Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of funding for the UK's national radio astronomy facilities, including the e-MERLIN network and the Lovell Telescope.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government remains committed to maintaining the UK’s leadership in radio astronomy.
Jodrell Bank will continue to host the international SKAO headquarters and world-leading scientific research led by the University of Manchester (UoM). The government is supporting this commitment through £327 million of investment in the Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO) between 2021 and 2030. Furthermore, as part of its wider prioritisation approach, STFC has maintained grant funding for Particle Physics, Astronomy and Nuclear Physics postdoctoral researchers at 2025/26 levels, and protected PhD studentships and fellowships. The e-MERLIN network, including the Lovell Telescope, is owned and operated by UoM.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what assessment they have made of whether the UK's Sovereign Tech and Sovereign AI funding programmes are adequately supporting the UK's digital sovereignty; and what criteria are used to assess applications to those programmes.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology)
The Sovereign AI Fund, backed by £500 million, seeks to grow and anchor strategically important UK AI companies, helping them scale in the UK while supporting economic resilience, high-quality jobs and growth. Alongside direct equity investment, Sovereign AI can help companies access public compute, R&D funding, talent support, procurement opportunities and wider government support.
The Fund focuses on areas where the UK has existing underlying strengths and government action can materially improve scaling outcomes; These areas include compute and infrastructure, foundation models, AI for life sciences, AI for scientific discovery, and AI assurance. Applications are assessed against published written criteria and the Fund’s broader strategic objectives.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of international collaboration on hydrogen‑based steel production.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK steel strategy sets out a clear vision for a less carbon intensive steel sector and a continued move towards the use of Electric Arc Furnaces for steel production.
An independent review on primary steelmaking, published alongside the steel strategy, concluded that short-term domestic demand for iron can be met through established imports of pig iron or Direct Reduced Iron (DRI). In the longer-term, to achieve net zero and remain competitive in global green steel markets, primary iron should come from DRI plants powered by natural gas, with a planned transition to hydrogen. See https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/materials-processing-institute-uk-primary-steelmaking-review-2025.
Officials have engaged with companies both in the UK and abroad who are looking to build hydrogen-based steel plants to learn more about their proposed operations and the opportunities.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
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 1 December 2025 to Question 94271 on Royal Mail: Takeovers, what discussions he has held with the EP Group since December 2025 on meeting the terms of Royal Mail’s agreements with the Communication Workers Union on workforce pay and conditions, in particular workforce pay and conditions for new entrants.
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 Secretary of State has been in regular contact with Dave Ward, General Secretary of the Communication Workers Union (CWU), and Daniel Křetínský, the owner of EP Group, including chairing three trilateral meetings since December 2025 to encourage both sides to reach an agreement.
The Government is pleased to note that the CWU and Royal Mail have reached an agreement on the implementation of Universal Service Obligation reforms and on new entrant terms and conditions.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of recent and sustained increases in energy prices on energy-intensive manufacturers in the ceramics sector, including companies such as Denby Pottery; and what steps the Government is taking to ensure that viable, export-focused ceramics manufacturers are able to remain competitive and avoid closure as a result of energy cost pressures.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is aware of the pressure on ceramics businesses created by high energy prices, and that the gas-intensive nature of the majority of ceramics businesses means they do not currently qualify for the Government’s electricity price support schemes, the British Industry Supercharger and Energy Intensive Industries Compensation Scheme. I encourage the ceramics sector to engage with the reviews of these schemes when the opportunities arise. Officials are aware of the challenges faced by individual ceramics manufacturers, including Denby Pottery, and continue to monitor developments closely through regular engagement with the sector’s main trade association, Ceramics UK.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what estimate he has made of the potential impact of the Made Smarter Adoption Programme on energy cost reductions for SMEs.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Made Smarter Adoption Programme is primarily designed to boost SME productivity, but digital adoption can also deliver energy‑cost savings. The 2024 Institute for Manufacturing’s government‑commissioned report on the programme found a third of the firms surveyed reported positive impacts on carbon emissions. The main changes that have had positive impacts included: fewer product defects, more efficient use of logistics and lower energy use. In December 2025 the Government announced an additional £2 million of Made Smarter funding to specifically fund SME investment in energy‑efficient technologies, digital energy‑management systems and on‑site renewables.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the impact of payment structures under the extended producer responsibility scheme on the cash flow of small producers.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Secretary of State for Business and Trade continues to have regular discussions with all Cabinet colleagues, including the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will issue guidance on the interaction between his Department's proposed probationary period and employees’ rights to claim unfair dismissal under the Employment Rights Bill.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Minister of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)
The Government’s Employment Rights Bill Implementation Roadmap, published in July 2025, reiterated our commitment to producing guidance to ensure that employers and employees understand the Plan to Make Work Pay’s changes to employment law, including unfair dismissal day one rights and the statutory probation period.
The Government will work alongside Acas and other partners to ensure the development of practical guidance. We will ensure there is time for employers to prepare and familiarise themselves with the requirements of these changes before they are implemented in 2027.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the (a) Employment Rights Bill and (b) changes to employers' National Insurance Contributions on small and medium-sized businesses.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Minister of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)
My department has published a robust set of Impact Assessments that provide a comprehensive analysis on the potential impact of the Employment Rights Bill, available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/employment-rights-bill-impact-assessments These include assessments on the impacts to micro, small and medium businesses in line with the Better Regulation Framework.
The Government decided to protect the smallest businesses from the changes to employer NICs by increasing the Employment Allowance from £5,000 to £10,500. This means that this year, 865,000 employers will pay no NICs at all, and more than half of all employers will either gain or will see no change.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
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 impact of the Employment Rights Bill on levels of hiring confidence among small and medium-sized enterprises.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Minister of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)
My department has published a robust set of Impact Assessments that provide a comprehensive analysis on the potential impact of the Employment Rights Bill, available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/employment-rights-bill-impact-assessments
This analysis includes consideration of increases in labour costs for businesses and the subsequent effects, as well as assessments on the impacts to micro, small and medium businesses in line with the Better Regulation Framework.