Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Reform UK - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will publish the total cost to the public purse for the provision of diversity, equality and inclusion courses for staff in her Department in 2024.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
In 2024, DBT spent a total of £1,199.93 incl. VAT on D&I courses. This is based on the assumption that EDI training refers to training where awareness of EDI issues is the main theme of the training.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Reform UK - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what estimate he has made of the cost to his Department of the proposed increase in employer National Insurance contributions for financial year 2025-26.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government will provide support for departments and other public sector employers for additional Employer National Insurance Contributions costs only. This funding will be allocated to departments in the usual way, in line with the approach taken under the previous Government’s Health and Social Care Levy.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Reform UK - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many and what proportion of officials in his Department were hired via positive action schemes in the last financial year.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
All Civil Service departments work within the Recruitment Principles, as regulated by
the Civil Service Commission, to recruit using a fair and open process and appoint on
Departments will only limit a campaign to a specific group as a form of positive action
as a proportionate response to achieve a legitimate aim as defined in section 159 of
the Equality Act 2010.
The Civil Service is committed to a diverse workforce and culture of openness and
inclusivity - not as ends in themselves but as means of delivering better outcomes to
the citizens we serve.
The Diversity and Inclusion Strategy 2022-25 Promoting Fairness and Performance,
published in February 2022, is positioned as an essential lever to deliver a Modern
Civil Service, where our values are to serve with integrity, honesty, objectivity and
impartiality; driving our vision to be a skilled, innovative and ambitious Civil Service
equipped for the future. This strategy sets out a broader definition of diversity, to
include geographical, social and career backgrounds alongside the protected groups.
As set out in the Civil Service People Plan 2024 - 2027, we are committed to
ensuring we attract, develop and retain talented people from a diverse range of
backgrounds, to create a modern Civil Service, now and for the future.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Reform UK - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what information his Department holds on the number and proportion of senior civil servants within his Department that have (a) historic and (b) current directorships listed on Companies House.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
As of July 2023, the current number of SCS that have a directorship listed on Companies House is 1 out of 306 SCS listed on payroll.
Historical information is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. For information the current limit is £850, worked out in person hours needed to provide the answer.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Reform UK - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many international (a) air miles and (b) flights have been completed by (i) Ministers and (ii) officials in their Department since 5 July 2024.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Data on minister’s overseas travel and on senior civil servant’s business expenses is published on a quarterly basis. This can be found here:
Ministers - DBT: ministerial gifts, hospitality, overseas travel and meetings - GOV.UK
Senior Officials - DBT: senior officials’ business expenses, hospitality, and meetings - GOV.UK
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Reform UK - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many companies were (a) registered and (b) liquidated on each day in 2024.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Official statistics on company incorporation and liquidation are published quarterly. These are made publicly available online by Companies House. We have excerpted and reproduced the relevant figures for your convenience below:
Date | Incorporations | Total Liquidations |
2024 Jan-Mar | 244,717 | 7,622 |
2024 Apr-Jun | 217,815 | 9,115 |
2024 Jul-Sep | 191,683 | 8,658 |
The most recent complete datasets can be found here:
Incorporated companies in the UK July to September 2024 - GOV.UK
Statistics for previous periods are available here.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Reform UK - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how much his Department spent on first class flights in each year since its creation.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Since its creation on 7 February 2023 and up until 31 March 2024, the Department for Business and Trade has incurred no first-class air travel expenditure as it is not permitted under the travel policy.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Reform UK - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many positions in his Department included (a) diversity, (b) inclusion, (c) equity and (d) equality in their job title in each of the last five years; and what the total cost of the salaries of each such job was in each of those years.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) does not routinely collate information on specific words and collating this information would come at a disproportionate cost.
Information on spending and staffing can be found in the Department's annual report and accounts.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Reform UK - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what the cost to the public purse was of the Bounce Back Loans scheme; what proportion of the loans have been (a) returned and (b) written off; and whether all data related to the scheme has been recorded in OSCAR II.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Businesses have drawn a total of £46.59 billion under the Bounce Back Loan Scheme. 12.97% of facilities by volume have been repaid and 59.44% of facilities by volume are on schedule. 19.77% of facilities by volume have been settled under the Government guarantee. The Department publishes performance data on the COVID-19 loan guarantee schemes on a quarterly basis.
The final year-end outturn is recorded in OSCAR II for years 22-23 and prior. The 23-24 data is still pending final updates based on the finalisation of DBT’s accounts for 23-24.