Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he is taking steps with the Midlands Engine to support regional (a) investment and (b) private sector collaboration.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Midlands Engine have undertaken a range of valuable work and have supported collaboration on shared growth opportunities. Moving forward, the government intends to support Mayors in collaborating at pan-regional level and creating convening bodies whose purpose, priorities and membership are decided at a regional level.
At the Autumn Budget, the Government announced that it would consult on its minded to decision not to extend funding for the six pan-regional partnerships beyond the agreed allocations to the end of the 2024-25 financial year. We are currently considering the responses received and will confirm a final decision shortly.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
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 impact of consolidating dental and veterinary practices into corporate chains on (a) pricing and (b) consumer access; and whether he plans to instruct the Competition and Markets Authority to review these trends.
Answered by Justin Madders
Under competition law, responsibility for investigating individual and market-wide competition issues, including consolidation, falls to the Competition and Markets Authority ("CMA"), the UK's competition authority. The Government has ensured that the CMA has significant powers and expertise to investigate and take action against businesses that abuse dominant positions in markets by excluding competitors or exploiting consumers.
The CMA has discretion to intervene in markets that are not working well for consumers and it is currently conducting a market investigation into veterinary services for household pets.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the report by the Financial Reporting Council entitled Annual Review of Audit Quality 2024, published on 30 July 2024, whether he plans to take steps to improve audit (a) regulation, (b) quality and (c) accountability.
Answered by Justin Madders
As set out in the King's Speech, the Government intends to publish a draft Audit Reform and Corporate Governance Bill, which will contain measures to tackle bad financial reporting through a strengthened regulator. The draft Bill will uphold standards and independent scrutiny of companies' accounts, supporting investment and economic security.