Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if his Department will list ML3 arms export licences to Israel licensing the transfer of bullets extant for August 2025.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
I refer the Member to the answer I gave on 5 March to question 117033.
Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many times the incorporation SIEL, issued on 26 November 2024, for export to Israel by Thales UK has been used; on which dates; and whether that licence has been exhausted.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Since September 2024 this Government has suspended licences for exports for the IDF that might be used in military operations in Gaza and we have continued to refuse relevant new licence applications on the same basis.
Not all military licences for Israel have been suspended, as many relate to items for re-export to third countries or are otherwise not assessed as being for use in military operations in Gaza.
We can confirm that the licence referenced remains extant. The Department does not hold comprehensive data on exports that have taken place under individual export licences. For goods export data, you should refer to HMRC, who publish UK trade in goods statistics by partner country and product which can be found on www.uktradeinfo.com.
Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many of the non-suspended extant military licences to Israel as at 31 July 2025 identified as (a) being for and (b) supporting re-export to third parties outside of Israel are incorporation SIELs.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
At 31 July 2025 there were 167 extant licences that include military items. Of these 84 were identified as being for, or supporting, re-export to third parties outside of Israel. These exports are defined as those where Israel is not the Ultimate End-User country, or where the re-export nature of the shipment is made clear in the licence detail.
Of these 84 licences, 51 were Standard Individual Export Licences covering Incorporation scenarios. However, this is not the only relevant licence type. Other licence types, including SIELs for both temporary and permanent exports, can cover, for example, the demonstration and testing of components, in support of the production of goods for onward export.
Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he has assessed the risk of diversion for ammunition for civilian use licensed from the UK to Israel, including to settlers in the West Bank.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK Government has a clear position that Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories are illegal under international law.
All export licence applications are assessed for the risk of diversion in line with Criterion 7 of the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria which considers the ‘risk that the items will be diverted to an undesirable end-user or for an undesirable end-use'. This includes consideration, where relevant, of use in illegal settlements. Risk of diversion is complex, representing the single biggest reason export licences are refused, and all licences are kept under careful and continual review.
Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many export licences covering military training equipment to Israel were extant between 1 January 2025 and 31 September 2025.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department does not hold continuous records on the number of export licences extant at any point over historic periods, but publishes data regularly based on decisions taken and has, on an exceptional basis, periodically published further detail on licences for Israel extant as at a point in time.
In August 2025 the Department published information on the 347 licences involving Israel which were extant on 31 July. Of these, five licences for the IDF/Israeli Government involved training and testing goods.
Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if his Department will list ML3 arms export licences to Israel licensing the transfer of ammunition for civilian use extant between 1 January 2025 and 31 September 2025.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department does not hold continuous records on the number of export licences extant at any point over historic periods, but publishes data regularly based on decisions taken and has, on an exceptional basis, periodically published further detail on licences for Israel extant as at a point in time.
In August 2025 the Department published informed on the 347 licences involving Israel which were extant on 31 July. This total included 5 licences with an ML3 rating. Any ammunition covered under such licences was assessed as not having utility in military operations in Gaza, either because the items were to be re-exported to third countries, or because the items covered related to training ammunition or non-military purposes.
Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 13 January 2026 to Question 103110 on Exports: Ammunition, on what evidential basis the Minister stated that the Government does not licence the export of any bombs or ammunition for use in military operations in Gaza or the West Bank.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Licence applications for the export of controlled goods, including bombs and ammunition, are considered by the Export Control Joint Unit. Relevant teams, including technical experts and officials within DBT, FCDO and MOD, consider every application on a case-by-case basis.
On the basis of such assessments this Government has been clear that the UK does not licence the export of any bombs or ammunition for use in military operations in Gaza or the West Bank.
Information on export licensing is publicly available at: Strategic export controls: quarterly licensing statistics - GOV.UK. The Government has previously published exceptional information relating to Israel available at: Export control licensing management information for Israel - GOV.UK.
Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department holds UK customs export data identifying shipments of live munitions, including bullets, exported from the United Kingdom to Israel in August 2025; and whether he plans to publish disaggregated data distinguishing live munitions from training, sporting, and other non-combat ammunition.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
DBT does not hold detailed shipment-level customs export data. For goods export data, you should refer to HMRC, who publish UK trade in goods statistics by partner country and product which can be found on www.uktradeinfo.com.
Since September 2024, this Government has suspended licences for exports for the IDF that might be used in military operations in Gaza and refused new licence applications on the same basis. We categorically do not licence the export of any bombs or ammunition for use in military operations in Gaza or the West Bank.
DBT publishes extensive data on export licences on a quarterly basis which includes summaries of the items licensed, with classifications which typically differentiate between types of ammunition. The Department has also published specific information on licences for export to Israel: Export control licensing management information for Israel - GOV.UK.
Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the Channel 4 Fact Check report entitled Value of UK arms imported by Israel, published on 29 September 2025.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Channel 4 report focuses on imports of ammunition and munitions by Israel. The UK does not licence the export of any bombs or ammunition for use in military operations in Gaza or the West Bank. As Members will be aware, last year we suspended licences for exports of items to the IDF that might be used in military operations in Gaza.
The report is based on Israeli customs data which does not differentiate between live munitions and training equipment or sporting ammunition for civilian use. Furthermore it does not differentiate between items staying in Israel and those scheduled for re-export to other countries.
We take our arms control system very seriously and have taken every possible measure to ensure licences are not approved for exports that could be used by the IDF in Gaza.
Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the British Business Bank’s Growth Guarantee Scheme.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Growth Guarantee Scheme (GGS) opened for applications in July 2024, replacing the Recovery Loan Scheme, and has recently been extended until 31 March 2029. Evaluations for GGS are currently being procured and will commence in 2026/27.
As of June 2025, GGS had supported a total of 16,082 facilities, driving the sustainability and growth of smaller businesses across the UK. The status of these facilities is summarised in the table below.
Status | Number of facilities | % of facilities |
On Schedule | 13,912 | 86.51% |
Arrears | 368 | 2.29% |
Defaulted | 259 | 1.61% |
Claimed | 151 | 0.94% |
Settled | 481 | 2.99% |
Fully Repaid | 911 | 5.66% |
Total | 16,082 | 100.00% |