Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what progress he has made on payments through compensation schemes for postmasters impacted by failures in the Horizon system.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government continues to make significant progress in delivering redress to affected postmasters. From July 2024 to 30 April 2025, more than 4,000 victims have received compensation for the first time. An additional £728 million has been paid in redress during this same time period. This means that the total amount of redress paid to victims has increased by more than four times with £964 million having now been paid to over 6,800 claimants across all schemes.
We however recognise there is a lot more still to do, and we remain committed to improving the pace at which full and fair redress is paid to the victims of the Horizon scandal.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of US steel tariffs on (a) finished and (b) semi-finished steel derivative products.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Department for Business and Trade is working closely with the UK’s steel and aluminium industries to anticipate and assess the potential impacts of the US tariffs on UK exports, and we continue to engage closely with affected industries.
We have committed up to £2.5 billion to rebuild the steel sector and recently welcomed the Trade Remedies Authority’s (TRA) urgent review of the Steel Safeguard. We are also discussing what interventions might be similarly required to protect the Aluminium sector from any harmful effects of trade deflection UK-US trade teams will continue to have constructive discussions to agree a UK-US economic prosperity deal in the coming weeks and beyond.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of US aluminium tariffs on (a) finished and (b) semi-finished aluminium derivative products.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Department for Business and Trade is working closely with the UK’s steel and aluminium industries to anticipate and assess the potential impacts of the US tariffs on UK exports, and we continue to engage closely with affected industries.
We have committed up to £2.5 billion to rebuild the steel sector and recently welcomed the Trade Remedies Authority’s (TRA) urgent review of the Steel Safeguard. We are also discussing what interventions might be similarly required to protect the Aluminium sector from any harmful effects of trade deflection UK-US trade teams will continue to have constructive discussions to agree a UK-US economic prosperity deal in the coming weeks and beyond.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of US tariffs on (a) finished and (b) semi-finished (i) steel and (ii) aluminium derivative products on manufacturing jobs.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Department for Business and Trade is working closely with the UK’s steel and aluminium industries to anticipate and assess the potential impacts of the US tariffs on UK exports, and we continue to engage closely with affected industries.
We have committed up to £2.5 billion to rebuild the steel sector and recently welcomed the Trade Remedies Authority’s (TRA) urgent review of the Steel Safeguard. We are also discussing what interventions might be similarly required to protect the Aluminium sector from any harmful effects of trade deflection UK-US trade teams will continue to have constructive discussions to agree a UK-US economic prosperity deal in the coming weeks and beyond.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what discussions he has had with manufacturers on the potential impact of US tariffs on (a) finished and (b) semi-finished aluminium derivative products.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Department for Business and Trade is working closely with the UK’s steel and aluminium industries to anticipate and assess the potential impacts of the US tariffs on UK exports, and we continue to engage closely with affected industries.
We have committed up to £2.5 billion to rebuild the steel sector and recently welcomed the Trade Remedies Authority’s (TRA) urgent review of the Steel Safeguard. We are also discussing what interventions might be similarly required to protect the Aluminium sector from any harmful effects of trade deflection UK-US trade teams will continue to have constructive discussions to agree a UK-US economic prosperity deal in the coming weeks and beyond.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
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 his US counterpart on reducing VAT on US firms exporting to the UK.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
DBT Secretary of State and officials continue to hold regular and productive conversations with the Trump administration to press the case for UK business interests. We’re prioritising engagement with the US to stand up for our national interests.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what information his Department holds on the number and proportion of (a) hairdressing and (b) beauty businesses that are considering closing in the next 12 months.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
There are no official statistics on the number of hair and beauty businesses that are considering closing down in the next 12 months. We regularly engage with the sector and review industry surveys to understand sector confidence.
The Government are protecting the smallest businesses by increasing the Employment Allowance to £10,500, meaning that 865,000 employers will pay no National Insurance Contributions at all. We are also creating a fairer business rates system and to support hair and beauty businesses through this transition, we are extending business rates relief for Retail, Hospitality and Leisure sectors for one year at 40% up to a cash cap of £110,000.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department has included diversity quotas as selection criteria for contracts awarded since 5 July 2024.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department has not have included diversity quotas as selection criteria for contracts awarded since 5 July 2024.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many staff in his Department were working on new free trade agreements in February 2025.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
DBT’s Trade Policy, Implementation and Negotiations (TPIN) Group operates a flexible resourcing model to maximise efficiency across priorities. DBT has committed to delivering six Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations alongside leading work on the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership, work on the U.S., the reset of the UK-EU relationship as well as multilateral, implementation and market access work.
FTA staff numbers vary depending on the stage and scale of the deal. However, in July 2024, DBT had 640 staff working in TPIN and in January 2025 this number is 675.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many staff in his Department were working on new free trade agreements in July 2024.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
DBT’s Trade Policy, Implementation and Negotiations (TPIN) Group operates a flexible resourcing model to maximise efficiency across priorities. DBT has committed to delivering six Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations alongside leading work on the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership, work on the U.S., the reset of the UK-EU relationship as well as multilateral, implementation and market access work.
FTA staff numbers vary depending on the stage and scale of the deal. However, in July 2024, DBT had 640 staff working in TPIN and in January 2025 this number is 675.