Written questions by Griffith.

How many secondary legislation (a) laid and (b) planned under the Employment Rights Act 2025 have been submitted to the Regulatory Policy Committee.

The Regulatory Policy Committee (RPC) does not review secondary legislation. Where applicable under Better Regulation guidance, the RPC produces opinions of Option Assessments and Impact Assessments to help Government ensure that the evidence and analysis in them is sufficiently robust. As is best practice, my department will adhere to the Better Regulation Framework on the implementation of the Employment Rights Act 2025.

What assumptions his Department uses regarding cost pass-through to consumers when assessing the impact of new trade-related regulatory requirements on businesses, and whether those assumptions have been revised since the publication of the Department’s 2024 Green Book-aligned appraisal guidance.

Addressing regulatory barriers to trade can help reduce costs for UK businesses trading internationally and support economic growth. Cost pass‑through to consumers is subject to uncertainty and may differ significantly depending on market conditions, products and supply chains in scope. Reflecting the Green Book’s principles‑based approach to appraisal, which emphasises judgement and proportionality where impacts are uncertain, cost pass-through impacts are considered on a case‑by‑case basis where evidence indicates that they can be assessed.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact on domestic British glass manufactures as a result of the decision by UK Export Finance to finance £100m for a new bottle plant in Belgium.

In its role as the UK’s export credit agency, UK Export Finance (UKEF) provided a loan guarantee on commercial terms that will enable UK companies to supply goods and services to the Belgian bottle plant. Through this guaranteed loan, UKEF is supporting Tecoglas Limited, a Sheffield based company, which will export two glass furnaces and is expected to back a further 15 UK SMEs in its supply chain, helping to secure and support UK jobs.

When she plans to respond to correspondence of (a) 2 December 2025, (b) 2 January 2026 and (c) 20 January 2026 from the hon. Member for Arundel and South Downs.

The Minister for Policing responded on 29 January.

When she plans to respond to correspondence of (a) 10 December 2025, (b) 6 January 2026 and (c) 20 January 2026 from the hon. Member for Arundel and South Downs.

The correspondence from the Rt Hon Member for Arundel and South Downs has been transferred from HM Treasury to HMRC. HMRC will respond in due course.

Food and Rural Affairs, when she plans to respond to correspondence of (a) 19 November 2025, (b) 15 December 2025 and (c) 6 January 2026 from the hon. Member for Arundel and South Downs.

A reply is being prepared and will be issued to the hon. Member as soon as possible.

When he plans to respond to the correspondence of (a) 21 November 2025, (b) 15 December 2025 and (c) 20 January 2026 from the hon. Member for Arundel and South Downs.

A response to the correspondence was sent on 27 January 2026.The Department apologises for the delay in responding on this occasion and we regret that this fell short of expected standards.

Pursuant to the answer of 5 January 2026 to Question 101037 on Furnaces: Scunthorpe, if he will publish that advice.

The Government does not intend to publish the findings of the independent advice as it is commercially sensitive.

Pursuant to the Answer of 19 January 2026 to Question 105799 on Trade: Regulation, whether his Department plans to review the methodological approaches used to estimate the potential value associated with the (a) imposition and (b) removal of market access barriers.

The different methodologies used by the department are under constant review. We publish updates on changes if and when changes are made.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the 10% tariff announced by the USA and the 25% tariff proposed from June on British businesses.

Having retained our cool-headed approach and robustly defended the rights of the people of Greenland and the kingdom of Denmark alone to determine their future, we are glad that the President has announced that these tariffs will not be proceeding.

Whether he plans to carry out further consultations on section 68 of the Employment Rights Act 2025.

Before section 68 is brought into force, the Employment Rights Act 2025 requires the Government to consider the impact of non-postal balloting on participation in industrial action ballots and lay a statement before Parliament setting out how regard has been given to any impact. The Government will undertake this requirement once electronic balloting has been established.

Whether he has had discussions with the American ambassador on tariffs.

The Prime Minister spoke to President Trump on 18 January. DBT Ministers and officials are in regular contact with all levels of the US Administration. Although I attended an event with the American Ambassador celebrating our shared trade, when we talked about a variety of subjects, including rugby, I have not specifically spoken to him about tariffs.

Pursuant to the Answer of 13 January 2026 to Question 104310, on Trade Barriers: Regulation, whether he intends to publish the results of the most recent business questionnaire on domestic regulation.

On 21 October 2025, the Government launched a business questionnaire, ‘Unlocking Business: reform driven by you’, to gather feedback from UK businesses to identify outdated, duplicative, or disproportionate regulations and regulatory practices that hinder growth and innovation. The questionnaire concluded on 16 December 2025, and the responses are now being analysed by officials in the Department for Business and Trade. These will help to inform our Regulation for Growth programme going forward and we will publish our overall findings in due course

Pursuant to the Answer of 13 January 2026 to Question 104305, on Trade: Regulation, what analysis he undertook in order to come to his conclusion.

In order to assess regulations as they affect business, the department employs a number of methodologies and draws on data from a wide variety of internal and external sources. We have not identified any data gaps that limit the Department’s ability to assess regulations. For example, in order to estimate the benefits of removing trade-related barriers facing UK exporters, the Department uses a methodology which is published on Gov.UK and continuously reviewed to ensure that it remains effective and proportionate, including consideration of any data challenges.

What mechanisms his Department uses to collect feedback from businesses on trade barriers arising from domestic regulation.

The Department for Business and Trade has collected business feedback on domestic regulation through a business questionnaire and will continue to run the Business Perceptions Survey to gather quantitative data.

Whether his Department has identified any data gaps that limit its ability to quantify the cost of trade-related regulation.

No.

What assessment he has made with Cabinet colleagues of the potential impact of trade regulation on port congestion and throughput, broken down by port.

The Department for Business and Trade has not undertaken an assessment of the impact of trade regulation on port congestion or throughput at individual ports. The Department has not received representation from industry indicating that current trade regulation is having a material impact on port congestion, noting that for many DBT-led goods regulations, compliance is monitored behind the border rather than at ports.

If he will take steps with HM Courts and Tribunals Service to ensure that courts can accept attachments of more than 20 megabytes in size from plaintiffs and defendants.

New digital systems developed by HM Courts & Tribunals Service during the Reform Programme, are already of sufficient size to cater for most documents that need to be uploaded during proceedings. Limits are currently 1GB for documents and 500MB for multimedia. These are in place to protect systems from malicious attack. A 1GB limit allows for a standard text document of around 26,000 pages, and around 7,000 pages if images are included. These standards will be the baseline for future digital development.A review is being completed on the current limit relating to email submissions which is set at a lower level, and we recognise is particularly restrictive for users.

What estimate her Department has made of the proportion of import consignments that require remedial action due to documentation or compliance errors.

To address the dynamic nature of import risk, HMRC continually enhances its capabilities to identify errors and address non-compliance, ensuring that interventions are proportionate and targeted—rather than creating and relying on static estimates. HMRC’s policies, processes, and systems are designed to facilitate legitimate access to the customs regime, promote strong compliance, and make it difficult to circumvent the rules. As a result, the vast majority of consignments move seamlessly in and out of the UK with minimal disruption.

Whether his Department has assessed the cumulative impact of multiple regulatory charges and fees applied to a single import consignment.

No cumulative impact has been conducted, but Article VIII of the WTO General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade limits fees and charges in connection with importation to the approximate cost of services rendered. The UK has also consistently sought through its FTAs to limit the fees and charges that can be applied to imports. For example, the UK-India FTA commits both Parties to not require consular transactions in connection with the import of a good The UK’s Trade Strategy set out the government’s plans to reduce costs and administrative burdens for traders, making clear our commitment to not only meet but where possible exceed our international commitments.