Asked by: Baroness Coffey (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many civil servants are employed through skilled worker visas in the Department for Business and Trade.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The requested data is not held centrally in a reportable format.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether evidence or representations from stakeholders in Northern Ireland have been considered by the Motor Insurance Taskforce; and what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the Northern Ireland insurance market, including differences in (a) pricing, (b) claims costs and (c) legal frameworks.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The work of the motor insurance taskforce focused on issues and concerns associated with the cost of insurance premiums and claims that are shared across the UK.
The taskforce heard representations that some of the unique features of the motor insurance market in Northern Ireland have led to increasing costs there. Some of those, such as road safety and costs associated with taking claims through the judicial system, are devolved matters for the Northern Ireland Executive to consider. The government will continue to work constructively with the Executive on relevant areas of policy.
The taskforce met for the first time on 16 October 2024 and subsequently met on 28 April 2025 and 21 July 2025, which was the final meeting of the taskforce. Taskforce members were the Home Office, Ministry of Justice, Department for Education, Department for Business and Trade, Financial Conduct Authority and the Competition and Markets Authority as well as the Department for Transport and HM Treasury, who were the co-chairs.
We do not plan to publish the minutes or summaries of meetings as they cover the formulation and development of ‘live’ government policy and to do so would hinder future policy development as it could inhibit a free exchange of views.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many times the Motor Insurance Taskforce met since its establishment; on what dates those meetings took place; which organisations and departments were represented; and whether she plans to publish minutes or summaries from those meetings.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The work of the motor insurance taskforce focused on issues and concerns associated with the cost of insurance premiums and claims that are shared across the UK.
The taskforce heard representations that some of the unique features of the motor insurance market in Northern Ireland have led to increasing costs there. Some of those, such as road safety and costs associated with taking claims through the judicial system, are devolved matters for the Northern Ireland Executive to consider. The government will continue to work constructively with the Executive on relevant areas of policy.
The taskforce met for the first time on 16 October 2024 and subsequently met on 28 April 2025 and 21 July 2025, which was the final meeting of the taskforce. Taskforce members were the Home Office, Ministry of Justice, Department for Education, Department for Business and Trade, Financial Conduct Authority and the Competition and Markets Authority as well as the Department for Transport and HM Treasury, who were the co-chairs.
We do not plan to publish the minutes or summaries of meetings as they cover the formulation and development of ‘live’ government policy and to do so would hinder future policy development as it could inhibit a free exchange of views.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether they will require their department and agencies to offer payroll deductions to all employees to enable them to join a credit union.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department for Business and Trade offer a variety of financial support to employees. This includes season ticket loans, bicycle advances, rental deposits, house purchase advances (for those relocating and meeting departmental eligibility criteria) and salary advances. In addition, employees can access support for debt management or financial wellbeing through the Employee Assistance Programme.
There are no plans to introduce payroll deductions for Credit Union purposes. The Department for Business and Trade is not able to advise on behalf of other agencies.
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, whether his Department issues guidance to teams on the proportion of staff time or budget that should be allocated to net zero strategy or corporate sustainability activity.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The department does not issue guidance to teams on the proportion of staff time or budget that should be allocated to net zero strategy or corporate sustainability activity.
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 staffing or system costs are associated with monitoring, reporting and compliance activity relating to official travel emissions in his Department.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
We can confirm that the Department for Business and Trade does not hold any information associated with monitoring, reporting and compliance activity relating to official travel emissions in his Department.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many nights were spent in hotels by Departmental staff in financial year 2024-25 by the star rating of the hotel.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
For the financial year 2024-25, 21,691 hotel nights were booked through the Department's travel booking platform.
The department’s reports do not contain the star rating of the hotels booked, therefore cannot provide an answer.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department provides support to pregnant employees that have challenged their unfair dismissal and discriminatory employment practices that they have experienced.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS), a non-departmental public body funded by the Department for Business and Trade, provides authoritative and impartial advice free to employees or employers in relation to employment discrimination issues via their website (http://www.acas.org.uk) and telephone helpline 0300 123 1100 or text relay service 18001 0300 123 1100. ACAS also provides employees and employers with Early Conciliation to help them resolve or settle their workplace dispute without going to court.
Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to support people with disabilities into work in North East Somerset and Hanham constituency.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Good work is good for health, so we want everyone to get work and get on in work, whoever they are and wherever they live. Backed by £240 million investment, the Get Britain Working White Paper launched in November 2024 is driving forward approaches to tackling economic inactivity.
Disabled people are a diverse group so access to the right work and health support, in the right place, at the right time, is key. We therefore have a range of specialist initiatives to support individuals to stay in work and get back into work, including those that join up employment and health systems.
Existing measures include support from Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers (DEAs) in Jobcentres and Access to Work grants, as well as joining up health and employment support around the individual through Employment Advisors in NHS Talking Therapies, Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care and WorkWell. We are also rolling out Connect to Work, our supported employment programme for anyone who is disabled, has a health condition or is experiencing more complex barriers to work.
DEAs in the Jobcentres supporting the constituency deliver in-depth Work Ability conversations, focusing on strengths, suitable work options, workplace adjustments and confidence building. Additionally, part of the constituency is served by the WorkWell West pilot in the NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board.
We set out our plan for the “Pathways to Work Guarantee” in our Pathways to Work Green Paper and are building towards our guaranteed offer of personalised work, health and skills support for disabled people and people with health conditions on out of work benefits. The guarantee is backed by £1 billion a year of new, additional funding by the end of the decade. We anticipate the guarantee, once fully rolled out, will include: a support conversation to identify next steps, one-to-one caseworker support, periodic engagement, and an offer of specialist long-term work health and skills support.
Additionally, we have developed a digital information service for employers, oversee the Disability Confident Scheme and continue to increase access to Occupational Health. Bath Jobcentre organised a Disability Confident job fair which was held at the Guildhall in October with Disability Confident employers, further job fairs targeting disabled people are currently in planning.
In recognition of employers’ vital role in addressing health-related economic activity, we appointed Sir Charlie Mayfield to lead the independent Keep Britain Working Review. The Report was published on 5 November. In partnership with the Department for Business and Trade and the Department for Health and Social Care, we are rapidly designing the Vanguard phase to test new employer-led approaches to support individuals to stay in work and develop a Healthy Workplace Standard, putting Sir Charlie’s key recommendations into action.
The 10 Year Health Plan, published in July, builds on existing work to better integrate health with employment support and incentivise greater cross-system collaboration, recognising good work is good for health. The Plan also states the Government’s intention to break down barriers to opportunity by delivering the holistic support that people need to access and thrive in employment by ensuring a better health service for everyone, regardless of condition or service area. It outlines how the neighbourhood health service will join up support from across the work, health and skills systems to help address the multiple complex challenges that often stop people finding and staying in work.
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, pursuant to the Answer of 30 January 2026 to Question 107769, what estimate he has made to the Insolvency Service of compliance with Net Zero, sustainability and climate-related disclosure requirements.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
I have made no such assessment, however the Insolvency Service’s total emissions have been reported in the Agency’s Annual Report and Accounts since 2012/13. Progress on wider sustainability requirements is reported quarterly to the Department for Business and Trade through the Agency’s Greening Government Commitment (GGC) returns. The Agency adheres to the Greening Government Commitments and the Taskforce on Climate Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) guidance.