Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to his Department’s press release entitled Business Secretary backs British scaleups with growth package and red tape review, published on 20 January 2026, whether Octopus Energy’s compliance with capital requirements was considered when approving investment in Kraken Technologies.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department for Business and Trade sets the overall strategic direction for the British Business Bank, which is operationally independent and carries out its own due diligence. The Department was informed by the Bank of its investment in Kraken Technologies on 7 January 2026, after the investment decision had been taken and the terms agreed.
The Department does not seek to assess the merits of individual investments within the Bank's portfolio. This includes company valuation, the position of other investors, or the other matters raised some of which are the responsibility of other public bodies.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the Department for Business and Trade’s press release entitled Business Secretary backs British scaleups with growth package and red tape review, published on 20 January 2026, whether he made an assessment of the adequacy of the availability of private‑sector investment for Kraken Technologies before providing funding.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department for Business and Trade sets the overall strategic direction for the British Business Bank, which is operationally independent and carries out its own due diligence. The Department was informed by the Bank of its investment in Kraken Technologies on 7 January 2026, after the investment decision had been taken and the terms agreed.
The Department does not seek to assess the merits of individual investments within the Bank's portfolio. This includes company valuation, the position of other investors, or the other matters raised some of which are the responsibility of other public bodies.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to his Department’s press release entitled Business Secretary backs British scaleups with growth package and red tape review, published on 20 January 2026, whether his Department assessed Kraken Technologies’ financial position and capital-raising capacity prior to approving funding.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department for Business and Trade sets the overall strategic direction for the British Business Bank, which is operationally independent and carries out its own due diligence. The Department was informed by the Bank of its investment in Kraken Technologies on 7 January 2026, after the investment decision had been taken and the terms agreed.
The Department does not seek to assess the merits of individual investments within the Bank's portfolio. This includes company valuation, the position of other investors, or the other matters raised some of which are the responsibility of other public bodies.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to his Department’s press release entitled Business Secretary backs British scaleups with growth package and red tape review, published on 20 January 2026, what assessment he has made of the financial risks associated with investing in Kraken Technologies.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department for Business and Trade sets the overall strategic direction for the British Business Bank, which is operationally independent and carries out its own due diligence. The Department was informed by the Bank of its investment in Kraken Technologies on 7 January 2026, after the investment decision had been taken and the terms agreed.
The Department does not seek to assess the merits of individual investments within the Bank's portfolio. This includes company valuation, the position of other investors, or the other matters raised some of which are the responsibility of other public bodies.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to his Department’s press release entitled Business Secretary backs British scaleups with growth package and red tape review, published on 20 January 2026, what valuation of Kraken Technologies was used when determining the investment.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department for Business and Trade sets the overall strategic direction for the British Business Bank, which is operationally independent and carries out its own due diligence. The Department was informed by the Bank of its investment in Kraken Technologies on 7 January 2026, after the investment decision had been taken and the terms agreed.
The Department does not seek to assess the merits of individual investments within the Bank's portfolio. This includes company valuation, the position of other investors, or the other matters raised some of which are the responsibility of other public bodies.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what support his Department is providing to small and medium-sized exporters to maintain tariff relief secured under the US-UK Economic Prosperity Deal.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
It was this government that got the first trade deal with the US, protecting British jobs and saving people money. We remain the only country to have secured a 10% tariff on cars within quota, agreed a 0% tariff on pharmaceutical exports to the US, and avoided the 50% global steel and aluminium tariff.
The Department for Business and Trade has integrated its support for SMEs in a single, accessible place – the Business Growth Service – designed to help businesses across the UK start, scale, and succeed globally. UK businesses can access guidance on exporting, including to the US, via business.gov.uk.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what the cost was of his Department's initiatives aimed at reducing official travel emissions in 2024–25, including behavioural programmes, reporting systems and policy compliance activity.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Records are not held that identify the cost of the Department's initiatives aimed at reducing official travel emissions including behavioural programmes, reporting systems and policy compliance activity.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Sheffield (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Smith of Malvern on 16 September 2025 (UIN HL10060), what plans they have to amend the International Education Strategy; and what the anticipated timeline for the publication of a revised strategy is.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The government’s International Education Strategy (IES) was launched on 20 January 2026.
The strategy backs UK providers at all levels to expand overseas, strengthening global partnerships and giving millions more students access to a world-class UK education on their doorstep, all whilst boosting growth at home. It sets a clear ambition to grow the value of education exports to £40 billion a year by 2030.
We want to increase the UK’s international standing through education and make the UK the global partner of choice at every stage of learning. The IES is now co-owned between the Department for Education, the Department for Business and Trade and the Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to table SOPS 1.1 from the Department's 2024/5 Annual Report and Accounts, what categories of spending are covered by the total of £1,497,088,000 covering administration and programme expenditure in Section A - Department for Business and Trade (Departmental Expenditure Limits).
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The breakdown of Estimate line ‘A DBT – Department for Business and Trade (DEL)’ for RDEL outturn of £1,497,088,000 for 2024-25 is:
| DBT Core (£000) | Insolvency Service (£000) | Companies House (£000) | Total (£000) |
Current grants to persons and non-profit (net) | 113,123 | - | - | 113,123 |
Depreciation | 26,664 | 6,421 | 7,974 | 41,059 |
Income from sales of goods and services | (989) | (2,300) | (432) | (3,721) |
Other resource | (60,019) | (43,993) | (203,517) | (307,529) |
Purchase of goods and services | 418,404 | 42,356 | 48,403 | 509,163 |
Rentals | 315 | 277 | - | 592 |
Staff costs | 535,964 | 100,991 | 88,783 | 725,738 |
Subsidies to private sector companies | 150,680 | - | - | 150,680 |
Subsidies to public corporations | 240,951 | - | - | 240,951 |
Change in pension scheme liabilities | 228 | - | - | 228 |
Current grants abroad (net) | 8,622 | - | - | 8,622 |
Current grants to local government (net) | 18,181 | - | - | 18,181 |
| 1,452,124 | 103,752 | (58,789) | 1,497,0871 |
1Difference between this figure and figure in SOPS due to rounding.
Asked by: Josh Babarinde (Liberal Democrat - Eastbourne)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what data she holds on (a) which animals are currently affected by the current legal noise level of fireworks and (b) how are they affected.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Department does not hold data on which animals are affected by the current legal noise level of fireworks or how they are affected.
However, the Government is continuing to engage with animal welfare stakeholders, businesses, consumer groups and charities on the impacts of fireworks, to inform any future action.
On 20 January, Baroness Hayman of Ullock, the Minister responsible for animal welfare, met with the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Business and Trade, Minister Kate Dearden (Halifax) who is responsible for Employment Rights and Consumer Protection, to discuss lowering the decibel level of fireworks.