Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
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 businesses to take up digital technologies in Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Hertfordshire Growth Hub provides businesses in Harpenden and Berkhamsted with support and advice on adopting digital technology. More widely, the industry-led SME Digital Adoption Taskforce will soon publish its final recommendations on how Government and industry can work together to increase SME uptake of digital technology across the UK. Building these capabilities will form part of our forthcoming SME Strategy.
Our Industrial Strategy also set out ambitions, informed by the Technology Adoption Review, to increase digital adoption in eight growth-driving sectors. This includes up to £99m for the Made Smarter Adoption programme to help manufacturing SMEs adopt digital technologies.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent steps his Department has taken to consult with rural community-owned businesses in (a) Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency and (b) Hertfordshire in the development of its planned small business strategy.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
This Government is committed to embedding the voice of small business into policy. The Department for Business and Trade has engaged with hundreds of individual SMEs across all sectors and regions as part of co-designing our SME Strategy. This has included roundtables to address topics such as high streets, markets and access to finance.
Engagement with individual SMEs will continue to be a priority up to and after the launch of the SME Strategy to assess the impact of these policies on SMEs across the UK in all rural and urban areas.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
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 Chancellor of the Exchequer on the potential impact of the use of e-invoicing to support SME digital adoption.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
E-invoicing can help SMEs to reduce administrative burdens and data processing errors. Increasing SME adoption of digital tools like e-invoicing can therefore lead to increased productivity, as well as improved payment times and streamlined tax administration.
The SME Digital Adoption Taskforce has been developing recommendations for Government and Industry on how best to encourage uptake of digital tools such as e-invoicing. The Taskforce produced an interim report in March 2025. Their final report will be published later this Summer.
DBT and HMRC recently ran a joint 12-week consultation to gather views on promoting e-invoicing in the UK. The Government will publish a summary of responses and provide an update on next steps in due course.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of e-invoicing on (a) payment times and (b) cash flow management for SMEs.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is committed to tackling late payments, which can cause cash flow issues for SMEs. In September 2024 we announced measures including a new Fair Payment Code, legislation requiring large companies to report headline payment performance data in their annual reports, and a public consultation on further measures.
Adoption of e-invoicing can also help improve payment times and cash flow management by reducing administrative burdens and data errors and streamlining invoicing processes.
DBT and HMRC recently ran a joint 12-week consultation to gather views on promoting e-invoicing in the UK. The Government will publish a summary of responses and provide an update on next steps in due course.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department plans to take to promote e-invoicing among SMEs.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Many SMEs could benefit from digital tools like e-invoicing. E-invoicing can streamline invoicing processes and lead to increased productivity, improved payment times and easier tax administration.
However, we know that SMEs face several barriers to adopting new digital technologies, one of which can be a lack of clear information on benefits and software options. The SME Digital Adoption Taskforce has been considering how to best overcome these and will be publishing their final report in the Summer.
DBT and HMRC recently ran a joint 12-week consultation to gather views on promoting e-invoicing in the UK. The Government will publish a summary of responses and provide an update on next steps in due course.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department plans to (a) commission and (b) publish research of the potential impact of e-invoicing on (i) digital adoption and (ii) changes in trends in the level of productivity of SMEs.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Yes. HMRC have commissioned research into SMEs perceptions of e-invoicing which we expect to publish later this year. DBT and HMRC also recently ran a joint 12-week consultation to gather views on promoting e-invoicing in the UK. The Government will publish a summary of responses and provide an update on next steps in due course.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department plans to establish a statutory regulator for domestic renovation contractors to improve (a) consumer protections and (b) accountability.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
This Government is working to ensure we have a high-quality and professional construction industry, with consumer protection at the heart of this. TrustMark, sponsored by the Department and licenced by the Government, is the Government Endorsed Quality Scheme that covers work a consumer chooses to have carried out in or around their home. In addition, the Building Safety Act 2022 has introduced competence requirements for both individuals and businesses working in the built environment.
Any action that the Government takes on licensing to protect customers and standards needs to be robust, proportionate and evidence based.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department plans to accelerate the implementation of mandatory identity verification for (a) company directors and (b) beneficial owners at Companies House.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Companies House plan to implement identity verification requirements under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 for all directors and people with significant control (PSCs) from Autumn 2025. Existing directors and PSCs will have a 12-month transition period to verify their identity with Companies House.
Companies House has already launched the service that allows people to verify their identity directly or via an Authorised Corporate Service Provider in advance of the requirement coming into force.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent assessment his Department has made of the impact of umbrella company practices on the (a) rights and (b) take-home pay of contractors; and whether he plans to bring forward legislative proposals to improve (i) transparency, (ii) regulation, and (iii) enforcement in this sector.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
In March 2025, this Government published a response to the previous Government’s consultation on tackling non-compliance in the umbrella company market, outlining our approach to regulating the sector. Responses to the call for evidence and consultation gathered data from workers, including contractors.
Through the Employment Rights Bill, we are defining the activities of umbrella companies, and allowing for their subsequent regulation and enforcement through the Fair Work Agency. We will ensure that those who work through umbrella companies receive comparable employment rights to those taken on directly by an employment business. This complements the announcement made at Autumn Budget 2024.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology to help support SMEs in adopting digital technology in Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Hertfordshire Growth Hub provides SMEs in Harpenden and Berkhamsted with support and advice with adopting digital technology. The Government is working closely with the SME Digital Adoption Taskforce. The Taskforce brings industry stakeholders together to explore how the UK can supercharge digital adoption amongst SMEs to drive productivity. Its final report will be published this summer.
In addition, the Department for Business and Trade is working with DSIT on the Technology Adoption Review led by the Government Chief Scientific Advisor and the Government National Technology Advisor.