Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to her Department's transparency data publication entitled DBT: spending over £25,000 for March 2023, for what purpose her Department spent at IPSOS (Market Research) Ltd (a) £45,000 on 24 March 2023, (b) £11,500 on 27 March 2023, (c) £16,850 on 27 March 2023, (d) £15,550 on 28 March 2023 and (e) £33,350 on 30 March 2023.

Payment b) of £11,500 and payment c) of £16,850 both relate to monitoring and evaluation of the Department for Business & Trade's (DBT) work in building resilience into the UK’s supply chains. Payment a) of £45,000 and payment d) of £15,550 both relate to research to enhance DBT's services to exporters. Payment e) of £33,350 relates to research to understand how businesses use unregistered design rights to protect their intellectual.