Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to page 53 of the Defence Industrial Strategy: Making Defence an Engine for Growth, published on 8 September 2025, CP 1388, when he plans to open the consultation on the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department for Business and Trade will launch a consultation on the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme before the end of this year.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment has he made of the potential impact of the removal of tariffs on US bio-ethanol imports on the UK bio-ethanol market.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK bioethanol industry has faced challenges for some time prior to the removal of tariffs for US imports. Both Ministers and senior officials have worked with the sector closely over the course of this year to understand these long-standing issues and the impacts of any regulatory changes.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to page 36 of the National Security Strategy, published on 24 June 2025, what progress he has made in unlocking investment across a range of cutting-edge technologies via the Technology Security Initiative with India.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Technology Security Initiative (TSI) is a landmark agreement aimed at strengthening UK-India collaboration on critical and emerging technologies - such as AI - to drive growth and strengthen national security in both countries. It was launched by the Foreign Secretary and Prime Minister Modi in India in July 2024. Since then, it has enabled industry, academia, and government to deliver a number of new strategic opportunities - for example, a £7 million joint research programme on Future Telecoms.
For the sixth year running, India remains the second-largest source of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) projects into the UK. Last year, Indian FDI created over 6,000 jobs - with many of these in the tech sector. More than 300 Indian tech companies attended London Tech Week, with most of them expressing interest in AI, a key area within TSI.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many civil monetary penalties have been imposed by the Office for Trade Sanctions Implementation since October 2024.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
None.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 4 September 2025 to Question 72359 on Economic Situation: Subversion, what progress he has made in establishing a supply chain centre.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The government has announced its intention to launch a Supply Chain Centre within the Department of Business and Trade. Work is now underway to establish the Centre, which is currently operating in shadow form. The Centre will lead work to strengthen the resilience of supply chains critical to the UK's economic growth and security, with particular emphasis on bolstering the resilience of high-growth industries identified in the Industrial Strategy.
The Centre will be formally launched in 2026, with more detail on these plans to be shared in due course.
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Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 4 September 2025 to Question 72359 on Economic Situation: Subversion, what progress he has made on establishing an Economic Security Advisory Service.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Economic Security Advisory Service (ESAS) will streamline government expertise and guidance to help protect UK business competitiveness against economic security risks and threats. The Service is being piloted during the current financial year, with the ambition to scale up over the Spending Review period. To date, extensive engagement with industry and partners in the UK and overseas is being used to develop a digital offer, which will sit alongside bespoke sector specific support.
We will continue to monitor progress and draw on industry feedback to ensure that the Service meets user needs.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy, CP 1337, published on 23 June 2025, what recent progress he has made on reducing the administrative costs of regulation for businesses.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Industrial Strategy included a package of ambitious forms that will contribute to the target to cut administrative burdens to businesses by 25% by the end of the parliament.
These included harnessing the potential of new technology to make compliance with money laundering regulations simpler through the use of digital identity verification checks, removing requirements and increasing the permissible size for air source heat pumps. Alongside these, the Government will deliver several recommendations made by the industry-HMG licencing taskforce, including introducing a Licencing Policy Framework; pending consultation, this would significantly reduce the regulatory burden on the UK’s hospitality industry.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to page 28 of the National Security Strategy 2025, published on 24 June 2025, when he plans to publish the new Critical Minerals Strategy.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Critical minerals have been included in the recently published National Security Strategy and also in the UK Government's Resilience Action Plan, highlighting their fundamental importance to safeguarding the UK's economic security and resilience. Thanks to the extensive engagement and insights from our industry and expert stakeholders as well as through cross-government collaboration, we have developed a powerful new vision and plan for securing critical minerals in the UK.
We will continue to refine this ahead of publication this year, taking into account the evolving international context.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy, CP 1337, published on 23 June 2025, what progress he has made on accelerating the uptake of robotics via expanding the Made Smarter Adoption programme for SMEs.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is committed to accelerating the adoption of robotics and other advanced technologies among SME manufacturers by expanding the Made Smarter Adoption programme and establishing the Robotics Adoption Hubs.
Over the past three years of the programme, more than 1,600 businesses have benefited from digital roadmaps, over 400 SME leaders have received digital adoption training and over £16 million in private investment has been leveraged. Since April 2025, the programme now covers all nine English regions and, from 2026/27, up to £99 million will support further programme growth and impact.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy, CP 1337, published on 23 June 2025, what progress he has made in developing the new business growth service.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Modern Industrial Strategy, our 10-year growth plan, will unlock our economic potential and forge a new relationship between business and government. We will make it easier for businesses to invest, cutting bureaucracy and exploring new digital technologies.
In July 2025, alongside the Plan For Small Business, we launched the Business Growth Service (BGS), a national service bringing together all existing core services and new, improved elements of the business support offer.
We have designed and implemented the BGS by working closely with local and devolved governments, the Growth Hubs network and key partners, such as Innovate UK and the British Business Bank.