Written questions by Griffiths.

Whether her Department offers protection to staff from unfair dismissal from their first working day.

All dismissals are handled in line with current legislation and appropriate Codes of Practice. Where an employee feels they may have been unfairly dismissed, appropriate internal appeal routes may be instigated. Where an employee is unable to solve a problem internally, they may be able to go to an employment tribunal to claim unfair dismissal, as set out in legislation. This position will be reviewed when unfair dismissal rights are updated in line with proposals in the Employment Rights Bill.

Whether his Department offers protection to staff from unfair dismissal from their first working day.

Unfair dismissal in the UK is governed by the Employment Rights Act 1996 and other legislation, which stipulates that you must have worked for your employer for a minimum period before you qualify for the right to claim unfair dismissal at a tribunal. An employee usually has the right to make an unfair dismissal claim to an employment tribunal if they: a) are legally classed as an employee and b) have worked for their employer for 2 years. In line with legislation, permanent Cabinet Office employees and those on fixed term appointments with over 2 years’ service have unfair dismissal rights, provided they have been recruited through Fair and Open Competition in accordance with the Recruitment Principles. As with any changes to employment legislation, internal policies and processes will be updated as appropriate in line with the Government’s legislation on employment rights.

Whether his Department offers protection to staff from unfair dismissal from their first working day.

In line with the current requirements of employment legislation regarding fair dismissal processes, new Home Office employees who have not previously completed a probationary period in the Civil Service are required to serve a period of at least six months’ probation.During this time they can be dismissed, following a fair process, if their conduct, performance or attendance does not meet the expected standards.

Communities and Local Government, whether her Department offers protection to staff from unfair dismissal from their first working day.

All dismissals are handled in line with current legislation and appropriate Codes of Practice.Where an employee feels they may have been unfairly dismissed, appropriate internal appeal routes may be instigated. Where an employee is unable to solve a problem internally they may be able to go to an employment tribunal to claim unfair dismissal, as set out in legislation.This position will be reviewed when unfair dismissal rights are updated in line with proposals in the Employment Rights Bill.

Whether his Department offers protection to staff from unfair dismissal from their first working day.

All dismissals are handled in line with current legislation and appropriate Codes of Practice. Where an employee feels they may have been unfairly dismissed, appropriate internal appeal routes may be instigated. Where an employee is unable to solve a problem internally they may be able to go to an employment tribunal to claim unfair dismissal, as set out in legislation. This position will be reviewed when unfair dismissal rights are updated in line with the Employment Rights Bill when this comes into effect.

Media and Sport, whether her Department offers protection to staff from unfair dismissal from their first working day.

All dismissals are handled in line with current legislation and appropriate Codes of Practice. Where an employee feels they may have been unfairly dismissed, appropriate internal appeal routes may be instigated.Where an employee is unable to solve a problem internally they may be able to go to an employment tribunal to claim unfair dismissal, as set out in legislation. This position will be reviewed when unfair dismissal rights are updated in line with proposals in the Employment Rights Bill 2024-25.

Whether his Department offers protection to staff from unfair dismissal from their first working day.

All dismissals are handled in line with current legislation and appropriate Codes of Practice. Where an employee feels they may have been unfairly dismissed, appropriate internal appeal routes may be instigated.Where an employee is unable to solve a problem internally they may be able to go to an employment tribunal to claim unfair dismissal, as set out in legislation.This position will be reviewed when unfair dismissal rights are updated in line with proposals in the Employment Rights Bill.

Innovation and Technology, whether his Department offers protection to staff from unfair dismissal from their first working day.

All dismissals are handled in line with current legislation and appropriate Codes of Practice. Where an employee feels they may have been unfairly dismissed, appropriate internal appeal routes may be instigated.Where an employee is unable to solve a problem internally they may be able to go to an employment tribunal to claim unfair dismissal, as set out in legislation.This position will be reviewed when unfair dismissal rights are updated in line with the Employment Rights Bill 2024 when this comes into effect.

Whether her Department offers protection to staff from unfair dismissal from their first working day.

The Department for Transport employs robust policies to ensure that the dismissal of any employee, including new employees serving a period of probation, is fair and legally compliant.

Whether his Department offers protection to staff from unfair dismissal from their first working day.

HMT staff must have completed 2 years’ service to be protected against unfair dismissal. The new Employment Rights Bill will amend the law on unfair dismissal to protect staff from their first working day. HMT will implement this legislative change when it comes into force.

Whether his Department offers protection to staff from unfair dismissal from their first working day.

The Ministry of Defence is compliant with the existing legislation which is set out in the Employment Rights Act 1996. This provides for protection against unfair dismissal for employees with at least two years of service. Employees with less than two years of service can claim unfair dismissal in certain circumstances, including for discrimination based on protected characteristics.

Whether his Department offers protection to staff from unfair dismissal from their first working day.

All dismissals are handled in line with current legislation and appropriate Codes of Practice. Where an employee feels they may have been unfairly dismissed, appropriate internal appeal routes may be instigated.Where an employee is unable to solve a problem internally they may be able to go to an employment tribunal to claim unfair dismissal, as set out in legislation.This position will be reviewed when unfair dismissal rights are updated in line with proposals in the Employment Rights Bill.

Whether his Department offers protection to staff from unfair dismissal from their first working day.

All dismissals are handled in line with current legislation and appropriate Codes of Practice. Where an employee feels they may have been unfairly dismissed, appropriate internal appeal routes may be instigated.Where an employee is unable to solve a problem internally they may be able to go to an employment tribunal to claim unfair dismissal, as set out in legislation.This position will be reviewed when unfair dismissal rights are updated in line with proposals in the Employment Rights Bill.It may be helpful to explain that the Scotland Office does not employ staff directly. All staff that join do so on an assignment, loan or secondment from other Government bodies, principally the Scottish Government and the Ministry of Justice, who remain the employers and determine the terms and conditions for their employees.

Whether her Department offers protection to staff from unfair dismissal from their first working day.

The department has appropriate policies and processes in place to ensure employees are treated fairly from day one of their employment.All dismissals are handled in line with current legislation and appropriate Codes of Practice. Where an employee feels they may have been unfairly dismissed, appropriate internal appeal routes may be instigated.Where an employee is unable to solve a problem internally, they may be able to go to an employment tribunal to claim unfair dismissal, as set out in legislation.This position will be reviewed when unfair dismissal rights are updated in line with proposals in the Employment Rights Bill.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department offers protection to staff from unfair dismissal from their first working day.

All dismissals are handled in line with current legislation and appropriate Codes of Practice. Where an employee feels they may have been unfairly dismissed, appropriate internal appeal routes may be instigated. Where an employee is unable to solve a problem internally, they may be able to go to an employment tribunal to claim unfair dismissal, as set out in legislation. This position will be reviewed when unfair dismissal rights are updated in line with proposals in the Employment Rights Bill.

What data his Department holds on the number of businesses that have closed involuntarily in each month of the last five years.

Official statistics on company involuntary dissolutions are published quarterly. These are made publicly available online by Companies House. We have extracted and produced the relevant yearly figures for your convenience below: Financial YearStruck off and dissolved2023/24631,7422022/23557,2402021/22557,6532020/21425,5942019/20497,639 The statistics for October to December 2024 will be published in the next quarterly release on 30 January 2025 at 9:30am.The most recent complete datasets can be found here:Incorporated companies in the UK July to September 2024 - GOV.UKStatistics for previous periods are available here.

What data his Department holds on the number of businesses that have closed voluntarily in each month of the last five years.

Official statistics on company voluntary dissolutions are published quarterly. These are made publicly available online by Companies House. We have extracted and produced the relevant yearly figures from this publication for your convenience below:Financial YearWound up voluntarily or subject to the supervision of the court under the Companies Act2023/2431,6032022/2328,7112021/2223,9012020/2124,2872019/2026,629 The statistics for October to December 2024 will be published in the next quarterly release on 30 January 2025 at 9:30am. The most recent complete datasets can be found here:Incorporated companies in the UK July to September 2024 - GOV.UK Statistics for previous periods are available here.

What data his Department holds on the number of involuntary business liquidations that have taken place each month of the last five years.

The numbers of companies entering compulsory liquidation in each month since January 2019 are provided in monthly Official Statistics on company insolvency at Company insolvency statistics releases - GOV.UK and in the tables below.England & Wales 201920202021202220232024January31729551124204339February2592313377162225March23717533140302230April2341003094187291May2723234141195248June2747037148264293July25017544137249336August1957938151232236September2284932219255221October2376753252260212November2703754296364340December1704352186164[x]Source: Insolvency Service. [x] indicates not yet availableScotland 201920202021202220232024January574512145334February51447102233March68471194044April66179174148May50108193543June45211483643July452114154433August491811383342September43128253018October551011193560November561321423054December4721172240[x]Source: Companies House. [x] indicates not yet available Northern Ireland 201920202021202220232024January7212218February918010114March25120728April3036217May35013222June16011138July1211135August501221September280022515October391101417November22022133December181726[x]Source: Department for the Economy, Northern Ireland

What data his Department holds on the number of voluntary business liquidations that have taken place each month of the last five years.

Voluntary liquidations consist of creditors’ voluntary liquidations (CVLs) and members’ voluntary liquidations (MVLs). Tables 1 to 3 show monthly numbers of CVLs, based on Insolvency Service official statistics at Company insolvencies, November 2024 - GOV.UK. Table 4 shows numbers of MVLs, based on Companies House official statistics at Incorporated companies in the UK July to September 2024 - GOV.UK. MVL data is not published on a monthly basis. Table 1: Creditors’ voluntary liquidations by month, England & Wales 201920202021202220232024January1,2251,0546631,3831,4021,309February8529916381,3511,5391,726March1,1829349451,8592,0361,452April1,0459738471,8101,3711,853May9958549741,6052,1911,626June1,0585931,1641,4721,7731,906July1,0436311,0291,6291,3441,662August1,0076281,3021,6831,9051,555September1,1487771,3721,4001,5881,441October1,1087191,2751,6081,9101,514November1,1008141,5421,6101,9831,631December8231,0851,3831,6761,749[x]Source: Companies House. [x] indicates not yet available Table 2: Creditors’ voluntary liquidations by month, Scotland 201920202021202220232024January252115355447February233616616358March222129716264April312629736459May241738705772June222061667460July392855555177August272176667257September282553745348October202754565951November242777737456December3626758566[x]Source: Companies House. [x] indicates not yet available Table 3: Creditors’ voluntary liquidations by month, Northern Ireland 201920202021202220232024January831121117February106541010March711513915April10224512May43617820June78913117July781210811August17281069September78918910October7712131214November686161010December9601116[x] Table 4: Members’ voluntary liquidations by financial year, United KingdomFinancial YearMembers' voluntary liquidations2023/2411,5072022/2314,9292021/2211,8242020/2110,2492019/209,240

How many small businesses the Minister for Services, Small Business and Exports has visited since 4 July 2024.

I have engaged extensively with small businesses since my appointment, including visits to Ware, Coventry, Birmingham, Durham, Darlington, Gateshead, and various locations in London. I also regularly attend small business round tables alongside industry representatives such as the Federation of Small Business, Small Business Britain, and Enterprise Nation, as well as meeting small businesses one-to-one in the Department for Business and Trade. I am looking forward to having further engagements.