Patrick Hurley

The message we are getting from businesses is clear: they are facing more barriers and increased costs as a result of how we left the EU. For example, in a survey published by the British Chambers of Commerce in December 2025, more than half of its exporting members disagreed that the Trade and Cooperation Agreement was enabling their business to grow or increase sales.

The deals we are striking with the EU will bring down barriers that stop businesses trading and investing with our closest partner and biggest market. The food and drink deal and emissions trading agreements alone will add up to £9 billion a year to the UK economy by 2040.

The Government recognises that coastal and visitor economies often rely on seasonal employment and trade‑exposed sectors such as food production and hospitality, which require businesses to adapt to a changing economy, and that those trading with the EU may face additional administrative burdens.

The Trade and Cooperation Agreement underpins the UK-EU trading relationship. We engage closely with businesses to understand its impacts, including on regionally significant sectors. We also maintain dialogues with business representatives through the EU Files Forum where they can give views on key EU regulations.

The Government provides guidance to businesses on how to navigate EU requirements through business.gov.uk.

The Government remains committed to strengthening recognition of professional qualifications with the EU.

We continue to seek UK-EU recognition agreements for priority regulated professions via the Trade and Cooperation Agreement. We do so by Ministers raising it regularly with European counterparts, via the UK-EU dedicated dialogue on the recognition of professional qualifications which took place in April 2026, and by encouraging and supporting UK regulators to work with their EU counterparts, including through guidance and funding.

Under Section 172 of the Companies Act 2006, directors have a fiduciary duty to have regard in their decision-making to the interests of employees, customers and suppliers, and to the impact of the company’s operations on the community and the environment. Section 172 enshrines in law the principle of “enlightened shareholder value”, which recognises the relevance of stakeholder interests to the long-term success of a company. This contrasts with the “shareholder maximisation” model adopted in other jurisdictions, in which directors’ sole duty is to maximise returns to shareholders. The Government has no plans to amend Section 172.

As part of the Autumn Budget announcements, the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) launched a Call for Evidence on Business Support for Co-operatives and Mutuals. This will be open across Great Britain for 12 weeks.

DBT ensured that for Financial Year 25/26 Growth Hubs in England offer support to businesses with alternative business models – including Co-operatives and Mutuals, as a condition of funding, and included more information on Co-operatives and Mutuals through the highly successful Help to Grow Management programme.

DBT is looking at how to integrate support for Co-operatives and Non-Financial Mutuals within the government’s overall approach for supporting SMEs, including via the Business Growth Service.

DBT continues to work closely with the sector, including the new Mutual and Co-operative Business Sector Council.

Section 172 of the Companies Act 2006 requires company directors to have regard in their decision-making to the interests of their employees, customers and suppliers, and also to the impact of the company’s operations on the community and the environment. Large companies must report annually on how their directors have met this duty. Section 172 also enables companies to amend their articles of association to adopt a purpose of their own choosing, which may include placing particular weight on environmental, stakeholder or other interests.

The United Kingdom Government is an active member of the OECD Corporate Governance Committee which regularly discusses and shares good practice on corporate governance.

The Department has regular discussions with energy suppliers on a range of issues.

The Government is unable to comment on individual tariffs offered by energy suppliers, and we recommend that consumers contact their energy supplier directly to discuss their tariff.

The only way to accurately reflect the individual usage of each tenant in a house of multiple occupancy (HMO) would be if they each had a submeter. This would mean that their energy usage would be reflected in how much they pay the landlord for their energy. If an individual wishes to have this implemented, they should speak to their landlord to see if this is an option for them.

In order to protect consumers in HMOs, there is legislation which sets a maximum price that can be charged for electricity and gas which has already been bought from a licensed supplier. The maximum resale price guidance is available on Ofgem’s website and if a tenant upon reviewing this guidance believes their landlord to be in contravention of it, they should raise it with them.

Ofgem is exploring options for easier routes to access support where non-compliance with the guidance has taken place. Ofgem continues to work to have vulnerable consumers added to the Priority Services Register in order that they can more easily access support where needed.

We will continue to engage with stakeholders and consider whether any further actions are required.

The UK has strong partnerships in European research, development and innovation, including through programmes such as Horizon Europe and Copernicus, which directly support economic growth through job creation and enables researchers and businesses to access collaborative funding, cutting-edge infrastructure and world-leading networks. In 2024, UK applicants received €994 million in funding from Horizon Europe, which aims to create 300,000 new jobs across Europe by 2040. We also estimate that for every £1 public spend on R&D it generates £8 of economic benefit to the UK in the long term.

We continue to pursue partnerships that maximise economic benefit for the UK.

Cancer research is a critical priority for the Government. The Government is committed to ensuring that all cancer patients across the UK have access to cutting-edge clinical trials and innovative, lifesaving treatments. The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and UK Research Institute (UKRI) have made research inclusion a condition of its funding. Applicants to domestic research programmes are required to demonstrate how inclusion and health inequalities are being built into their research. NIHR’s Be Part of Research service on the NHS App, will provide patients with access to life-changing clinical trials and innovative therapies across the UK.

Under the Communications Act 2003, as amended by the Telecommunications (Security) Act 2021, public telecoms providers are required to identify and mitigate risks to the security and resilience of their networks and services. This includes risks to physical infrastructure, such as telegraph poles and other above-ground infrastructure. Ofcom monitors and enforces public telecoms providers’ compliance with their obligations in the Act.

As the independent regulator for telecommunications operators, Ofcom is able to take enforcement action and have stated that they would investigate any complaints from local planning authorities about telegraph poles sited in a way which is not consistent with the requirements and guidelines in place, including where they block residents’ drives or where operators systematically fail to engage with local planning authorities’ suggestions. Ofcom has opened two investigations in the past 12 months into whether specific operators have failed to comply with their obligations when installing apparatus. These can be found on Ofcom’s enforcement page here: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/enforcement

Permitted development rights enable telegraph poles to be deployed without case-by-case approval from the local planning authority. However, local authorities can raise complaints with Ofcom where poles are not sited consistently with the requirements set out in the Electronic Communications Code (Conditions and Restrictions) Regulations 2003 and the relevant guidelines, including the new best practice recommendations published by the industry’s Telecommunications Poles Working Group. My Department is monitoring the impact of this new guidance before considering taking any further steps. I have made it clear that disregarding the views of local communities is counterproductive for the industry and that we reserve the right to change regulations if there is continued significant non-compliance.

The British Council plays a vital role in promoting the UK’s values, language, and culture around the world, and is central to projecting the UK's soft power. My Department values the British Council’s work supporting the UK’s cultural and creative industries, helping organisations and artists to build networks, collaborate and develop markets across the world.

As the international partner for Bradford UK City of Culture 2025, the British Council elevated the city’s global profile by spotlighting its vibrant cultural diversity, creative energy and warm, welcoming spirit. This included facilitating collaboration with partners from 11 countries and delegations from 23 nations across four continents.

British Council funding and structure are a matter for the FCDO as the British Council’s sponsoring Department. On 19 March 2026, as part of the FCDO’s allocation of Official Development Assistance (ODA) funding for the next three years, it was announced that ODA funding for the British Council would be protected at its current levels up to the end of 2028/29, while non-ODA funding will be increased by £40 million over the same period.

The Government is determined to ensure that everyone has access to quality sport and physical activity opportunities. That’s why the Government is investing £98 million into the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme throughout 2025/26 to build and upgrade pitches and facilities UK wide.

On top of this, we have committed another £400 million to transform facilities across the whole of the UK over the next four years. We are working closely with sporting bodies and local leaders to establish what communities need, and will then set out further plans on how future funding will be allocated across the UK, including in Southport.

The Government provides the majority of funding for grassroots sports and health club facilities in England, through our Arm’s Length Body, Sport England, which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding in areas of greatest need to tackle inactivity levels through community-led solutions.

The Government is determined to ensure that everyone has access to quality sport and physical activity opportunities. That is why we have committed another £400 million to transform facilities across the whole of the UK following the Spending Review. We are now working closely with sporting bodies and local leaders to establish what communities need and will then set out further plans. I have met with the Lawn Tennis Association, the National Governing Body for tennis and padel, along with representatives from other sports, to discuss this.

The Government provides the majority of support for grassroots sport through Sport England, which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding. This includes long term investment in the Lawn Tennis Association, which receives up to £10.2 million for five years from 2022 to 2027 to invest in community tennis and padel initiatives in England that will benefit as many people as possible.

The Football Association (FA) is the governing body for football and futsal in England and is responsible for the sport's strategic direction and development, including grassroots participation, coaching, and elite pathways.

The FA is an autonomous member of both FIFA and UEFA. Its relationships and level of influence within these international governing bodies are primarily a matter for the FA itself.

Sport England has mechanisms to address concerns, either in relation to Sport England funding conditions and/or the Code for Sports Governance via their published complaints procedure.

Sport England require their funding awards to be reconciled on a regular basis. This means that they have oversight of any misuse of funding, and can challenge funding recipients if this is detected.

There is no place for antisemitism in our society, and it is essential that Jewish pupils and staff feel safe. Schools are places of protection as well as education, and must provide a safe and supportive environment for all.

The department is taking forward a comprehensive programme to help tackle antisemitism in education. We have committed £7 million to support schools, colleges and universities, including £1 million for an innovation fund, to help young people identify and challenge antisemitism, misinformation and harmful narratives.

My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, has commissioned an independent review, led by Sir David Bell, to make practical recommendations so schools and colleges can effectively identify, respond to and prevent antisemitism. The review will conclude in autumn.

The department’s Educate Against Hate website provides free, quality assured resources and guidance to help teachers challenge prejudice and build resilience to harmful narratives and extremism, including antisemitism.

In response to stakeholder feedback, an amendment was made to paragraph 135 in the statutory guidance ‘Keeping children safe in education’. This came into force on 1 September 2025, and provided further examples of content risks.

The department recognises the significant risks these issues pose to children’s safety and wellbeing, as they can distort understanding, undermine trust and expose pupils to harmful narratives online.

The independent Curriculum and Assessment Review highlighted the importance of all pupils developing the skills they need to identify and challenge misinformation. In making changes to the curriculum, we will support this by strengthening media literacy content in citizenship and English and making citizenship compulsory in primary school so that all children are introduced to this vital content at an early stage.

The initial teacher training and early career framework sets out the foundational core content that defines great teaching. This includes anticipating common misconceptions within particular subjects, which is an important aspect of curricular knowledge. In the context of misinformation, this can help teachers to spot pupil misconceptions that may arise from various sources. Beyond this, providers can design a curriculum which is responsive to participant needs, including additional training where necessary.

In October 2024, Ofcom published its three-year media literacy strategy, which commits to supporting teachers through continuing professional development, evaluation of training outcomes and stronger collaboration with regional partners to share learnings and effective practices.

The independent Curriculum and Assessment Review’s final report was published on 5 November 2025 and includes recommendations for reform to the curriculum, which the government has accepted. Vital applied knowledge and skills in media and digital literacy will be embedded into the revised curriculum from 2028.

To support schools in the meantime, Oak National Academy provides adaptable, optional and free curriculum support for schools, including resources for computing and secondary citizenship, which can be found here: https://www.thenational.academy/.

The initial teacher training and early career framework sets out the foundational core content that defines great teaching. This includes anticipating common misconceptions within particular subjects, which is an important aspect of curricular knowledge. In the context of misinformation, this can help teachers to spot pupil misconceptions that may arise from various sources. Beyond this, providers can design a curriculum which is responsive to participant needs, including additional training where necessary.

In October 2024, Ofcom published its three-year media literacy strategy, which commits to supporting teachers through continuing professional development, evaluation of training outcomes and stronger collaboration with regional partners to share learnings and effective practices.

The independent Curriculum and Assessment Review’s final report was published on 5 November 2025 and includes recommendations for reform to the curriculum, which the government has accepted. Vital applied knowledge and skills in media and digital literacy will be embedded into the revised curriculum from 2028.

To support schools in the meantime, Oak National Academy provides adaptable, optional and free curriculum support for schools, including resources for computing and secondary citizenship, which can be found here: https://www.thenational.academy/.

Ensuring schools and colleges have the resources and buildings they need is a key part of our mission to break down barriers to opportunity and give every young person the best start in life.

This government has given a long-term commitment to improve the condition of our schools and colleges. We are investing almost £20 billion in the School Rebuilding Programme through to 2034/35, delivering rebuilding projects at over 500 schools across England within the existing programme, including two schools in the constituency of Southport, with a further 250 schools to be selected within the next two years.

We are also investing almost £3 billion per year by 2034/35 in capital maintenance for schools and colleges, rising from £2.4 billion this year.

Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging (pEPR) shifts the cost of managing household packaging waste from taxpayers to the producers who place packaging on the market. It funds local authorities and incentivises producers to reduce packaging and use packaging that is easier to recycle.

Producer obligations are determined by turnover and packaging tonnage, rather than business model. Producers are exempt from disposal fee and recycling obligations where they have annual turnover below £2 million and place less than 50 tonnes of packaging on the market.

Defra keeps the thresholds and wider impacts of the scheme under review as it is implemented.

Ports are essential to economic growth for the United Kingdom as a trading nation, over 85% of whose international trade moves by sea. They are instrumental in promoting the skills necessary for modern logistics, with support from the sector's Port Skills & Safety body. They generate and sustain employment directly and indirectly, on-port and in their hinterland, with a high proportion of workers resident in coastal communities.

The Department for Transport has not made any such assessment. UK tourism is the policy remit of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Late last year the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) became aware of an error in its Annual Report and Accounts for 2023/24 and immediately notified the Department for Transport. The Department for Transport officially put this error right by means of a correction slip. This was laid in both Houses of Parliament on 16 December 2024, alongside the original report which had been laid on 12 September 2024. This corrected error has had no implications for regulatory decisions, charging models or future projections made or to be made by the CAA. The CAA has since taken steps to further strengthen its Annual Report and Accounts auditing process to confirm the accuracy of all the statistics in future Annual Reports and Accounts before they are laid in Parliament.

We are committed to tackling the increased costs of motor insurance to deliver on our manifesto commitment, including how this impacts different demographics, geographies, and communities.

The cross-government Motor Insurance Taskforce, including the stakeholder panel, met for the first time on 16 October 2024. The Taskforce is currently exploring short- and long-term actions for departments that may contribute to stabilising or reducing premiums, while maintaining appropriate levels of cover.

As it takes this work forwards, the Taskforce will continue to work closely with the independent Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Competition and Markets Authority. The FCA has launched a market study into the premium finance market and is undertaking work to analyse the cause of increased claims costs in the motor insurance market.

This Government is transforming the Apprenticeships Levy into a new Growth and Skills Levy in England, backed by £1 billion of additional investment, which will support 50,000 more young people into apprenticeships and give employers, including in coastal communities, greater flexibility to develop the workforce they need to grow and succeed.

As published in the Apprenticeships Accredited Official Statistics publication there were 260 apprenticeship starts by apprentices under the age of 25 in the Southport parliamentary constituency for the 2024/25 academic year (August 2024 to July 2025).

To support non-levy paying employers (typically SMEs) to meet the additional costs associated with employing young apprentices, we are introducing a new apprenticeship hiring payment of £2,000 when they take on eligible 16–24-year-old apprentices, at all levels, as new employees.

Additionally, the government will fully fund apprenticeship training for non-levy paying employers for all eligible young people aged under 25 from the next academic year, to boost small business starts. At the moment, this only happens for apprentices aged 16 to 21 and apprentices aged 22-24 who have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) or have been, or are, in local authority care.

Regarding wider technical training opportunities, we are supporting providers across the country, including in coastal areas, with over £18 billion per year of funding in post-16 education and skills, delivering record investment this Parliament. This includes specific interventions to drive skills and address shortages in areas such as construction, digital and engineering.

The Post16 Education and Skills White Paper set out our reforms to strengthen the skills system. New V Levels, the expansion of T Levels, and clearer Level 2 routes through Occupational and Further Study Pathways will ensure every young person has a clear choice of education pathways that support them to succeed in work and in life.

T Levels deliver strong outcomes, with 92% progressing to work or further study and many staying in related fields. Alongside other improvements the new T Level industry placement framework allows providers to tailor provision locally, including remote placements where needed, helping overcome barriers to face-to-face opportunities particularly in coastal communities.

Jobs Plus is a community-based model with strong potential to tackle inactivity and unemployment. The department is testing the model in ten social housing communities across England. Jobs Plus and other place-based programmes such as the Get Britain Working Trailblazers, Work Well and Connect to Work will be evaluated to assess their effectiveness in helping people enter and remain in work.

The new Crisis and Resilience Fund will be introduced from 1 April 2026. This represents the first ever multi-year settlement for locally delivered crisis support. This longer-term funding approach aims to enable local authorities to provide preventative support to communities – working with the voluntary and community sector – as well as assisting people when faced with a financial crisis

We are working closely with local authorities and external stakeholders on the detailed design of the Crisis and Resilience Fund and we will issue further information on our planned approach in due course.

The Pathways to Work Green Paper announced that we would be scrapping the Work Capability Assessment and moving to a single assessment for financial support related to health and disability benefits.

The UC and PIP payment Bill currently before Parliament sets out that existing claimants will continue to receive additional financial support for health on Universal Credit health (the LCWRA addition), frozen at its current cash value, until 2029-30.

We are currently considering how the future system will operate and will provide further information, including on transitioning to a reformed system, in a White Paper in the autumn.

Disabled people in Southport deserve the same choices and chances to work as anyone else.

That is why we will transform support for disabled people who can work to get the jobs they want and deserve, including by investing an additional £1 billion a year through our Pathways to work employment programme.