Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to encourage private sector investment in businesses in (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme and (b) Staffordshire.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department for Business and Trade supports regional growth by working with local areas to attract private investment, helping business to grow and export, creating jobs and opportunities in Staffordshire and Newcastle-under-Lyme. As part of the recent Office for Investment expansion, we work with local areas, leveraging public finance from institutions like the National Wealth Fund and the British Business Bank, to deliver strategic investments, aligned with the 10-year Infrastructure and Industrial strategies.
Carlsberg Britvic plans to invest £4 million in Staffordshire, supporting hundreds of jobs, and the approval, of the M54-M6 link road, will further boost the local economy.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the delivery of the Industrial Strategy on people in (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme and (b) Staffordshire.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Industrial Strategy is a 10-year plan to back our strengths and realise Britain’s potential, targeting government investment towards eight-growth driving sectors (IS-8). There are clusters of the IS-8 sectors across the whole country, and the policy package addresses the biggest constraints to growth highlighted by businesses in these sectors.
To ensure robust and comprehensive monitoring and evaluation of the Industrial Strategy, we have chosen six economic indicators that reflect a range of desirable objectives for the IS-8 and the economy as a whole, which will be tracked at the economy-wide, sector and place level. Monitoring and evaluation of the Strategy will be overseen by the Industrial Strategy Advisory Council who will take a data-led approach.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he has taken ensure the continued availability of post office services in rural communities in (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency and (b) Staffordshire since his appointment.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government protects the sustainability of the Post Office network - and the rural network in particular - by providing an annual Network Subsidy. This ensures Post Office Limited maintains a minimum number of branches and a geographical spread of branches in line with the Government-set access criteria.
This financial year we are providing £83 million in subsidy, up from £50 million previously, and building on the uplift provided last year. The access criteria ensures that, however the network changes, 99% of the UK population live within three miles of their nearest Post Office.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what discussions his Department has had with the African Business Chamber since 5 July 2024.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department expects to be represented at the African Business Chamber’s November 2025 Business Forum. The Department is happy to meet with the African Business Chamber to discuss further our work.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he has had recent discussions with his counterpart in Kenya on the sunset clause on investment in the UK-Kenya Economic Partnership Agreement.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK-Kenya Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) does not contain expiry provisions or ‘sunset clauses’, so preferential market access will continue indefinitely. The EPA does include a ‘rendez-vous clause’, committing Parties to conclude negotiations on areas such as investment. This was discussed at the UK-Kenya EPA Committee of Senior Officials in 2022.
At the 2023 Ministerial EPA Council, both sides agreed to accelerate efforts to remove investment barriers, and the UK held workshops with Kenyan officials in March 2025 to support this.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make an assessment of the impact of the Economic Partnership Agreement on (a) African and (b) Caribbean countries.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department for Business and Trade engages closely with partner governments and businesses to gather feedback on tariff arrangements, including Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with African and Caribbean countries. Whilst this feedback is not shared externally, the Government does publish two sets of UK trade data with developing countries: statistics on UK utilisation of tariff preferences under trade agreements, and country factsheets outlining broader trade relationships.
These data sources are available on the gov.uk website.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department is taking steps to assess the potential impact of economic partnership agreements made with countries in Africa in the last 5 years on those countries' (a) economic development, (b) level of exports from and (c) capacity to pursue (i) regional integration plans and (ii) the African Continental Free Trade Area.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
I refer the member for Newcastle-under-Lyme to the answer my predecessor gave on 3 September 2025 to UIN 71764.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent discussions he has had with the Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Details of the meetings held by Ministers of the Department for Business and Trade are available on the transparency pages of gov.uk.
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dbt-ministers-transparency-publications
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he has taken with Cabinet colleagues to ensure that businesses in Northern Ireland will be eligible for support under the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme will only be applicable to businesses within Great Britain. This is due to the energy market being devolved within Northern Ireland, where a Shared Energy Market is operated with the Republic of Ireland.
We will continue to work in partnership with the Government of Northern Ireland to ensure the Industrial Strategy benefits people and businesses in Northern Ireland. This includes working with the Northern Ireland Executive to establish an Enhanced Investment Zone, as well as funding support for growth-driving sectors like advanced manufacturing and defence to further drive growth where Northern Ireland thrives.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent steps he has taken to support working families in (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme and (b) Staffordshire through the parental leave system.
Answered by Justin Madders
Through the Employment Rights Bill the Government will ensure that Paternity Leave and Unpaid Parental Leave are ‘day one’ rights, removing continuity of service requirements for employees.
In the Plan to Make Work Pay the Government committed to a review of the parental leave system. This review was launched on 1 July and will explore how the system can better support working families and reflect the realities of modern work and childcare. All current and upcoming parental leave and pay entitlements will be in scope.