Asked by: Andrew Griffith (Conservative - Arundel and South Downs)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many advance notifications of redundancy were received by the Insolvency Service's Redundancy Payments Service in each financial year from 2019-20 to 2025-26 by (a) 20 to 50 proposed redundancies, (b) 51 to 100 proposed redundancies, (c) 101 to 250 proposed redundancies and (d) more than 250 proposed redundancies.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade) (Jointly with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Please see ‘advanced notifications of redundancy’ received by the Redundancy Payments Service for the requested Period.
Financial Year / Advance Notice of Redundancy | 20-50 | 51-100 | 101-250 | 250+ |
2019-2020 | 2,174 | 777 | 420 | 153 |
2020-2021 | 6,989 | 2,127 | 866 | 358 |
2021-2022 | 1,740 | 581 | 235 | 96 |
2022-2023 | 2,170 | 689 | 316 | 90 |
2023-2024 | 2,631 | 923 | 441 | 132 |
2024-2025 | 2,839 | 897 | 372 | 113 |
2025-2026 | 2,919 | 992 | 494 | 159 |
Asked by: Andrew Griffith (Conservative - Arundel and South Downs)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to negotiate a free trade agreement between the United Kingdom and Mercosur.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Mercosur countries are important partners for the UK. We are committed to strengthening our bilateral trading relationships to remove barriers to trade and help grow UK exports, which is why I visited Brazil soon after I took up post in 2025, where I signed agreements on customs, regulatory reform and export credit; and Argentina where I had meetings to further UK interests on whisky, financial services and air services. In addition, Uruguay has started its accession process to the CPTPP and Argentina has recently applied to join.
Any decision to seek to negotiate a Free Trade Agreement with Mercosur will be communicated to the House in line with my department’s standard approach.
Asked by: Andrew Griffith (Conservative - Arundel and South Downs)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to negotiate a free trade agreement between the United Kingdom and the UAE.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The UK concluded a Free Trade Agreement with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) on 20 May, which will strengthen trade and investment ties with all six member states.
The UK’s focus is working with the UAE and GCC towards signature and entry into force of the FTA, so that businesses can realise its benefits.
In addition, the UAE is seeking membership of the CPTPP, which the UK supports.
The UAE is the UK’s largest trading partner in the GCC, with total trade in goods and services worth £25 billion in 2025. The UK values this relationship and will continue to deepen cooperation in trade and investment.
Asked by: Andrew Griffith (Conservative - Arundel and South Downs)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, when he plans to respond to the letters of 10 April and 12 May 2026 from the hon. Member for Arundel and South Downs.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Minister of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)
The Department of Business and Trade aims to respond to correspondence in 15 working days, but in some instances it can take longer. The Department has conducted a search of its records and has not identified the correspondence referred to, and will respond as soon as possible if it is received.
Asked by: Andrew Griffith (Conservative - Arundel and South Downs)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what consideration he has given to securing reliable supplies of Helium for use in advanced manufacturing, aerospace and defence in the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
A secure supply of critical minerals, like helium, is vital for the UK’s economic growth and security, industrial strategy, and clean energy transition
Through the 2025 UK Critical Minerals Strategy we are building will build strong partnerships with key markets to diversify production and processing and strengthen our supply chains, alongside working with key existing producers.
At present, in response to the Middle East situation, the Government is assessing supply chain risks and mitigations across a range of key supply chain inputs and the sectors in which they are used. This is an ongoing process and will remain in place if it is needed.
We encourage any business experiencing disruption to visit business.gov.uk to access support and guidance.
Asked by: Andrew Griffith (Conservative - Arundel and South Downs)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the Department for Business and Trade workforce management information return for March 2026, for what reason the Department recorded consultancy spend of -£20,783,968.13; whether this figure reflects an accounting adjustment, correction, reclassification, refund or data error; and what the Department’s gross consultancy spend was in March 2026 before that negative adjustment was applied.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Minister of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)
In March 2026 an adjustment was made to correctly reclassify £14.9m of 2025-26 costs from consultancy to professional services. In addition, there was a correction of a purchase order receipt which had incorrectly recorded £9.5m of consultancy costs in February 2026. These had the effect of artificially lowering the March 2026 consultancy costs. The underlying consultancy costs for March 2026 were £3,674,344.13.
Asked by: Andrew Griffith (Conservative - Arundel and South Downs)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the answer of 20 April 2026 to UIN 127204, what his planned timeline is of powers exercised under the Industrial Development Act 1982 to provide assistance to Ensus.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Government has used powers under Section 7 of the Industrial Development Act 1982 to provide financial support to Ensus. This follows scrutiny and oversight from independent financial advisors and discussions with the company which have taken place since September 2025. The advice received regarding the costs associated with the Ensus plant are commercially sensitive and as such will not be published. However, to date, we have provided less than £30m of financial assistance to Ensus UK Limited.
The timing and operation of this support will be kept under review. Government will monitor market conditions closely to determine whether continued production at Ensus is required and to ensure this represents value for money for the taxpayer.
Asked by: Andrew Griffith (Conservative - Arundel and South Downs)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to UIN 127204, whether the financial assistance provided to Ensus exceeds £30m.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Government has used powers under Section 7 of the Industrial Development Act 1982 to provide financial support to Ensus. This follows scrutiny and oversight from independent financial advisors and discussions with the company which have taken place since September 2025. The advice received regarding the costs associated with the Ensus plant are commercially sensitive and as such will not be published. However, to date, we have provided less than £30m of financial assistance to Ensus UK Limited.
The timing and operation of this support will be kept under review. Government will monitor market conditions closely to determine whether continued production at Ensus is required and to ensure this represents value for money for the taxpayer.
Asked by: Andrew Griffith (Conservative - Arundel and South Downs)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the answer of 20 April 2026 to Question 127204 on Ensus UK, when Ministers first discussed providing financial support to Ensus through the Industrial Development Act 1982.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Government has used powers under Section 7 of the Industrial Development Act 1982 to provide financial support to Ensus. This follows scrutiny and oversight from independent financial advisors and discussions with the company which have taken place since September 2025. The advice received regarding the costs associated with the Ensus plant are commercially sensitive and as such will not be published. However, to date, we have provided less than £30m of financial assistance to Ensus UK Limited.
The timing and operation of this support will be kept under review. Government will monitor market conditions closely to determine whether continued production at Ensus is required and to ensure this represents value for money for the taxpayer.
Asked by: Andrew Griffith (Conservative - Arundel and South Downs)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to UIN 127204, if he will publish the legal advice received to determine that the costs associated with the support for Ensus are commercially sensitive.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Government has used powers under Section 7 of the Industrial Development Act 1982 to provide financial support to Ensus. This follows scrutiny and oversight from independent financial advisors and discussions with the company which have taken place since September 2025. The advice received regarding the costs associated with the Ensus plant are commercially sensitive and as such will not be published. However, to date, we have provided less than £30m of financial assistance to Ensus UK Limited.
The timing and operation of this support will be kept under review. Government will monitor market conditions closely to determine whether continued production at Ensus is required and to ensure this represents value for money for the taxpayer.