Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on the number of workers who have been underpaid in the last 12 months.
Answered by Justin Madders
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) data suggests that 371,000 employee jobs were underpaid the National Minimum Wage (NMW) / National Living Wage (NLW) in April 2024. This represents approximately 1.3% of the total number of employee jobs: Low and high pay in the UK - Office for National Statistics.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
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 the UK aerospace sector.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Secretary of State for Scotland
The US has committed to reducing tariffs on UK aerospace goods such as engines and similar aircraft parts from the general 10% tariff being applied to all other countries, to 0% - which is expected to come into force by the end of the month. This means the UK is now the only country in the world to be exempt from the 10% on aerospace.
This deal is a win for the UK’s world-class aerospace sector which was facing additional 10% tariffs, helping make companies more competitive and allowing them to continue to be at the cutting edge of innovation.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
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 the import of hormone-treated beef into the UK.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Secretary of State for Scotland
The Secretary of State for Business and Trade engages regularly with the US. On 8 May, we announced a landmark economic deal with the US, making the UK the first country to reach an agreement with President Trump.
We have agreed new reciprocal market access on beef - with UK farmers given a guaranteed quota for 13,000 metric tonnes of beef exports at a very low tariff rate. Imports of hormone treated beef will remain illegal. Our approach to this trade deal has ensured that any agricultural imports coming into the UK will meet the highest food standards.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what discussions he has had with his international counterparts on potential changes to steel tariffs.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Secretary of State for Scotland
The Secretary of State for Business and Trade regularly engages with counterparts in other nations in relation to tariffs and the international trade of steel. On 8 May, this Government concluded a landmark economic deal with the US, where the US has committed to removing the 25% Section 232 tariffs on UK exporters by applying a quota system. Most recently, the Secretary of State has also discussed steel tariffs with his EU counterpart the European Commissioner for Trade within the context of the conclusion of the European Commission’s review of their Steel Safeguard.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will legislative steps to ensure job advertisements do not ask about political views.
Answered by Justin Madders
Employers should follow a fair process when recruiting. They must not discriminate, in terms of the Equality Act 2010, and they must comply with data protection legislation. Compliance involves being clear what information is collected about candidates and how it will be used for recruitment purposes; and collecting only the information that is relevant and necessary for recruitment.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to improve export capacity within the UK.
Answered by Gareth Thomas
We recognise the importance of increasing the capacity of businesses to export and succeed around the world.
UK businesses can access DBT’s export support via Great.gov.uk. This comprises an online support offer and a wider network of support including the Export Academy, UK Export Finance, the International Markets network and one-to-one support from International Trade Advisers.
As part of our work on a new trade strategy and a small business strategy, we are looking at further proposals to help UK businesses to export more.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what progress his Department has made on trade talks with India.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Secretary of State for Scotland
The Business and Trade Secretary travelled to New Delhi to meet his counter Piyush Goyal in February 2025 where they relaunched negotiations.
We are continuing to work closely with the Government of India to progress negotiations towards a deal that drives economic growth for every region and nation.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to increase UK aviation exports.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
DBT works with UK aerospace companies to open markets, tackle trade disputes, provide SME support, and connect business to export opportunities.
Through the Aerospace Growth Partnership and Aerospace Technology Institute, we support industry to increase supply chain productivity, competitiveness, innovation and exports. In defence, we work with industry to develop campaigns to pursue a pipeline of global opportunities. In 2024 the UK aerospace industry exported £23 billion of its production and over 5 years to 2023 on average achieved annual orders of £5.4 billion across aerospace products relating to defence.
The Industrial Strategy will set out our further support for these sectors.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of trends in levels of footfall on high streets since 1 January 2025.
Answered by Gareth Thomas
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes weekly reports retail footfall traffic across the UK. This data can fluctuate due to factors such as seasonal trends, economic conditions and consumer confidence. Due to the highly volatile nature of the high-street footfall data the department does not estimate footfall trends on high streets. All ONS reports on real-time UK wide retail footfall for each week in 2025 can be found here: https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/economicoutputandproductivity/output/bulletins/economicactivityandsocialchangeintheukrealtimeindicators/previousreleases
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what discussions he has had with his counterpart in Northern Ireland on encouraging international steel investment in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
We believe that our Plan for Steel will be a once-in-a-generation opportunity to make a real difference for this industry. It will address the problems the sector faces and create a competitive business landscape across the entirety of the United Kingdom.
Supporting the strategy is the Steel Council to which the Minister for the Economy is a member and met in January. In addition, I met with Minister Archibald prior to the launch of the consultation on the strategy in February.