Question follow-through · 68006
Economic Growth: Rural Areas
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent assessment he has made of the barriers to business growth in rural areas.
About this written question
A written question asks a government minister for information in writing. Parliament publishes the question and any answer.
- Answering body
- Department for Business and Trade
- Tabled
- 15 Jul 2025
- Target answer date
- 17 Jul 2025
- Answer
- 22 Jul 2025 · 7 calendar days after tabling
Elapsed calendar days describe the record timeline, not whether Parliament considers an answer on time.
More questions by this MP on Economy and business
- Hospitality Industry: Coastal Areas and Rural Areas · 10 Oct 2025
- Hospitality Industry: Finance · 10 Oct 2025
- Arts: Exports · 20 Nov 2025
- Postal Services: Standards · 2 Jan 2026
- Consumers · 2 Mar 2026
Shared topic keywords suggest a connection; they do not establish a follow-up.
Votes on this topic
- Draft Code of Practice on Electronic and Workplace Ballots for Statutory Trade Union Ballots · 15 Jul 2026
- Draft Trade Unions (Permissible Means of Voting) and Employment Rights (Unfair Dismissal) (Amendment) Order 2026 · 15 Jul 2026
- Taxation (Energy and Vehicles) Bill Committee: New Clause 5 · 1 Jul 2026
These Commons divisions share a topic label. The question did not necessarily lead to a vote.
Recorded timeline
15 Jul 2025
Question tabled
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent assessment he has made of the barriers to business growth in rural areas.
17 Jul 2025
Target answer date
Date supplied by the official written-questions record.
22 Jul 2025
Answer published
Rural areas offer significant potential for growth and are central to our economy. Addressing the needs of businesses in rural areas is at the heart of our policymaking and we continue to revisit and improve our support offers. The upcoming Business Growt...
Official data retrieved 28 Sept 2026.
Later records
Possible follow-up questions
Strong links require the same MP, department and exact heading. Other same-department questions are shown as unreviewed candidates, not as confirmed follow-ups. No debate link is asserted unless a stable source relationship exists.
Hospitality Industry: Coastal Areas and Rural Areas
10 Oct 2025 · To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the contribution of hospitality businesses to economic growth in coastal and rural communities.
Hospitality Industry: Finance
10 Oct 2025 · To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he has taken to support hospitality businesses with cashflow pressures.
Arts: Exports
20 Nov 2025 · To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps are being taken to promote British creative sector exports over the next three years.
Postal Services: Standards
2 Jan 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure timely postal deliveries by Royal Mail.
Consumers
2 Mar 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department has made a recent assessment of trends in consumer satisfaction with customer service provision across key regulated sectors.
Consumers
2 Mar 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what engagement his Department has undertaken with consumer groups regarding access to customer service channels.
Consumers: Protection
2 Mar 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the impact of automated customer service systems, including chatbots and AI-based systems, on consumers’ ability to exercise their statutory rights.
Consumers: Protection
2 Mar 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department has considered introducing minimum accessibility standards for customer service functions to ensure consumers can access a human representative where necessary.
Consumers: Digital Service Providers
2 Mar 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent discussions he has had with major digital service providers regarding access to non-automated customer service channels.
Consumers: Protection
2 Mar 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that reliance on automated customer service systems does not impede consumers’ ability to make complaints or seek redress.
Consumers: Protection
2 Mar 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what data his Department holds on consumer complaints relating to the inability to contact a human representative when seeking to resolve disputes.
Consumers: Protection
2 Mar 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he has made an assessment of the adequacy of existing consumer protection legislation in the context of companies that provide customer support solely through automated systems.