Asked by: Jerome Mayhew (Conservative - Broadland and Fakenham)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many full-time civil servants are working on compensation for postmasters.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Within the Department for Business and Trade, there are currently 60 full time civil servants working on redress for postmasters across the 4 available redress schemes.
Government is determined that all postmasters who suffered as a result of the Horizon scandal receive the full and fair redress they deserve, as swiftly as possible thus we routinely review whether additional staff are needed.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 6 September 2024 to Question 2408 on Department for Business and Trade: Ministers, whether he plans to appoint an adviser for business engagement and trade strategy.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
There are no current plans to appoint a specific adviser for business engagement and trade strategy.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what initiatives the Office for Investment has introduced to attract investment in small and medium-sized enterprises in the UK.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The service the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) offers is tailored to investors’ needs and the value of their projects. The Office for Investment (OfI) focuses on supporting a select number of the highest value investments. For lower value investments DBT provides support through Expand Your Business, an online portal designed to address the ‘information gap’ for foreign investors. The Government also works through the British Business Bank to improve access to investment for small and mid-sized businesses through targeted interventions. The Bank’s programmes support over £17 billion of finance to small and high-growth businesses, backing almost 64,000 businesses across the UK.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department plans to review the Office for Investment's strategy.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Office for Investment is a small joint unit between 10 Downing Street and the Department for Business and Trade (DBT), the department responsible for investment into the UK. It is a delivery-focused team whose strategic objectives are fully aligned with those of DBT. It was established to increase the UK’s chances of landing the most strategically important investments. It works alongside teams from DBT, the UK’s international network, and other departments, providing an additional level of support for a handful of high-value projects which are particularly complex and require cross-government convening to unblock barriers.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps the Office for Investment has taken to build and strengthen international partnerships that promote inward investment to the UK.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government’s international investment partnerships will be crucial for driving economic growth in the UK. The Office for Investment continues to work with teams in the Department for Business and Trade and other departments across government to amplify opportunities for collaboration and the pursuit of shared goals through these partnerships, where stability, predictability, and trust are key. The International Investment Summit on 14 October will be a significant next step to deliver this message to our existing and potential new partners.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what metrics his Department uses to assess the performance of the Office for Investment; and how it has performed against those metrics in the last year.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department for Business and Trade uses a range of metrics and data to review the performance of its investment promotion function, of which the Office for Investment is a part. These include internal evidence, for instance on the number of projects DBT has been involved in, the Gross Value Added, and the number of jobs created, as well as external evidence from various sources. During 2023-24 DBT supported the delivery of 1,018 FDI projects, creating 57,037 jobs and generating an estimated £5.8 billion GVA over the next three years. The department also supported over £7 billion in large capital investments and £0.86 billion in Venture Capital injections.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Reform UK - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many positions in his Department included (a) diversity, (b) inclusion, (c) equity and (d) equality in their job title in each of the last five years; and what the total cost of the salaries of each such job was in each of those years.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) does not routinely collate information on specific words and collating this information would come at a disproportionate cost.
Information on spending and staffing can be found in the Department's annual report and accounts.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he is taking steps to manage the potential impact of implementation of the Extended Producer Responsibility scheme on glass manufacturers.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As part of the Government’s commitment to implement Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging (pEPR) and the benefits it will deliver, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is working alongside the Department for Business and Trade to discuss the impact of Extended Producer Responsibility on specific packaging sectors, including glass. We will continue to engage with industry on this matter.
Asked by: Andrew Bowie (Conservative - West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what estimate he has made of the tonnes of copper that will be required to decarbonise the National Grid by 2030.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Significant infrastructure investment is required to meet the Government’s mission for clean power by 2030 and accelerate to net zero. The equipment, such as cables and transformers, to enable transformation of the grid will be reliant on copper and its associated supply chain. We also recognise the vital role of copper in making wind power possible.
The Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre, sponsored by the Department for Business and Trade and delivered by the British Geological Survey, is undertaking studies to forecast the UK’s demand for critical minerals including copper in our clean energy technologies and energy infrastructure. They will be published later this year.
Asked by: Andrew Bowie (Conservative - West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of decarbonising the grid by 2030 on demand for copper.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Significant infrastructure investment is required to meet the Government’s mission for clean power by 2030 and accelerate to net zero. The equipment, such as cables and transformers, to enable transformation of the grid will be reliant on copper and its associated supply chain. We also recognise the vital role of copper in making wind power possible.
The Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre, sponsored by the Department for Business and Trade and delivered by the British Geological Survey, is undertaking studies to forecast the UK’s demand for critical minerals including copper in our clean energy technologies and energy infrastructure. They will be published later this year.