Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the competitive landscape of the UK's postal and parcel delivery market (1) remains fair, and (2) does not lead to monopolistic practices post-takeover.
Answered by Lord Offord of Garvel - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Ofcom’s duties, as the independent regulator for postal services, include furthering the interests of citizens and consumers, where appropriate by promoting competition.
Ofcom’s regulatory framework supports competition by imposing minimal intervention in competitive areas of the postal market, for example, in relation to parcel services. Ofcom also requires Royal Mail, as the designated universal service provider, to allow access to its network for the provision of certain bulk letter and large letter services and impose a number of safeguards to protect postal operators reliant on this access.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to implement strategies to mitigate the risks of labour shortages in the supply chain for infrastructure projects.
Answered by Lord Offord of Garvel - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government works with the construction sector, through the Construction Skills Delivery Group, to identify and plan to meet future skills needs in the sector. We also work with the industry to support the development and adoption of digital and industrialised construction techniques, as well as robotics and autonomous systems, which will reduce the labour intensity of the sector.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to reports of a discrepancy between wage growth and pay settlements, what steps they are taking to (1) ensure fair compensation for workers, and (2) address income disparities across different sectors of the economy.
Answered by Lord Offord of Garvel - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The National Living Wage is part of our wider commitment to ensuring a labour market that works for everyone, both in terms of fair pay and fair working conditions.
On 1 April 2024, the Government increased the National Living Wage for workers aged 21 years to £11.44 an hour. We are pleased to confirm that this record cash increase of £1.02 per hour means we will hit the target for the National Living Wage to equal two-thirds of median earnings for those aged 21 and over in 2024. This will end low hourly pay for this group.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the S&P Global UK Construction Purchasing Managers’ Index, published on 7 May, which showed that construction activity grew at its fastest pace in April for more than a year, what steps they are taking to ensure continued growth in commercial and civil engineering activities within the construction sector.
Answered by Lord Offord of Garvel - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK Government continues to work closely with the construction sector and its clients to support growth. We have published a revised National Infrastructure and Construction Pipeline in the March Budget setting out the planned pipeline of investment over the next decade, and are currently working with the industry to update the Government’s Construction Playbook. Total construction new orders also increased by £1,436 million, or 15.9% in Quarter 1 2024, compared with Quarter 4 2023, which will support future growth.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the S&P Global UK Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index survey published on 1 May, which showed contraction in the manufacturing sector in April, what support they are providing to this sector to boost growth.
Answered by Lord Offord of Garvel - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK’s manufacturing sector is showing resilience, despite challenges such as supply chain disruptions in the Red Sea.
According to the OECD, since 2010 the UK has had the fastest manufacturing productivity growth in the G7. Make UK’s Q1 Manufacturing Outlook Report, published at the end of March, showed increased investment and recruitment intentions among manufacturers.
The Government has a strong track record of backing the sector. Our Advanced Manufacturing Plan published last November is underpinned by tax cuts, faster grid connections and a £4.5bn commitment to 2030, as well as the expansion of our successful SME Made Smarter Adoption programme.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following reports of non-food item deflation, what assessment they have made of the impact of this on (1) employment, and (2) business profitability, in the retail sector.
Answered by Lord Offord of Garvel - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The government is continuing to pursue an ambitious policy agenda to increase sustainable economic growth and productivity across the economy. This includes making full expensing permanent, backing the UK’s priority growth sectors and announcing measures to boost labour supply. Across Spring Budget 2023, Autumn Statement 2023 and Spring Budget 2024 tax and labour market measures increase total hours worked by the equivalent of more than 300,000 full-time workers by 2028-29.
Whilst consumers will undoubtedly welcome lower shop price inflation, government continues to provide the right environment to help retailers grow, such as by extending Retail, Hospitality and Leisure relief for 2024-25, a tax cut worth nearly £2.4 billion
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the reported recent increase in mergers and acquisitions activity among medium-sized companies, what steps they are taking to support continued mergers and acquisitions activity whilst ensuring that it does not lead to (1) monopolistic practices, or (2) reduced competition in key industries.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Lainston - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Competition and Markets Authority is the UK's independent competition regulator with responsibility for reviewing mergers and acquisitions on competition grounds.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the EU regarding barriers to trade and exports faced by the creative industries since Brexit; what steps they are taking to address this; and what plans they have to support UK creative businesses in global markets.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Lainston - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The creative industries have been identified by the Government as one of five priority growth sectors. As set out in the Creative Industries Sector Vision,by 2030 the Government aims to grow our the creative industries by an extra £50 billion Gross Value Added, with a goal to increase creative exports 55% to £78 billion over this period.
The Government is committed to supporting the creative sector to adapt to requirements for working and touring in the EU. For example, 23 out of 27 EU Member States have clarified arrangements or introduced easements to allow visa and work permit free routes for UK touring performers.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the publication of figures by the Office for National Statistics which show UK services exports grew 63 per cent in real terms between 2010 and 2023, while goods exports grew only seven per cent, what steps they are taking to boost the export of goods.
Answered by Lord Offord of Garvel - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department for Business and Trade is backing British businesses to export by knocking down trade barriers and signing new trade deals.
In 2022, the Government committed to resolving a ‘hit list’ of priority barriers worth more than £20 billion over five years. Since the start of 2022, we have resolved barriers all over the world estimated to be worth over £15 billion (over a five-year period) to UK businesses.
Businesses can access the department’s wealth of export support options on great.gov.uk, including trade advisers, Export Champions, the Export Academy, our International Markets network and UK Export Finance.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Quarterly Economic Survey by the British Chambers of Commerce, published on 11 April; and what steps they are taking to address and mitigate the challenges in relation to wages, bills and other expenses faced by businesses, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises.
Answered by Lord Offord of Garvel - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department continuously monitors and works to improve our offer to help businesses access the finance and support they need.
Government works with the British Business Bank to help SMEs access finance. The Recovery Loan scheme, renamed the ‘Growth Guarantee Scheme’, was extended, which offers a 70% government guarantee on loans to SMEs. The VAT registration threshold was also raised, keeping more SMEs out of VAT.
Additional support also includes raising the Employment Allowance to £5,000, and a business rates package to support small businesses, worth £4.3 billion.