Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of the use of Non-Disclosure Agreements during corporate restructuring in safety-critical sectors in the context of the Employment Tribunal correction in Unite v MAEL.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government cannot comment on individual cases. In addition, the Government is unable to assess sector-based trends on the use of non-disclosure agreements as they are private contractual agreements and data on their use is not collected.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps the Government is taking to support community pubs.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
We recognise the vital role pubs play as social hubs within communities, fostering connections while driving local economies and supporting high streets. That’s why we’re investing £440,000 with Pub is The Hub to help rural pubs diversify, aiming to support rural communities, create new jobs and services.
We are planning on introducing reforms to premises licensing to simplify outdated rules, making it easier and more affordable to run hospitality venues and to allow communities to thrive. These proposals will include a National Licensing Policy Framework. A Call for Evidence closed on 6 November. We are now analysing responses at pace.
We are also creating a fairer business rates system, including permanently lower rates for retail, hospitality and leisure properties under £500,000 rateable value and through the English Devolution Bill, we have introduced a strong new ‘right to buy’ to help communities safeguard valued community assets, empowering local communities to reclaim and revitalise empty shops, pubs, and community spaces, helping to revamp our high streets and eliminate the blight of vacant premises.
We continue to work closely with the sector, including through the Hospitality Sector Council, working together to address the challenges facing all hospitality businesses.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what discussions he has had with the Royal Mail on tackling postal delays in rural communities.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Ministers and officials have discussions with Royal Mail on a regular basis in its capacity as the universal service provider to ensure that service standards are upheld across all regions, including rural areas.
It is for Ofcom, as the independent regulator of postal services, to monitor Royal Mail’s service standards. The regulator sets Royal Mail enforceable targets to deliver a certain proportion of items on time each year. Ofcom takes compliance with its regulatory targets seriously and this involves conducting thorough investigations where failures have been identified.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to help support (a) high streets and (b) town centres in South Shropshire constituency.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
This Department is committed to support constituencies like South Shropshire grow their high streets and town centres. Our Plan for Small Businesses sets out how government will work across departments to tackle high street decline.
This year 500 towns including Ludlow and Bridgenorth developed local plans, as part of the Safer Streets Summer, to develop bespoke local action plans with police, businesses and local councils to crackdown on crime on the high street.
SMEs on the high street will also benefit from the new tools to unlock access to finance, action to address late payments and regulatory costs, improve digital adoption and create easier pathways to business support through the Business Growth Service.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to increase apprenticeship opportunities within his Department.
Answered by Justin Madders
In DBT, apprenticeships remain a core element of the learning and development offer for all employees. We are taking active steps to continue to increase apprenticeship opportunities within the Department, with commitment to our recently launched DBT Apprenticeship Plan for 2025-2026. This includes offering all new Executive Officer (EO) vacancies as apprenticeships, encouraging those at the start of their careers to consider an apprenticeship route as default.
DBT are also committed to support the new ‘Civil Service Career Launch Apprenticeship’ (CLA) Programme which seeks to support individuals kickstarting their careers whilst undertaking the Level 3 Business Administration Apprenticeship, with placements launching across government and within DBT in January 2026.
DBT also supports the Government’s commitment to improving digital skills through the TechTrack scheme which is committed to supporting 2,000 digital apprenticeships by 2030.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to maintain the level of UK exports.
Answered by Gareth Thomas
The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) is committed to supporting UK businesses to export and grow globally. The Export Academy and International Trade Advisers are helping UK SME’s build their capability to export around the world. The International Markets teams in embassies around the world are connecting UK businesses with global buyers and distributors. UK businesses can access DBT’s wealth of export support via Great.gov.uk.
And we are targeting market access barriers in priority markets to open up even more opportunities for UK exporters.
As part of our new trade strategy and small business strategy, we are looking at further proposals to help UK businesses to export more.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will take steps to help protect Post Office services in rural areas.
Answered by Gareth Thomas
We recognise the key role Post Offices play in their communities, and branches in some rural areas are particularly important as the Post Office often acts as a community hub. We are listening carefully to stakeholders to ensure the whole network, including these important rural branches, is sustainable.
The Government-set Access Criteria ensures that however the network changes, services remain within local reach of all citizens. Government’s minimum access criteria for Post Offices mean that 99% of the UK population must be within three miles of their nearest post office outlet and 90% must be within one mile of their nearest post office outlet.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what fiscal measures he is taking to support the hospitality sector in rural areas.
Answered by Gareth Thomas
Pubs and hospitality businesses, including those in rural areas, are at the heart of our communities and are vital for economic growth. That is why the Government is creating a fairer business rate system by introducing permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure businesses from 2026-27 and extending the current relief for 1 year at 40%.
The Government is also reducing alcohol duty on qualifying draught products, representing an overall reduction in duty bills of over £85m a year. This work will be supported by the publication of The Small Business Strategy Command Paper which will be published later this year.
Through the Hospitality Sector Council, we are addressing strategic issues for the sector related to high street regeneration, skills, sustainability, and productivity.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to (a) protect and (b) enhance the Post Office network in rural areas.
Answered by Gareth Thomas
Government recognises the key role that Post Offices play in their communities, and how branches in rural areas often act as community hubs, and so we are listening carefully to stakeholders to ensure the whole network, including these important rural branches, is sustainable.
Government protects the sustainability of the Post Office network – and the rural network in particular – by providing an annual subsidy on the basis that Post Office meets its minimum access criteria to ensure that, across the country, 99% of the population live within three miles of their nearest Post Office.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to help tackle barriers to export for small businesses.
Answered by Gareth Thomas
The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) is committed to supporting small businesses grow and export. UK businesses can access DBT’s wealth of export support via Great.gov.uk. This comprises an online support offer and a wider network of support including the Export Academy, UK Export Finance, the International Markets network and one-to-one support from International Trade Advisers.
DBT is also piloting an enhanced partnership with Greater Manchester Combined Authority, taking a targeted place-based approach to accelerate small business growth through exporting across the region. This will be rolled out to other regions across England over the next 12 months.
We will bring forward further measures in due course.