Committees

Business and Trade Committee

Commons Select Committee

The Business and Trade Committee scrutinises the policy, spending and administration of the Department for Business and Trade and its public bodies. You can follow the Committee on X (formerly Twitter) @CommonsBTC.

Our Sub-Committee on Economic Security, Arms and Export Controls scrutinises key elements of the UK Government’s economic security regime, and considers whether more needs to be done to ensure that its strategy can meet the challenges of an increasingly volatile geopolitical landscape.

Previous publications on the scrutiny of International Trade can be found on the website of the International Trade Committee, which was disbanded in April 2023.

Image representing the committee

5 current inquiries

Inquiries allow committees to consider oral and written evidence on a particular topic. They usually result in the publication of a report.

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Industrial Strategy
Opened 28 January 2025
Export led growth
Opened 15 January 2025
The work of the Department for Business and Trade
Opened 20 November 2024
Business and Trade Committee: priorities
Report:
Published
On 13 February 2025
Opened 13 November 2024
Make Work Pay: Employment Rights Bill
Report:
Published
On 3 March 2025
Govt. response:
Overdue
Since 3 May 2025
Opened 31 October 2024

Non-inquiry work

Non-inquiry sessions
Non-inquiry sessions are brief packages of work that will not necessarily result in a report. They may be used to revisit previous inquiry topics or take evidence on a topical matter.

Latest news

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Rt Hon Liam Byrne Chair of the Business and Trade Committee statement on reports of US-UK Deal
Rt Hon Liam Byrne Chair of the Business and Trade Committee statement on reports of US-UK Deal
8 May 2025
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Does the UK really know how to ‘do’ national economic security?
The Business & Trade Committee will this week throw new light on the threat to UK economic security with hearings that convene some of the country’s top security experts from the public, private and investment sectors.  
6 May 2025
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How can a nation so rich in brains and banks be so poor at building world-beating businesses?
In widely reported evidence to the BTC’s ongoing inquiry into the UK’s industrial strategy, auto executives warned that Donald Trump’s tariffs could lead to thousands of British manufacturing layoffs within “weeks rather than months”, as they called for a major intervention from Government to support the industry.
26 April 2025

Latest publications

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Letter from Neil Brocklehurst of the Post Office relating to his recent appointment as Chief Executive and the future of the Post Office, 5 May 2025
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146KB
Correspondence
Letter from Marks and Spencer relating to the cyber-attack against its business, 8 May 2025
Open PDF
90KB
Correspondence
Letter from the Minister of State for Trade Policy and Economic Security relating to whistleblowing legislation, 9 May 2025
Open PDF
111KB
Correspondence

Useful information

FAQs

Contact us

  • Email: commonsbtc@parliament.uk
  • Phone: 020 7219 8586 (General enquiries) | 020 7219 4984 (media enquiries)
  • Address: Business and Trade Committee, House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA