Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government what measures they are taking to support industrial competitiveness and manage price pressures.

Through our modern Industrial Strategy we are making it easier and simpler for companies to do business, giving them the stability to make long-term investments. We are proactively dealing with the challenges businesses face, expanding access to finance, supporting skills and access to talent, and transitioning to cheaper energy through our clean power mission.

We are reducing the administrative costs of regulation on businesses by 25% this Parliament, and we have already identified £1.5bn of administrative burden savings. To crowd in the private investment crucial for firms starting and scaling, we are providing the British Business Bank with £4bn additional capital to support investment into the Industrial Strategy’s eight growth-driving sectors. The new British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme (BICS) aims to reduce electricity costs by c.£35/MWh for over 7,000 manufacturing businesses, bringing prices closer to those in other major European economies. The consultation on BICS closed on 19 January and the Government will confirm details of scheme design and eligibility in due course, ahead of an April 2027 launch date.