Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he has had discussions with consumer protection bodies on the potential impact of businesses that do not provide direct human customer services contact on the level of service provided to consumers.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government expects all businesses to treat their consumers fairly. Businesses are required under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 to provide contact information in a clear and comprehensible manner which is easily, directly and permanently accessible. This includes the business name, the geographical address where the business is established, a telephone number, and email address.
As long as businesses comply with this requirement, the mechanisms they use to provide customer services is a commercial decision that the government does not normally seek to intervene in.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to encourage businesses to promote customer contact by providing (a) phone numbers (b) email addresses (c) live chat for customers and (d) multiple contact options.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government expects all businesses to treat their consumers fairly. Businesses are required under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 to provide contact information in a clear and comprehensible manner which is easily, directly and permanently accessible. This includes the business name, the geographical address where the business is established, a telephone number, and email address.
As long as businesses comply with this requirement, the mechanisms they use to provide customer services is a commercial decision that the government does not normally seek to intervene in.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to improve the enforcement of legal protections for women returning to work after maternity leave.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Women returning from maternity, adoption, or six continuous weeks of shared parental or neonatal leave are entitled to enhanced redundancy protection. However, the government is strengthening legal protections, as we know this group continues to face a particular risk to their job security.
We'll make it unlawful to dismiss pregnant women, mothers on maternity leave, and mothers returning to work for a six-month period - except in specific circumstances. This starts with the Employment Rights Bill, with protections in force from 2027. From April 2026, the Fair Work Agency will strengthen the enforcement of rights, with women expected to particularly benefit.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
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 the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service on improving guidance on safeguarding complainants during internal grievance processes.
Answered by Justin Madders
The Department has been engaging with Acas on developing their guidance in the context of both Make Work Pay and wider public policy developments. This has included recent discussions around developing Acas’ guidance on internal disciplinary and grievance (D&G) procedures.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
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 representatives of the hospitality sector on the impact of the current rate of VAT on small businesses.
Answered by Gareth Thomas
The Department for Business and Trade regularly engages with representatives from the hospitality sector, including through the hospitality sector council to understand the challenges they face, including the impact of VAT on small businesses.
VAT is a broad-based tax on consumption and the 20 per cent standard rate applies to most goods and services. Whilst there are no current plans to reduce VAT, HM Treasury keep all taxes under review.
To support businesses, we are reforming the business rates system and plan to introduce permanently lower business rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure properties with a rateable value under £500,000.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he plans to ensure that the Universal Service Obligation applies to rural areas.
Answered by Justin Madders
The government is committed to a sustainable universal postal service for users throughout the UK, including maintaining the one-price-goes anywhere principle including for those in remote and rural areas.
It is for Ofcom, as the independent regulator of postal services, to set and monitor Royal Mail’s service standards and decide how to use its powers to investigate and take enforcement action should Royal Mail fail to achieve its obligations without good justification.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs on the potential impact of the visit by the trade envoy to Israel to Haifa in May 2025 on the UK's foreign policy in relation to Israel.
Answered by Gareth Thomas
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.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to inform the public of their rights under the Consumer Contracts Regulations when buying from an online trader.
Answered by Justin Madders
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 17th September 2024 to question 4955.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many (a) military items and (b) munitions have been exported to Israel since the suspension of 30 arms export licences in September 2024.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Secretary of State for Scotland
DBT publishes data on export licences issued for military and dual-use equipment. Enquiries related to data on the final exports of specific products should be referred to HMRC.
The most recent publication on export licences covers the quarter up to December 2024: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/strategic-export-controls-licensing-data.
The Export Control Joint Unit (ECJU) has also on an exceptional basis published further information on the current status of export licences to Israel: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/export-control-licensing-management-information-for-israel/israel-export-control-licensing-data-6-december-2024.
This data shows that licences for the export of all military equipment that might be used in current military operations in Gaza have been suspended, subject to the special measures put in place for exports to the global F-35 programme.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
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 Federation of Small Businesses on the impact of increased employer National Insurance Contributions.
Answered by Gareth Thomas
This government regularly engages with stakeholders including the Federation of Small Businesses to discuss the potential impacts of relevant policies.
In taking difficult decisions to address issues with public finances, the Government increased employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs) while lowering the per-employee threshold. Government has protected small businesses by raising the Employment Allowance from £5,000 to £10,500. Consequently, 865,000 employers will pay no NICs this year, and over half will gain or see no change. While addressing fiscal challenges, the measure will help to alleviate the burden on the smaller businesses.