Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps he is taking to ensure that information on licences granted by the Export Control Joint Unit is (a) accessible and (b) comprehensible to the public.

The Government publishes Official Statistics on a quarterly and annual basis on export licences granted and refused on GOV.UK. These include a country level data report, providing data per country and a statistical commentary report that summarises and provides context and explanation for the key data trends. These are available to view at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/strategic-export-controls-licensing-data.

A searchable database that allows bespoke searches of this information, based on specific licence types, destinations and goods, is also available at https://www.exportcontroldb.trade.gov.uk/sdb2/fox/sdb/SDBHOME.

All information published on GOV.UK must comply with guidelines set by the Government’s Digital Service. This includes a mandatory requirement for all published information to be written in plain English to ensure that it is clear and concise.

We are reviewing all export control content on GOV.UK to ensure it is as clear and simple as possible for exporters and other members of the public.