Asked by: Zöe Franklin (Liberal Democrat - Guildford)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department has had discussions with Electronic Arts on the potential impact of its proposed acquisition by PIF, Silver Lake and Affinity Partners on the level of jobs and investment in the UK.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade) (Jointly with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Under competition law, responsibility for investigating the impact of mergers and acquisitions on competition falls to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the UK’s independent competition authority. The government has ensured that the CMA has significant powers and expertise to investigate the benefits and risks of mergers in relation to competition.
In some cases Ministers can intervene on public interest grounds, but these are limited to matters relating to financial stability, media plurality and public health emergencies.
Asked by: Zöe Franklin (Liberal Democrat - Guildford)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he plans to review evidence on chemical exposure from plastic baby products, including feeding bottles, dummies and teethers; and if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the regulatory framework for those products.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Minister of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)
The Government takes the safety of baby products seriously and has robust regulations in place requiring that all products placed on the UK market are safe. Specific rules exist under product safety and chemicals regulations, to address chemical exposure from plastic baby products, and these are kept under review.
More generally, the Government's consultation on reforming the core Product Safety Framework closed on 23 June 2026, and we will be considering all feedback received as part of that process, including any evidence presented on the regulation of these products.
Asked by: Zöe Franklin (Liberal Democrat - Guildford)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he plans to introduce legislation to prohibit the automatic addition of service charges to customer bills.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Minister of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)
The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers (DMCCA) Act 2024 requires traders to display prices inclusive of all taxes and unavoidable charges before payment is made. Prices must be accurate and not misleading. Failure to do this may be taken as an unfair trading practice and constitute an offence.
It should always be clear on the bill, or in communication with staff, whether any tip automatically added to the bill is optional or mandatory for the consumer to pay. If it is an optional payment, there should be no pressure to agree it.
Customers can be assured that all tips, gratuities and service charges must be passed on the workers who have earned them, rather than being retained by employers.
The department does not have any plans to introduce further legislation on this matter.
Asked by: Zöe Franklin (Liberal Democrat - Guildford)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment she has made of the reliability of the Companies House online service for issuing Director Identification Numbers; and what steps are being taken to address technical issues that prevent users from obtaining the required credentials.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade) (Jointly with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Companies House is committed to providing robust digital services to its customers. Since April 2025, over two million individuals have successfully proven their identity and successfully received personal codes (referred to as Director Identification Numbers in this correspondence).
A small number of users have been impacted by technical issues. Companies House has worked closely to iterate services based on user feedback and experience. If the individual is continuing to experience issues, we would advise they contact Companies House directly so that their issues can investigated and supported accordingly.
Asked by: Zöe Franklin (Liberal Democrat - Guildford)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will suspend financial penalties and other enforcement action for non-compliance with Companies House filing requirements while the online Director Identification Number service remains subject to operational faults.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade) (Jointly with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Over two million individuals have successfully used the new systems. It is recognised that issues have arisen impacting some users. Companies House is working continuously to iterate services based on user feedback and experience.
Any enforcement action we take will be in line with our compliance and enforcement framework. Companies in default will have an opportunity to make representations. Where non-compliance can be attributed to technical issues outside of their control, then we will usually pause enforcement for a period of time.
Asked by: Zöe Franklin (Liberal Democrat - Guildford)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department has had recent discussions with Royal Mail on the timeliness of their deliveries of (a) penalty charge notices, (b) NHS appointment letters, (c) other time-sensitive and (d) other legally important correspondence; and whether he has made a recent assessment of the potential impact of that level of timeliness on people receiving those communications.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade) (Jointly with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Ministers and officials have discussions with Royal Mail on a regular basis in its capacity as the universal service provider.
It is for Ofcom, as the independent regulator of postal services, to set and monitor Royal Mail’s service standards and decide how to use its powers to investigate and take enforcement action should Royal Mail fail to achieve its obligations without good justification.