Lord Taylor of Warwick

Start-ups play a crucial role in fostering competition, inducing innovation and supporting the emergence of brand new sectors. The number of UK business births has fallen by 6%, to around 316,000 in 2023.

ONS UK Business Demography 2023, published 18 November 2024.

The Government is committed to hardwiring the voice of small business into everything we do. Our Small Business Strategy next year will set out our vision for all small businesses from tackling the scourge of late payments, tailored Business Support Advice, Access to finance, and Local Growth Hubs Networks, providing a strong business environment to drive economic growth in the UK.

The Government is creating a fairer business rate system by introducing permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure businesses from 2026-27 and extending the current relief for 1 year at 40%. From 2026-27 the Government intends to introduce permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality and leisure properties with rateable values less than £500,000, which will be funded by the introduction of a Large Business Multiplier from 2026-27 on properties with a rateable value of £500,000 and above (less than 1% of all properties.)

The Government recognises the need to protect the smallest employers which is why we have more than doubled the Employment Allowance to £10,500, meaning more than half of businesses with NICs liabilities either gain or see no change next year. Businesses will still be able to claim employer NICs reliefs including those for under 21s and under 25 apprentices, where eligible. We will transform the apprenticeship levy into a more flexible growth and skills levy to support business and boost opportunity.

We are working further with the Hospitality Sector Council to address other strategic issues such as high street regeneration, skills, sustainability, and productivity.

The Government has developed a number of initiatives to increase the number of workers with AI-driven skills.

DBT’s Global Talent Network AI Futures programme attracts top young AI talents to the UK by focusing on exceptional international early to mid-career AI researchers, engineers, and entrepreneurs which will support the upskilling of our domestic workforce.

Skills England will build the highly trained workforce needed to deliver the national, regional and local skills needs of the next decade by setting both young people and adults up to succeed in an increasingly technology-driven world.

The AI Action Plan, commissioned by the Technology Secretary and drafted by the tech entrepreneur Matt Clifford, will set out, in part, the steps needed to equip our workforce with the right skills to support the AI sector’s growth.

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Stellantis announced a strategic review of the UK operations this July. We have regularly engaged with the company throughout and stand ready to help following its conclusion. Stellantis transformed their plant at Ellesmere Port to solely produce electric vans from 2023 following a £100m investment that was secured with HMG support. Stellantis also announced that they will make small volumes of the larger electric vans at their plant at Luton.

This Government is focused on its five-point plan to breathe life back into Britain’s high streets. We understand how important the high street is to our businesses which is why our plans include tackling retail crime, ensuring a level playing field between online and high street businesses, stamping out late payments and ending the blight of empty spaces. This work will ensure that our high streets are great places for our businesses, supporting economic growth across the UK.

I am looking forward to working with the Sector Councils for Retail and Hospitality on the strategic issues facing the sectors, including high street regeneration and investment, labour and retail careers, sustainability and supply chain resilience.

Steel is vital for a vibrant, secure economy. This Government is working in partnership with trade unions and industry to secure a green steel transition that’s both right for the workforce and delivers economic growth.

We have already agreed a better deal for steelworkers at Tata Steel and are continuing negotiations with British Steel. However, we are clear we need long-term jobs, not short-term subsidies.

We will publish a steel strategy in spring. This will guide our commitment to invest £2.5 billion in partnership with the private sector as part of our wider commitment to invest in jobs and boost growth across the UK.

We are committed to ensuring the UK remains a leading destination for companies to invest and do business. The International Investment Summit in October will showcase our commitment to partnering with global businesses to secure the investment we need for growth. We are answering investors’ calls for stability and predictability with our new Industrial Strategy, providing long-term confidence to invest. The National Wealth Fund will bring together key institutions to offer compelling propositions to investors.

We recognise that recent times have been challenging for business. The Government is committed to support small businesses. Our Plan for Small Business set out nine pledges, including a pledge to reduce the cost of energy bills. We will be setting out further detail over the coming months.

Total UK imports from Germany amounted to £89 billion in the 12 months to March 2024, a 6% increase in current prices (compared to the previous 12 months). The largest increase was for machinery and transport equipment up £5bn (13%), in particular cars up £4bn (22%) and aircraft up £1bn (153%).

This Government is committed to resetting our relationship with our European partners. The Secretary of State for Business and Trade has already met his German counterpart, Vice Chancellor Habeck, and discussed how we can grow trade further with Germany to support sustainable growth for our businesses, workers and consumers.

The first mission of this Government is to drive economic growth. As part of delivering that mission, the Government will publish a trade strategy, aligned with our industrial strategy, to support jobs and communities in every part of the UK. Free Trade Agreements have a critical role to play in delivering this.

The Government has set out its intention to deliver trade negotiations with key trading partners including the GCC and India. Our trade programme, which is driven by engagement with businesses and stakeholders, will play to the UK’s strengths, boost trade, and strengthen our ties with our international partners.

Through the Plan to Make Work Pay we will deliver a new deal for working people. A number of these measures already have strong support from businesses, and we will consult with them as we put these plans into practice to ensure they are as effective as possible. We also expect that stronger employment practices could aid recruitment and retention, and ultimately save business costs.

The Department for Business and Trade wants to reset our relationship with the EU and deepen ties with our European neighbours.

The Department will work to improve the UK's trade and investment relationship by tearing down unnecessary barriers to trade.

The Department will seek to negotiate a veterinary agreement to prevent unnecessary border checks, to help touring artists, and to secure mutual recognition for professional qualifications to open up priority markets for service exporters.

The Secretary of State has already held positive discussions with his European Commission counterpart Valdis Dombrovskis and has met with German Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck to discuss UK-German shared trade interests.

Accelerating to net zero will unlock a range of benefits for businesses, including new market opportunities, access to green finance and reduced energy bills.

Climate Change Agreements provide tax discounts for businesses reducing their emissions, and the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund supports industrial sites with high energy use to transition.

We are currently running a pilot in the West Midlands, providing energy audits and grants to small and medium businesses to support them in decarbonising.

Small and medium-sized businesses can visit the UK Business Climate Hub, which is run in partnership with government, for advice and sources of finance or support on reducing emissions.

There are different levels of smart meter penetration across Great Britain. The Department collects and publishes annual statistics on electricity smart meter installation progress at a regional level.

The latest regional statistics show that at the end of March 2024, 64% of domestic electricity meters across Great Britain were smart.

Local Authorities with the highest number of smart meters (74% - 75%) are in the East Midlands, North East, and Yorkshire and The Humber. London and Scotland have experienced slower progress to date, where 54% and 51% of meters were smart respectively.

The Government is interested in opportunities to reduce decommissioning costs in the North Sea/UK Continental Shelf. We work closely with the North Sea Transition Authority, Oil and Gas industry partners, and those working on new and emerging technologies in support of this aim.

The Government is committed to transforming Britain into a clean energy superpower and is working closely with Ofgem; to ensure energy is fair and affordable for consumers now and in the future.

Ofgem already regulate the cost of the transmission network, which safely and efficiently transports gas across GB, and under the current price cap represents an average annual cost of £7 per consumer.

Capacity of GB’s gas storage is not regulated by Ofgem however analysis published the Energy Security Plan Update in December 2023 shows we have sufficient and flexible gas storage to meet peak gas demand on any given day.

The Government will continue to deliver the Warm Home Discount, which provides a £150 rebate off energy bills for eligible low-income households. We expect around 3 million households to receive this support this winter.

My Hon. Friend the Minister for Energy Consumers has met with energy suppliers on several occasions and encouraged them to build on the Voluntary Debt Commitment for this winter, and we are continuing to work with suppliers to ensure consumers are supported.

The Government has announced work to strengthen cooperation on energy as per the joint-statement between the Prime Minister and the President of the European Commission at her visit to the UK in early October.

They agreed to work closely to address global challenges including, among others, climate change and energy prices.

The Government is continuing to deliver the Warm Home Discount which provides a £150 annual rebate on energy bills for eligible low-income households and has also extended the Household Support Fund for an additional 6 months until 31 March 2025 with an extra £500 million in funding.

The Minister for Energy Consumers is having regular discussions with energy suppliers to ensure that consumers are supported this winter. This includes through encouraging them to build on the support offered to vulnerable consumers through last winter’s Voluntary Debt Commitment.

The Government has established The Mission Control for Clean Power, led by climate expert Chris Stark, which will work alongside GB Energy, a new publicly owned company, to accelerate the transition to clean power.

The Government will collaborate with the Offshore Wind Industry Council (OWIC) to address supply chain constraints within the offshore wind industry. Industry published their Industrial Growth Plan in April which sets out opportunities to grow the offshore wind supply chain.

Furthermore, the Government is preparing to launch the first phase of the British Jobs Bonus for renewables as part of Contracts for Difference Allocation Round 7.

The IMF estimates the adoption of AI across the economy could boost productivity by up to 1.5 percentage points a year - more than doubling our growth rate since 2010.The AI Opportunities Action Plan sets out game-changing initiatives to make this a reality, including a twenty fold increase in compute power and the creation of AI growth zones.

The plan also aims to address the mismatch between supply and demand of UK AI talent. It sets out the essential role that equipping our workforce with the right skills and attracting top talent will play in growing the UK’s AI sector

Meta has stated that they are not rolling out changes to their US fact-checking policies in the UK at this stage. We are in contact with Meta to understand implications for UK users and will monitor changes as they are operationalised.

Regardless, the UK’s Online Safety Act will oblige all social media companies to remove illegal content and content harmful to children in the UK. Failure to comply could lead to significant fines and potentially legal action. We continue to engage social media companies on the implementation of the Act and urge them to counter the spread of mis/disinformation on their platforms.

According to the independent website Thinkbroadband.com, over 85% of premises in the UK can already access a gigabit-capable connection. Building Digital UK’s latest annual report shows that between April 2023 and March 2024, 92% of premises benefitting from publicly-subsidised broadband rollout, including Project Gigabit, were rural.

To improve connectivity further, more than £2 billion of contracts have been signed to connect over a million more premises with gigabit-capable broadband. These are premises that fall predominantly in rural areas. For very hard to reach premises, we are actively discussing with industry where support might be required to accelerate the deployment of appropriate technologies.

We are committed to building an AI sector that can scale globally and boosting responsible AI adoption across the economy.

We are aware that AI provides an increased threat to national security. DSIT is working closely with partners to understand those risks, and are using that knowledge to shape policy-making. AISI’s collaboration with the Laboratory for AI Security Research and the National Cyber Security Centre aims to understand the interplay of cybersecurity and AI security - coordinating where there are shared objectives.

This collaboration enables progress towards ensuring effective global AI governance whilst capitalising on the benefits of AI.