Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
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 pubs with operating costs in Eastleigh constituency.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
My department works closely with hospitality businesses to assess impact of rising operating costs across energy, staffing, compliance and taxation.
This includes regular engagement with the sector, including through the Hospitality Sector Council which provides a formal forum to co-create solutions to pressures facing the industry.
We also maintain regular engagement with trade bodies such as UKHospitality and the British Beer and Pub Association, as well as colleagues across government, to ensure that policy decisions are informed by the latest evidence and genuinely support the sector’s long-term stability.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
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 assessing the beer market to determine potential structural barriers preventing small brewers from accessing pubs.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government recognises that independent breweries are essential to the diversity and character of our pubs. We have conducted a review of the beer market to determine whether there are any structural barriers preventing small breweries, the findings from which are currently being considered by ministers.
We’ve introduced a Hospitality Support Scheme to co-fund projects aligned with Department for Business & Trade and Hospitality Sector Council priorities, such as supporting initiatives like investing £440,000 to help rural pubs diversify as community hubs, delivered with Pub is The Hub to unlock over 40 stalled projects.
We also maintain regular engagement with trade bodies such as Society of Independent Brewers, as well as colleagues across government, to ensure that policy decisions are informed by the latest evidence and genuinely support the sector’s long-term stability.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
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 promote the growth of independent brewers in Eastleigh constituency.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government recognises that independent breweries are essential to the diversity and character of our pubs. We have conducted a review of the beer market to determine whether there are any structural barriers preventing small breweries, the findings from which are currently being considered by ministers.
We’ve introduced a Hospitality Support Scheme to co-fund projects aligned with Department for Business & Trade and Hospitality Sector Council priorities, such as supporting initiatives like investing £440,000 to help rural pubs diversify as community hubs, delivered with Pub is The Hub to unlock over 40 stalled projects.
We also maintain regular engagement with trade bodies such as Society of Independent Brewers, as well as colleagues across government, to ensure that policy decisions are informed by the latest evidence and genuinely support the sector’s long-term stability.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
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 improve the clarity of guidance available to individuals applying for non-disclosure of address orders in insolvency cases.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Insolvency Service has published guidance on the government website www.gov.uk to explain how an individual can apply for a Person at Risk of Violence order (PARV order) to prevent their address being disclosed in insolvency cases. The guidance relates to bankruptcy applications. The only amendment currently being made to this guidance removes references to a fee being payable to the court when a PARV order application is made.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to monitor the level of administrative charges by Royal Mail applied to unstamped mail.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Royal Mail is an independent business. The government does not have a role in its operational decisions. The operation and administration of Royal Mail’s products and services, including stamps and associated surcharges, is a matter for the business. This includes the authority to apply administrative charges to unstamped mail.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
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 merits of extending the Armed Forces Covenant Duty across his Departmental responsibilities.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government’s election manifesto committed to placing the Armed Forces Covenant fully into law. During Armed Forces week in June, the Prime Minister announced that Military personnel, veterans, their families and the bereaved are to have their unique circumstances legally protected by central and devolved governments for the first time under new plans to extend the Covenant Legal Duty to more policy areas and across the UK.
The Covenant Legal Duty will now be extended from three policy areas to encompass 14 policy areas in a much broader scope. The policy areas are healthcare, education, housing, social care, childcare, employment and service in the Armed Forces, personal taxation, welfare benefits, criminal justice, immigration, citizenship, pensions, service-related compensation and transport. The Government aims to make the changes in the next Armed Forces Bill, anticipated in 2026.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he has had discussions with (a) tea industry representatives, (b) Fairtrade organisations and (c) international partners on ensuring that tea (i) farmers and (ii) other workers receive a living wage in (A) Kenya and (B) other producing countries.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
No, we have had no such specific discussions, but we actively engage with Kenyan counterparts and remain committed to promoting fair trade and workers' rights, including decent working conditions and living wages.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 13 October 2025 to Question 77729 on Horizon IT System: Compensation, whether his Department has a timeline for when this process will be available to claimants.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is committed to ensuring that postmasters receive full and fair financial redress as quickly as possible. While we are not yet able to confirm a specific timeline due to the complexity of these cases where there is no evidence of shortfalls, work is progressing at pace. Work is underway to resolve claims where postmasters are awaiting Fixed Sum Offers under the Horizon Shortfall Scheme due to a lack of available data to verify that shortfalls occurred.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what estimate he has made of the number of high-skilled jobs that will be created through the Life Sciences Sector Plan; and what steps he is taking to ensure that these will be distributed across regions.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Life Sciences Sector Plan sets out a long-term vision to grow the UK's life sciences sector and create high-skilled jobs nationwide. In 2023/24, the sector employed almost 360,000 people across the UK. Around 60% of employment in the sector is based at companies registered outside of the London and South East regions. Many actions in the Plan - including a £520m innovative manufacturing fund - are designed to create and safeguard high-skilled, high-wage jobs. Our funds have already delivered over 1,900 jobs, with significantly more expected as the £520m scheme progresses. We will keep working with industry to address priority skills gaps.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department plans to review the exemption of small care companies from submitting audited accounts under section 477 of the Companies Act 2006.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government has delivered legislation which has increased the monetary size thresholds for micro-entities, small, medium-sized and large companies. This has extended access to the small companies audit exemption to 14,000 companies reclassified from being medium-sized to small. Together, the measures in this legislation are already saving UK businesses £240 million per year.
The Government is continuing to work to identify reforms to company reporting and audit requirements to reduce the administrative burden of regulation. We will consult further in due course.