Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to the Written Statement of 8 December, HCWS449 on Trade Policy Update, whether the Government held (a) formal and (b) informal consultations with representatives of the defence industry in advance of that announcement.

When preparing the written statement of 8 December, HCWS449 which introduced the current Strategic Export Licensing Criteria, there were no advance formal or informal consultations with industry or representatives of industry.