Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the UK-Italy Young Leaders Programme on the level of UK-Italy trade in the next five years.

The Young Leaders Programme was launched in 2023 and aims to strengthen ties between the UK and Italy, the third largest economy in the EU, the UK's 9th largest trading partner, and a key NATO ally. The programme promotes collaboration between young UK and Italian professionals, including in trade and commercial fields, and its 26 participants to date have been evenly split between citizens of the two countries. The UK allocated £20,000 to the programme in both 2023/24 and 2024/25, our selection process is still open for 25/26 and we have allocated £46,500 in 2025/26 to reflect the increasing number of participants and the activities of the alumni network for past participants.