Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make an assessment of the effect of recent change in the value of sterling on exports from the UK's manufacturing sector.

The latest manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index survey shows new export orders increasing for the ninth successive month.

Data from the Office for National Statistics show that manufacturing output increased by 1.2% in the three months to December compared to the three months to September, and that the volume of exports increased by 7.1% over the same period.

We are not complacent and we know that promoting trade delivery is more important than ever for the UK: the creation of the Department for International Trade (DIT) demonstrates clearly that the Government is committed to promoting international trade and investment in manufacturing.