Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment she has made of the (a) effectiveness and (b) efficiency of the export controls and licensing regime.

HM Government takes its export control responsibilities very seriously and we operate one of the most robust and transparent export control regimes in the world.

We rigorously assess every application on a case-by-case basis against strict assessment criteria, the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria. We draw on all available information, including reports from NGOs and our overseas network.

These Criteria provide a thorough risk assessment framework for assessing export licence applications and require us to think hard about the impact of providing equipment and its capabilities.

We are mindful of the commercial pressures exporters face and keep our licensing process under continuous review.