Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, who carries out external assessment of the work of the Steering Board of the UK National Contact Point set up further to the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises; when such an assessment will be undertaken; and what assessment he has made of the adequacy of any internal review of the effectiveness of that Steering Board in terms of its (a) capacity to consult stakeholders and (b) ability to undertake comprehensive scrutiny.

The UK Government recognises its commitments under the OECD Multi-National Enterprise Guidelines and maintaining a National Contact Point (NCP) which operates in line with international best practice. The NCP Steering Board contributes to this by oversight and monitoring of the effectiveness of the operation of the NCP, ensuring correct and fair procedures are followed in line with the established and published procedures for dealing with complaints.

The Steering Board was established in 2007 and has provided high quality expert advice and support to the NCP. Nevertheless, the Government believes that it is appropriate to undertake a light touch review of the composition and functions of the Board in light of experience. The UK NCP is also scheduled to undergo a peer review by the OECD during the second half of 2018, which will consider the effectiveness of the NCP’s structure and procedures.

Steering Board members, together with key stakeholder groups, including business and civil society, will be consulted as part of our review process. It is expected that the review will be completed in time to enable a new Steering Board to be appointed when the term of the current members expires in September 2017.