Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to support manufacturers to increase capital intensity.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Last year this government published our Modern Industrial Strategy, setting out our long-term approach to strengthening domestic capability. The complimentary Advanced Manufacturing Sector Plan outlines both sector-specific and cross-cutting measures designed to support manufacturers grow and thrive – including on skills, access to finance and tech adoption. This is underpinned by £4.3 billion government funding over 5 years, alongside £4 billion from the British Business Bank Industrial Strategy Growth Capital and £27.8 billion available from the National Wealth Fund to help manufacturing business access the finance they need to expand.
We have also enhanced and expanded the Office for Investment to target advanced manufacturing investors.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
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 the British Industrial Competitive Scheme on levels of business investment.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
From 2027, The British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme will reduce electricity costs by up to £40 per megawatt hour for over 10,000 eligible manufacturing businesses. This will help bring electricity costs more in line with other European economies and drive business investment and economic growth across British manufacturing businesses in the Industrial Strategy frontier manufacturing sectors and foundational manufacturing industries that supply key inputs to the Industrial Strategy frontier sectors.
A detailed assessment of the scheme's impact on business investment will be published alongside legislation in the Autumn.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what enforcement action his Department plans to take against companies found to be wrongly engaging people as self-employed.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Minister of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)
Bogus or false self-employment is unacceptable and we are committed to robustly tackling it. HMRC will investigate evidence that suggests companies may have misclassified individuals for tax purposes. Employers can also be taken to an employment tribunal if they seek to deny people their employment rights and avoid their own legal obligations by claiming someone is self-employed when they are not.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of 1) the challenges faced by electric vehicle manufacturers and 2) the output of electric vehicle manufacturing in the UK.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government acknowledges the challenges the EV sector faces due to volatile consumer demand. However, our ambition is to make the UK one of the best locations in the world to manufacture electric vehicles. We engage closely with UK industry on the challenges it faces and how we can ensure the sector remains internationally competitive and a global leader in innovation.
Our flagship DRIVE35 (Driving Research and Investment in Vehicle Electrification) commits £4 billion of capital and R&D funding to the British automotive industry through to 2035. It will support the latest research and development, accelerate commercial scale up, and increase capital investment in zero emission vehicles, batteries and their supply chains. In addition, we are making an additional £200 million available for EV charging infrastructure on top of the £400 million committed at the summer 2025 Spending Review.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to reduce energy costs for vehicle manufacturers.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Our new British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme will reduce electricity costs by up to 25% from 2027, bringing electricity costs more in line with other economies in Europe, and help level the playing field for British businesses.
The scheme will benefit frontier manufacturing industries identified in the Industrial Strategy, such as automotive, as well as foundational manufacturing industries in their supply chains. Responses to the recent Government consultation are currently being reviewed, and Government's response will be published shortly.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will consider conducting a review of electric vehicle manufacturing in the UK.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government remains firmly committed to the EV transition and increasing vehicle manufacturing in the UK. This is why we have committed £4 billion of capital and R&D funding through to 2035 for our flagship DRIVE35 (Driving Research and Investment in Vehicle Electrification) programme which will support the latest R&D in strategic vehicle technologies, accelerate commercial scale up, and unlock investment in their industrialisation. We continue to listen closely to feedback from vehicle manufacturers.
In addition, we are investing an additional £1.3 billion in the Electric Car Grant, taking total funding to £2 billion, and extending it until 2030 which will mean more motorists will benefit from discounts of up to £3,750.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, when he plans to bring into force secondary legislation contained within the Product Regulation and Metrology Act 2025.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Minister of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)
The Product Regulation and Metrology Act 2025, which received Royal Assent in July 2025, enables the government to modernise, replace and simplify regulations. The Act’s powers have already been used to update the Outdoor Noise Regulations and the Government recently confirmed it will use the Act’s powers to update the Machinery (Safety) Regulations 2008, following a call for evidence. Further reviews of regulations will follow.
In particular, as announced in November’s Budget, the Government intends to publish a consultation shortly on major reforms to level the playing field between online and physical retailers, improve consumer safety and streamline enforcement powers.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he plans to publish a consultation on the measures within the Product Regulation and Metrology Act 2025 in relation to product safety.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Minister of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)
The Product Regulation and Metrology Act 2025, which received Royal Assent in July 2025, enables the government to modernise, replace and simplify regulations. The Act’s powers have already been used to update the Outdoor Noise Regulations and the Government recently confirmed it will use the Act’s powers to update the Machinery (Safety) Regulations 2008, following a call for evidence. Further reviews of regulations will follow.
In particular, as announced in November’s Budget, the Government intends to publish a consultation shortly on major reforms to level the playing field between online and physical retailers, improve consumer safety and streamline enforcement powers.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, when he plans to take steps to tackle subscription traps.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Minister of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)
The government is committed to protecting consumers who enter into subscription contracts. We consulted on the implementation of the new subscription contracts regime in the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act and have engaged closely with stakeholders. We are carefully considering the points raised and a government response will be published in due course.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he plans to launch a consultation on introducing a single status of worker.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Minister of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)
The Government is committed to consulting on employment status as soon as possible. The consultation will seek to address issues with the framework which can enable worker exploitation and leave vulnerable workers without core employment protections.