Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what discussions she has had with relevant stakeholders in the East Midlands, including Bosworth, to help ensure that the region can make use of potential opportunities through the trade agreements with Australia and New Zealand.

Dedicated officials in the East Midlands regularly discuss the opportunities free trade agreements (FTAs) present with Local Enterprise Partnerships, Business Representative Organisations, and local Chambers of Commerce.

We also consult stakeholders through ‘town hall’ style briefings, roundtables, webinars and bilateral & group engagements. For example, we held an update for stakeholders on the UK-Australia FTA in December 2021, and a further update on the UK–New Zealand FTA in February 2022.

Throughout negotiations, the department consulted various stakeholder groups and will continue to do so to ensure that citizens and businesses across the East Midlands take advantage of our first two from-scratch FTAs.