Question follow-through · 75381
Retail Trade: Costs
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will have discussions with retailers on the potential impact of trends in the level of business costs on (a) staffing levels and (b) lone working practices.
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
- 5 Sept 2025
- Target answer date
- 9 Sept 2025
- Answer
- 16 Sept 2025 · 11 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
- Department for Business and Trade: Recruitment · 14 Oct 2025
- Tobacco: Retail Trade · 19 Nov 2025
- Trading Standards: Staff · 19 Nov 2025
- Department for Business and Trade: Correspondence · 12 Dec 2025
- Department for Business and Trade: Marketing · 5 Jan 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
5 Sept 2025
Question tabled
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will have discussions with retailers on the potential impact of trends in the level of business costs on (a) staffing levels and (b) lone working practices.
9 Sept 2025
Target answer date
Date supplied by the official written-questions record.
16 Sept 2025
Answer published
Staffing levels and business lone working policies are commercial matters for individual businesses to decide. An employer must identify the risks to lone workers and put control measures in place to protect them. It is for the employer to determine the b...
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.
Department for Business and Trade: Recruitment
14 Oct 2025 · To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether their Department has run any (a) recruitment and (b) internship schemes aimed to increase the number of people from underrepresented groups in the workforce in the last year.
Tobacco: Retail Trade
19 Nov 2025 · To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many people have been a) arrested b) charged and c) convicted in relation to (i) underage and (ii) illicit sales of cigarettes each year for the past five years.
Trading Standards: Staff
19 Nov 2025 · To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many Trading Standards enforcement officers there were in each (a) region, (b) local authority area and (c) parliamentary constituency in each year for the past 5 years.
Department for Business and Trade: Correspondence
12 Dec 2025 · To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what discussions he has had with businesses on ensuring customers can contact them on the telephone and not just by email.
Department for Business and Trade: Marketing
5 Jan 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how much their Department has spent on (a) advertising and (b) marketing in each of the last three years.
Royal Mail: Standards
7 Jan 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he has had recent discussions with Royal Mail on standards of service.
Public Houses: Urban Areas
8 Jan 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to support independent pubs in urban areas.
Skilled Workers: Mining
8 Jan 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to bring high skilled jobs to former coalfield areas.
Construction: Industry
8 Jan 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to support the construction industry.
Cars: Sales
12 Jan 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of the banning of petrol and diesel car sales after 2030 on the British automobile manufacturing industry.
Cars: Sales
12 Jan 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of banning of petrol and diesel car sales after 2030 on the attractiveness of the UK as a destination for investment.
Imports: Electrical Goods
12 Jan 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to ensure that imported electrical products meet British safety standards.