Sarah Pochin

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon. Lady’s Parliamentary Question of 8 June is attached.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to theParliamentary Question of 8 June is attached.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Parliamentary Question of 5th June is attached.

Cabinet Office Ministers have not met with DHSC to discuss the governance and accountability of the NHS Business Services Authority.

The ALB review is ongoing and results will be communicated in due course.

The Prime Minister announced a number of changes to Cabinet committees in November to ensure decision-making structures are best able to deliver the Government’s priorities. The list of Cabinet committees can be found online here.

The Prime Minister announced a number of changes to Cabinet committees in November to ensure decision-making structures are best able to deliver the Government’s priorities. The list of Cabinet committees can be found online here.

Listing the endless ways the government engages with the public and assesses its relationship with the public would be fruitless, since that is a basic principle behind everything the government does.

Listing the endless ways the government engages with the public and assesses its relationship with the public would be fruitless, since that is a basic principle behind everything the government does.

Listing the endless ways the government engages with the public and assesses its relationship with the public would be fruitless, since that is a basic principle behind everything the government does.

DBT maintains regular engagement with small business through a range of forums. The Small Business Growth Forum brings together SMEs and representative organisations to develop the department’s strategic approach to supporting small businesses.

The department also convenes a range of sector councils including the Retail Sector Council, an industry-led forum that enables retail leaders, including SMEs, to engage directly with government and identify priority issues and trends affecting the sector.

This year MHCLG will bring forward a new High Streets Strategy. We are working closely with businesses and representative bodies to inform this.

The Government has not made a specific assessment of trends in the number of small independent barbershops in town centres and high streets.

Small independent businesses such as barbershops play a vital role in high streets, supporting local economies, creating jobs and contributing to the character and resilience of communities. That’s why we are committed to supporting these businesses, including through permanently lower business rates for eligible properties, transitional relief, and an increase in the Employment Allowance to £10,500, meaning many small businesses pay no employer National Insurance Contributions.

The Government also supports growth through the Small Business Plan, which improves access to finance, tackles late payments, reduces unnecessary regulation and supports digital adoption. This sits alongside wider high street regeneration measures, including the future high street strategy, aimed at increasing footfall, support local investment and helping town centres to thrive.

The Department for Business and Trade routinely considers import volumes of cement and other foundational industries products. We also maintain close contact with the Mineral Products Association, the sector’s main trade association, and individual cement businesses to consider and address the issues facing the sector.

To mitigate the risk of carbon leakage and support UK domestic production, the cement sector will be included in the UK Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism and some cement firms are supported by the British Industry Supercharger, receiving relief from various electricity policy and network costs.

The Department for Business and Trade routinely considers import volumes of cement and other foundational industries products. We also maintain close contact with the Mineral Products Association, the sector’s main trade association, and individual cement businesses to consider and address the issues facing the sector.

To mitigate the risk of carbon leakage and support UK domestic production, the cement sector will be included in the UK Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism and some cement firms are supported by the British Industry Supercharger, receiving relief from various electricity policy and network costs.

The Department for Business and Trade routinely considers import volumes of cement and other foundational industries products. We also maintain close contact with the Mineral Products Association, the sector’s main trade association, and individual cement businesses to consider and address the issues facing the sector.

To mitigate the risk of carbon leakage and support UK domestic production, the cement sector will be included in the UK Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism and some cement firms are supported by the British Industry Supercharger, receiving relief from various electricity policy and network costs.

To mitigate the risk of carbon leakage, the cement sector will be included in the upcoming UK Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism when introduced in 2027 to ensure importers face a comparable price to that paid by UK manufacturers. Some cement firms are supported by the British Industry Supercharger, receiving relief from various electricity policy and network costs, to reduce the risk of carbon leakage by supporting the competitiveness of recipients. If UK cement firms believe they are being injured by unfair trading practices, such as the dumping of cheap imports, they can bring forward an application to the UK’s independent Trade Remedies Authority (TRA).

The Government considers impacts on business when developing new regulations in line with Better Regulation principles. This applies to businesses within the cement and construction product manufacturing industries. While no specific assessment has been made, in any policy consultations relevant to the cement and construction product manufacturing sectors, including the British Industry Supercharger and Energy-Intensive Industries Compensation Scheme, the Government will consider the regulatory impact of any policy changes while ensuring that these schemes continue to deliver value for money.

Carbon-related costs deliver long-term investment signals to deliver energy security for UK businesses and reduce dependence on volatile fossil fuels. However, we understand that some energy-intensive industries (EII) are facing high industrial electricity costs affecting their competitiveness, which is why we deliver the British Industry Supercharger and EII Compensation Scheme to provide carbon-leakage prone businesses relief from carbon costs and electricity network charges. The Government keeps all policy measures, including tax, carbon costs and regulation, under review.

The Government is simplifying regulation for manufacturing sectors critical to national infrastructure through the Advanced Manufacturing Sector Plan and wider Industrial Strategy. We are reducing barriers to investment by improving coordination and speeding up delivery decisions. For example, the Strategic Sites Accelerator is simplifying and accelerating the development process for major manufacturing sites, reducing delays and enabling faster investment in critical industrial capacity.

The Government recognises that industrial electricity prices are an important factor in the international competitiveness of UK-based energy intensive manufacturing sectors. We engage regularly with industry and monitor evidence on the impact of energy costs.

Through our Industrial Strategy we are taking action to address these challenges, including through the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme, which will bring electricity costs more in line with other economies in Europe and reduce electricity costs by up to £40/MWh for eligible businesses.

For around 550 of the most electricity-intensive businesses the British Industry Supercharger is already cutting costs. The Network Charging Compensation scheme, one element of the Supercharger, was uplifted from 60% to 90% relief from 1 April 2026. This raised total support from the Supercharger to approximately £65-87/MWh, bringing electricity costs for recipients closer in line with those charged in competitor countries.

I recognise the importance of the cement sector to the UK economy; which will play an essential role in delivering this Government’s commitment to build 1.5 million new homes by the end of this parliamentary term. The Government intends to review the Energy-Intensive Industries Compensation Scheme this year, any changes to scheme eligibility will be subject to consultation and ministerial approval. I highly encourage the cement sector to engage with the consultation once the opportunity arises.

From 2027 the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme will reduce electricity costs for over 10,000 eligible businesses, reducing costs by up to £40 per megawatt hour. Eligible businesses will be exempt from paying the indirect costs of the Renewables Obligation, Feed-in Tariffs and the Capacity Market.

The British Industry Supercharger currently supports around 550 of the most electricity-intensive businesses by exempting them from paying the indirect costs of the Contracts for Difference, Renewables Obligation, Feed-in Tariffs and the Capacity Market, and compensates them for network charges. From the 1 April 2026 the relief from network charges was uplifted from 60% to 90%.

The department’s modern Industrial Strategy will make the UK the best country to invest in and grow. We are targeting government investment towards our world-class eight-growth driving sectors, from life sciences to digital technologies and advanced manufacturing so British workers can upskill and fill vacancies.

From 2027, the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme (BICS) will reduce electricity costs by up to £35–40/MWh for manufacturing frontier industries in the Industrial Strategy and foundational industries in their supply chains, by exempting them from the indirect costs of the Renewables Obligation, Feed-in Tariffs and Capacity Market.

DBT provides targeted capital through several key programmes:

• DRIVE35: A £4 billion fund (expanded to 2035) for zero-emission vehicle manufacturing and R&D.
• Automotive Transformation Fund (ATF): Supports large-scale industrialisation of the electrified automotive supply chain.
• Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI): Up to £2.3 billion in R&D funding to 2035 through the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) programme to support the UK’s world-leading aerospace sector develop ultra-efficient and zero-carbon aircraft.
• Connected and Automated Mobility (CAM): Up to £150 million to deploy self-driving services and logistics.

Our modern Industrial Strategy focuses on eight sectors with the greatest potential to raise national levels of investment and productivity, spread prosperity to all parts of the country, make us all more secure, and seize the opportunities of net zero. The Strategy sets out our plans to deliver more opportunities for people at all stages of life, including young people, to learn and earn in our high-growth sectors. Additionally, we are investing £820 million for the Youth Guarantee meaning young people aged 16-24 are set to benefit from further support into employment and learning, and also announced a £725 million investment to deliver more apprenticeships for young people and help match skills training with local job opportunities.

Under existing UK regulations, businesses must only place safe products, including batteries for e-bikes and e-scooters, on the market. In 2024, the Department published statutory guidelines for lithium-ion e-bike batteries, clarifying that they must protect against the risk of thermal runaway to be considered safe products. Regulators have powers to enforce these regulations. The Government has now introduced the Product Regulation and Metrology Act 2025, which will enable us to modernise and improve our product safety framework for products sold online and on the high street.

E-bikes must meet legal speed and power limits to be used on the road.

Continued over-reliance on volatile fossil fuels is a proven driver of high and unstable bills. That is why the government is driving forward with building record levels of renewables and nuclear, to get off the fossil fuel rollercoaster and ensure more stable energy costs and bills.

Families and businesses will see lower bills through the rollout of clean technologies like solar, batteries and, with the right tariff, heat pumps and electric vehicles. For example, installing solar could save households up to £500 a year and electric cars can reduce drivers’ running costs by up to £1,400 annually. In the short term, we have already taken action on bills, taking an average of £150 of costs off household bills at the Budget, with those decisions now factored into bills for the years to come.

The most recent official statistics from the Office for National Statistics show that there were up to 453,900 full-time equivalent jobs in the UK’s low carbon and renewable energy economy and its wider supply chain in 2024.  This represents an increase of 39% compared with 325,700 jobs in 2020.

The UK Government’s Clean Energy Jobs Plan sets out that the clean energy workforce could grow to around 860,000 jobs by 2030, an increase of over 400,000 compared to 2023.

Independent analysis by Robert Gordon University indicates that, under a pathway consistent with delivering clean power, job creation in clean energy sectors is expected to exceed projected job reductions in oil and gas, with renewables supporting more jobs overall over time.

The Government is very clear that resellers such as landlords should not profit from reselling energy to consumers. The maximum price at which gas or electricity can be resold to domestic consumers is the same price that the reseller (such as the park home site operator) paid for it, including standing charges. This Maximum Resale Pricing (MRP) provides transparency and protections for consumers and is a matter for Ofgem as the independent regulator.

Currently, consumers who suspect that MRP has been breached can request evidence from landlords, review bills and contracts and, if necessary, pursue disputes through tribunals or civil courts.

However, Ofgem realise that enforcement mechanisms are failing to protect some consumers. Ofgem’s current review of the MRP sought views on fair pricing and consumer protection, with a policy consultation planned for Summer 2026.

The Government is very clear that resellers such as landlords should not profit from reselling energy to consumers. The maximum price at which gas or electricity can be resold to domestic consumers is the same price that the reseller (such as the park home site operator) paid for it, including standing charges. This Maximum Resale Pricing (MRP) provides transparency and protections for consumers and is a matter for Ofgem as the independent regulator.

Currently, consumers who suspect that MRP has been breached can request evidence from landlords, review bills and contracts and, if necessary, pursue disputes through tribunals or civil courts.

However, Ofgem realise that enforcement mechanisms are failing to protect some consumers. Ofgem’s current review of the MRP sought views on fair pricing and consumer protection, with a policy consultation planned for Summer 2026.