EU citizens to receive settled status guidance from charities and NFP organisations who apply to become dedicated / specialist OISC immigration advisers.

PM Theresa May met with the First Ministers of Scotland and Wales in Downing Street.

A UK Government spokesman said:

Today the Prime Minister met with the First Ministers of Scotland and Wales as part of ongoing discussions to find a consensus around the terms of the UK’s exit from the EU.

Both Ministers have been invited by the Prime Minister to attend all relevant meetings of a new Cabinet sub-committee that will bring together work on preparations for the UK’s exit from the EU, spanning both deal and no deal outcomes.

This builds on the increasing engagement in recent months between the UK government and the devolved administrations and our commitment to give them an enhanced role in the next phase of the Brexit process, respecting their vital interests in these negotiations.

The Prime Minister also made clear that the right way to rule out no deal is to agree a deal, and that is what the Government wants to achieve.

Published 23 January 2019

New figures, released today show that the UK’s services sector is going from strength-to-strength.

New figures released today (Wednesday 23rd January) show that the UK’s renowned services sector is going from strength-to-strength, with an increase in exports to regions across the world.

Services exports grew the most to the Americas, increasing by 2.6% to £74.6bn in the year to Q3 2018. The following global regions also witnessed strong growth:

• Asia – up 1.9% to £42.1bn
• Europe – up 1.7% to £149.4bn
• Australasia & Oceania – up 1.1% to £7.0bn

Asian countries with strong export growth in services include South Korea (up 43.8% to £3.3bn) and Taiwan (up 30.1% to £1.1bn). Services exports to our largest single country export market the US is up to £62.7bn, whilst our trade in services surplus with the country is up to £33.4bn.

The financial sector boasted an impressive increase of 3.9% to £60.9bn, with the largest single country contributor to the increase being the US, which imported £14.5bn worth of financial services from the UK, up 4.1%.

A new report from Deloitte also published today ranks the UK as the top destination for foreign direct investment (FDI) in Europe.

And figures released by the United Nations earlier this week confirm this trend, showing that investment inflows into the UK grew by more than $21bn from 2017 to 2018.

International Trade Secretary, Dr Liam Fox MP said:

Today’s figures show how our world-leading services sector continues to play a key part in our position as one of the world’s largest exporters.

British services, ranging from our renowned financial sector to its expertise in management consultancy are in demand all over the world, with the US alone importing over £62.7bn worth of British services.

As I attend Davos, showcasing that Britain is open for business, my international economic department continues to offer its full support to businesses of all sizes who have the ambition to sell overseas.

Data released earlier this month shows services exports in the year to November 2018 increased by £2.1bn to £281bn. Our vibrant services sector continues to export far more than it imports, with services exports worth 62% of total trade in services. Last August, the Department for International Trade launched its ambitious new Export Strategy, seeking to move exports as a percentage of GDP from 30% to 35%.

The strategy set out a range of support which will help businesses make the most of significant export opportunities around the world.

Additional information:

• Regions include Europe, Americas, Asia, Australia and Oceania and Africa.
• Data referring to the year to Q3 2018 is non-seasonally adjusted and experimental, whilst data referring to the year to November 2018 is seasonally adjusted.