suppliers to report concerns about potential code breaches.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government's Statutory Review of the Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA) 2022-2025 published on 14 April 2026. The Statutory Review invites the operationally independent GCA to consider recommendations about its existing confidentiality protections, transparency of enforcement activity and the potential publication of practical Code examples.
On 7 April 2026 the Government announced that responsibility for the GCA would move from the Department for Business and Trade to Defra to strengthen fairness across the UK's grocery supply chain, streamline oversight of the supply chain and to strengthen links to the Agricultural Supply Chain Adjudicator (ASCA).
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he has had discussions with the Groceries Code Adjudicator on (a) improving the transparency of its enforcement activity and (b) the potential merits of publishing practical examples of how the Code is applied.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government's Statutory Review of the Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA) 2022-2025 published on 14 April 2026. The Statutory Review invites the operationally independent GCA to consider recommendations about its existing confidentiality protections, transparency of enforcement activity and the potential publication of practical Code examples.
On 7 April 2026 the Government announced that responsibility for the GCA would move from the Department for Business and Trade to Defra to strengthen fairness across the UK's grocery supply chain, streamline oversight of the supply chain and to strengthen links to the Agricultural Supply Chain Adjudicator (ASCA).
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what consideration he has made of the potential merits of the UK participating in the European Commission's proposed Skills Portability Initiative.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Skills Portability Initiative is an EU proposal which aims to improve worker mobility, both skilled and unskilled, within the single market. It includes a possible legislative proposal that could encourage simplified procedures for the recognition of professional qualifications (RPQ) across Member States for non-EU nationals.
In line with our manifesto, the Government is committed to improving routes for UK professionals to practise and provide services in the EU. The Government has communicated support to the European Commission for modernised and transparent recognition processes through this initiative, which could benefit UK businesses, professionals and boost economic growth.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what the value of exports facilitated by his Department was in each of the last five financial years by destination country.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department supported businesses to deliver export wins worth £16.9bn in 2020/21, £17.3bn in 2021/22, and £19.6bn in 2022/23. In 2023/24 over £36bn and almost £24bn in 2024/25 export wins were delivered.
The Department does not provide country-specific wins due to the risk of disclosing commercially sensitive deals.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential (a) implications for his Department's policies and (b) investment in UK digital infrastructure of recent survey evidence on barriers to competition in the UK cloud market.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
There are currently no plans to undertake such an assessment. The Competition and Markets Authority’s cloud services market investigation examined the state of competition in the market. The Government remains committed to supporting investment in high‑quality, secure and resilient digital infrastructure across the UK.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what is the total cost to the public purse of the trade envoy programme; and whether a trade envoy has been removed for failing to meet performance benchmarks.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Over the last three years, the Department has spent, on average, the following amounts on the UK Trade Envoy Programme, including DBT staff costs. We intend the overall cost of the programme to reduce during the next financial year.
2023/2024 | 2024/2025 | 2025/2026 |
£1,043,805 | £862,369* | £988,620 |
* The figure in column two is lower than other years because the election resulted in the programme being paused for several months.
UK Trade Envoys must adhere to the seven principles of public life as set out by the Committee on Standards in Public Life and can be removed should they not meet such standards.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent assessment he has made of the value delivered to small and medium-sized businesses by the trade envoy programme compared with support available through UK Export Finance and his own Department's direct export services.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
This is an impossible question to answer as the whole point of the UK Trade Envoy Programme is that it complements the work of UKEF and DBT’s direct export services in supporting SMEs. Trade Envoys provide high-level advocacy and market access, UKEF delivers financial backing, and DBT offers practical export guidance. Together, these initiatives form a comprehensive package to help SMEs succeed internationally.