Andrew Griffith

Contracts are established between the supplier and the individual contracting authority.

Details of ministers’ meetings with external individuals and organisations are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK. Data for the period of July to September 2024 will be published shortly.

To be eligible for statutory paternity leave, Cabinet Office policy currently requires employees to meet a series of qualifying conditions, including the requirement to have worked continuously for the Civil Service for at least 26 weeks by the 15th week before the date the baby is due.

As with any changes to employment legislation, internal policies and processes will be updated as appropriate in line with the Government’s legislation on employment rights. .

The last public bodies landscape, a publication showing spend and headcount data of arms length bodies, was last published for 2019/20. An updated version of this publication, covering data from 2022-23, will be published on gov.uk in due course.

In accordance with the Civil Service policy for Permanent Secretary roles, the DBT Second Permanent Secretary was appointed for a period of five years (August 2017 - August 2022). The period of appointment was subsequently extended to December 2024.

The statutory basis for the management of the Civil Service is set out in the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010. The Act requires the Civil Service Commission, which is independent of Government, to publish a set of principles to be applied for the purposes of appointing civil servants on merit on the basis of fair and open competition. The recruitment principles are published here:

https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/publications/recruitment-guidance/

Staff recruited by the Civil Service Commission are employed by the Cabinet Office and seconded to the Commission for the duration of the time in their role. The Civil Service Commission is independent; its staff operate under the direction of the First Civil Service Commissioner and the Civil Service Commissioners.

As Cabinet Office employees, staff in the Civil Service Commission are subject to Cabinet Office contractual terms and conditions (for example in relation to salary and leave entitlements) and are supported in the application of these by the Cabinet Office's corporate functions.

The Civil Service Commission (CSC) is an executive non-departmental public body established in statute by the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act (2010) to provide assurance that civil servants are selected on merit on the basis of fair and open competition and to help safeguard an impartial Civil Service. The Commission is independent of Government and of the Civil Service.

The Commission acts in accordance with its legislation and takes direction from the independent First Civil Service Commissioner and the independent Civil Service Commissioners, who are appointed on merit on the basis of fair and open competition following the principles set out in the CSC’s Recruitment Principles and in accordance with the Governance Code on Public Appointments.

The Civil Service Commission (CSC) is an executive non-departmental public body established in statute by the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act (2010). The Commission is independent.

The Cabinet Office, through the Propriety and Constitution Group, sponsors the Civil Service Commission and has appropriate sponsorship arrangements in place to carry out this function whilst safeguarding its independence. The governance and accountability arrangements for the Commission are set out in its ‘Governance Statement’ in the latest Annual Report and Accounts, which can be found here - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-commission-annual-report-and-accounts-202223

The published Civil Service Commission 2022/2023 Annual Report shows the current Interim Chief Executive began the role on 15 May 2023. An external recruitment process to appoint a permanent Chief Executive was launched in May 2024 and is expected to conclude in September 2024.

The Civil Service Commission is the independent regulator of Civil Service recruitment and carries out its functions independently of Government and in line with the provisions of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010.

On Friday 30 August the Civil Service Commissioner wrote to departments, including the CO, to say that they would carry out a short review of appointments made by exception since 1 July.

Before section 68 is brought into force, the Employment Rights Act 2025 requires the Government to consider the impact of non-postal balloting on participation in industrial action ballots and lay a statement before Parliament setting out how regard has been given to any impact. The Government will undertake this requirement once electronic balloting has been established.

The Prime Minister spoke to President Trump on 18 January. DBT Ministers and officials are in regular contact with all levels of the US Administration. Although I attended an event with the American Ambassador celebrating our shared trade, when we talked about a variety of subjects, including rugby, I have not specifically spoken to him about tariffs.

Having retained our cool-headed approach and robustly defended the rights of the people of Greenland and the kingdom of Denmark alone to determine their future, we are glad that the President has announced that these tariffs will not be proceeding.

In order to assess regulations as they affect business, the department employs a number of methodologies and draws on data from a wide variety of internal and external sources. We have not identified any data gaps that limit the Department’s ability to assess regulations. For example, in order to estimate the benefits of removing trade-related barriers facing UK exporters, the Department uses a methodology which is published on Gov.UK and continuously reviewed to ensure that it remains effective and proportionate, including consideration of any data challenges.

On 21 October 2025, the Government launched a business questionnaire, ‘Unlocking Business: reform driven by you’, to gather feedback from UK businesses to identify outdated, duplicative, or disproportionate regulations and regulatory practices that hinder growth and innovation. The questionnaire concluded on 16 December 2025, and the responses are now being analysed by officials in the Department for Business and Trade. These will help to inform our Regulation for Growth programme going forward and we will publish our overall findings in due course

No.

The Department for Business and Trade has collected business feedback on domestic regulation through a business questionnaire and will continue to run the Business Perceptions Survey to gather quantitative data.

The Department for Business and Trade has not undertaken an assessment of the impact of trade regulation on port congestion or throughput at individual ports. The Department has not received representation from industry indicating that current trade regulation is having a material impact on port congestion, noting that for many DBT-led goods regulations, compliance is monitored behind the border rather than at ports.

Performance indicators the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) uses for market access are barriers reported, barriers resolved, and the potential value of opportunities associated with barriers resolved. During the financial year 2024-25, 394 barriers were reported and 129 barriers were fully resolved. The aggregate valuation of these fully resolved barriers is estimated to be worth around £10 billion to UK businesses over five years. These statistics exclude partially resolved barriers and barriers that were resolved as part of UK Free Trade Agreements with other countries. Performance indicators can be found in official statistics here and annually in the DBT Annual Report and Accounts.

No cumulative impact has been conducted, but Article VIII of the WTO General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade limits fees and charges in connection with importation to the approximate cost of services rendered. The UK has also consistently sought through its FTAs to limit the fees and charges that can be applied to imports. For example, the UK-India FTA commits both Parties to not require consular transactions in connection with the import of a good

The UK’s Trade Strategy set out the government’s plans to reduce costs and administrative burdens for traders, making clear our commitment to not only meet but where possible exceed our international commitments.

I last met with the Hospitality Sector Council on 4 November 2025.

The minutes of that meeting will be published on the Government’s website Hospitality Sector Council - GOV.UK in due course.

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) has been publishing the number of reported market access barriers as official statistics since 2021. These annual statistics are also regularly published in the DBT annual report and accounts as indicators on departmental performance. These barriers are recorded on DBT’s internal database called Digital Market Access Service (DMAS). During the last three financial years, 394 market access barriers were reported in the financial year ending (FYE) 2025, 287 were reported in the FYE 2024 and 311 market access barriers were reported in the FYE 2023. These statistics could be found here.

We are changing how we deliver export support in line with the Trade Strategy, and in response to the asks of businesses and our stakeholders. We aim to make this more accessible and easier to navigate and to use technology to deliver more cost-effective and impactful support.

This change process is ongoing, so we are unable to confirm final job roles at this stage.

DBT and its staff networks support a range of learning and development opportunities including a mentoring / reverse mentoring offer which is taken up on a voluntary basis. Feedback is encouraged from matched mentor/mentee pairs. Due to small numbers taking up reverse mentoring, there is no robust evaluation of effectiveness.

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) operates a flexible resourcing model to support trade facilitation and market access barrier resolution. The majority of this work falls within three areas: Economic Security and Trade Relations, Trade Group and DBTs Overseas Network. The total Civil Servant on-payroll FTE for these areas was 1,565 in November 2025, which is the latest data available (for DBT), and 1,006 in December 2021 (for DIT only).

Not all the Civil Servants identified are assigned exclusively to trade facilitation and market access barrier resolution and carry out additional duties that are unrelated to those topics.

Assuming that the Member has asked about ‘Independent Trade Advisers’ in error when he means ‘International Trade Advisers’, as of September 2025, the Department for Business and Trade employs 140 International Trade Advisers (ITAs). The table below presents the corresponding figures for the preceding three years. Prior to this period, ITAs were engaged through delivery partners and were therefore not employed by the Department.

As in PQ16188, the Member seems to be confusing his terminology as we do not employ any ‘Independent Trade Advisers’ but do employ 140 International Trade Advisers. We are undergoing a strategic organisational redesign to ensure we are best positioned to support UK businesses to grow and export and attract investment. This process is ongoing so it is not possible to determine numbers of staff in particular types of roles in September 2026.

In 2024/25, the Department for Business and Trade supported businesses to deliver over 2,700 Export Wins with a combined value of almost £24 billion. These successes were achieved through close collaboration across government and within the Department, including the work of International (not 'Independent') Trade Advisors.

As set out in the Trade and Industrial strategies, this Government remains committed to strengthening UK-African trade and investment ties. According to the latest UNCTAD data, the UK had the second highest level of FDI stock in Africa at the end of 2023, after the Netherlands, and this strong position reflects our determination to deepen partnerships that deliver sustainable growth and create opportunities for UK and African businesses.

We have no such specific plans, but will continue to work closely with business leaders to unlock investment potential and will announce details of future engagements once decisions have been finalised.

The Department received advice on decommissioning and land remediation costs ahead of making a generous offer of support in March 2025 to British Steel's current owner. The Government continues to consider all options in relation to the site at Scunthorpe.

The Department received advice on decommissioning and land remediation costs ahead of making a generous offer of support in March 2025 to British Steel's current owner. The Government continues to consider all options in relation to the site at Scunthorpe.

As set out in our Trade and Industrial Strategies, following the Spending Review, we are reshaping the DBT overseas network led by our HM Trade Commissioners so that it is as focused as possible on the markets, sectors and opportunities that will drive economic growth for the UK. We are also restructuring the network to maximise our impact globally while becoming a smaller, more agile, and more tech enabled Department. We are working closely with the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office on implementing these changes. By March 2027 we expect to have DBT funded staff in approximately 80 global markets with a regional support offer for all other markets.

The Member is confusing two separate roles. Our International Trade Advisors (ITAs) support businesses to sell overseas: they do not conduct trade negotiations, which are led by chief negotiators, who are senior DBT officials.

The Government will be publishing an Enactment Impact Assessment on the impacts of the Employment Rights Act. This will include an assessment of the removal of the compensation cap for unfair dismissal on different sectors. This assessment can be found here when published: Employment Rights Bill: impact assessments - GOV.UK.

British Steel remains privately owned and estimated costs to decommission the blast furnaces is commercially sensitive information.