Written questions by Baldwin.

How many staff in his Department were working on new free trade agreements in February 2025.

DBT’s Trade Policy, Implementation and Negotiations (TPIN) Group operates a flexible resourcing model to maximise efficiency across priorities. DBT has committed to delivering six Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations alongside leading work on the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership, work on the U.S., the reset of the UK-EU relationship as well as multilateral, implementation and market access work. FTA staff numbers vary depending on the stage and scale of the deal. However, in July 2024, DBT had 640 staff working in TPIN and in January 2025 this number is 675.

How many staff in his Department were working on new free trade agreements in July 2024.

DBT’s Trade Policy, Implementation and Negotiations (TPIN) Group operates a flexible resourcing model to maximise efficiency across priorities. DBT has committed to delivering six Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations alongside leading work on the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership, work on the U.S., the reset of the UK-EU relationship as well as multilateral, implementation and market access work. FTA staff numbers vary depending on the stage and scale of the deal. However, in July 2024, DBT had 640 staff working in TPIN and in January 2025 this number is 675.

Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to respond to Question 25193 tabled by the hon. Member for West Worcestershire on 21 January 2025.

A response to Question 25193 is being prepared and will be provided as soon as possible. I apologise for the delay in responding to the hon. Member.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of additional trade barriers between the United States and Canada on the UK economy.

On 4 February, President Trump agreed to hold off imposing all tariffs on Canada and Mexico for 30 days, following calls with Prime Minister Trudeau and President Sheinbaum. We will continue to monitor any further developments, including through discussions with counterparts, and we will always do what is in the national interest for our economy, businesses and the British people.

What discussions (a) he, (b) ministers in his Department and (c) officials in his Department have had with counterparts in Mexico regarding on the potential impact of additional US-Mexico trade barriers on UK trade.

On 4 February, President Trump agreed to hold off imposing all tariffs on Canada and Mexico for 30 days, following calls with Prime Minister Trudeau and President Sheinbaum. We will continue to monitor any further developments, including through discussions with counterparts, and we will always do what is in the national interest for our economy, businesses and the British people.

What discussions (a) he, (b) ministers in his Department and (c) officials in his Department have had with counterparts in Canada on the impact of additional US-Canada trade barriers on UK trade.

On 4 February, President Trump agreed to hold off imposing all tariffs on Canada and Mexico for 30 days, following calls with Prime Minister Trudeau and President Sheinbaum. We will continue to monitor any further developments, including through discussions with counterparts, and we will always do what is in the national interest for our economy, businesses and the British people.

If he has made an assessment of the potential impact of additional trade barriers between the United States of America and Mexico on the UK economy.

On 4 February, President Trump agreed to hold off imposing all tariffs on Canada and Mexico for 30 days, following calls with Prime Minister Trudeau and President Sheinbaum. We will continue to monitor any further developments, including through discussions with counterparts, and we will always do what is in the national interest for our economy, businesses and the British people.

What recent discussions (a) he, (b) Ministers and (c) officials in his Department have had with the Canadian Government on a potential UK-Canada trade deal.

The Secretary of State met with his Canadian counterpart Trade Minister Mary Ng at the G7 in July last year; they discussed the paused bilateral FTA and agreed that senior officials should begin discussions to see what it might take to resume negotiations.I have met with Minister Ng twice since then, including in Vancouver last November where we agreed that senior officials should continue these discussions, which are ongoing. Meanwhile, the UK-Canada Trade Continuity Agreement remains in force, underpinning approximately £27 billion in bilateral trade.

What recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Help to Grow Programme; and if he will publish the outcome for business growth broken down by the gender of business owners.

Longer term impacts on productivity can take 3-7 years to be measurable, however early findings show promising impacts. Over 90% of participants are satisfied with the programme and within 6 months of completion, most participants surveyed reported enhanced firm resilience, sales and cost savings. Early impact analysis on productivity is underway and future reports will address variations in productivity impacts by gender, should these arise. Evaluation findings on the early impacts of Help to Grow: Management are available on GOV.UK and the next release will be later this year.

Whether the new lower employers' National Insurance threshold applies to retained fire crews.

To repair the public finances and help raise the revenue required to increase funding for public services, the government has taken the difficult decision to increase employer National Insurance. The rate of employer NICs will increase from 13.8% to 15% and the per-employee threshold at which employers start to pay National Insurance (the Secondary Threshold) will be reduced to £5,000.At the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement, the government announced an additional £515 million of support for local government to manage the impact of changes to employer NICs announced at the Autumn Budget. Fire and rescue authorities will receive a share of the overall funding provided to local government. Payments will be unringfenced to allow funding to be used across direct, commissioned, and externally provided local services.

With reference to the Written Ministerial Statement of 28 January on United Kingdom’s Trade Envoy Programme, HCWS392, whether he plans to appoint any additional United Kingdom Trade Envoys.

There are no current plans to appoint any additional Trade Envoys beyond the 32 that were recently appointed.

With reference to the Written Ministerial Statement of 28 January on United Kingdom’s Trade Envoy Programme,HCWS392, how the countries to which United Kingdom Trade Envoys have been appointed were selected.

Trade Envoys enhance the value of HMG export and investment services already provided in a market. The following criteria are used to establish whether a market offers opportunities for a Trade Envoy to be effective; High growth and emerging market which attracts fewer ministerial visits; significant opportunities for commercial exploitation; where Government to Government relationships can open doors for UK businesses and whether there is appropriate DBT resource to support the Trade Envoy in market. Markets where there are no Trade Envoys such as the United States, Europe and India already receive regular high level ministerial visits plus have networks in place that maintain our relationship.

With reference to the Written Ministerial Statement of 28 January on United Kingdom’s Trade Envoy Programme, HCWS392, what funding has been allocated to support the (a) work and (b) travel of the newly appointed trade envoys.

The Department will be allocating appropriate funding in the new financial year to meet the costs of travel and subsistence for the newly appointed Trade Envoys when they travel overseas and in the UK, as well as any other incidental costs to fulfil their role. All costs incurred are subject to Departmental guidelines which apply to the programme’s use of public funds.

With reference to the Written Ministerial Statement of 28 January on United Kingdom’s Trade Envoy Programme, HCWS392, what the terms of appointment are for United Kingdom Trade Envoys.

This is a voluntary and unpaid role, and no remuneration is paid to the Trade Envoy. Each role is tailored according to the requirements of the respective market/s and will align with the Departmental priorities identified for those markets.

With reference to the Written Statement of 28 January on United Kingdom 's Trade Envoy Programme, HCWS392, whether any United Kingdom Trade Envoys appointed by the former Prime Minister are still in post.

Of the 32 Trade Envoys appointed, three are still in post from the previous administration. Many of the previous government’s Trade Envoys are no longer parliamentarians.

Pursuant to the Answer of 23 January 2024 to Question 24423 on Employers' Contributions, how many and what proportion of the employers that will see a change in their employer National Insurance have (a) one, (b) two, (c) three, (d) four and (e) more than five employees.

As is the case with all tax policies, the Government has published a detailed assessment of the policy in the Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN). This includes impacts on the exchequer, the economy, individuals, households and families, equalities, businesses including civil society organisations, and details on monitoring and evaluation. The TIIN can be found below:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/changes-to-the-class-1-national-insurance-contributions-secondary-threshold-the-secondary-class-1-national-insurance-contributions-rate-and-the-empl The Tax Information and Impact Note sets out that around 250,000 employers will see their Secondary Class 1 NICs liability decrease and around 940,000 will see it increase. Around 820,000 employers will see no change. Information on employers listed is not available as we do not hold the breakdown requested by employer size.

Pursuant to the Answer of 23 January 2024 to Question 24423 on Employers' Contributions, how many and what proportion of the 865,000 employers listed have (a) one, (b) two, (c) three, (d) four and (e) more than five employees.

As is the case with all tax policies, the Government has published a detailed assessment of the policy in the Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN). This includes impacts on the exchequer, the economy, individuals, households and families, equalities, businesses including civil society organisations, and details on monitoring and evaluation. The TIIN can be found below:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/changes-to-the-class-1-national-insurance-contributions-secondary-threshold-the-secondary-class-1-national-insurance-contributions-rate-and-the-empl The Tax Information and Impact Note sets out that around 250,000 employers will see their Secondary Class 1 NICs liability decrease and around 940,000 will see it increase. Around 820,000 employers will see no change. Information on employers listed is not available as we do not hold the breakdown requested by employer size.

Pursuant to the Answer of 23 January 2024 to Question 24423 on Employers' Contributions, how many and what proportion of the half of employers that will see no change have (a) one, (b) two, (c) three, (d) four and (e) more than five employees.

As is the case with all tax policies, the Government has published a detailed assessment of the policy in the Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN). This includes impacts on the exchequer, the economy, individuals, households and families, equalities, businesses including civil society organisations, and details on monitoring and evaluation. The TIIN can be found below:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/changes-to-the-class-1-national-insurance-contributions-secondary-threshold-the-secondary-class-1-national-insurance-contributions-rate-and-the-empl The Tax Information and Impact Note sets out that around 250,000 employers will see their Secondary Class 1 NICs liability decrease and around 940,000 will see it increase. Around 820,000 employers will see no change. Information on employers listed is not available as we do not hold the breakdown requested by employer size.

Pursuant to the Answer of 23 January 2024 to Question 24423 on Employers' Contributions, if she will provide disaggregated cost figures for the hospitality sector for the same period of time.

As is the case with all tax policies, the Government has published a detailed assessment of the policy in the Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN). This includes impacts on the exchequer, the economy, individuals, households and families, equalities, businesses including civil society organisations, and details on monitoring and evaluation. The TIIN can be found below:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/changes-to-the-class-1-national-insurance-contributions-secondary-threshold-the-secondary-class-1-national-insurance-contributions-rate-and-the-empl The Tax Information and Impact Note sets out that around 250,000 employers will see their Secondary Class 1 NICs liability decrease and around 940,000 will see it increase. Around 820,000 employers will see no change. Information on employers listed is not available as we do not hold the breakdown requested by employer size.

Pursuant to the Answer of 23 January 2024 to Question 24423 on Employers' Contributions, if she will provide disaggregated cost figures for the retail sector for the same period.

As is the case with all tax policies, the Government has published a detailed assessment of the policy in the Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN). This includes impacts on the exchequer, the economy, individuals, households and families, equalities, businesses including civil society organisations, and details on monitoring and evaluation. The TIIN can be found below:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/changes-to-the-class-1-national-insurance-contributions-secondary-threshold-the-secondary-class-1-national-insurance-contributions-rate-and-the-empl The Tax Information and Impact Note sets out that around 250,000 employers will see their Secondary Class 1 NICs liability decrease and around 940,000 will see it increase. Around 820,000 employers will see no change. Information on employers listed is not available as we do not hold the breakdown requested by employer size.