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, with reference to the Written Ministerial Statement of 13 October 2025 entitled Volume 1 of the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry report: Government response to recommendations, HCWS937, whether legal support will be extended to postmasters who accepted fixed sum offers; and how he plans to notify those postmasters.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
In line with the Government’s response to Recommendation 9 of the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry report, postmasters who accepted fixed sum offers under the Horizon Shortfall Scheme will be able to seek funded legal advice if they wish to apply for permission to appeal.
My Department is working closely with the Horizon Compensation Advisory Board and the Independent Reviewer on the practical implementation of the appeals process, including its scope and criteria. We will engage with legal representatives and postmaster representative organisations on the process before it is launched.
My Department will write to all eligible postmasters when the process is launched.
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, with reference to Volume 1 of the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry report: Government response to recommendations, what mechanisms are in place to monitor whether decision-makers are applying a generous approach within the appropriate range of compensation.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
On 9 October, the Department for Business and Trade and the Post Office published a joint statement setting out what constitutes “full and fair” redress, following a recommendation from Sir Wyn Williams. This statement has been embedded in the guidance for each redress scheme to ensure that decision-makers apply a consistent and generous approach within the appropriate range of compensation. Each scheme also has an independent reviewer, who was consulted on the statement and plays a key role in monitoring its application and ensuring that decisions align with the principles of fairness and full redress.
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, which Minister has responsibility for the Post Office.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Departmental Ministerial portfolios can be found at Department for Business and Trade - GOV.UK
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 the terms of reference are for the UK-Canada Economic and Trade Working Group.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
In line with the commitment made between our Prime Ministers in June, the UK-Canada Economic and Trade Working Group will meet this Autumn to deepen our trading relationship further, including to address existing market access barriers, to expand existing arrangements into new areas, such as digital trade, and to explore cooperation in the development of critical minerals and sovereign artificial intelligence infrastructure.
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, if he will make it his policy to place in the Library a copy of the report of the UK-Canada Economic and Trade Working Group.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Growing our bilateral trade is a shared priority. In line with the commitment made between our Prime Ministers in June, the UK-Canada Economic and Trade Working Group will meet this Autumn with the objective of deepening the bilateral trading relationship further and seeking to address existing market access barriers affecting bilateral UK-Canada trade. It will report back to the Prime Minister. I will keep Parliament informed of how the discussions progress.
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, who will be part of the UK-Canada Economic and Trade Working Group.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK-Canada Economic and Trade Working Group will meet this Autumn and will consist of officials from the UK and Canadian Governments.
We remain receptive to any views of relevant business and industry with an interest in UK-Canada trade.
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 made an assessment of the potential merits of inviting external stakeholders to provide information for the UK-Canada Economic and Trade Working Group’s consideration of market access barriers.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
In line with the commitment made between our Prime Ministers in June, the UK-Canada Economic and Trade Working Group will meet this Autumn with the objective of deepening the bilateral trading relationship further and seeking to address existing market access barriers affecting bilateral UK-Canada trade.
As part of our preparation for the Working Group, my department is considering feedback from a range of stakeholders to inform our approach, and we are open to receiving views from any other businesses with an interest in UK-Canada trade.
The working group will begin meeting shortly and report back to both Prime Ministers in December.
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 have included diversity quotas as part of selection criteria for contracts awarded since 5 July 2024.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer my predecessor gave on 25th March 2025 to question UIN 38901 (Written questions and answers - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament).
The Department has not included diversity quotas as part of selection criteria in any contracts awarded by the Department since the answer previously provided.
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 was the value of inward investment deals secured by the Office for Investment in (a) October 2024, (b) June 2025 and (c) September 2025.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Official Statistics for inward investment at DBT inward investment results 2024 to 2025 - GOV.UK show both the capital expenditure and estimated economic impact as examples of value for DBT supported investment projects which landed in the 2024-25 financial year. The projects had a capital expenditure amount of £27.7bn and an estimated economic impact of £6.0bn. Monthly figures are not published, however the monthly average for 2024-25 was a capital expenditure of £2,307m and an additional estimated economic impact of £503m.
Figures related to 2025-26 will be published in June 2026.
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 gross value added has been measured for the Office for Investment in each month since its initial launch in 2020.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Official Statistics for inward investment at DBT inward investment results 2024 to 2025 - GOV.UK show the estimated economic impact of DBT supported investment projects on a financial year basis. These figures have been published since 2019-20. Monthly figures are not published, however the average estimated economic impact per month over the 2020-21 to 2024-25 time period was £475m.