Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Grimstone of Boscobel on 28 April 2022 (HL7909), what is the current status of Project DEFEND; and what assessment they have made of its success in (1) strengthening national resilience, and (2) reducing supply chain dependency on China.

Under the previous government the then Department for International Trade (DIT) ran Project Defend from April 2020 to March 2021 when the project closed.

We recognise the importance of strengthening the resilience of UK supply chains to boost our preparedness for potential disruptions and shocks, Further consideration will be given to this in our forthcoming Trade Strategy. More widely, we are carrying out a full and comprehensive audit of the UK’s interests with regards to China, which will bring a consistent, long-term and strategic approach.