Written questions by Dodds.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of his arms licensing policy in relation to Indonesia on the human rights situation in West Papua.

Awaiting answer.

What steps his Department is taking to ensure that UK expectations on responsible business conduct address the role of purchasing practices, including price, contract length and flexibility, in low pay in global agricultural supply chains; and will these steps include issuing guidance for businesses to align procurement and commercial decisions with progress towards living incomes and living wages.

Awaiting answer.

What his planned timetable is for the conclusion of his assessment into the potential merits of introducing Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence legislation; and whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of providing guidance to businesses on living income and living wage differences.

Awaiting answer.

What steps his Department is taking through the Responsible Business Conduct Review to tackle income and wage differences, including changes to purchasing practices.

Awaiting answer.

What steps his Department is taking to help improve the Corporate Power Purchase Agreements system as it applies to automotive manufacturing.

Corporate Power Purchase Agreements (CPPAs) allow businesses to enhance competitiveness by securing stable, competitively priced electricity.The UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy committed to issue a call for evidence on how the British CPPA market can be improved for industry. The call for evidence, run by DBT and DESNZ, was launched on 9 January and closes 6 March. Ideas generated will be carefully reviewed to inform future policy development.Future policy will complement existing support for the automotive sector including the DRIVE35 initiative, an additional 1.3bn in the Electric Car Grant and increased funding for charging infrastructure.

If he will list the companies that will receive 90 per cent discounted network charging costs under the proposed Network Charging Compensation scheme from 1 April 2026.

The Network Charging Compensation (NCC) Scheme is one of the three components making up the British Industry Supercharger (the Supercharger). The other two components are the GB Capacity Market Exemption and Energy Intensive Industries Exemption Scheme. The most current list of recipients of Supercharger support, and therefore NCC Scheme support, can be found at the following link: Contracts for Difference (CfD) and renewables obligation (RO): list of companies awarded an exemption - GOV.UK. These recipients, and future Supercharger recipients, will benefit from 90% compensation from network charges from 1 April 2026.

What steps his Department is taking to help ensure that importers ensure that their goods are free from forced labour.

The Government is committed to tackling forced labour in UK and global supply chains and ensuring that UK businesses are not complicit in human rights abuses. A range of existing measures already support this, including the Procurement Act 2023, Overseas Business Risk guidance, and the Modern Slavery Act 2015. The review launched in the Trade Strategy into the UK’s approach to responsible business conduct focuses on tackling human rights and labour abuses and environmental harms in global supply chains. It will assess effectiveness of the UK’s current regime and the merits of alternative measures to support responsible business practices.

With reference to the Centre for Social Justice's report entitled At what cost? Exploring the impact of forced labour in the UK, published in October 2024, whether his Department is taking steps to ensure the registration of hand car washing facilities.

The government is creating the Fair Work Agency, which will enhance the enforcement of employment rights across sectors, including hand car washes. As announced in the Budget, the Agency will establish a dedicated 'hidden economy' team which will target sectors with multiple regulatory breaches, starting with hand car washes. The initiative will address employment rights violations while collaborating with relevant enforcement authorities to protect workers and support legitimate businesses operating within the law.