Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many businesses entered insolvency in each region of England in each of the last five years.
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)
This information is available in Table 1a of the Insolvency Service’s Business Insolvency Demography official statistics, available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/business-insolvency-demography-2015-to-2025.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
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 adequacy of access to finance for small and medium-sized enterprises.
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 British Business Bank’s Small Business Finance Markets Report 2026 found that around half of SMEs used external finance in 2025. SME lending increased between 2024 and 2025 – reaching £68 billion in nominal terms – but remains below pre-pandemic levels in real terms. The SME finance market has become significantly more diverse, with challenger and specialist banks accounting for 60% of gross SME lending. Challenges in accessing finance persist, particularly for some under-represented groups and in certain geographic areas.
We are addressing these issues through the Growth Guarantee Scheme (GGS) which helps unlock finance for SMEs, and the Community ENABLE Funding scheme with £150m of finance available to Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFIs) helping them expand.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps the Government is taking to address the rapid growth in cement imports and the corresponding decline in domestic production.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) routinely considers import volumes of cement and their impact on domestic production capacity and employment. DBT regularly engages with the Mineral Products Association, the sector’s main trade association, and individual cement businesses to consider these issues.
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. Some cement businesses are supported by the British Industry Supercharger, receiving relief from various electricity policy and network costs to mitigate carbon leakage.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
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 impact of rising cement imports on UK domestic production capacity and employment.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) routinely considers import volumes of cement and their impact on domestic production capacity and employment. DBT regularly engages with the Mineral Products Association, the sector’s main trade association, and individual cement businesses to consider these issues.
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. Some cement businesses are supported by the British Industry Supercharger, receiving relief from various electricity policy and network costs to mitigate carbon leakage.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what proportion of cement used in publicly funded infrastructure projects is imported.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department for Business and Trade does not hold information about the proportion of imported cement that is used in publicly funded infrastructure projects.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment has been made of whether public procurement policy adequately supports domestically produced construction materials.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Procurement Act 2023 sets out the legal framework for public procurement. The National Procurement Policy Statement sets out the Government’s strategic priorities, which include the need to drive economic growth and strengthen supply chains. The Social Value Model provides the mechanism to deliver these broader economic and social objectives through individual procurement design. Steel is a critical domestically produced construction material, and our updated procurement guidance (PPN 022) ensures that UK made steel is regularly considered in public projects. The guidance requires procurers to consult a digital catalogue of UK-made steel products, before making their procurement decisions.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
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 impact of current (a) tax, (b) carbon and (c) regulatory requirements on retention of heavy industry in the UK.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
While no specific assessment on the impact of existing tax, regulatory or carbon-related costs on retention of UK heavy industry has been conducted, the Government regularly engages with relevant heavy industry trade associations and businesses to consider potential policy support, sectoral challenges affecting competitiveness, and the impact of existing or planned policy and regulatory implementation on industry. The Government also delivers the British Industry Supercharger and Energy-Intensive Industries Compensation Scheme which aim to mitigate carbon leakage and improve competitiveness of eligible energy-intensive manufacturing industries by relieving them from electricity policy costs, network costs and indirect carbon costs.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps the Government is taking to reduce the cumulative impact of network charges, policy levies and regulatory costs on industrial electricity bills.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The British Industry Supercharger provides relief on renewable energy levies and network charging costs for eligible energy intensive industrial businesses. On 1 April 2026, the Network Charging Compensation Scheme discount, a component of the British Industry Supercharger, was increased from 60% to 90%, reducing network charges for eligible businesses and bringing total electricity bill relief to approximately £65 – £87/MWh. From April 2027 the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme will exempt eligible manufacturing businesses from the indirect costs of the Renewables Obligation, Feed in Tariff and Capacity Market, reducing electricity costs by up to £40 per megawatt hour.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
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 trends in cement imports over the last ten years.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department for Business and Trade routinely considers import volumes of cement. We also maintain close contact with the Mineral Products Association, the sector’s main trade association, and individual businesses to consider 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 benefit from the British Industry Supercharger, receiving relief from electricity policy and network costs.
If UK cement firms believe they are being injured by unfair trading practices like the dumping of cheap imports, they can bring forward an application to the UK’s independent Trade Remedies Authority (TRA).
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
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 impact of cumulative regulatory and reporting requirements on investment in UK cement manufacturing.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No specific assessment has been made on the impact of cumulative regulatory and reporting requirements on investment in the UK cement industry, however, the Government routinely considers impacts on business when developing new regulations and reporting requirements. The Government is in regular contact with the cement industry to understand the sector’s challenges and delivers the British Industry Supercharger which supports businesses in the cement sector with electricity costs to mitigate carbon leakage and promote UK investment.