Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, when HM Revenue and Customs last updated the non-eligible postcode list published under the Notice to Importers: imports from Israel into the United Kingdom; and whether that data is shared with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade and Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to support labelling enforcement.
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 non-eligible postcode list was last updated on 22 August 2025 and HMRC work in cooperation with the relevant government departments on enforcement. However, as of 8 September the Foreign Secretary has announced an import ban on goods from Israeli Settlements. This ban will subsume our existing measures and by design is aimed at being disruptive to the economic drivers that help illegal settlements grow. Detailed guidance for businesses on the implications of this will be published alongside the legislation, and we will work closely with colleagues across government on the design and enforcement of these new measures.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, with reference to the press release entitled Patients to benefit from faster access to medicines as UK moves away from animal testing in science, published on 12 August 2026, if he will provide a breakdown of that funding, including the (a) name of each project, (b) recipient organisation and (c) amount awarded to each project.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Innovate UK awarded funding to the following projects: VivoSphere CardioSafe Platform for Reproducible, Regulatory-Ready In Vitro Cardiotoxicity Screening (VivoSphere UK, £200,000); RITMO (BiomimX Srl, £199,991); a cardiovascular safety framework (University of Nottingham, £198,464); Integrated MPS-PBPK Platform for Non Animal Human PK Prediction (CN Bio Innovations, £180,980); chemically expanded hepatocytes for pharmacokinetic studies (University of Edinburgh, £194,563); Human Representative In Vitro Models for Ear Therapeutics (CamGene Therapeutics, £196,194); CANVAS (Biofoundry Energy, £197,092); a cardiovascular safety platform (InoCardia, £188,966); computational prediction of lipid nanoparticle pharmacokinetics (Nanograb, £199,390); and PKBridge (IOTeach, £197,500).
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will set a target date for the publication of the Critical Minerals Strategy.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Critical minerals have been included in the recently published National Security Strategy and also in the UK Government’s Resilience Action Plan, highlighting their fundamental importance to safeguarding the UK's economic security and resilience.
Thanks to the extensive engagement and insights from our industry and expert stakeholders as well as through cross-government collaboration, we have developed a powerful new vision and plan for securing critical minerals in the UK. Critical Minerals were identified as a foundational industry to growth driving sectors in the Industry Strategy.
We will continue to refine this ahead of publication this year, taking into account the evolving international context.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to undertake regular assessments of the exposure of supply chains to Uyghur forced labour.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
This Government stands firm on human rights, including the repression of Uyghurs, and continues to work with international partners to find ways of holding China to account.
The Government’s Overseas Business Risk guidance sets out the risks of operating in certain regions and urges companies to conduct appropriate due diligence, in line with the UN Guiding Principle on Business and Human Rights and the OECD Guidelines on Responsible Business Conduct.
In the Trade Strategy, the Government launched a review into responsible business conduct. The review is considering how we can best tackle supply chain harms, such as forced labour. This includes consideration of measures to improve supply chain transparency and traceability.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department plans to publish a timeline for the Fair Work Agency becoming fully operational.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Creating the Fair Work Agency (FWA) is a complex process that requires primary legislation. The Employment Rights Bill is the first phase of delivering the FWA.
Implementation will occur in phases following Royal Assent to ensure a smooth and effective transition. We will provide more information on timings in due course.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of purchasing wind turbines from Chinese manufacturers on the UK steel industry.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The UK steel industry has a long-term future under this Government. This month we launched the Plan for Steel Consultation, to look at the long-term issues facing the industry. This includes assessing how domestic steel producers could fulfil more UK demand for steel in downstream industries. Britain is open for business, and this Government has committed up to £2.5 billion to the future of steel to protect our industrial heartlands, maintain jobs, and drive growth as part of our Plan for Change
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister for Trade Policy and Economic Security of 6 November 2024, Official Report, col 71WH, whether his Department has made an assessment of the effectiveness of the US Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act in tackling the use of forced labour in supply chains.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Secretary of State for Scotland
We will continue to assess and monitor the effectiveness of the UK’s existing measures alongside other policy tools to tackle forced labour in supply chains.The Government views import bans as one of a range of tools that could be used to tackle forced labour in global supply chains. The UK continues to raise issues on human rights, including China's repression of the peoples of Xinjiang.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of anti-dumping measures on (a) electric and (b) pedal bikes from China on bicycle manufacturers in the UK.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Secretary of State for Scotland
The UK currently applies an anti-dumping measure on imports of Chinese bicycles and certain bicycle parts, and an anti-dumping and a countervailing measure on imports of Chinese e-bikes. All three measures are currently subject to review by the UK’s independent Trade Remedies Authority who will assess the impact of amending the measure on UK producers, importers and consumers. The Secretary of State will have the final decision on the measures, and he will weigh up all the evidence provided. Whilst these reviews remain an ongoing process I cannot comment further.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
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 reduced glass import tariffs on UK glass manufacturers.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Secretary of State for Scotland
The Department for Business and Trade recently conducted an assessment to determine whether the current tariff rate for various glass products was appropriate.
Having considered the predominance of imports from the EU or from countries with whom we have an FTA, and further analysis of specific imports from non-FTA partners, the
evidence does not suggest that tariff liberalisation is materially affecting the interests of the sector, or the competitiveness of businesses.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
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 his EU counterparts on the effectiveness of the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Secretary of State for Scotland
The Government has noted the EU’s adoption of the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive and has been in regular contact with the European Commission on this issue through the Trade Specialised Committee on Level Playing Field, which last met on 9th October 2024. The Directive will apply to UK companies with a turnover generated in the EU of more than €450 million.
We will continue to assess and monitor the effectiveness of the UK’s existing measures, alongside the impacts of new policy tools that are emerging to ensure we can best promote responsible business practices, and take action where appropriate.