UK Inquiry Tracker

Work of the Department for Business and Trade

Public Accounts Committee Closed Inquiry

Opened: 26 Mar 2025 Closed: 21 Aug 2025 Parliament page

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) was created in February 2023, bringing together relevant parts of the former Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and the former Department for International Trade (DIT). 2023-24 is the new Department’s first year of accounts. Notable values for investments and liabilities … Read more The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) was created in February 2023, bringing together relevant parts of the former Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and the former Department for International Trade (DIT). 2023-24 is the new Department’s first year of accounts. Notable values for investments and liabilities in the accounts include £6.4bn in mostly closed schemes for COVID-related financial guarantees, and £1.7bn for redress schemes related to the Post Office Horizon scandal. DBT exceeded its expenditure limit for 2023-24 of c.£950m by c.£219m, due to the need to fund payments made by the Post Office under its Horizon Shortfall Scheme. The PAC raised concerns in 2023 around reports that indicating some Post Office Horizon victims were receiving only partial payments and were still being owed huge sums. The National Audit Office highlighted a lack of data and the Post Office Horizon-related breach in spending limits in its opinion on the Department’s annual report and accounts 2023-24 . Its report on DBT’s support for priority industry sectors also found that weaknesses in how UK industries are supported by Government must be addressed if the full potential of its Industrial Strategy is to be unlocked. Based on the NAO’s two reports, the PAC will hear from senior officials on topics including the Post Office Horizon Redress Scheme, COVID financial guarantees, and how DBT is working to secure impact from its support for priority industry sectors. If you have evidence on these issues, please submit it here by 23:59 on Monday 31 March 2025. Please look at the requirements for written evidence submissions and note that the Committee cannot accept material as evidence that is published elsewhere. Please note that the Committee’s inquiry cannot assist with individual cases. If you need help with an individual problem you are having, you may wish to read the information on Parliament’s website about who you can contact with different issues . Show less

12 Recommendations

63 Conclusions

2 Reports

1 Oral session

3 Letters

1 Event

Activity timeline 9 events

18 Sep
2025

Report published

Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Thirty-third report from Session 2024-26

18 Sep
2025

Report published

Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Thirty-fourth report from Session 2024-26

25 Jun
2025

Report published

34th Report - Department for Business and Trade Annual Report and Accounts 2023-24

25 Jun
2025

Report published

33rd Report - Supporting the UK’s priority industry sectors

8 May
2025

Correspondence

Letter from the Permanent Secretary of the Department for Business and Trade relating to the follow up on the Work of the Department for Bu…

28 Apr
2025

Correspondence

Letter from the Permanent Secretary of the Department for Business and Trade relating to the correction to the transcript of the session on…

24 Apr
2025

Correspondence

Letter to the Permanent Secretary of the Department for Business and Trade relating to the oral evidence session held on 07 April 2025 on t…

7 Apr
2025

Oral evidence

Oral evidence session

7 Apr
2025

Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Thatcher Room, Portcullis House

Committee event

Oral evidence sessions 1 session

7 Apr 2025

View on parliament.uk

Carl Creswell · Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy David Bickerton · Department for Business and Trade Gareth Davies · Department for Business and Trade Gareth Davies · Department for Transport Jaee Samant CBE · Department for Business and Trade Sean Jones · HM Treasury Tara Smith · Department for Business and Trade

Reports 2 reports · click to expand

Title	HC No.	Published	Items	Response
34th Report - Department for Business and Trade Annual Report an…	HC 818	25 Jun 2025	47	Responded
33rd Report - Supporting the UK’s priority industry sectors	HC 1070	25 Jun 2025	28	Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

20 results

3 Conclusion Acknowledged

34th Report - Department for Busin…

Set out assessment of financial support and plans for Post Office independence.

The Department has issued a far-reaching letter of support, which commits it to supporting the Post Office to pay its liabilities as they fall due, but there is no clear plan for how long this will continue, or how to … Read more The Department has issued a far-reaching letter of support, which commits it to supporting the Post Office to pay its liabilities as they fall due, but there is no clear plan for how long this will continue, or how to eventually make Post Office Limited financially independent. The Post Office is reliant on the Department for its financial survival. The Department issued a ‘Letter of Support’ to the Post Office in December 2024 which, in addition to the Department’s pre-existing commitment to fund the Post Office’s redress schemes, and an extension of established loan facilities, provides assurance that the Department will continue to provide financial support to help the Post Office to meets its liabilities as they fall due more widely. This includes support for: the running of Horizon remediation matters, Horizon support and technology replacement, taxation related liabilities, and for other potential liabilities. Without this financial support, the Post Office would not be able to meet its liabilities as they fall due. In 2023–24 the Department provided £260 million in grants and subsidies to the Post Office. By 31 March 2024, the Post Office also had total borrowings of £786 million with the Department. The Department has assured the Committee that it is working closely with the Post Office to identify ways to make the Post Office more financially independent. The Department did not consider the Letter of Support to require separate disclosure to Parliament under Managing Public Money requirements. However, the Department has agreed to notify the Committee of the next Letter of Support when it is issued. 5 recommendation a. Alongside its Treasury Minute response to this report, the Department should write to the Committee setting out its assessment of the nature and value of all financial support it might need to provide to Post Office Limited and its plans for working with the Post Office to make it financially independent of government. b. The Department shoul Show less

Government Response

The government agrees with the recommendation but provides no specific commitment or timeline for writing to the Committee with an assessment of financial support or plans for Post Office Limited's financial independence.

HM Treasury

Work of the Department for Business and Trade

Activity timeline 9 events

Oral evidence sessions 1 session

Reports 2 reports · click to expand

Recommendations & Conclusions

Set out assessment of financial support and plans for Post Office independence.

Department provided £260 million in grants and £786 million in loans to Post Office.

Letter of Support assures against Post Office financial risks and inability to meet liabilities.

Letter of Support is a commitment, not a blank cheque or financial guarantee.

Bounce Back Loan Scheme designed to support small businesses with 100% government guarantee

Department for Business and Trade created in 2023 from predecessor departments.

Insufficient finance team experience for complex accounts necessitated recruitment of hundreds of staff.

Department's 2023-24 control framework received 'limited' assurance due to significant weaknesses.

Department must collaborate with multiple government departments to achieve its business objectives

Department's inter-departmental working relationships vary, with limited adoption of handshake agreements

Department significantly improved sharing business intelligence reports across Whitehall departments

Department directly supports industry through varied interventions including grants and sector funds

Department tracks overall spending but lacks systems to breakdown support by type

Department lacks standardised approach for balancing metrics in industry support decisions

Ministerial decisions on industry support trade-offs lack explicit, detailed methodology

Government prioritises eight growth sectors while recognising broader foundational industries

Departmental sector team staffing levels lack correlation with industry importance or spending

Department reviewing resource allocation to align with Industrial Strategy priority sectors

Department demonstrates agility for urgent issues but faces specialist recruitment challenges

Forthcoming Industrial Strategy focuses on eight growth sectors with industry partnership

Government Response AI assessment · 61 of 12 classified

Correspondence 3 letters