Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department plans to take to maximise the value for money from public funding for the steel industry over the next five years.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is developing a steel strategy, in partnership with the steel sector and trade unions, that will set out a long-term vision for steel and create opportunities for public and private investment.
We have committed to providing up to £2.5bn for steel which will be available through the National Wealth Fund and other routes. This is in addition to the £500m for Tata at Port Talbot steelworks. When designing how best to invest this money, we will consider a range of factors, including leveraging private sector investment and making the UK a great place to invest.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what estimate his Department has made of the potential impact of public funding for the steel industry on levels of private-sector investment in that industry in each of the next five years.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is developing a steel strategy, in partnership with the steel sector and trade unions, that will set out a long-term vision for steel and create opportunities for public and private investment.
We have committed to providing up to £2.5bn for steel which will be available through the National Wealth Fund and other routes. This is in addition to the £500m for Tata at Port Talbot steelworks. When designing how best to invest this money, we will consider a range of factors, including leveraging private sector investment and making the UK a great place to invest.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department plans to take to ensure value for money from additional funding allocated to the aerospace sector in the next five years.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Budget confirmed £975m over 5 years to the Aerospace sector. Industry led applications for R&D co-investment from the ATI Programme enter a competitive process. Competition for funding is fierce and only the best projects are selected: those that offer real innovation, reduced emissions and tangible economic benefits to the UK. Each application is subject to a value for money assessment by DBT economists, which underpins the estimated benefits from the Programme of at least £20bn of further private investment to 2040 and abatement of 125 MtCO2 of UK attributable global aviation CO2 emissions.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how much private investment he expects from the additional funding allocated to the aerospace sector in the next five years.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Budget confirmed £975m over 5 years to the Aerospace sector. This provides continued stability and confidence for industry to invest in long-term R&D projects – delivering economic growth, supporting high skilled jobs across all parts of the UK, and advancing aviation’s net zero transition. Between 2013/14 and 2029/30, industry and government will invest over £5bn developing transformational aircraft technology. Long-term R&D co-investment is a core pillar of the Aerospace Growth Partnership’s 2022 strategy, where the UK sector committed to invest at least £20bn of further private investment to 2040 and abate 125 MtCO2 of UK attributable global aviation CO2 emissions.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department plans to take to ensure value for money from additional funding allocated to the automotive sector in the next five years.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Budget committed over £2bn to 2030 for zero-emission vehicle manufacturing and their supply chains. This will build on the current Automotive Transformation Fund (ATF) and Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC) programmes to drive economic growth and support high-value jobs, unlocking billions of pounds of private investment in the UK’s automotive industry and R&D innovation ecosystem.
As with the ATF and APC programmes, all future investment will be fully assessed on a strategic, technical, commercial, financial and economic basis – including consideration of future job creation. The economic assessment ensures value for money is consistent with HMT Green Book best practice.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to his Department's publication entitled Invest 2035: The UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy, published in October 2024, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of economic performance of sectors included in that strategy since 2019-20.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The methodology for determining the eight growth-driving sectors is outlined in the Invest 2035 Green Paper. This included assessing historic trends since 2019-20, such as gross value added and productivity, at Standard Industrial Classification-2 level where data was available. The Government complemented this with wider internal and external data sources such as specialist industry reports and qualitative assessments, particularly in emerging subsectors where historic data is unavailable. Government will continue to draw in evidence such as sector performance and employment trends using responses to the Green Paper consultation questions; engagement with external stakeholders such as businesses, local leaders, academic experts; and other data sources.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what his export controls policy priorities are.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Secretary of State for Scotland
The Government’s export controls regime protects global security by restricting who has access to sensitive technologies and capabilities, ensuring UK exports do not contribute to WMD proliferation, a destabilising accumulation of conventional weapons, or are used to commit or facilitate internal repression or a serious violation of international humanitarian law. Our priorities for export controls policy include:
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, on how many occasions the Export Controls Joint Unit has initiated a Change in Circumstances Review assessment since January 2020; and what the destination country was in each case.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Secretary of State for Scotland
The Export Control Joint Unit (ECJU) has in place an established process for responding at pace to changing conditions in a country where the UK has previously granted export licences, and where those licences remain extant.
The FCDO advises DBT on the situation in country and the risks this poses with respect to the UK’s export control responsibilities. The MOD advises DBT on the risks of diversion of exported goods and national security risks arising from hostile state activity. The Department of Business and Trade, with DBT Secretary of State as the decision-making authority, decides whether to amend, suspend or revoke any relevant licences.
Given its diplomatic sensitivity, the Government is unable to disclose the specific number and destination countries of Change in Circumstances Reviews.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, when he plans to publish the UK Strategic Export Controls Annual Report 2023.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Secretary of State for Scotland
The UK Strategic Export Controls Annual Report 2023 is due to be published by the end of this year. It will be laid before Parliament and made available on Gov.uk at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/united-kingdom-strategic-export-controls-annual-report.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what the cost is of legal fees related to Post Office IT Horizon redress paid to external law firms by (a) scheme and (b) firm.
Answered by Gareth Thomas
The Department for Business and Trade delivers the Group Litigation Order (GLO) scheme and the recently-launched Horizon Convictions Redress Scheme (HCRS).
Since the launch of the GLO scheme in March 2023, a total of c.£2.9 million has been spent on legal advice to the Department on settling the redress claims of postmasters in the GLO scheme. A further c.£12.5 million has been spent on support for victims’ legal fees.
Since the launch of the HCRS scheme in July 2024, a total of c.£100k has been spent on legal services to the Department in the setting up of the HCRS scheme. Approximately c.£360k has been spent on victims’ legal fees.
A detailed breakdown of legal fees paid by law firm and scheme is provided below:
Horizon Convictions Redress Scheme (HCRS)
Victims’ legal costs £000 | |
Hudgell Solicitors | £360 |
Sub-total: Victims’ legal costs | £360 |
The Department’s legal costs £000 | |
Addleshaw Goddard LLP | £45 |
Dentons UK & Middle East LLP | £55 |
Sub-total: The Department’s legal costs | £100 |
Total legal fees under HCRS £000 | £460 |
Group Litigation Order Scheme (GLO)
Victims’ legal costs £000 | |
Freeths LLP | £10,888 |
Howe and Co Solicitors | £1,545 |
Other: under £30k per supplier | £52 |
Sub-total: Victims’ legal costs | £12,485 |
The Department’s legal costs £000 | |
Addleshaw Goddard LLP | £1,675 |
Dentons UK and Middle East LLP | £1,060 |
Secondees contracted to Government Legal Department | £121 |
Sub-total: The Department’s legal costs | £2,925 |
Total legal fees under GLO £000 | £15,410 |
The figures above exclude recoverable VAT. Figures from April 2023 are subject to audit and may change.
On the Overturned Convictions (OC) & Historical Shortfalls (HSS) schemes, this is a matter for the Post Office. I have asked them to write to my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Member for Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North, and a copy of their correspondence will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.