Written questions by Griffith.

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.

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.

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a business questionnaire, ‘Unlocking Business: reform driven by you’, to gather feedback from UK businesses to identify outdated, duplicative, or disproportionate regulations and regulatory practices that hinder growth and innovation.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.

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.

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.

When the Hospitality Sector Council last met and when he plans to publish the minutes of the meeting.

I last met with the Hospitality Sector Council on 4 November 2025.The minutes of that meeting will be published on the Government’s website Hospitality Sector Council - GOV.UK in due course.

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.

What performance indicators his Department uses to measure progress in reducing regulatory and administrative trade barriers.

Performance indicators the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) uses for market access are barriers reported, barriers resolved, and the potential value of opportunities associated with barriers resolved. During the financial year 2024-25, 394 barriers were reported and 129 barriers were fully resolved. The aggregate valuation of these fully resolved barriers is estimated to be worth around £10 billion to UK businesses over five years. These statistics exclude partially resolved barriers and barriers that were resolved as part of UK Free Trade Agreements with other countries. Performance indicators can be found in official statistics here and annually in the DBT Annual Report and Accounts.

How many formal market access barriers impacting UK exporters were recorded by his Department in each of the last three years.

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) has been publishing the number of reported market access barriers as official statistics since 2021. These annual statistics are also regularly published in the DBT annual report and accounts as indicators on departmental performance. These barriers are recorded on DBT’s internal database called Digital Market Access Service (DMAS). During the last three financial years, 394 market access barriers were reported in the financial year ending (FYE) 2025, 287 were reported in the FYE 2024 and 311 market access barriers were reported in the FYE 2023. These statistics could be found here.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of (a) per-consignment fees and (b) inspection charges on the retail price of sanitary and phytosanitary goods imported from the European Union.

Under the Border Target Operating Model (BTOM), imported consignments of products of animal origin (POAO), and plant and plant products (P&PP), are subject to per-consignment requirements including health certification, pre-notification and inspection fees. We estimate the measures introduced through the BTOM would have a minimal impact on consumer food price inflation of less than 0.2 percentage points in total over a 3-year period. We do not hold sufficiently robust data at a commodity level to disaggregate this figure further.

What evaluation he has made of the effectiveness of reverse mentoring programmes in his department.

DBT and its staff networks support a range of learning and development opportunities including a mentoring / reverse mentoring offer which is taken up on a voluntary basis. Feedback is encouraged from matched mentor/mentee pairs. Due to small numbers taking up reverse mentoring, there is no robust evaluation of effectiveness.

Pursuant to the Answer of 5 January 2026 to Question 101496 on Trade Promotion, whether he plans to retain the role of International Trade Adviser as part of the strategic organisational redesign.

We are changing how we deliver export support in line with the Trade Strategy, and in response to the asks of businesses and our stakeholders. We aim to make this more accessible and easier to navigate and to use technology to deliver more cost-effective and impactful support.This change process is ongoing, so we are unable to confirm final job roles at this stage.

How many full-time equivalent staff within his Department were assigned to trade facilitation and market access barrier resolution in (a) 2026 and (b) 2021.

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) operates a flexible resourcing model to support trade facilitation and market access barrier resolution. The majority of this work falls within three areas: Economic Security and Trade Relations, Trade Group and DBTs Overseas Network. The total Civil Servant on-payroll FTE for these areas was 1,565 in November 2025, which is the latest data available (for DBT), and 1,006 in December 2021 (for DIT only).Not all the Civil Servants identified are assigned exclusively to trade facilitation and market access barrier resolution and carry out additional duties that are unrelated to those topics.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what the cost to the public purse was for the production of the Growth Gateway Masterclass on Fundraising in Africa.

Two masterclasses have been delivered using a catalytic model to build local capability, provide targeted expertise, mobilise investment, and support inclusive and sustainable growth. The training cost approximately £18,500 and has already delivered strong results, with one participating business securing £2.5 million in investment and others in ongoing discussions with investors.Supporting economic prosperity, resilience, and partnerships for growth is particularly important in the context of reductions in Official Development Assistance. Africa is the world's fastest growing continent, and as the UK continues to move towards a trade and investment focused partnership, there are clear mutual benefits. Initiatives such as this masterclass support high growth African firms to scale, attract investment, and build lasting commercial links with the UK.

How many Independent Trade Advisers his Department plans to employ on 30 September 2026.

As in PQ16188, the Member seems to be confusing his terminology as we do not employ any ‘Independent Trade Advisers’ but do employ 140 International Trade Advisers. We are undergoing a strategic organisational redesign to ensure we are best positioned to support UK businesses to grow and export and attract investment. This process is ongoing so it is not possible to determine numbers of staff in particular types of roles in September 2026.

What estimate he has made of the gross exports facilitated by the work of his Department's Independent Trade Advisers in the last period for which data is available.

In 2024/25, the Department for Business and Trade supported businesses to deliver over 2,700 Export Wins with a combined value of almost £24 billion. These successes were achieved through close collaboration across government and within the Department, including the work of International (not 'Independent') Trade Advisors.