Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address concerns that small businesses lack the funds and resources necessary to fully take advantage of global trade agreements after Brexit; and whether they are considering future measures to help such businesses in this area.

The Department for International Trade supports small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through its overseas network, international events programme, and online services. The great.gov.uk website offers digital tools to help businesses export and has had over 3 million visitors. Ministers from across Government have carried out extensive engagement on EU exit with businesses and industry bodies from all sectors of the economy and all regions of the UK.

UK Export Finance (UKEF), offers SMEs support to export and invest overseas with confidence. In 2016-17, 79% of UK companies supported by UKEF were SMEs. In October 2017 UKEF partnered with high street banks offering SMEs, including businesses that supply exporters, access to government backed trade finance directly from their banks. UKEF also recently launched an enhanced overseas investment insurance product to protect UK businesses against political risks when investing abroad.

The Government is developing a new Export Strategy which will be published in the coming months, and have engaged with numerous businesses, and organisations such as the Federation of Small Businesses and the British Chamber of Commerce, and other Government departments, including BEIS, to consider how best to support all businesses, including SMEs, to export or export more.