Asked by: Lewis Cocking (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, when he plans to publish a response to the Statutory review of Pubs Code and Pubs Code Adjudicator 2022 to 2025.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The third statutory review covering the period 1 April 2022 – 31 March 2025 is in progress and the government’s report will be published as soon as practicable. My officials are currently analysing the evidence collected from last year’s call for evidence and from other publicly available sources. Stakeholder responses to the call for evidence have greatly assisted my officials in identifying emerging themes and are further informing the review’s content. I am grateful for the helpful input provided by stakeholders and will continue to engage with them in taking forward the conclusions to the review.
Asked by: Lewis Cocking (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to regulate pub-owning companies and breweries with fewer than 500 tied tenants.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government currently has no plans to consider regulating pub owning companies with less than 500 tied tenants, or to regulate breweries. Pub owning businesses that don’t meet the qualifying threshold for the Pubs Code can, however, join a voluntary scheme administered by the Pub Governing Body. This scheme, also known as the Voluntary Pubs Code, provides signatories with a dispute resolution service and fair methods of determining rent by an independent expert.
Asked by: Lewis Cocking (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 3 December 2024 to Question 15845 on Small Businesses: Recruitment, when he plans to publish the small business strategy.
Answered by Gareth Thomas
The Government will publish a Small Business Strategy Paper later this year.
This will set out the Government’s vision for all small businesses, from boosting scale-ups to growing the co-operative economy, across key policy areas such as creating thriving high streets, making it easier to access finance, opening up overseas and domestic markets, building business capabilities, and providing a strong business environment.
The paper will complement the Government’s forthcoming Industrial Strategy and Trade Strategy.
Asked by: Lewis Cocking (Conservative - Broxbourne)
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 small businesses to recruit new employees.
Answered by Gareth Thomas
Our forthcoming Small Business Strategy will reaffirm our long-term support for small businesses and outline our vision for boosting scale-ups and helping all types of business to thrive and grow. This strategy will empower business owners and entrepreneurs to innovate, export, and create jobs across their regions.
In addition, as confirmed in the autumn Budget the Government has taken steps to protect small businesses by increasing the Employment Allowance to £10,500. This measure will help small businesses in particular - in 2024 small businesses (with 0-49 employees) make up 99.2% of the total business population.
Asked by: Lewis Cocking (Conservative - Broxbourne)
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 opening a banking hub in Broxbourne constituency.
Answered by Gareth Thomas
The Government understands the importance of face-to-face banking to communities and high streets and is committed to championing sufficient access for all.
We have committed to work closely with banks to roll out at least 350 banking hubs. That rollout is overseen by Cash Access UK (CAUK). LINK (the operator of the UK’s largest ATM network) assesses a community’s needs for access to cash in the event of the closure of a core cash service or if LINK receives a request directly from a community.