Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps is he taking to support the steel industry.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Steel is a top priority for this Government. As shown with the passing of the Steel Industry (Special Measures) Act, this Government will not hesitate to take unprecedented steps to safeguard the future of steelmaking in the UK, protecting jobs, national security and supply chains.
We have completed the roll out of the British Industry Supercharger, which from this month means our steel industry will save an estimated £320mn – £410mn this year. This is on top of continuing the network charging compensation scheme.
We have taken action to make public procurement of UK-made steel easier and increased support for businesses to report unfair international trade practices. We have continued to develop the policy and approach for the steel strategy.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what diversity, equality and inclusion targets his Department has for staff recruitment.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Appointments to advertised vacancies in the Department for Business and Trade are made on the basis of fair recruitment open to all. The Department does not operate recruitment targets in relation to diversity, equality and inclusion. The Department does have an internally published Diversity and Inclusion plan that is focussed on embracing fairness for all.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what the total cost was of providing translation services in his Department in the last year.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
We can confirm the Department for Business and Trade spent £53,491.37 on translation services from April 2024 – 25th March 2025.
As the department for economic growth, we support businesses to invest, grow and export, creating jobs and opportunities across the country. This figure includes providing translation services and also where the Department required translations or interpreters.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he plans to re-shore manufacturing.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Reshoring, alongside progressive key trade agreements, will be important of our national resilience, and we are determined to make the UK a prime location for globally competitive manufacturing.
The Industrial Strategy this spring will set out an ambitious long-term vision for UK manufacturing competitiveness and will detail how we intend to boost R&D, skills, and fast track adoption of new manufacturing technologies here in the UK.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he has commissioned a cost-benefit analysis on providing additional support to prevent the closure of key strategic steel plants.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Our commitment to the steel industry remains unwavering. On Sunday 16 February we published a consultation on our Plan for Steel. Along with work already ongoing across Government, this will provide a clear evidence base on the needs of the steel sector and its customers. This work will ensure the best use of our funding commitment of up to £2.5bn to deliver change and unlock private investment, ensuring a bright and sustainable future for UK steelmaking.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that residents of Ashfield constituency are able to access essential postal services.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government provides an annual £50m Network Subsidy funding to support the delivery of a minimum number of Post Office branches and a geographical spread of these branches in line with published access criteria. This requires 99% of the UK population to be within three miles of their nearest Post Office outlet. The Government-set Access Criteria ensures that however the network changes, services remain within local reach of all citizens, including those living in the Ashfield constituency.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent discussions he has had with the Post Office on maintaining local post office services.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Secretary of State and I have met with the CEO and Chair of Post Office Limited to ensure that Post Office delivers for postmasters and its communities. We recently met with the Post Office Chair, Nigel Railton, and discussed his proposals for the future of the company before Mr Railton announced Post Office's Transformation Plan on 13th November. While Post Office has the freedom to make commercial decisions regarding the composition of its network, Government sets the parameters for the Post Office to operate in.
Government protects the branch network by setting minimum access criteria which require 99% of the UK population to be within three miles of their nearest Post Office outlet. The access criteria ensure that however the network changes, services remain within local reach of all citizens.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
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 increasing the minimum wage on SMEs; and whether she plans to provide additional support to SMEs.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
This Government remains committed to helping small businesses thrive and will be publishing our Small Business Strategy next year. This will set out our vision for all small businesses, from boosting scale-ups to growing the co-operative economy. It will address key policy areas such as creating thriving high streets, making it easier to access finance, opening overseas and domestic markets, building business capabilities, and providing a strong business environment.
We will publish an Impact Assessment alongside the legislation that implements the increase to the National Living Wage. We estimate that over 3 million workers will receive a pay rise due to the increase in the National Living Wage in April 2025.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to paragraph 5.141 of the Autumn Budget 2024, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of increasing the National Living Wage on the economy.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
We will publish an Impact Assessment alongside the legislation that implements the increase to the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage in April 2025.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to help support pubs in Ashfield constituency.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Pubs, including those in Ashfield, are at the heart of our communities and vital for economic growth. That is why the Government is creating a fairer business rate system by introducing permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure businesses from 2026-27 and extending the current relief for 1 year at 40%.
The government is also reducing alcohol duty on qualifying draught products, representing an overall reduction in duty bills of over £85m a year.
We will transform the apprenticeship levy into a more flexible growth and skills levy to better support business and boost opportunity for people to work in Pubs.
Through the Hospitality Sector Council, we are addressing strategic issues for the sector related to high street regeneration, skills, sustainability, and productivity.