Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what support his Department provides to UK firearms‑related manufacturing businesses to ensure that legitimate exports are processed in a timely manner.

The Government seeks to drive up economic growth by extending UK exports. Our export control system seeks to enable responsible and legitimate international trade in military equipment and technology, and in dual-use items. We aim to conclude 70% of standard individual export licence applications within 20 working days and 99% within 60 working days.

In some cases, however, we have to balance the desire for speed with the need for careful and thorough consideration of the application. Some decisions can therefore take longer, especially for destinations or end uses which involve more complex or finely balanced assessments.