Question follow-through · 97021
Department for Business and Trade: Software
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how much his Department has spent on software licences from Microsoft in the last 12 months; and what proportion this represents of his Department’s total technology spend.
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
- 3 Dec 2025
- Target answer date
- 8 Dec 2025
- Answer
- 9 Dec 2025 · 6 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
- Veterinary Services · 9 Dec 2025
- Veterinary Services · 9 Dec 2025
- Veterinary Services · 10 Dec 2025
- Veterinary Services · 10 Dec 2025
- Software: Licensing · 15 Dec 2025
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
3 Dec 2025
Question tabled
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how much his Department has spent on software licences from Microsoft in the last 12 months; and what proportion this represents of his Department’s total technology spend.
8 Dec 2025
Target answer date
Date supplied by the official written-questions record.
9 Dec 2025
Answer published
The Department for Business and Trade has spent £4.8m on software licences from Microsoft in the last 12 months, December 2024 to November 2025. This represents 5% of the Department's total Digital, Data & Technology spend.
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.
Veterinary Services
9 Dec 2025 · To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of veterinary market consolidation by large veterinary groups on client choice, pricing and local competition.
Veterinary Services
9 Dec 2025 · To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he has had recent discussions with the Competition and Markets Authority on the decision not to (a) require divestments and (b) impose penalties following its investigation into the veterinary
Veterinary Services
10 Dec 2025 · To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of vertical integration within large veterinary groups, including ownership of pharmacies, laboratories, out-of-hours providers, crematoria and refer
Veterinary Services
10 Dec 2025 · To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that veterinary clients are able to make informed choices in a market where many practices trade under local-sounding names despite corporate ownership.
Software: Licensing
15 Dec 2025 · To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what discussions he has had with small and medium-sized enterprises on the potential impact of restrictive software licensing practices on their businesses.
Department for Business and Trade: Software
15 Dec 2025 · To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 9 December 2025 to Question 97021, what proportion of his Department's expenditure on Microsoft Software licenses and services was allocated to a) new service implementations
Locksmiths: Standards
15 Jan 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to ensure that locksmiths meet (a) legal, (b) professional and (c) security standards.
Veterinary Services: Prescriptions
23 Jan 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he has made an assessment of the potential competitive implications of capping prescription fees while major veterinary corporate groups also own large online pharmacies.
Meta: Regulation
10 Apr 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department is considering regulatory measures to prevent Meta withdrawing business pages without due process.
British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme: Agriculture and Food
20 Apr 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of expanding the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme to include (a) farmers and (b) food production.
Meta: Regulation
20 May 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department is considering regulatory measures to prevent Meta withdrawing business pages without due process.
Microsoft: Artificial Intelligence
29 May 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of Microsoft's bundling of Copilot into software licensing contracts on (a) competition in the software market and (b) costs for small and medium-siz