Oral Answers to Questions

Desmond Swayne Excerpts

Thursday 2nd May 2024 Commons Chamber

[Kevin Hollinrake]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his kinds words. It is always a pleasure to work with him and his colleagues. It is our intention that the legislation will clear both Houses by July, although obviously not all of these things are within our gift. Should that be the case, as we fully expect it to be, the convictions will be quashed in July and compensation redress will be paid from August.

[Sir Desmond Swayne (New Forest West) (Con)]

3. What progress she has made on helping businesses to reach her target level of exports.

[Andrew Jones (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (Con)]

12. What progress she has made on supporting businesses to reach £1 trillion in annual exports.

[The Secretary of State for Business and Trade (Kemi Badenoch)]

UK exports were £862 billion in the 12 months to February. UK services exports reached a record £472 billion in the same period, which is an increase of 10%—they went up by £42 billion. Businesses, including small and medium-sized enterprises, can access my Department’s wealth of export support at great.gov.uk. That support includes the UK Export Academy, which has had more than 18,000 registrations; our 160 international trade advisers, who help about 6,000 SMEs each year; and 388 export champions, across every part of the UK.

[Sir Desmond Swayne]

Are we really the fourth largest exporter in the world?

[Kemi Badenoch]

I am pleased to tell my right hon. Friend that we are. There are many, many more good statistics, which he will find in the publication my Department produced at the end of January; it contains further good news stories on UK exports. The UK is a global exporting superpower and the world’s second biggest services exporter. Services exports to the European Union are at a record high and have increased by 36% since 2018.