Written questions by Dewhirst.

What steps his Department is taking to encourage UK companies to invest in Morocco’s Western Sahara region, in the context of (a) levels of (i) economic growth and (ii) infrastructure development in the region and (b) the UK-Morocco association agreement.

It is for companies to make their own decisions regarding investments in Western Sahara, as in any other region, based on the information available to them including from the Department of Business and Trade.Products originating in Western Sahara, subject to controls by customs authorities of Morocco, benefit from the same trade preferences as those granted by the United Kingdom to products covered by the UK-Morocco Association Agreement. The application of the Agreement is without prejudice to our position on the status of Western Sahara. The UK supports UN-led efforts to reach a just, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution that provides for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara.

With reference to the speech entitled PM remarks on the fundamental reform of the British state, published on 13 March 2025, on what methodological basis the Prime Minister said that compliance costs for businesses would be cut by a quarter.

On 13 March, the Prime Minister issued a new target for the government to cut the costs of regulation to business. This target for government departments and regulators will lead to less red tape, more delivery and renew the country with economic growth. Government also successfully delivered a similar 25% reduction target between 2005 and 2010. The government will bring forward its plans to meet the target and its method for assessing progress towards it later this year.

With reference to the planned Right to Switch Off, what plans he has for the application of this policy (a) on fallow days for employees, (b) during office hours on Mondays to Fridays for people who work (i) standard working patterns, (ii) part-time and (iii) compressed hours and (c) for people who work four-day weeks on full-pay.

In “Next Steps to Make Work Pay” the Government said it would deliver the right to switch off through a Statutory Code of Practice, rather than through the Employment Rights Bill.A Code of Practice sets out guidelines for employers to follow. A failure to comply with a code of practice can be taken into account by an Employment Tribunal. We are developing the content of a draft Code with key stakeholders including both business representative groups and trade unions. In due course, that draft Code will be subject to a full formal consultation process.

With reference to the appointment of Iain Anderson as a non-executive board member, if he will place a copy of Mr Anderson’s declaration of interests in the House of Commons Library.

Iain Anderson has declared his interests in line with the published process.(https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/non-executive-board-member-declaration-of-interests-process/non-executive-board-member-declaration-of-interests-process#context).Interests will be published in due course on the department's website.

Pursuant to the Answer of 20 November 2024 to Question 13801 on Office for the Pay Review Bodies, in what way the change in name better reflects the role of the organisation.

The change of name from the Office of Manpower Economics to the Office for the Pay Review Bodies better reflects the role of the organisation as the work of the Office for the Pay Review Bodies is to support the eight independent public sector pay review bodies. This involves a broader range of activities than manpower economics alone.

Pursuant to the Answer of 19 December 2024 to Question 20536 on Department for Business and Trade: Official Cars, how many Government Car Service (a) cars and (b) drivers are provided for the use of civil servants.

No Government Car Service cars or drivers are provided specifically for the use of civil servants.

What priority policy areas the Brexit Opportunities Unit is working on in 2025.

The Brexit Opportunities Unit transitioned into the Regulation Directorate (RD) through a machinery of government change in February 2023. RD aims to improve regulation to support the Government’s mission to boost economic growth.RD is leading the regulatory reform agenda across government in collaboration with HM Treasury. We recognise that for regulation to be effective, it must be created in partnership with business and regulators, which is why we have asked regulators to provide proposals for prioritising growth with the support of government. Our plans for the government’s overall regulatory vision will be set out in due course.

Whether he plans to include appointments to the Industrial Strategy Advisory Council in the Public Bodies Order in Council; and whether the chair appointment will be classified as a significant appointment.

The Industrial Strategy Advisory Council (ISAC) is an independent, non-statutory, expert committee and as such these appointments are not in scope for addition to the Order in Council or Significant Appointments under Cabinet Office guidance. We have committed to putting the Council on a statutory footing, and this will be reviewed after doing so.

Pursuant to the Answer of 14 October 2024 to Question 7007 on Department for Business and Trade: Official Cars, which senior officials in his Department have access to a government car; and whether those officials had that access before the general election.

The arrangements relating to the usage of vehicles in the Government Car Service are set out in the Civil Service Management Code.

Pursuant to the Answer of 14 October 2024 to Question 7006 on Department for Business and Trade: Official Cars, how many of those allocated three vehicles are electric cars.

For security reasons specific details of allocations including make and model of vehicles are not issued.

What meetings (a) Ministers and (b) his officials have held with external stakeholders since 5 July 2024.

Details of ministers’ and senior officials’ meetings with external individuals and organisations are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK.Data for the period of July to September 2024 will be published in due course.

How many export licences were approved in (a) August 2024 and (b) each of the preceding 12 months.

Official Statistics for 2024 have not yet been published. Information covering January to July 2024 are planned to be released by November 2024. The UK operates one of the most transparent export licensing systems in the world. We publish quarterly and annual statistics on all our export licensing decisions. These can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/strategic-export-controls-licensing-data We do not publish monthly licensing statistics, but we have published quarterly statistics for 2023:Reporting periodNumber issued202311,7462023Q12,8532023Q22,9872023Q32,9672023Q42,939

What changes have been made to export licence approval procedures since 5 July 2024.

No changes to export licensing procedures have been made since 5 July 2024. All export licence applications are assessed on a case by case basis against the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria. We are satisfied that these Criteria continue to provide a thorough forward-looking risk assessment process for all export licence applications.

Pursuant to the Answers of 6 September 2024 to Questions 2306 and 2308 on Ministers: Official Cars, which (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department have (i) been allocated a dedicated vehicle and (ii) access to use of a shared vehicle from the Government Car Service; what the (A) make, (B) model and (C) fuel type is for each car; and what the budget was for those cars in the 2024-25 financial year.

The Government Car Service (GCS) offers vehicles to government departments as a shared resource. Each department independently determines the allocation of these vehicles to its ministerial cadre/officials, as under previous administrations. The Department for Business and Trade is currently allocated three vehicles including allocated and shared vehicles. For security reasons specific details of allocations including make and model of vehicles are not issued. The average cost to a Department for a single DPC (Department Pool Car) in 2024/25 financial year is £108K per annum. This includes the cost of a car and driver time.

What his Department's policy is on the allocation of Government Car Service cars to senior officials; what the policy was on 24 May 2024; and which senior officials have been granted access to the service since 4 July 2024.

The Government Car Service (GCS) offers vehicles to government departments as a shared resource. Each department independently determines the allocation of these vehicles.The arrangements relating to the using of vehicles in the Government Car Service is set out in the Civil Service Management Code.There has been no change in this policy since the general election.