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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their relationship with the British Chambers of Commerce; what assessment they have made of the performance of that organisation; whether they have expressed any concerns to that organisation in the past four years; and if so, what was the nature of those concerns.

The British Chambers of Commerce is an important stakeholder for government and we engage actively with their senior team and the network of 52 accredited Chambers of Commerce in the UK.

The British Chambers of Commerce is also a delivery partner for the Overseas Business Network initiative – a programme to increase the number and range of private sector partners supporting UK exporters in overseas markets. In 2013/14 and 2014/15, UK Trade & Investment trialled a number of initiatives with the British Chambers of Commerce, including co-ordinating UK-end activity and accrediting the overseas delivery partners.

Following a review in November 2014, it was agreed that responsibility for co-ordinating the UK-end activity would be shifted from the British Chambers of Commerce to UK Trade and Investment’s regional delivery contracts with effect from April 2015. The British Chambers of Commerce continue to accredit overseas delivery partners.