Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what she is taking to help ensure that new parents are able to take the (a) maternity and (b) paternity leave that they are entitled to in the context of the rising cost of living.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK has a generous system of parental leave and pay entitlements which include Maternity and Paternity Leave and Pay.
The standard rate of Statutory Maternity Pay and Paternity Pay is reviewed annually. Subject to parliamentary approval, from April 2024, it will increase by 6.7% from £172.48 to £184.03.
Statutory parental payments are designed to offer a degree of earnings replacement and have never been intended to fully replace lost earnings. The Government also has provisions in place such as tax credits, child benefit and Universal Credit, which provide support with the cost of raising children.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps her Department is taking to support businesses to export.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government’s Export Strategy, ‘Made in the UK, Sold to the World’, supports businesses through a 12 point plan which targets barriers to trade and helps them at every stage of their export journey.
My Department supports companies through its network of domestic and overseas trade advisers, sector specialists, the Export Support Service, and the Export Academy, as well as UK Export Finance (UKEF) which ensures that no viable UK export fails for lack of finance or insurance.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to support UK car manufacturing.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
DBT Secretary of State and her ministerial team regularly engage with Cabinet colleagues to discuss measures to support the UK automotive sector’s successful transition to electric vehicles.
The Government is committed to securing investment into the automotive sector, which will play an important role in levelling up across the UK and driving down emissions to net zero by 2050.
The Government supports an industry-led transition to Net Zero and it continues to work with global investors via the Automotive Transformation Fund (ATF) to unlock private investment to build an internationally competitive electric vehicle supply chain.