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 adequacy of the level of support provided to businesses in Bolsover constituency by UK Export Finance.

Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

In its role as the UK’s export credit agency, UK Export Finance has a range of products designed to support exporters or businesses in the whole of the UK with export potential. In 2024/25, UKEF provided £14.5 billion in support for UK exports. Earlier this financial year, UKEF provided a sizeable guarantee through its Bond Support Scheme to a business in nearby Shirebrook to support its export of freight wagons to Ireland. UKEF’s full product suite can be found at: www.ukexportfinance.gov.uk/products-and-services/.

UKEF also has a network of export finance managers (EFMs) around the whole country who are valuable points of contact for local businesses and can provide information on the range of support available. Contact details for the Derbyshire EFM, and others can be found at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/find-an-export-finance-manager.

Businesses in Bolsover and across the country seeking to sell overseas can also access support from the Department and Business and Trade, such as our network of International Trade Advisors and guidance on GREAT.GOV.UK'.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of illicit tobacco on annual revenues to corner shops.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government has dedicated significant resource to tackling illicit tobacco and has set out its approach to doing so in successive strategies dating back to 2000. These strategies have been highly effective in reducing the estimated duty gap for cigarettes from 16.9% in 2005 to 10.5% in 2023/24 and for hand-rolling tobacco from 65.2% to 22.9% over the same period. In the tax year 2023 to 2024, the duty gap for tobacco duty was 13.8% of the theoretical tobacco duty liability, or £1.4 billion in absolute terms.

HMRC publishes annual data on seizures, criminal investigations and civil penalties related to tobacco. Between April 2024 and March 2025, HMRC and Border Force seized 1.19bn cigarettes and 125,088kg of hand-rolling tobacco.

In January 2024, HMRC and Border Force published the latest illicit tobacco strategy, ‘Stubbing Out the Problem [1]’. This sets out the Governments’ continued commitment to reduce the trade in illicit tobacco with a focus on reducing demand, and to tackle and disrupt the organised crime groups behind the illicit tobacco trade.

The strategy is supported by £100 million of new smokefree funding over 5 years to boost existing HMRC and Border Force enforcement capability.

HMRC has not specifically assessed the impact of illicit tobacco on the annual revenues of corner shops.

[ 1 ] Stubbing out the problem: A new strategy to tackle illicit tobacco - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to help tackle the sale of illicit tobacco.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government has dedicated significant resource to tackling illicit tobacco and has set out its approach to doing so in successive strategies dating back to 2000. These strategies have been highly effective in reducing the estimated duty gap for cigarettes from 16.9% in 2005 to 10.5% in 2023/24 and for hand-rolling tobacco from 65.2% to 22.9% over the same period. In the tax year 2023 to 2024, the duty gap for tobacco duty was 13.8% of the theoretical tobacco duty liability, or £1.4 billion in absolute terms.

HMRC publishes annual data on seizures, criminal investigations and civil penalties related to tobacco. Between April 2024 and March 2025, HMRC and Border Force seized 1.19bn cigarettes and 125,088kg of hand-rolling tobacco.

In January 2024, HMRC and Border Force published the latest illicit tobacco strategy, ‘Stubbing Out the Problem [1]’. This sets out the Governments’ continued commitment to reduce the trade in illicit tobacco with a focus on reducing demand, and to tackle and disrupt the organised crime groups behind the illicit tobacco trade.

The strategy is supported by £100 million of new smokefree funding over 5 years to boost existing HMRC and Border Force enforcement capability.

HMRC has not specifically assessed the impact of illicit tobacco on the annual revenues of corner shops.

[ 1 ] Stubbing out the problem: A new strategy to tackle illicit tobacco - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of withdrawing funding for level 7 apprenticeships on the number of people completing these apprenticeships.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

This government has a driving mission to break down barriers to opportunity.

From January 2026 the government will no longer fund level 7 apprenticeships except for young apprentices under the age of 22 and those under 25 who are care leavers or have an Education, Health and Care Plan. This will enable apprenticeships opportunities to be rebalanced towards young people and create more opportunities for those entering the labour market, who need skills and training to get on in their careers. All current level 7 apprentices and any who start before 1 January 2026 will be funded through to completion.

This decision was informed by a wide range of evidence, including Skills England’s analysis of official apprenticeship statistics and engagement with a wide range of stakeholders. Skills England’s evidence suggested there was unlikely to be a significant or unavoidable fall in the supply of these skills in the long term, post-defunding.

We are encouraging more employers to invest in upskilling their staff over 22 to level 7 where it delivers a benefit to the business and the individual. It will be for employers to determine the most appropriate training. There are alternative training options available to employers at level 7 including non-apprenticeship routes.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate she has made of the average number of weeks that learner drivers are waiting to take their driving test in Derbyshire; and what steps she is taking to reduce this.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) main priority is upholding road safety standards while it works hard to reduce car practical driving test waiting times.

The driving test centres (DTC) that serve candidates in the Derbyshire area are Derby, Chesterfield, Worksop, Ashfield and Buxton. The current average waiting time in weeks for a car practical driving test at these DTCs is 24 weeks.

Average waiting times are measured by calculating, at a full-time test centre level, the first week in the 24-week booking window where at least 10% of slots released to the public are available to book.

DVSA is continuing with recruitment campaigns across the country to provide as many tests as possible. Since July last year, DVSA has recruited and trained 290 driving examiners (DE) who are now in post and delivering driving tests. A full-time DE can be expected to add approximately 1,200 tests per year to the booking system.

From recent recruitment in Derbyshire, one new entrant DE, following successful completion of training, will join Derby DTC. A further DE is also transferring into this test centre at the beginning of November.

A new DE started in July at Chesterfield DTC and a further two new entrants are waiting to start their training course. DVSA also has a new entrant DE awaiting a training course for Worksop.

At Ashfield DTC a new DE started in August, with a further new entrant starting on 6 October. A further three new entrants are also awaiting to start their training course. DVSA has also recruited four new entrant DEs for Buxton DTC and they are delivering driving tests.

Found: Leigh) Rosie Duffield (Independent; Canterbury) Kirith Entwistle (Labour; Bolton North East) Natalie Fleet

Found: and Leigh) Rosie Duffield (Independent; Canterbury) Kirith Entwistle (Labour; Bolton North East) Natalie Fleet

Found: The move delivers on the long-term campaign of Natalie Fleet MP, Baroness Harman and Jess Asato MP and