International Trade Secretary, Dr Liam Fox, today set out major new proposals ensuring that MPs, the Devolved Administrations, businesses and the public can influence Britain’s post-Brexit trade, designed to ensure future agreements create prosperity across the whole of the UK.

International Trade Secretary Dr Liam Fox said:

For the first time in over 40 years the UK will have the chance to decide who we trade with and on what terms. Those decisions must work of the whole of the UK, and that is why we are making this unprecedented commitment to transparency and inclusiveness for our MPs, the Devolved Administrations, businesses, civil society groups, trade unions and the public.

As an international economic department, we have the chance to deliver trade agreements that work for consumers and businesses across the UK. The more input we get on these, the better they will be.

Public consultations:

Dr Fox announced the government’s intention that a 14-week consultation will run ahead of any new negotiation, allowing any individual or organisation across the UK to give their view. These will be easily accessible on online to ensure as many people get to feed into the government’s work as possible.

This is longer than other government consultation periods and longer than the EU runs its own trade consultations for, giving the British public more say over Britain’s trading future.

As part of the consultations, the Department for International Trade (DIT) will run events in all regions and nations of the UK to seek their views on how prospective trade agreements could support prosperity and growth.

Expert advice:

A new Strategic Trade Advisory Group will also be created, advising DIT ministers and trade negotiators on trade policy and negotiations.

The Group will be made up of 14 experts drawn from different groups such as business, civil society and unions, with an interest in our future trading relationships and their impact on the UK – from the workplace to consumer choice and the environment.

Individuals will be invited to apply by 17th August 2018 to join the group which will meet quarterly, providing direct advice to ministers and UK negotiators.

Providing evidence:

MPs will be given the opportunity to consider the Government’s approach to negotiations and the potential implications of any agreements.

As negotiations progress, the Government will keep Parliament closely involved with regular Ministerial statements and updates to the International Trade Committee. The Government will – before entering formal negotiations – publish an ‘Outline Approach’ to each negotiation, setting out the high-level objectives and scope of that negotiation. This document will be accompanied by a scoping assessment.

Devolved Administrations:

We will work closely with the Devolved Administrations on an ongoing basis to deliver an approach that works for the whole of the UK. As part of this, we are conducting a series of collaborative policy roundtables with Devolved Administrations recognising the close interaction between trade policy and devolved policy areas. Parliamentary approval: Once a free trade agreement is finalised, if it changes existing UK laws, and where necessary legislation doesn’t already exist, then new primary legislation will be introduced. Parliament will also be provided with comprehensive analysis of its effects. Importantly, Parliament will be able to scrutinise any new legislation in the usual way, as well as the ratification of all agreements through the usual procedures.

Communities Minister Lord Bourne has announced £250,000 to give more young people from diverse backgrounds across the country the opportunity to join national youth groups like the Scouts, Police Cadets and Guiding.

This will give more youngsters the confidence, skills and experience they need to realise their potential. Youth United Foundation, a charity established to support a coalition of 11 uniformed youth volunteering organisations has already offered over 1.5 million young people the opportunity to develop teamwork, leadership, self-confidence and communication skills through a series of activities.

Government funding to date has helped train thousands of new volunteers with their member organisations including the Scout Association, Girlguiding, and St John’s Ambulance.

The new funding will be used to promote integration through building a national network of youth integration champions and rolling out long-term approaches to developing lasting relationships between young people from different backgrounds.

This complements the government’s ongoing work to improve integration including the recent launch of the Integrated Communities Innovation Fund, announced by Communities Secretary the Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP. Working in partnership with Sport England, the Innovation Fund will support projects that encourage integration including sport.

Communities Minister Lord Bourne said:

This government is determined to ensure young people from all backgrounds have the opportunity to go as far as their talents take them.

Organisations such as the Scouts Cadets and Girls Brigade give young people unique and challenging experiences that help them unlock their full potential.

With this funding, Youth United Foundation will be able to ensure that more young people have the opportunity to gain the skills and confidence to become great citizens of the future.

Youth United Foundation Chief Executive, Samantha Hyde said:

The Youth United Foundation are delighted that funding of £250,000 has been awarded to support the work of the Integrated Communities Strategy in targeted areas of England.

It will allow us to continue our work setting up new units and groups to which will contribute to the achievement of the government’s vision for building strong, integrated communities.

We look forward to working closely with our Network and Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) to build on this success.

Youth United Foundation is a charity established to support the Youth United Network, founded by HRH The Prince of Wales. The Network is a coalition of 11 uniformed youth volunteering organisations, including Girlguiding, the Scout Association, the Volunteer Police Cadets, and St John’s Ambulance.

This announcement comes in the same week as the launch of new research from Youth United, “Social Integration: the role of uniformed youth groups”, which provides powerful evidence of that participation in uniformed youth groups increases integration.

Funding for Youth United Foundation will support the objectives identified in the government’s Integrated Communities Strategy Green Paper, which closed on 5 June 2018. This includes encouraging social mixing amongst different groups and increasing opportunities for all young people to boost their talents.

MHCLG provided £10 million for the Youth United Foundation’s Supporting Inclusion Programme which ran from April 2012 to September 2014 to increase the number of places in youth organisations in deprived areas, and £400,000 to the Youth United Foundation in 2017 to 2018 to support the Foundation’s core costs and test approaches to social mixing for young people.

Under a new Prosperity Framework, the UK Government and Lockheed Martin will work together to identify new opportunities to generate value to the UK and to Lockheed Martin. The Framework will work on the creation and exploitation of innovative ideas and technologies; strengthening supply chains; and supporting the development of the advanced manufacturing and technology sectors. This will bring considerable benefits to the wider defence, aerospace and space sectors of the UK economy, creating and sustaining high-level technology jobs and skills in key industries.

Supported by investment of £38 million from Lockheed Martin, opportunities for potential collaboration will be identified across defence and commercial sectors including in autonomous systems, space, artificial intelligence, cyber security, electronic warfare and underwater technologies.

Defence Minister Guto Bebb said:

Lockheed Martin’s commitment clearly demonstrates how they view the UK as a top country to work with, with our world-class defence industry, supported by powerhouse universities and a wealth of high-tech and innovative small businesses.

As we look to our post-Brexit future, it is crucial that we create, develop and strengthen our relations with international partners across defence. Foreign investment in defence stimulates robust growth across a host of sectors in the British economy so this should be at the forefront of our international aspirations.

Lockheed Martin has been a partner in UK Defence for almost 80 years and currently adds £1 billion to the economy every year, supporting 1,000 suppliers (75% of which are SMEs) and 10,000 jobs. This mutually beneficial relationship provides the company with its second largest international market. Both the government and Lockheed Martin want this partnership to grow from strength to strength.

Rick Edwards, Executive Vice President for Lockheed Martin International said:

We greatly value our partnership and see this agreement as a way to strengthen our relationship and help the UK to prosper. Our expertise in developing new technology like autonomous systems and exploring new frontiers like space will be invaluable in helping the UK to be a world leader in defence and aerospace.

Minister for Investment, Graham Stuart said:

This partnership with Lockheed Martin, a major global defence company, is great news for the UK, and further reinforcement of this country’s position both as the European leader in technology and the number one foreign direct investment destination across the EU.

This is a vote of confidence in the UK’s R&D capabilities, its innovative companies and a fantastic commitment from Lockheed Martin to support the development and expansion of their UK supply chain. It is also good news for current and future jobs in the sector whilst ensuring the UK can continue to develop its world leading defence and aerospace industries.

Phillip Dunne’s independent review of the prosperity benefits that flow from defence, reinforced the importance of building strong relationships with companies such as Lockheed Martin. This Framework will drive growth and investment in the UK and develop technologies and capabilities which can be exploited for the benefit of defence, the 500,000 jobs it supports, and for the broader UK economy.

Initial objectives for the Prosperity Framework include:

• Activities to assist UK companies to understand Lockheed Martin’s business, and technology roadmaps, enabling them to contribute to Lockheed Martin programmes worldwide.
• Activities to improve the performance, resilience and competitiveness of UK supply chains, which will inform Government’s wider business and supply chain improvement initiatives.
• Building on Lockheed Martin’s work with the UK Space Agency and £13 million investment to develop launch and small satellite capabilities.
• Growth of the UK investment pipeline for LM Ventures, Lockheed Martin’s $200 million venture capital fund.