Question to the Scotland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what progress the Government has made on implementing the recommendations of the Wilson Review of Support for Scottish Exporting; and what plans he has to designate (a) the Scotch whisky industry and (b) other sectors with experience and success in export markets as free trade champions.

The Scotland Office created and chairs the Scottish Exporting Joint Working Group. This consists of officials from UKTI, SDI and Scottish Enterprise and the Scottish Government. The Group last met on the 5 October where they discussed a draft Action Plan that contains practical steps to achieve greater collaboration, co-operation and alignment between the organisations serving Scottish exporters, in line with the recommendations of the Wilson Review. The Action Plan will be agreed over the coming weeks.

The Government has no immediate plans to designate the Scotch whisky industry or other sectors in Scotland as free trade champions. However, we are working very closely with the Scotch Whisky Association to learn from their expertise on trade issues with a view to replicating the extraordinary success the Scotch Whisky industry has had in export markets across the wider UK food and drink sector.