Written questions by Wood.

Whether ACAS intends to update the ACAS Code of Practice on facility time.

Awaiting answer.

With reference to the answer of 10 March 2026, to Question 117995, on Stamp Advisory Committee, if he will place in the Library a copy of the minutes for each of those Committee meetings.

Stamp Advisory Committee meetings are a matter for Royal Mail. The Postal Museum’s online catalogue lists copies of Stamp Advisory Committee minutes which are available to the public for research. The catalogue currently includes minutes that can be acces...

With reference to the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for government’s most important contracts, Data for October to December 2025 for all departments, published on 31 March 2026, if he will list the

Under the Department for Business and Trade’s (DBT) Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for the Government’s most important contracts, 17 of the 62 KPIs published for the period October to December 2025 relate to Social Value.The table below sets out the co...

How many and what proportion of full-time staff on full pay (1.0 FTE) in his Department work compressed hours over a four day week.

There is no central record of how many full-time staff who work compressed hours in DBT. Compressed hours is a type of flexible working. All staff in DBT are entitled to request flexible working arrangement under the terms of our Flexible Working Policy. ...

With reference to the Regulatory Policy Committee's document Post-implementation reviews outstanding across government 2015 to 2026, updated 12 May 2026, what steps his Department is taking to (a) unde

The Department is committed to meeting its obligation to evaluate regulations after they have been implemented, including to ensure they are achieving their objectives, remain necessary, and are having the intended effects. Where the Regulatory Policy Com...

With reference to the answer of 27 February 2026, to Question 113802, on British Business Bank, what is the name of the defined pension workplace pension scheme provided by Aegon.

The name of the workplace pension scheme is ‘British Business Bank’. The scheme is provided through Aegon’s Aegon Retirement Choices (ARC) platform.

For what reason the Regulatory Policy Committee blog post entitled Too many Impact Assessments are submitted late, published on 24 February 2025, is no longer available on the Regulatory Policy Committ

As an independent arm's length body, the Regulatory Policy Committee is responsible for the content of its blog posts. The blog post entitled ‘Too many Impact Assessments are submitted late’, published on 24 February 2025, is now restored.

Further to the written statement on the UK-EU Competition Cooperation Agreement, of 25 February 2026, HCWS1364, whether (a) payments and (b) payments in kind will be made to the EU as a result of that

The UK will not make any financial contributions to the European Union as a result of the UK-EU Competition Cooperation Agreement. The Agreement which will be operationalised by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), facilitates enhanced dialogue an...

If he will investigate archived records to determine whether Lord Mandelson visited Jeffery Epstein's Zorro Ranch whilst Business Secretary.

Official records of overseas Ministerial travel for 2008-09 and 2009-10 are available on gov.uk. It would be inappropriate to comment further given that there is a police investigation ongoing. The government remains committed to supporting the police and...

With reference to the answer of 20 April 2026 to Question 126604 on UK Export Finance: Media, how multicultural representation is measured for that metric; and whether this requires non-white ethniciti

Since the Honourable Member’s previous question, the contract in question has been re-procured. The new contract was awarded on 11 June 2026, commenced on 14 June, and will run for four years. The social value Key Performance Indicator (KPI) included in ...

Whether Ministerial-appointed trade envoys are required to obtain Developed Vetting security clearance.

Trade Envoys are not required to obtain Developed Vetting security clearance. Trade Envoys are political appointees. The Department for Business and Trade conducts scrutiny and due diligence as part of the process for appointing Trade Envoys.

With reference to the answer of 28 April 2026, to Question HL16533, on Treaties: Parliamentary Scrutiny, whether any Memoranda of Understanding and other non-legally binding agreements that do not have

Information on Memoranda of Understanding and other non-legally binding agreements agreed across the Department for Business and Trade and its Arm’s Length Bodies is not held centrally and could only be obtained through extensive manual searches across te...

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of fines for breaches of UK laws issued by UK bodies based on global turnover on the willingness of multinationals to invest and base themselves in t

The Government has not made a specific assessment of the impact that fines imposed by regulators on businesses have had on global investment decisions.We will continue to work with businesses, their representative organisations, and stakeholders to enable...

With reference to the Treasury's press release, Millions to benefit from lower travel and food costs, of 27 May 2026, whether the tariff reductions on the 125 types of goods will include goods imported

The Government has launched a call for input on suspending tariffs on a range of agri food, which is due to close on 24 June 2026.Any suspensions, where implemented, will apply on a Most Favoured Nation basis. This means they can apply to all imports of t...

Further to Part of a Return to an Address of the Honourable the House of Commons dated 4 February 2026 relating to the appointment of Lord Mandelson as HM Ambassador to Washington, Volume II Part I, HC

No DBT minister attended. All external engagements undertaken by ministers with businesses are recorded on quarterly ministerial transparency returns, which are published on gov.uk

If he will list the names of the organisations that have (a) had departmental Civil Servants seconded to them since July 2024, and (b) seconded organisational staff to the department.

We confirm that the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) holds information in scope of your request. Please find the names of the organisations below:Bank of EnglandConfederation of British Industry (CBI)Financial Conduct AuthorityGCHQGMCAHigh Value Ma...

What discussions has the UK Government had with the Scottish Government on the operation of the UK Internal Market in relation to the proposals of the new Scottish Government administration to introduc

The UK Government has not discussed legislative proposals on this issue with the incoming Scottish Government. It is unlikely this policy would interact with the UK Internal Market (UKIM) Act, and any interaction would depend on how the legislation is des...

Which department is the lead for the regulation of the private intelligence industry.

Professionals working in the private intelligence industry are not regulated in law in the UK.Professionals working in the private intelligence industry can opt to register with industry bodies such as the Association of British Investigators. Such bodies...

With reference to the transparency data entitled Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for government’s most important contracts, Data for October to December 2025 for all departments, published on 31 March 2026, for what reason the UK Export Finance contract for Media Buying Services with Optimum Media Buying Limited requires the supplier to ensure 33% multicultural representation by year 2 in the media advertising; and what the definition used is for multicultural representation.

The contract in question was called off in 2022 under the previous government from the Crown Services Framework, RM6123 Media Services. That framework required suppliers to consider social value policy themes, and to support contracting authorities to deliver a diverse supply chain. It was as a consequence of that requirement that a KPI for social value (specifically, promoting diversity, inclusion & social mobility in attraction recruitment) was set at ‘33% multicultural representation by year 2 (media industry avg. 18.7%). For the purposes of this key performance indicator, the supplier uses self-identification of participants across a range of ethnicities.UK Export Finance is currently reprocuring the contract under the Procurement Act 2023, which came into force in February 2025. These negotiations, which are currently at an early change, will include new and different key performance indicators.

With reference to the government transparency data, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for government’s most important contracts, Data for October to December 2025 for all departments, published on 31 March 2026, for what reason the OCO Global contract for DBT Investment Services requires the supplier to deliver 12+ wellbeing initiatives as a key performance indicator.

Under the 2020 Procurement Policy Note (since updated) departments must explicitly evaluate Social Value (SV) in most procurements above the relevant financial threshold, where it is related and proportionate to the contract. This is to ensure that public spending delivers wider economic, social and environmental benefits alongside the goods or services being purchased. The policy note also mandates an appropriate KPI. The Government’s SV Model at the time provided a menu of outcomes for selection aligned to government priorities. The outcome selected, focused on wellbeing of the workforce, seeking to address staff turnover challenges experienced in the predecessor contract.