Written questions by Poynton.

Communities and Local Government, if she will take steps to ensure that imported construction products are subject to the same UKCA marking requirements as those manufactured in the UK.

Construction products supplied to the GB market must be affixed with a UKCA or CE mark where they are covered by a designated standard under the UK Construction Product Regulations or where they conform to a UK technical assessment which has been issued for that product. This reflects the written ministerial statement issued by the Minister for Building Safety and Homelessness on 2 September, which confirmed that CE marking would continue to be recognised when placing construction products on the market to remove unnecessary trade friction, promote growth and protect the UK internal market. Any subsequent changes to the recognition of CE marking would be subject to a minimum 2-year transitional period. We published a construction products green paper setting out proposals for system wide reform including options for product marking. We will set out next steps in due course.

Whether his Department has undertaken a recent review of the effectiveness of enforcement mechanisms for CE marking of imported products.

We keep the effectiveness of our enforcement regime under review. The Product Regulation and Metrology Act 2025, received Royal Assent in July and contains powers to strengthen product enforcement.The Office for Product Standards and Safety (OPSS) is the UK's national product regulator. It uses risk to target its enforcement activities, protecting people and places from product-related harm. OPSS has established a co-ordinated system of targeted product safety checks at the border. In 2024-25 this resulted in checks covering over 14 million goods at the border, with 2.63 million non-compliant goods refused entry to the UK.

What assessment she has made of the potential merits of introducing targeted funding support for the purchase of used battery electric vehicles; and what steps her Department is taking to ensure parity of financial assistance between the (a) new and (b) used battery electric vehicle markets.

We continue to work with industry to support a sustainable second-hand zero emission vehicle market. The Government expects that the Electric Car Grant (ECG) will have some benefit in the used market due to a higher supply of affordable vehicles in future years, and the grant’s requirement for an 8-year or 100,000-mile warranty for the vehicle’s battery, ensuring it will have a long useful life.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of supporting access to second-hand battery electric vehicles through reduced benefit-in-kind taxation on used electric cars.

The Government is fully committed to the transition to electric vehicles and a strong second-hand market for EVs plays an important role in this. The Company Car Tax regime helps support the used electric vehicle markets, where electric company cars are sold after the end of their lease.The majority of cars are bought in the UK’s second hand markets. At Autumn Budget the Government announced new Company Car Tax rates for 2028-29 and 2029-30 which will maintain very generous incentives to support electric vehicle take-up, and therefore the entry of electric vehicles into the second-hand market.

Whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of reinstating funding for UK exhibitors at key international trade fairs in (a) the natural stone sector and (b) other sectors where export potential is strong.

Through our Trade Strategy, Industrial Strategy, and Small Business Plan, we are putting in place the policies, support, and services needed to drive export-led growth. For the first time, DBT is integrating its support for SMEs across all sectors in a single, accessible platform - the Business Growth Service - designed to help businesses across the UK start, scale, and succeed globally.From tailored market advice and free Export Academy training to UK Export Finance and our on-the-ground network around the world that facilitate trade missions, we are making it easier for businesses to navigate global markets. We continue to review how we can improve our support, including how we connect firms to new opportunities, and build the capability to seize them.

What plans his Department has to work with housing associations and industry to scale up affordable and tenant-friendly retrofitting models to help meet the Government’s 2030 EPC target for social homes.

The government is currently consulting on introducing minimum energy efficiency standards for the social rented sector. We will be engaging closely with the sector throughout the consultation process. The Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund provides grant funding for social housing landlords to improve the energy performance of their properties through installing energy efficiency measures and low carbon technologies. Wave 3 of the fund, for which allocations were announced in March 2025, will deliver up to £1.29 billion of funding.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of modern, low-disruption retrofit techniques on the rate of decarbonisation of the UK’s social housing stock.

The Department places significant importance on the tenants needs, and complying with consumer protection standards when completing retrofit works. The Department takes an iterative approach to schemes - such as increasing the provision of modern low carbon heating technologies under the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund Wave 3 – and conducts robust evaluation of delivery. These findings, such as in the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund Wave 2.1 Process Evaluation report (available here), highlight delivery successes and challenges, and enable the adoption of new techniques.

What steps he is taking to increase the deployment of low-carbon heating technologies in the social housing sector; and if he will review and respond to the findings of Mitsubishi Electric’s recent report on delivering net zero in social housing.

The Government has committed £13.2 billion over the Spending Review period for the Warm Homes Plan, which will support investment in insulation and low carbon heating to homes across England. Within Wave 3 of the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund, which launched earlier this year, there is a new optional low carbon heating incentive for homes on the gas grid. Up to 10% of homes in an application can access a £20,000 grant per home to install low carbon heating measures. I appreciate Mitsubishi Electric’s recent report, and my officials are engaging with Mitsubishi regarding these findings.

Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to ensure the effective enforcement of The Product Safety and Metrology etc. (Amendment) Regulations 2024 in relation to imported construction products.

The Product Safety and Metrology etc. (Amendment) Regulations provide for continued recognition of certain EU requirements for a range of products, but do not apply to construction products.The Construction Products Regulation 2011 (as amended) governs the placing on the market of construction products. This includes enabling the European ‘CE’ mark to be used as an alternative to the UK Conformity Assessed (UKCA) marking when placing a product on the market.The National Regulator for Construction Products (NRCP) and Local Authority Trading Standards (LATS) have regulatory powers to carry out market surveillance and enforcement to remove non-compliant products from the UK market.In September 2024 the government announced its intention to continue to recognise the CE mark for construction products, conditional on system wide reform of the construction products regime. This was followed by the publication of a green paper in February 2025, which set out comprehensive proposals, including a range of measures to improve the enforcement regime.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the availability of international trade show funding on the competitiveness of (a) exports and (b) exports by the (i) construction and (ii) natural materials sectors.

Though our Trade Strategy, Industrial Strategy, and Small Business Plan, we are putting in place the policies, support, and services needed to drive export-led business growth.We continue to review how we can improve our support, and as part of this process, we target resources that will have the greatest impact for UK businesses.From tailored market advice and free training to UK Export Finance and our on-the-ground international network, we are helping connect firms to new opportunities, and build the capability to seize them.

What steps his Department is taking to support British manufacturers to attend (a) Marmomac in Verona and (b) other major international trade shows.

Through our Trade Strategy, Industrial Strategy, and Small Business Plan, we're putting in place the policies, support, and services needed to drive export-led growth, particularly in high-growth potential sectors like advanced manufacturing.We routinely run targeted trade missions, support business at international trade shows, and connect international buyers with exporters at home to help them grow their businesses. In addition, businesses have access to support from tailored market advice and free training to UK Export Finance and our on-the-ground international network.We continue to review how we can improve our support, including how we connect firms to new opportunities, and build the capability to seize them.

Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that AI models are developed with safeguards to prevent their use in generating child sexual abuse material.

The Government recognises the importance of tackling AI-generated child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Creating, possessing, or distributing CSAM, including AI Generated CSAM, is illegal. The Online Safety Act requires services to proactively identify and remove this content. We are taking further action in the Crime and Policing Bill to criminalise CSAM image generators.As set out in the AI Opportunities Action Plan, we believe most AI systems should be regulated at the point of use, with our expert regulators best placed to do so. Departments are working proactively with regulators to provide clear strategic direction and support them on their AI capability needs.

Innovation and Technology, whether his Department plans to include statutory obligations for AI developers to adopt safety-by-design measures to prevent the creation of child sexual abuse content.

The Government recognises the importance of tackling AI-generated child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Creating, possessing, or distributing CSAM, including AI Generated CSAM, is illegal. The Online Safety Act requires services to proactively identify and remove this content. We are taking further action in the Crime and Policing Bill to criminalise CSAM image generators.As set out in the AI Opportunities Action Plan, we believe most AI systems should be regulated at the point of use, with our expert regulators best placed to do so. Departments are working proactively with regulators to provide clear strategic direction and support them on their AI capability needs.

Innovation and Technology, what recent assessment his Department has made of the risk of generative AI being used to produce child sexual abuse material.

The Government recognises the importance of tackling AI-generated child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Creating, possessing, or distributing CSAM, including AI Generated CSAM, is illegal. The Online Safety Act requires services to proactively identify and remove this content. We are taking further action in the Crime and Policing Bill to criminalise CSAM image generators.As set out in the AI Opportunities Action Plan, we believe most AI systems should be regulated at the point of use, with our expert regulators best placed to do so. Departments are working proactively with regulators to provide clear strategic direction and support them on their AI capability needs.

Innovation and Technology, whether his Department plans to require AI developers to demonstrate that their models include technical protections against the generation of (a) child sexual abuse imagery and (b) other (i) illegal and (ii) harmful material.

The Government recognises the importance of tackling AI-generated child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Creating, possessing, or distributing CSAM, including AI Generated CSAM, is illegal. The Online Safety Act requires services to proactively identify and remove this content. We are taking further action in the Crime and Policing Bill to criminalise CSAM image generators.As set out in the AI Opportunities Action Plan, we believe most AI systems should be regulated at the point of use, with our expert regulators best placed to do so. Departments are working proactively with regulators to provide clear strategic direction and support them on their AI capability needs.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Industrial Strategy on Scotland.

Our modern Industrial Strategy will drive growth in Scotland's globally competitive sectors – from advanced manufacturing in Glasgow and the UK’s second-largest financial services sector in Edinburgh, to life sciences in Dundee and Aberdeen’s status as a global energy capital. Investments including up to £750 million in a new supercomputer at the University of Edinburgh and our support for the Acorn Carbon Capture and Storage project will have a major positive impact on Scottish growth.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of consumer flexibility on reducing energy costs; and what steps his Department is taking to ensure that clean energy produced in Scotland directly impacts households in Scotland.

Consumer led flexibility reduces electricity system costs for all by minimising the amount of peaking generation and associated network infrastructure that needs to be built in the long term. Modelling shows that deploying short duration flexibility such as consumer led flexibility, battery storage and interconnectors, could reduce electricity system costs by up to £70bn by 2050. Our reforms through the Review of Electricity Market Arrangements to the current national pricing model deliver better incentives for industrial investment in Scotland in the coming years by encouraging market stability and investment. This will support the timely delivery of new generation in the right places – which is designed to lower consumer bills in GB, including Scotland. Scotland is at the forefront of the drive towards clean energy, with Great British Energy headquartered in Aberdeen and Cromarty Firth recently being awarded £56 million to become the UK’s first floating offshore wind port capable of making turbines at scale.

What assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the report by the Association for Decentralised Energy entitled Consumer-Led Clean Power: How to Unlock Consumer-Led Flexibility for Clean Power 2030, published on 17 June 2025.

This Government supports significant growth in consumer-led flexibility, as set out in the Clean Power 2030 Action Plan. We are grateful to the Association for Decentralised Energy for its work in this area. In our Action Plan, Government committed to publishing a Flexibility Roadmap in 2025. The Roadmap will set out further detail on how the benefits of clean flexibility will be unlocked for the consumer, following the assessment of relevant evidence.

What steps he is taking to accelerate grid connection times for small and medium-sized enterprises and manufacturers participating in grid-balancing schemes.

The National Energy System Operator (NESO) is implementing fundamental reforms to the connections process that will free up capacity and accelerate connections, including for small and medium-sized enterprises and manufacturers. But we recognise that further action is needed and that is why we announced plans in the Industrial Strategy to launch a Connections Accelerator Service and use new legal powers to accelerate grid connection timelines for demand projects.

Whether her Department plans to take steps to support investment under the Sustainable Aviation Fuel mandate.

To build demand for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in the UK, the Government introduced a SAF Mandate scheme on 1 January 2025. The scheme sets annually increasing targets for fuel suppliers to ensure a proportion of their jet fuel is SAF, starting at 2% in 2025, reaching 10% by 2030 and 22% by 2040. To help meet the demand generated by the SAF Mandate, government is committed to unlocking investment in UK SAF production. To that end, the government has introduced a SAF Bill which will enable us to deliver a Revenue Certainty Mechanism. We are also supporting the UK SAF industry through a grant funding scheme, the Advanced Fuels Fund, for which £63m of funding is available in 2025/26. Together, these measures will give the investment community the confidence to invest in SAF production in the UK.