Asked by: Alison Griffiths (Conservative - Bognor Regis and Littlehampton)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department has made a quantitative assessment of the potential impact of the Employment Rights Act 2025 on recruitment intentions among (a) micro businesses and (b) small businesses.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government has published 29 Impact Assessments representing a comprehensive package of analysis on the impact of the Employment Rights Act. The analysis shows that the Act could have small, positive effects on the level of employment: Employment Rights Act 2025: impact assessments - GOV.UK. Each Impact Assessment considers how impacts may vary depending on business size.
Asked by: Alison Griffiths (Conservative - Bognor Regis and Littlehampton)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what estimate his Department has made of the average annual cost per business of complying with the provisions of the Employment Rights Act 2025 by (a) business size and (b) sector.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government has published 29 Impact Assessments representing a comprehensive package of analysis on the impact of the Employment Rights Act: Employment Rights Act 2025: impact assessments - GOV.UK.
Each Impact Assessment considers the cost of the policy, as well as how impacts may vary depending on business size and by sector. The assessment shows that those in low-paid, low quality and insecure work will amongst the largest beneficiaries of the Act.
Asked by: Alison Griffiths (Conservative - Bognor Regis and Littlehampton)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department has made an assessment of the cumulative potential impact of (a) changes to employer National Insurance contributions, (b) changes to the National Minimum Wage, and (c) the Employment Rights Act 2025 on the recruitment, investment, and growth plans of small and medium-sized enterprises.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government has published a range of analytical documents covering the policies referenced, which set out their likely impacts on businesses of different sizes.
As per our Better Regulation requirements, each Impact Assessment covering the Employment Rights Act 2025 and The National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Regulations 2026 includes a small and micro business assessment. These analyses also consider the economic impacts on the wider economy.
A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was also published alongside the introduction of the Bill containing the changes to employer NICs. The TIIN sets out the impact of the policy on the exchequer, the economic impacts of the policy, and the impacts on individuals, businesses, and civil society organisations, as well as an overview of the equality impacts.
Asked by: Alison Griffiths (Conservative - Bognor Regis and Littlehampton)
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 Employment Rights Act 2025 on administrative and compliance costs for (a) micro businesses employing fewer than 10 people, (b) small businesses employing between 10 and 49 people, and (c) medium-sized businesses employing between 50 and 249 people.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government has published 29 Impact Assessments representing a comprehensive package of analysis on the impact of the Employment Rights Act: Employment Rights Act 2025: impact assessments - GOV.UK. Each Impact Assessment considers the cost of the policy, as well as how impacts may vary depending on business size.
Asked by: Alison Griffiths (Conservative - Bognor Regis and Littlehampton)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assumptions his Department uses in relation to trade elasticities when modelling the long-term effects of UK accession to plurilateral digital trade agreements.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department for Business and Trade has not undertaken modelling of the long-term effects of UK accession to plurilateral digital trade agreements. Consequently, no assumptions regarding trade elasticities have been applied in this context.
The OECD has published analysis on the potential economic impacts of concluding the WTO’s Joint Initiative on E-Commerce. However, this analysis is not UK-specific.
Asked by: Alison Griffiths (Conservative - Bognor Regis and Littlehampton)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department has updated its computable general equilibrium models to incorporate post-2024 trade flow data.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
DBT uses data provided by the Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) for CGE modelling. The latest publicly available data is GTAP 11 with the latest reference year 2017. As a consortium member of the Project, we have early access to forthcoming newer versions before they are published. Making use of this we used the pre-publication GTAP 12 dataset, with latest reference year 2019, for the modelling presented in the Impact Assessment of the UK-India Free Trade Agreement.
Asked by: Alison Griffiths (Conservative - Bognor Regis and Littlehampton)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether the Treasury has approved funding required for the Steel Strategy.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government has committed up to £2.5 billion to rebuild the steel sector, delivered in part through the National Wealth Fund. This is in addition to the £500m we have invested in the transformation of Port Talbot.
We are also committed to delivering a steel strategy. A robust position on trade is a critical element of this strategy, underpinning our approach to defending against unfair practices and global over-capacity. We are prioritising developing robust measures in light of the UK steel safeguard expiring during 2026. These measures will protect our domestic sector, ensuring its future viability and securing steel supply chains. This will follow a Call for Evidence which was open throughout July and sought views from across the steel supply chain on future steel trade measures. We will therefore publish the steel strategy in early 2026.
Where required, we will work with Parliament to implement measures under domestic law.
Asked by: Alison Griffiths (Conservative - Bognor Regis and Littlehampton)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the Written Ministerial Statement published on 10 December 2025, what specific robust measures regarding trade are currently under development; and whether these measures require primary legislation to be introduced following the publication of the Steel Strategy.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government has committed up to £2.5 billion to rebuild the steel sector, delivered in part through the National Wealth Fund. This is in addition to the £500m we have invested in the transformation of Port Talbot.
We are also committed to delivering a steel strategy. A robust position on trade is a critical element of this strategy, underpinning our approach to defending against unfair practices and global over-capacity. We are prioritising developing robust measures in light of the UK steel safeguard expiring during 2026. These measures will protect our domestic sector, ensuring its future viability and securing steel supply chains. This will follow a Call for Evidence which was open throughout July and sought views from across the steel supply chain on future steel trade measures. We will therefore publish the steel strategy in early 2026.
Where required, we will work with Parliament to implement measures under domestic law.
Asked by: Alison Griffiths (Conservative - Bognor Regis and Littlehampton)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will publish a timeline for the remaining milestones to be met before the Steel Strategy is presented to Parliament.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government has committed up to £2.5 billion to rebuild the steel sector, delivered in part through the National Wealth Fund. This is in addition to the £500m we have invested in the transformation of Port Talbot.
We are also committed to delivering a steel strategy. A robust position on trade is a critical element of this strategy, underpinning our approach to defending against unfair practices and global over-capacity. We are prioritising developing robust measures in light of the UK steel safeguard expiring during 2026. These measures will protect our domestic sector, ensuring its future viability and securing steel supply chains. This will follow a Call for Evidence which was open throughout July and sought views from across the steel supply chain on future steel trade measures. We will therefore publish the steel strategy in early 2026.
Where required, we will work with Parliament to implement measures under domestic law.
Asked by: Alison Griffiths (Conservative - Bognor Regis and Littlehampton)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what discussions he has had with business representatives on the feasibility of the commencement dates set out in the Employment Rights Bill implementation roadmap.
Answered by Justin Madders
We have listened to and incorporated views from business, trade unions, and others in our timings to make sure implementation works for workers and employers alike. We have collaborated directly with over 190 stakeholders, working in partnership to deliver on our Plan. We have also worked closely with delivery partners such as Acas, to determine onward steps needed to implement the measures in the Bill. We will ensure employers, workers, trade unions and other stakeholders are given time to prepare for change.