The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) has published its response to the call for evidence on smarter regulation and the regulatory landscape which ran between October 2023 and January 2024. The call for evidence sought to examine the UK regulatory landscape to understand what works well and what could be improved in how regulators operate to deliver the sectors they serve. The response, titled ‘Smarter regulation: delivering a regulatory environment for innovation, investment and growth’, suggests reforms including defining ‘regulators of business’, developing a ‘register of regulators’ to create a one-stop-shop of regulatory information, and launching a new Regulators Council. The paper also recommends creating a new Share Once Support Register and a Growth Duty Performance Framework to enhance the registration process for vulnerable customers, and enhance transparency and accountability by requiring regulators to disclose how they are supporting economic growth.

The Department for Business and Trade has published a letter from the Minister of State for Trade Policy and Economic Security, the Rt Hon Douglas Alexander MP, to the Chair of the Business and Trade Committee, the Rt Hon Liam Byrne MP, notifying him that parliamentary amendments to whistleblowing legislation intended to extend and clarify legal protections under the Employment Rights Act 1996 for those disclosing sanctions‐related information are incoming. The amendments will broaden the list of prescribed persons entitled to receive disclosures by adding the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, the Secretary of State for Transport, and HM Treasury and will expand the scope of legislation to include sanctions-related responsibilities that previously may not have been covered. The amendments follow a cross‐Government review of sanctions enforcement launched in October 2024, which examined whether existing powers were sufficient to implement and enforce sanctions effectively. As of yet, no date has been specified for the introduction of the amendments.

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) has published a letter by Minister for Small Businesses and Economic Transformation, Blair McDougall MP, addressed to the Chair of the Business and Trade Committee, confirming that the government will not consult on audit reform legislation after reviewing the planned audit and corporate governance package. The letter explains that this decision reflects priorities to promote economic growth and reduce administrative burdens, reduced need for major reform due to improvements since the collapse of Carillion in 2018, and limited parliamentary time. It also states that the government will instead focus on simplifying and modernising corporate reporting through a consultation this year, while continuing to work with the Financial Reporting Council to improve audit quality and intending to put the Financial Reporting Council on a proper statutory footing when parliamentary time allows.

The Department for Business and Trade has published a new Trade Strategy, setting out measures to unlock £5bn for UK businesses and expand UK Export Finance’s capacity to £80bn. The Strategy, announced on 25 June 2025, aims to improve market access, strengthen trade defences, and secure quicker, more targeted trade deals to support economic growth and protect vital industries.

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) has published a policy paper titled ‘Vision 2035: Critical Minerals Strategy’, setting out the UK’s long-term strategy to secure reliable supplies of critical minerals and strengthen domestic production. The strategy highlights the UK’s ambition to produce 10% of its critical mineral needs domestically and meet 20% through recycling by 2035. It aims to reduce the UK’s overreliance on foreign imports of vital materials such as lithium, copper and rare earth elements, currently dominated by China and is supported by £50m in new funding. It includes plans to produce at least 50,000 tonnes of lithium in the UK by 2035 and to ensure that no more than 60% of the UK’s supply of any one mineral is imported from a single country.

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) has published non-statutory guidance for employers on distributing tips fairly. The guidance is for helping employers apply the statutory code of practice on fair and transparent distribution of tips, and applies to all sectors and businesses where tips are received. The guidance is not part of the statutory code of practice, legal advice or an exhaustive account of what is acceptable with either the Employment Rights Act 1996 or the statutory code of practice.

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) has published a notice to exporters, announcing that the Export Control Joint Unit has updated the scope of 13 open general export licences (OGELs). Eight OGELs have been revised to exclude both military nuclear power generating equipment (ML17g) and naval nuclear propulsion equipment (ML9) from their scope. The remaining five OGELs have been updated to exclude naval nuclear propulsion equipment (ML9) only.

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) has published a policy paper on the UK’s first critical imports and supply chains strategy to safeguard goods critical to the UK’s economy, delivery of essential services and national security eg medicines and semiconductors. The strategy builds on the government’s efforts to manage supply chain shocks and will further equip UK businesses to build secure and reliable supply chains. The government will set up an online portal for businesses to report red tape or disruption affecting their critical imports so the government can work to remove these barriers and will pursue further trade deals to provide certainty for traders. The government will also attract international investment to projects like lithium mining to increase self-sufficiency in critical goods used in industries like electric vehicles production and clean energy and set up a new Critical Imports Council to allow businesses and the government to identify risks to critical imports and develop a plan of action.

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) has published a report on the initial six months of implementation of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA 2023). The first ECCTA measures came into force on 4 March 2024; since then, Companies House has commenced the process of removing names and addresses from the companies register used without consent, including the removal of 4,000 registered office addresses, 2,100 officer addresses 2,300 People of Significant Control addresses, and 1,250 documents.

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) has published its first independent trade policy review submitted to the World Trade Organization (WTO). The report highlights key trade policy areas for WTO members and explains the UK’s strategic vision for achieving sustainable, inclusive and resilient growth through trade, underpinned by the Trade Strategy, Industrial Strategy, and ‘Backing your Business’ plan for small and medium-sized enterprises. The report also demonstrates the UK’s role in shaping global trade policy through active participation in multilateral, plurilateral and bilateral frameworks, and its continued advocacy for WTO reform and a modern, rules-based international trading system.

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) has published a qualitative research study, conducted between October and December 2023, examining the impact of the EU Green Taxonomy Framework on companies. The study utilised in-depth interviews with reporting corporates, financial institutions, consultancy firms, and data providers to examine compliance journeys, identify challenges and cost drivers in reporting, and assess the use and potential gaps in disclosed information. The research identified key challenges in the compliance journey, such as assessing eligibility using the Nomenclature of Economic Activities (NACE) codes, determining substantial contributions, and meeting various criteria. This research aims to inform the potential development of a UK Green Taxonomy.

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) has published the response to its July 2025 consultation on the proposed uplift in compensation for charges paid by eligible energy intensive industries (EIIs) under the Network Charging Compensation (NCC) Scheme from 60% to 90%. The response confirms that the uplift will take effect from 1 April 2026. Additionally, application windows will be extended to two months, starting from the Q2 2026 application period, which opens on 30 June 2026.