Department for Business and Trade

As at 31 March 2025, 8,755 (9.0% of the total) Coronavirus Business Interruption Scheme (CBILS) loans have had the government guarantee paid out. The monetary value of the guarantees paid out is £996.3mn, or 3.9% of the total the CBILS draw down value. The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) does not hold data detailing the reason for borrower default, including where bankruptcy is the reason for default.

Recognising the impact of the support it offers, the government recently increased UK Export Finance’s maximum commitment limit to £80 billion, enabling it to expand its finance support for UK businesses of all sizes.

In 2023 to 2024, 88% of the businesses UKEF directly supported were SMEs. Its most popular product was the General Export Facility, which helped businesses to access around £576 million in working capital support.

UKEF has an ambition to support over 1,000 SMEs by 2029 and will continue to innovate and launch new products, working with a wider range of banks and non-bank financial institutions to tailor the financing support that the UK’s SME exporters need.

We are committed to providing up to £2.5bn for steel which is being delivered in part through the National Wealth Fund.

At the Spending Review, the Chancellor confirmed that we will invest in the long-term future of Scunthorpe. We have been clear that private investment to modernise British Steel will also be required and work continues at pace to develop the optimal approach. Funding of approximately £130m in total has been provided to British Steel to ensure continued operation of the blast furnaces.

In addition to the £2.5bn for steel, the Chancellor confirmed:

• A £400 million increase to the investment at Sheffield Forgemasters to expand capacity with a new machine shop to support work on the AUKUS submarine deal; and
• The £500 million grant for Tata Steel as part of the £1.25 billion investment to transform the Port Talbot site.

The Industrial Strategy will support the whole economy, through an improved operating environment, long-term stability and greater dynamism for new entrants to emerge.

As set out in the Creative Industries Sector Plan, DCMS will invest in the British Fashion Council’s NEWGEN programme, backing emerging UK designers with funding for London Fashion Week. DBT will continue to champion international trade promotion for the fashion sector through initiatives like guest programmes and key international trades shows.

Steel is a top priority for this government. The UK applies 10 anti-dumping measures and two anti-subsidy measures on steel imports from China, and a safeguard measure on global imports for 14 steel categories. This measure was adjusted on 30 June to provide more effective protection for domestic producers.

On 26 June the government published its Trade Strategy, announcing we will sharpen our trade defence toolkit to better protect critical sectors, such as steel, from harm. Alongside this we launched the Steel Trade Measures Call for Evidence to prepare us for the expiry of the steel safeguard in June 2026.

Determining the cumulative administrative costs of regulation that businesses face has not been done for 15 years. That’s why we are undertaking a baselining exercise to understand the administrative costs of regulation to businesses. This baseline will inform how we implement the target of reducing administrative burdens by 25% by the end of the Parliament, as announced in the March Action Plan for Regulation. We have considered different analytical options and looked to identify the most proportionate methodology to calculate the baseline for costs. We will announce a final baseline in due course.

To deliver growth across the UK, and support businesses and consumers, UK Government officials have been engaging with officials from the Scottish and Welsh Governments, and Northern Ireland Executive, on its Action Plan to overhaul our regulatory system, including the target to reduce the administrative cost of regulation to business by 25% by the end of this Parliament. Whilst the territorial scope relates to reserved matters, the Government is committed to collaborating with the devolved governments, including at Ministerial level using intergovernmental structures where appropriate, to ensure that reforms benefit the maximum number of people around the UK.

The UK is an excellent place to do business, and in 2023 scored in the top 3 G20 countries on regulatory quality according to the World Bank [Regulatory Quality: Percentile Rank | Data]. However, businesses have told us that regulation can be too complex, stifle progress and innovation, with 45% businesses agreeing that regulation was an obstacle to their success in 2022, according to DBT’s Business Perceptions Survey. Our Action Plan for Regulation aims to reduce these burdens for businesses, including by cutting the administrative costs for business by 25% by the end of this Parliament.

There are a number of different Departments and agencies with responsibility for cross-border processes. The Government’s Trade Strategy sets out how HMG will continue to work to support business, including through DBT working with industry on initiatives to improve the uptake of Electronic Trade Documents to reduce paperwork and administrative burdens for small businesses trading across borders

My department has published a set of Impact Assessments that provide a comprehensive analysis on the potential impact of the Employment Rights Bill. This analysis is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/employment-rights-bill-impact-assessments

This represents the best estimate for the likely impacts, given the current stage of policy development. We already intend to publish further analysis, both in the form of an Enactment Impact Assessment when the Bill secures Royal Assent and further assessments when we consult on proposed regulations, to meet our Better Regulation requirements

There are existing legal limitations to what NDAs can be used for, and an NDA would be unenforceable if it attempted to prevent a worker from making a protected disclosure, i.e., whistleblowing.

However, we have heard calls for change and taken action. We have tabled an amendment to the Employment Rights Bill which will further limit the use of NDAs by voiding NDAs between employers and workers that prevent a worker from speaking out about relevant harassment and discrimination in the workplace. This will give millions of workers confidence that inappropriate behaviour in the workplace will not be hidden.

The Stamp Advisory Committee advises Royal Mail on future stamp designs. The Postal Museum’s online catalogue lists copies of Stamp Advisory Committee minutes which are available to the public for research in line with Royal Mail’s retention policy.

The Government’s priority remains the swift implementation of the UK-US Economic Prosperity Deal to enable UK businesses to export steel and aluminium to the United States without incurring Section 232 tariffs. We are engaged in active and constructive discussions with our US counterparts to this end.

The Government has also taken major action on areas crucial for the sector, including slashing electricity costs, changing procurement rules to ensure UK-made-steel is considered for all public projects and opening a Call for Evidence on future trade measures. More detailed information on support for the sector can be found in a press release published on 03 July.

The Government does not intend to publish the findings of the independent assessment as they are commercially sensitive.

The Government published its Trade Strategy on 26 June which was positively received by business. The Government will work closely with stakeholders on the implementation of the strategy, to ensure that resources are prioritised to deliver on key commitments such as opening new export and market opportunities and strengthening our trade defence capabilities.

The government recognises that many British National Overseas (BNO) visa holders have valuable professional qualifications. Recognition of overseas professional qualifications is determined by independent occupational regulators, many of which accept qualifications from Hong Kong.

The government understands the recognition process can be challenging for BNO visa holders and refugees. DBT has worked with regulators to develop the Regulated Professions Register, which Hongkongers can use to access information on entry requirements and relevant regulators. DBT has also published guidance on GOV.UK to support refugees navigating the recognition process. DBT continues to work with regulators to develop further profession-specific guidance.

I refer the Rt. Hon. Member to the answer I gave on 28^th May 2025 to question 52688 (Written questions and answers - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament).

Standard DBT policy is that staff should not normally be allowed to work remotely overseas however the department do permit this under exceptional personal circumstances and following/preceding a period of annual leave when visiting family or friends overseas.

As of 4^th July there are 16 approved applications across DBT to temporarily work overseas for a set period of time. All 16 are contractually are based in the UK.

Clause 156 of the Employment Rights Bill sets out the clauses of the Bill, which repeal various provisions of the Trade Union Act 2016, that will be repealed two months following Royal Assent. Commencement dates for remaining clauses that repeal provisions of the Trade Union Act 2016 will be provided for in secondary legislation. The commencement dates for these clauses will be confirmed in due course.

As set out in the Policy paper The fire safety of domestic upholstered furniture, published on 22 January, the Government will reform the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988 to ensure they maintain a high level of fire safety while allowing for manufacturing innovation and facilitating a reduction in the use of chemical flame retardants.

The Government is committed to improving the communication of information about chemical flame retardants used in upholstered furniture in order to support more informed consumer choices and more effective enforcement as well as the circular economy.

The Office for Product Safety and Standards is engaging with a broad range of stakeholders to inform policy making, including manufacturers, test houses, charities and consumer groups.

As set out in the Policy paper The fire safety of domestic upholstered furniture, published on 22 January, the Government will reform the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988 to ensure they maintain a high level of fire safety while allowing for manufacturing innovation and facilitating a reduction in the use of chemical flame retardants.

The Government is committed to improving the communication of information about chemical flame retardants used in upholstered furniture in order to support more informed consumer choices and more effective enforcement as well as the circular economy.

The Office for Product Safety and Standards is engaging with a broad range of stakeholders to inform policy making, including manufacturers, test houses, charities and consumer groups.

The Industrial Strategy launched in June 2025 sets out this government's plans to kickstart an era of economic prosperity. A new approach, it will create a more connected, high-skilled and resilient economy where every person, place and business can flourish.

The accompanying Advanced Manufacturing Sector Plan sets out specific support for manufacturers, outlining how government will work with industry to build resilience, champion innovation, support businesses to scale up and develop a skilled future workforce.

The Plan features interventions focused on six frontier industries – batteries, automotive, aerospace, space, agri-tech, advanced materials as well as cross-sector measures supporting the wider manufacturing ecosystem.

Steel is a priority for this Government. As shown with the passing of the Steel Industry (Special Measures) Act on 12 April, this Government will not hesitate to take unprecedented steps to safeguard the future of steelmaking in the UK, protecting jobs, national security and supply chains.

Since the legislation was passed on 12 April, we have acted round the clock to secure the raw materials needed to keep the blast furnaces operating safely at Scunthorpe. British Steel, the UK’s only manufacturer of rail, has secured a new £500 million long-term supply contract with Network Rail, and the statutory redundancy consultation initiated by British Steel’s owners, Jingye, has been cancelled, removing the immediate risk to 2,700 jobs.

We recognise the vital role hospitality businesses play in driving economic growth and strengthening community cohesion across the country.

We plan to introduce permanently lower business rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure properties with a rateable value under £500,000, We have reduced alcohol duty on qualifying draught beer products, saving the sector over £85 million annually. We’ve introduced a Hospitality Support Scheme to co-fund projects aligned with Department for Business & Trade and Sector Council priorities, such as supporting initiatives like Pub is The Hub to encourage local investment. We have also launched a licensing taskforce to cut red tape and remove barriers to business growth.

DBT ministers are pleased to be working with the Hospitality Sector Council on strategic issues facing the sectors. The next Council meeting in July will be addressing the topic of the sector’s social and economic contribution.

We recognise the vital role hospitality businesses play in driving economic growth and strengthening community cohesion across the country.

We plan to introduce permanently lower business rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure properties with a rateable value under £500,000, We have reduced alcohol duty on qualifying draught beer products, saving the sector over £85 million annually. We’ve introduced a Hospitality Support Scheme to co-fund projects aligned with Department for Business & Trade and Sector Council priorities, such as supporting initiatives like Pub is The Hub to encourage local investment. We have also launched a licensing taskforce to cut red tape and remove barriers to business growth.

DBT ministers are pleased to be working with the Hospitality Sector Council on strategic issues facing the sectors. The next Council meeting in July will be addressing the topic of the sector’s social and economic contribution.

The Government has engaged and consulted with many business representative bodies across a wide variety of sectors on the Employment Rights Bill. The Government continues to be committed to publishing details of meetings between Ministers and external organisations. Further details of such meetings can be found in departmental transparency returns on gov.uk.

From 2015 through to FY2025/26 the UK Government, through the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles, a joint DBT and DfT unit, has provided £22m of matched, grant funding to UK motor manufacturers for the development of self-driving vehicles.

The Government is committed to making life better for families. Through the Employment Rights Bill we are making Paternity Leave a ‘day one’ right, which will bring an extra 32,000 fathers and partners into scope of the entitlement. On the first of July we launched the Parental Leave Review, which presents a much-needed opportunity to consider our approach to the system of parental leave and pay. All current and upcoming parental leave and pay entitlements, including Paternity Leave and Pay, will be in scope.

Late payments are one of the biggest problems facing small businesses in the UK.

Government has already taken steps to tackle the issue through the launch of a new Fair Payment Code which will encourage and highlight businesses with the best payment practices.

We will soon be laying secondary legislation which will make it a requirement for large companies to include payment performance data in their annual reports.

Finally, we will be launching a public consultation in the coming weeks which sets out measures that will go even further to tackle late payments, including additional powers for the Small Business Commissioner.

The Government know that the arrival of a child, whether through birth or adoption, is a transformative time in a family’s life. On the first of July, we launched the Parental Leave Review, which presents a much-needed opportunity to consider our approach to the system of parental leave and pay. All current and upcoming parental leave and pay entitlements, including Shared Parental Leave and Pay, will be in scope.

The UK’s Trade Envoys play a crucial role in supporting HMG’s growth priorities, through helping deliver the industrial and trade strategies and attracting foreign direct investment to the UK. Lord Austin, in his capacity as Trade Envoy, visited Israel to continue to support these key UK businesses.

The UK has 5.5m SMEs and we are committed to hardwiring their voice into government policy, engaging with them in various ways including through roundtables, visits and events.

Hundreds of individual SMEs have been engaged across all sectors and regions as part of co-designing our SME Strategy, including through roundtables across key areas, such as High Streets, Markets and Finance as well as specific policy events such as at Wilton Park.

Engagement with individual SMEs will continue to be a priority pre and post-launch of the SME Strategy to assess the impact of these policies on SMEs across the UK.

On 1 July the Government published the Employment Rights Bill Implementation Roadmap. The Roadmap provides clarity for employers and workers on how and when Government will engage and consult on the detailed implementation of Bill measures once it becomes law, and when measures will take effect.

The Roadmap outlines several phases of commencement including following Royal Assent, in April 2026, in October 2026, and in 2027. As part of our Plan for Change we are working at pace to deliver on our commitment to Make Work Pay, engaging and consulting throughout to make sure we get the detail right.

The Buy With Confidence scheme is run solely by local authority Trading Standards departments.

Local authorities across England, Scotland and Wales operate independently from central government and are responsible for the provision of Trading Standards services. This includes responsibility for assessing businesses joining the scheme, business compliance and enforcement if things go wrong.

DBT has strengthened consumer law enforcement through the implementation of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024. The Act gives local authorities the ability to apply to the courts for civil sanctions to impose monetary penalties on businesses who exploit their customers.

I fully respect the principles of public appointments and the Governance Code for Public Appointments was fully adhered to in this process: the rationale for appointing without competition was made public at the time of announcement, following consultation with the Commissioner, and there is no requirement under the Code to publish this correspondence. A fair and open competition was undertaken with a strong field of applications. However, it needed to be strengthened further by the appointment of Nita Clarke, who is bringing vital skills in employee engagement, partnership and employee voices in the workplace drawn from a long and distinguished career including as Vice President for Employee Relations at the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development.

The Government intends to upgrade the existing reporting and audit regulator, to expand the regulator’s scrutiny to the largest private companies and to hold company directors to account for serious failures in their duties connected with company accounts.

It will bring forward its planned legislation when Parliamentary time allows.

The information is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

The information is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Fines levied against insolvency practitioners are a disciplinary measure applied and collected by one of the three Recognised Professional Bodies which, under the oversight of the Insolvency Service operating on behalf of the Secretary of State, are responsible for authorising and regulating insolvency practitioners.

No specific assessment has been made in respect of the analysis in question. Relevant legislation does not impose UK residency requirements upon company directors.

On 24 June the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced that it anticipates considering further Strategic Market Status investigations in early 2026. As the UK’s independent competition authority, the CMA operates the digital markets regime independently from the Government and decides whether to launch Strategic Market Status investigations. The CMA’s independence maintains trust, upholds impartial decision making and is a strength of the UK’s regulatory and business environment.

In the Trade Strategy, the Government launched a review into the UK’s approach to responsible business conduct, focused on tackling human rights and labour abuses, modern slavery, and environmental harms in global supply chains.

The review will be a neutral, objective appraisal of policy, led by officials in my department. It will consider the effectiveness of the UK’s current regime and alternative means of supporting responsible business practices. It will have due regard to costs on business and the approaches taken by our trading partners. Throughout the review, we will harness the insights and expertise of businesses, investors, trade unions, academia and civil society.

We have also established the Office for Responsible Business Conduct (RBC), to replace the UK's National Contact Point. This enhanced office will support industry to integrate responsible business practices and help victims of corporate malpractice through continuing to operate a non-judicial complaints mechanism for alleged violations of the OECD Guidelines on RBC.

UK exporters remain able to travel to Colombia visa-free to provide their goods and services. The UK also continues to welcome Colombian nationals with visit visas travelling to the UK for business reasons.

DBT supports UK businesses of all sizes to export to Colombia, including through the British Embassy in Bogota. The UK-Andean Countries trade agreement provides preferential access to both UK and Colombian businesses, while the next UK-Colombia ministerial trade dialogue will provide an opportunity to discuss how to strengthen our trade relationship further, including in light of the UK’s new industrial and trade strategies and its upcoming SME Strategy.

The Government is committed to making life better for families. In the Plan to Make Work Pay we promised to review the parental leave system. We are delivering on this commitment and launched this review on 1^st July.

The review presents a much-needed opportunity to consider our approach to the system of parental leave and pay. All current and upcoming parental leave and pay entitlements will be in scope.