Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what discussions his Department has had with (a) local authorities and (b) regional growth bodies on export-capability development.

Working with local delivery bodies is a central part of our Plan for Small Businesses and Business Growth Service. A core principle of the Business Growth Service is local partnership working, including working with Growth Hubs and Mayoral Strategic Authorities.

Our Plan for Small Businesses, published in July, sets out the ways in which we will work with local authorities to deliver our ambitions of supporting businesses to grow.