Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the news story entitled UK-SA Trade Pact Unlocks Tariff Savings for Local Exporters, published on 26 January 2026, what estimate his Department has made of the value of tariff savings generated by the UK–South Africa Economic Partnership Agreement in each year since 2021.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
On average, from 2022 to 2024, the agreement between the UK and SACUM members has resulted in over £2.3bn of imports entering the UK eligible for reduced duties each year, with £2.1bn benefitting from the lower duty rate afforded under the agreement. During this time, more than £2.0bn of goods benefitting from reduced duties originated from South Africa.
The EPA has delivered tariff savings and lowered import costs for British consumers and businesses. As set out in the UK Trade Strategy, we have started a tariff review of the UK-SACUM EPA that will aim to further reduce tariff barriers under the Agreement. We will update Parliament once these discussions conclude.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the news story entitled UK-SA Trade Pact Unlocks Tariff Savings for Local Exporters, published on 26 January 2026, what assessment he has made of the impact of the UK–Southern Africa Economic Partnership Agreement on UK–South Africa trade.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
On average, from 2022 to 2024, the agreement between the UK and SACUM members has resulted in over £2.3bn of imports entering the UK eligible for reduced duties each year, with £2.1bn benefitting from the lower duty rate afforded under the agreement. During this time, more than £2.0bn of goods benefitting from reduced duties originated from South Africa.
The EPA has delivered tariff savings and lowered import costs for British consumers and businesses. As set out in the UK Trade Strategy, we have started a tariff review of the UK-SACUM EPA that will aim to further reduce tariff barriers under the Agreement. We will update Parliament once these discussions conclude.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the press release entitled ‘Business Secretary backs British scaleups with growth package and red tape review’ published on 20 January 2026, whether his Department's £25 million investment into Kraken Technologies is expected to make a financial return.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
These investments were made by the British Business Bank. The Bank’s investments in aggregate are expected to generate a financial return that exceeds the Government’s cost of borrowing. In the year ended March 2025, the Bank reported a profit of £144 million and a five-year average adjusted return on capital employed of 4.2%, against a target of 0.9%.
There is no target or expectation for returns from individual investments, which can vary widely. For its commercial equity products, the Bank’s performance will be benchmarked against the median fund performance in the Venture Capital market.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the press release entitled ‘Business Secretary backs British scaleups with growth package and red tape review’ published on 20 January 2026, what financial return his Department expects from the £50 million investment into Epidarex Capital and IQ Capital.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
These investments were made by the British Business Bank. The Bank’s investments in aggregate are expected to generate a financial return that exceeds the Government’s cost of borrowing. In the year ended March 2025, the Bank reported a profit of £144 million and a five-year average adjusted return on capital employed of 4.2%, against a target of 0.9%.
There is no target or expectation for returns from individual investments, which can vary widely. For its commercial equity products, the Bank’s performance will be benchmarked against the median fund performance in the Venture Capital market.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will publish a report on the potential impact of recently announced tariffs by the Unites States on the UK economy.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Having retained our cool-headed approach and robustly defended the rights of the people of Greenland and the kingdom of Denmark alone to determine their future, we are glad that the President has announced that these tariffs will not be proceeding.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what estimate their Department has made of the number of collective action proceedings that have been delayed or discontinued as a result of the judgment in R (on the application of PACCAR Inc and others) v Competition Appeal Tribunal and others [2023] UKSC 28 as of 26 July 2023.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department has not made such an estimate. Decisions to delay or discontinue collective action proceedings may be based on several factors, specific to each case.
The Minister of State for Justice set out, in her written statement to the House on 17 December 2025, that the Government intends to take action to mitigate the impact of the 2023 Supreme Court judgment in PACCAR and implement proportionate regulation of third-party litigation funding agreements.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will take steps to help tackle online job advertisements where the company has no intent to hire.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Job boards and employment businesses are already prohibited from advertising jobs that do not exist or lack proper authorisation to advertise, with state enforcement by the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate.
Additional safeguards come from consumer protection and ASA codes, which address misleading or unfair adverts.
Individuals misled by fake job postings may also have civil remedies, depending on the circumstances.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to require hiring organisations reply to job role applicants with a final verdict on their application.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
There are currently no legislative plans to bring forward a requirement for hiring organisations to reply to applicants with an outcome on their application.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
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 adequacy of protections for whistle blowers reporting concerns on foreign bribery.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Individuals can report foreign bribery through a range of channels, such as the Serious Fraud Office or National Crime Agency, and workers will be protected from retaliation as a whistleblower under the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA) if certain conditions are met.
The government recognises that the whistleblowing framework in the ERA may not be operating as effectively as it should and recently committed to explore opportunities for reform in the UK Anti-Corruption Strategy 2025.
The government will continue to review its approach to whistleblowing and foreign bribery in line with the recommendations of the OECD Working Group on Bribery.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the press release of 26 December 2025 on defence exports, how many export licences for defence equipment were approved in 2025; and how many applications were (a) refused and (b) withdrawn.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
In 2025 Q1 (between 1 January and 31 March 2025), 2,732 Standard Individual Export Licences (SIELs) were issued, and 140 were refused. 260 were withdrawn. In 2025 Q2 (between 1 April and 30 June 2025), 2,612 SIELs were issued, and 104 were refused.
221 were withdrawn. These numbers reflect military and non-military licences, as both licences could include goods that may be considered defence equipment. Our quarterly licensing statistics provide descriptions of the goods covered for licences issued.
Information on export licensing decisions from 1 July 2025 onwards has not yet been published as official statistics. Information relating to export licensing decisions covering the period 1 July 2025 to 30 September 2025 (2025 Q3) is planned to be published on 29 January 2026: Strategic export controls: licensing statistics: 1 July to 30 September 2025 - Official statistics announcement - GOV.UK.