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 support the use of blockchain technologies in (a) trade, (b) commerce, (c) logistics and (d) supply chains.

The Department for Business and Trade supports the adoption and deployment of technologies to increase productivity in these areas. The upcoming Industrial Strategy will set out our vision and the ambitious set of actions we will take, in partnership with business and academia, to support the tech sector and power the economy of the future. The Industrial Strategy, alongside the upcoming Trade Strategy, will also set out further detail on the steps we are taking to enhance supply chain resilience.

As well, the Department for Transport will publish a new freight plan later this year. While currently under development, we anticipate this will consider the role of technology in enabling the sector to boost economic growth.