Gareth Snell

The government will launch a full public consultation on the design of the new Digital ID, and have already started to engage with a range of expert organisations.

At the heart of this will be the largest ever digital inclusion programme ever delivered in this country, to ensure everyone can access this new free ID and benefit from it.

We are considering options like a digitally enabled physical alternative for those without access to technology, as well as in-person onboarding support for those who struggle to engage digitally. This may include Post Offices but that decision has not yet been made and will depend on several different factors.

40 cars were manufactured in the UK which represents 37% of the current Government Car Service fleet.

The Cabinet Office does not hold information regarding this, and it would incur disproportionate costs to gather this information.

The Government is committed to supporting British businesses and ensuring they have the best chance to win public contracts.

The Government is committed to supporting British businesses and ensuring they have the best chance to win public contracts.

The new Procurement Act creates a simpler and more transparent system that will support British small businesses bidding for work.

The Act also allows contracting authorities to set standards that recognise the quality and standard of UK businesses and products.

Alongside this, our new National Procurement Policy Statement encourages contracting authorities to consider this government’s industrial strategies and the sectors vital to our economic growth.

The Prime Minister announced at party conference that the duty of candour Bill will be introduced to Parliament before the next anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster in April 2025. The details of this Bill will be announced first to this House. The Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 (PIDA) serves to protect workers from suffering any detriment as a result of making a protected disclosure.

My department has been actively engaging postmasters through the Green Paper consultation on the future of the Post Office, which closed earlier this month. This included two postmaster focus groups to ensure postmaster voices are clearly heard on the full range of issues covered by the Green Paper, including mutualisation and other governance options.

The Green Paper itself included information on mutualisation as one potential future ownership model, and the department is continuing to analyse feedback on this and other options. However, it is worth noting that decisions on long-term governance will not be taken until the second volume of Sir Wyn Williams inquiry has been published. In the interim both the department and the Post Office will continue to actively engage Postmasters on this topic.

A small amount of crockery and tableware has been purchased locally using departmental funds. No central record is maintained of these purchases. To determine the country of origin of all such items would require a check of all items in use. The cost of this would exceed the disproportionate cost threshold of £850.

The Department for Business and Trade has a close and productive relationship with the UK ceramics sector, particularly its leading Trade Association Ceramics UK who meet regularly with officials and Ministers.

As part of our ongoing dialogue, we will continue to engage with ceramics business on the challenges they face now and in the future.

Sectors have been assessed against their electricity and trade intensity. As part of our review of eligibility in 2026, we will assess whether these data sets and the thresholds we have previously used remain the best approach to judging eligibility for the Supercharger.

The Department for Business and Trade has a close and productive relationship with the UK ceramics sector, particularly its leading Trade Association, Ceramics UK, who meet regularly with officials and Ministers.

As part of our ongoing dialogue, we will continue to engage with ceramics business on the challenges they face now and in the future.

I will continue to work to ensure that long-term viability of the UK ceramics sector.

Tableware and crockery are not provided within the Department.

I refer my hon Friend to the answer given in the House on 1 May which focussed on the ceramics sector. The Government recognises that we need to support a range of energy intensive industries, including ceramics, that are essential to our economy and our missions. For example, to build the 1.5 million homes and the clean energy infrastructure projects that this Government is already investing in.

The Ceramics UK report mentioned describes a role for: energy efficiency improvements; addressing grid decarbonisation and self -generation; fuel switching to electrification, hydrogen and biomass; product and material adaptation; and addressing process emissions through a combination of Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage (CCUS) and addressing residual emissions. While the exact balance will vary between firms and between subsectors of industry, we expect a role for each of these measures, and are taking action to support and provide signals to the market on each of these. Government will bring forward a renewed industrial decarbonisation strategy in due course to address energy and decarbonisation issues across industries in a holistic way, and is committed to working closely with the ceramics sector as we develop that approach.

The UK Emissions Trading Scheme, whose coverage includes energy intensive industries such as those in the ceramics sector, allows installations who meet certain criteria to apply to be exempted from the main scheme by obtaining ‘small emitter’ classification.

Over half of sites in the ceramics sector are already exempted from the UK ETS via achieving Small Emitter status. The UK Emissions Trading Scheme as an essential part of our approach to cutting emissions and driving green investment. UK ETS participants, including those in the ceramics sector, are provided with free allocations, to incentivise emissions reduction and protect energy intensive, trade exposed industries from the risk of carbon leakage. We have guaranteed current free allocation levels until 2027 and are currently reviewing how we calculate free allocations to better support sectors most at risk of carbon leakage.

We will always work in the best interest of industry.

The Government has no plans to introduce a non-domestic price cap. Businesses have different needs to households. Non-domestic demand varies in scale, flexibility and seasonality. From high demand from large industrial users to intermittent demand from some microbusinesses. Accordingly, there are a range of suppliers and energy products that are available to efficiently meet these needs.

However, the Government is committed to championing businesses and improving non-domestic consumer protections. Since December 2024 Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) with fewer than 50 employees can now access free support to resolve issues with their energy supplier through the Energy Ombudsman. This means that 99% of British businesses can now access this service with outcomes ranging up to £20,000 in financial awards. Last year, the Government also launched a consultation on introducing regulation of Third-Party Intermediaries (TPIs), such as energy brokers. This is aimed at enhancing consumer protections, particularly for non-domestic consumers.

The consultation has now closed, and a Government response will follow in due course once all feedback has been reviewed.

Making Britain a clean energy superpower is one of the five missions of this Government — delivering clean power by 2030 and accelerating to net zero. British industries, such as those in the ceramics sector, have been held back by high electricity costs, which has often made investing here uncompetitive. The Government’s clean energy mission will drive down costs, making British businesses internationally competitive while our National Wealth Fund supports the most energy intensive sectors to decarbonise.

A recent report from Ceramics UK, Decarbonising UK Ceramic Manufacturing, outlines potential solutions for decarbonising the ceramics sector.

Tableware and crockery are not provided within the Department.

The Government is committed to supporting British businesses and ensuring they have the best chance to win public contracts.

The new Procurement Act creates a simpler and more transparent system that will support British businesses bidding for work.

The Act also allows contracting authorities to set standards that recognise the quality and standard of UK businesses and products.

Alongside this, the National Procurement Policy Statement encourages contracting authorities to consider this government’s Industrial strategy and the sectors vital to our economic growth.

Civil society and community organisations are instrumental in delivering media literacy programmes to adults, leveraging their expertise to support diverse and vulnerable groups. Libraries and community centres provide accessible locations where adults of all ages can get guidance and advice.

The Digital Inclusion Action Plan outlines steps toward delivering digital inclusion and media literacy for everyone in the UK, including supporting local and community initiatives to increase digital participation.

Under updated media literacy duties, Ofcom is developing a ‘place-based’ model to embed media literacy into community digital strategies, working with the Good Things Foundation to support Digital Inclusion Hubs.

The government understands the importance of building audience resilience to mis- and disinformation, noting that improved media literacy is essential for helping people to recognise this content. The Online Safety Act updates Ofcom’s statutory duty to promote media literacy by adding targeted duties to develop internet users’ understanding of the nature and impact of mis- and disinformation.

The Act also requires platforms to tackle health mis- and disinformation that is illegal or harmful to children. Additionally, where it is prohibited in Category 1 platforms’ terms of service, they must remove it and enforce this consistently.

Government is adopting a holistic approach to digital inclusion integrating related policy on digital skills and media literacy. The Digital Inclusion Action Plan outlines steps towards delivering digital inclusion for everyone in the UK, including supporting community initiatives for boosting digital skills and media literacy. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology coordinates activity across policy areas, aiming to embed media literacy across cross-cutting government strategies.

Under updated media literacy duties, Ofcom is developing a ‘place-based’ model to embed media literacy into community digital strategies, working with the Good Things Foundation to support Digital Inclusion Hubs to offer media literacy.

According to the Essential Digital Skills Framework, media literacy-related skills, including understanding online risks, are essential for work. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology has worked with FutureDotNow to analyse the benefits of essential digital skills for earnings and employability, with findings being published shortly.

The Digital Inclusion Action Plan outlines steps towards delivering digital inclusion and media literacy for everyone in the UK. The independent Curriculum and Assessment Review is also considering how young people will acquire the digital skills needed for future life, with the interim report highlighting the need for a renewed focus on media literacy.