Written questions by Campbell.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership on each (a) nation and (b) region of the UK.

The UK’s accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) is expected to support jobs and create opportunities for business growth in every part of the UK. An impact assessment was published regarding the UK's accession to CPTPP and the potential long-run economic impact of the agreement. The analysis detailed the prospective impacts on all the UK’s regions and nations and demonstrated that UK GDP could increase by £2.0 billion every year in the long run.

If he will have discussions with representatives of the engineering sector on the impact of the British Nationality (Irish Citizens) Act 2024.

The Department for Business and Trade works closely with businesses in a range of sectors, including manufacturing, construction, aerospace, and automotive sectors, and will continue to. Each Government department engages with relevant sectors where appropriate.

If she will make an estimate of the number of people on the National Living Wage who will become liable for income tax from 6 April 2025.

The department will publish a comprehensive impact assessment on the impacts of the 2025 National Minimum Wage uprating in line with the requirements of the Better Regulation Framework shortly. However, this will not provide an estimate of the number of National Living Wage earners who will become income taxpayers from April 2025.

Pursuant to the Answer of 5 November 2024 to Question 11832 on the Living Wage, if the Impact Assessment will provide an estimate of the number of national living wage earners who will become income tax payers from April 2025.

The Department produces National Minimum Wage Impact Assessments in line with the requirements of the Better Regulation Framework. Previous Impact Assessments are available via Legislation.gov.uk. The Impact Assessment that will be published alongside the legislation for the 2025 rates will not provide an estimate of the number of National Living Wage earners who will become income tax payers from April 2025.

If he will have discussions with (a) eBay, (b) Etsy, (c) Folksy and (d) other online suppliers and platforms on steps to help ensure that consumers placing orders in Northern Ireland are not disadvanta

We continue to support businesses in ensuring a smooth flow of goods between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK, including through regular engagement with online suppliers and platforms. DBT regularly talks to online suppliers and platforms, and work...

Pursuant to the Answer of 6 December 2024 to Question 17511 on Living Wage: Part-time Employment, when he plans to publish that Impact Assessment.

The Government publishes an Impact Assessment each year alongside the legislation that implements the increases to the National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage rates. The legislation for the 2025 rates is expected to be laid in Parliament early in t...

Whether he plans to publish guidance on the introduction of the EU General Product Safety Regulations.

Guidance for businesses on the new General Product Safety Regulation was published last week on 3rd December and has been shared with the business community in Great Britain and Northern Ireland through existing channels. My officials will keep the guidan...

Pursuant to the Answer of 2 December 2024 to question 16452 Living Wage Living Wage, what the average number of hours worked by those in part-time employment and who paid the National Living Wage was i

This will be included in the Impact Assessment that we plan to publish alongside the legislation that implements the increase to the National Living Wage in 2025.

What recent estimate his Department has made of the number of people who earn the national living wage in (a) full-time and (b) part-time employment.

The Low Pay Commission (LPC) estimate that 2.9% of full-time employee jobs and 12.0% of part-time employee jobs were covered by the relevant National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage rate in 2023. The LPC will publish updated analysis in early 2025.

What estimate has been made of the average annual salary of people in receipt of the National Living Wage in April 2024.

The current National Living Wage (NLW) is set at £11.44 per hour. This means for a full-time worker on the NLW working 35 hours each week, their gross annual earnings are £20,821. This will increase to £22,222 after the new NLW rate of £12.21 is applied f...

What changes have been made to the (a) numbers and (b) job types of staff employed in his Department's trade and investment hub in Northern Ireland in the last 12 months.

(a) The number of active employees attached to the Trade and Investment Hub in Northern Ireland during the previous 12 months is shown on Table 1. This is representative of active employees who are based in Norther Ireland and work for the Trade and Inves...

If he will make an estimate of how many (a) Crown Post Offices and (b) sub Post Offices there will be in 2029.

No decisions to close any or all of the remaining Directly Managed Branches have been taken. The Post Office will continue to deliver on the 11,500 minimum branch requirement set by Government. Longer term, Government has set out our plan to publish a Gre...

What estimate he has made of how many people will be paid the increased national living wage in April 2025.

We estimate that over 3 million workers will receive a pay rise due to the increase in the National Living Wage in April 2025. The number of workers paid at the National Living Wage in April 2025 is expected to be lower as some of these workers will recei...

What (a) plans for investment in and (b) other plans for UK (i) nations and (ii) regions have been agreed as a result of the international investment summit on 14 October 2024.

At the International Investment Summit we announced a total of £63 billion of investment with nearly 38,000 jobs to be created across the UK. DBT is committed to building on the success of the summit and continuing to attract and retain investment across ...

What steps he plans to take to ensure that the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership benefits all parts of the UK equally.

The United Kingdom as a whole will accede to the CPTPP, and every nation and region of the UK is expected to benefit from the agreement, which is expected to increase GDP by £2 billion a year in the long run as published in the Department’s Impact Assessm...