Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment he has made of the resources required by his Department to negotiate or renegotiate trade deals as a result of the decision to leave the EU in the next 12 months.

The Department for International Trade already has a strong and capable trade policy team which has more than doubled in size since 23 June. In the next year we will be developing that team to build the world class negotiating strengths needed to deliver the best outcomes for the UK. They will have the depth and breadth of expertise to handle the full range of sectoral and cross-cutting issues that arise in trade agreements, supported by analysts and lawyers.