Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effect of Brexit on co-operative institutions and companies that have members in a number of EU member states including the UK; and whether this issue is being considered as part of the Brexit negotiations.

The Government is negotiating for a future relationship with the European Union that works for all types of business in the UK and ministers from across the Government have carried out extensive engagement with businesses and industry bodies from all sectors of the economy regarding our exit from the EU.

As noted in the Government’s recent White Paper on the UK’s future relationship with the EU, the UK is an outward-facing, trading nation.

As such, there are no nationality restrictions on who can be a member of a co-operative institution or company under the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014 or any other UK legislation, and there are no plans for this to change after we leave the EU.