Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to figure of 2 of his Department's document entitled Analytical note on government response to resale of live events tickets consultation, published on 19 December 2025, what assessment his Department has made of the estimated change in the number and value of tickets sold on alternative resale channels and social media resulting from the proposed price cap on (a) the level of potential fraud and (b) consumer protection risks.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department has undertaken analysis to estimate the economic impact of introducing a price cap on the ticket resale market. The modelling uses a series of assumptions about how ticket touts might adapt their activities. These assumptions are inherently uncertain. The model assumes that 20% of tickets originally resold by touts on secondary ticketing platforms will instead by resold via alternative channels. We will continue to refine the modelling and further examine the risks associated with resale activity on alternative channels, before publishing an impact assessment when legislation is introduced to Parliament.
Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department has used the additional enforcement powers for secondary ticketing under section 216 of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 on the use of bots to purchase tickets.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Consumer law enforcement is principally the responsibility of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and Local Authority Trading Standards. Section 216 of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 grants the CMA enforcement functions under the Breaching of Limits on Ticket Sales Regulations 2018. Those regulations make it an offence to use software to purchase tickets in excess of the sales limit set by an event organiser for a UK recreational, sporting or cultural event, where the intent is to secure financial gain. As an independent authority, the CMA has discretion to undertake enforcement action which, according to its prioritisation principles, it considers most appropriate.
Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department’s plan to ban for-profit ticket resale will apply to (a) tickets sold through peer-to-peer messaging platforms and (b) tickets sold through encrypted peer-to-peer messaging platforms such as WhatsApp.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The government has recently announced plans to introduce a price cap on the resale of live events tickets, which will make it illegal for tickets to be resold for more than their original cost.
Our intention is that all businesses that facilitate the resale of live events tickets to UK consumers will be obliged to ensure compliance with the price cap.
Detailed work to prepare the new legislation is ongoing, involving further consideration of how platform obligations should be configured.
The government will legislate when Parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
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 restricting ticket resales via peer-to-peer messaging applications on user privacy and encryption.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The government has recently announced plans to introduce a price cap on the resale of live events tickets, which will make it illegal for tickets to be resold for more than their original cost.
Our intention is that all businesses that facilitate the resale of live events tickets to UK consumers will be obliged to ensure compliance with the price cap.
Detailed work to prepare the new legislation is ongoing, involving further consideration of how platform obligations should be configured.
The government will legislate when Parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
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 reduce youth unemployment in the context of recent job losses in the hospitality sector.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government recognises the importance of the Hospitality sector in providing employment for young people. The Budget made more than £1.5bn available over the next three years for investment in employment and skills support. This funds £820m for the Youth Guarantee and provides £725m for the Growth and Skills Levy, ensuring young people have the support they need to earn or learn.
We are supporting more than 50,000 young people into apprenticeships in England by fully funding apprenticeship training costs for all eligible 16–24-year-olds, removing the need for non-levy paying employers to co-fund these learners. We are also expanding foundation apprenticeships into sectors such as hospitality and retail, where young people are traditionally recruited. All these measures will be available to assist the hospitality sector in employing young people.
Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what discussions he has had with gig economy operators on ensuring consumer safety from people working illegally.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Through the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, the Home Office is closing an existing gap to make it a legal requirement for all businesses in the UK, including those in the gig economy, to prevent illegal working by checking anyone working for them has the right to do so. Tackling illegal working in the gig economy, as led by the Home Office, enhances public safety and reduces the opportunities for exploitation.
Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what was the change in the number of jobs in the retail industry between 2023-2024 and 2024-2025; and what assessment he has made of the reasons for the change.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
According to ONS data, between 2023-24 and 2024-25, retail employment fell by around 94,800 jobs (-3.3%), from 2.9 million to 2.8 million [1]. This continues a longer-term downward trend in retail employment seen since 2016.
The decline reflects structural shifts (e.g. e-commerce, automation), macroeconomic pressures (e.g. inflation, interest rates), and workforce challenges. In response, DBT is supporting retail transformation through business rates reform, the Help to Grow scheme, and the recently announced Small Business Plan, which aims to tackle late payments, boost access to finance, and remove red tape to help small businesses, including retailers, grow and thrive.
[1] Not seasonally adjusted and were averaged to produce annualised estimates. Self-employment figures are derived from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) JOBS04 tables. LFS has known limitations, including sampling variability and response rate challenges, which may affect precision. Estimates for March 2025 are provisional and subject to revision. Retail is defined as SIC 47 – “Retail trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles”.
Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
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 support hospitality businesses that are (a) reducing their workforce and (b) operating at reduced capacity due to cost pressures.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government recognises the vital role hospitality businesses play in local economies and communities. We also recognise the pressures they face.
That's why creating a fairer business rates system, including permanently lower rates for retail, hospitality and leisure properties under £500,000 and protecting the smallest businesses by increasing the Employment Allowance to £10,500, so that 865,000 employers will pay no NICs at all and can hire up to four full-time workers on the National Living Wage without incurring employer NIC costs.
We also work closely with the Hospitality Sector Council to improve the productivity and resilience of hospitality businesses by co-creating solutions to the issues including cost and employment pressures.