Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what financial support his Department provides to the recycled plastic industry.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Government is committed to improving the business environment for the recycled plastic industry. This includes support for eligible firms through the Energy Intensive Industry relief schemes, depending on scheme eligibility criteria and firm levels of electricity usage. Other mechanisms include the market-based Packaging Waste Recycling Notes (PRN) system that provides direct funding to the reprocessing sector.
DEFRA’s collection and packaging reforms will also stimulate investment in recycling services and provide feedstock certainty, and while we cannot endorse individual technologies, Government have a range of funding sources available to support innovative and emerging technologies within this space through Innovate UK.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
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 how imported plastic from Saudi Arabia might impact on the viability of domestic recycled plastic production.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department for Business and Trade has not made any specific assessment of the impact of plastic imports from Saudi Arabia on domestic recycled plastic production.
We are, however, working to ensure the viability of domestic production. This year marks the start of DEFRA’s collection and packaging reforms and a Deposit Return Scheme which will provide feedstock certainty through guaranteeing supply of materials for recycling, whilst also stimulating private investment in infrastructure. Government departments also continue to work closely together to identify interventions necessary to stabilise the sector and set it up for success.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
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 support cross-border businesses with the potential impacts of the inclusion of glass in the deposit return scheme in Wales.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government demonstrated in our recent review of the UK Internal Market Act our commitment to work with devolved governments to manage effectively the UK internal market for the benefit of business and citizens across the country. The UK government’s regulations for a Deposit Return Scheme enable the Deposit Management Organisation to work in an interoperable way with other deposit return schemes in the UK.
We continue to engage with industry and the Welsh Government to consider how the proposed Welsh deposit return scheme may impact on businesses across the UK.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what proportion of staff in his Department did not meet the minimum office attendance target in the latest period for which data is available; and what sanctions his Department issues to staff who do not meet this target.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
On 24 October 2024 the Cabinet Office announced that 60% minimum office attendance for most staff continues to be the best balance of working for the Civil Service. Senior managers will continue to be expected to be in the office more than 60% of the time. Due to space constraints the department has set the requirement of 40% for delegated grades.
The department does not hold information on the number of staff who have met the minimum office attendance target. See Civil Service Headquarters occupancy data for published information covering departmental headquarters building occupancy. The department introduced a process to record office attendance information from 4 August 2025. This data is not yet available.
Staff who operate under the department’s hybrid working policy are expected to meet the minimum office attendance requirements. If people do not meet that reasonable expectation, as with any management instruction it will be dealt with via existing performance management processes and ultimately with disciplinary action should there be sustained failure to comply.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what proportion of civil servants in his Department have flexible working arrangements; and how many of those work compressed hours.
Answered by Justin Madders
The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) is committed to supporting flexible working practices. Employees may request alternative working patterns to help balance their professional and personal responsibilities, as long as business requirements are met. Compressed hours enable an individual to complete their contracted full-time weekly hours across longer daily working hours over fewer days, with no change to their salary.
In most instances, staff are not required to record flexible working arrangements within the central HR Management system, as these agreements are managed directly with their line manager. Consequently, we are unable to provide the numbers.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 1 April 2025 to Question 41654 on Trade: Occupied Territories and Western Sahara, whether he has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs on the potential impact of recognising Western Sahara as a part of Morocco on British businesses.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Secretary of State for Scotland
DBT and FCDO frequently engage on how best to deliver the government’s growth mission, including by supporting UK exports and investment across North Africa.
The Department for Business and Trade’s team in Morocco focusses on the business opportunities which will create the most value for the UK economy. An example of this is the work the Department is doing on infrastructure projects, ahead of Morocco’s co-hosting of the 2030 FIFA World Cup.
The UK continues to support UN-led efforts to reach a just, lasting, and mutually acceptable political solution, based on compromise, which will provide for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 1 April 2025 to Question 41654 on Trade: Occupied Territories and Western Sahara, if his Department will make an assessment of the impact on British businesses of the UK recognising Western Sahara as a part of Morocco.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Secretary of State for Scotland
DBT and FCDO frequently engage on how best to deliver the government’s growth mission, including by supporting UK exports and investment across North Africa.
The Department for Business and Trade’s team in Morocco focusses on the business opportunities which will create the most value for the UK economy. An example of this is the work the Department is doing on infrastructure projects, ahead of Morocco’s co-hosting of the 2030 FIFA World Cup.
The UK continues to support UN-led efforts to reach a just, lasting, and mutually acceptable political solution, based on compromise, which will provide for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether there are any requirements for civil servants to book a desk in advance in order to attend the office in person in each of (a) their Department's office workplaces and (b) the arm’s length bodies of their Department.
Answered by Justin Madders
Desk booking systems are in use at several DBT’s offices, including its London headquarters. Except for offices at Caxton House, London, it is not compulsory for people to book a desk for them to attend the office in person.
Arms length bodies have their own individual policies and procedures relating to desk booking.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what the average length of wait was to receive the result of an application for a Standard Individual Export Licence using the SPIRE system between January to July 2024.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Secretary of State for Scotland
Between 1 January and 30 June 2024, the median processing time for Standard Individual Export Licence (SIEL) applications submitted on SPIRE and processed to first outcome was 16 working days.
The Export Control Joint Unit’s (ECJU) current performance targets are to complete 70% of applications for SIELs within 20 working days, and 99% within 60 working days.
The Export Control Joint Unit publish comprehensive statistics every quarter about export licence applications, which includes our median processing times. The most recent publication covers the quarter up to June 2024. This data is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/strategic-export-controls-licensing-data.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what the average length of wait has been to receive the result of an application for a Standard Individual Export Licence using the new LITE system since it was launched.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Secretary of State for Scotland
LITE is being introduced gradually as we design, build and iteratively improve the system. It was initially introduced in 2021 for a small number of exporters and this gradual increase in cases continued through 2022. The then Government concluded a total of 384 cases in LITE over 2021 and 2022 and the median processing time was 38 days.
In 2023, the then Government paused the reporting of LITE processing times whilst new functionality was developed. The Government is planning to return to publishing LITE data during 2025 once this functionality is implemented.