I am most grateful to the Minister for his response and to all those who took part in the debate. Everyone expressed their views in a positive way, and there was widespread support for the amendment’s objectives. I particularly thank my noble friend for his support for the objectives of the all-party parliamentary group. We look forward to working with him, his ministerial colleagues and officials in trying to ensure that we engage fully, not only here in Parliament but with the business community, in making that happen.
I was grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Bassam, not least for referring to the Federation of Small Businesses. In the report it published earlier in the year relating to SMEs and more recently when Make UK published its report on exports, it was abundantly clear how important it will be for us as a country to bring small and medium-sized businesses into export markets, not only in Europe, to which many have been accustomed, but beyond it. Thirty years ago, I set up an active exporting scheme through the British Chambers of Commerce that mentored small businesses to help them get into exporting activity. I hope that we can look at schemes of that kind because it is important to make that happen.
It was a very interesting debate about the nature of reports. I gently say to my noble friend Lady Noakes that the amendment refers to “the Secretary of State” because “the Secretary of State” is every Secretary of State, not just the Secretary of State for International Trade—so it can within the amendment be a cross-governmental report.
6 pm
I am perfectly satisfied with the biannual report promised by my noble friend. The key thing is that, first, we have a new strategy soon and, secondly, when it is renewed, it is not simply a means of holding the Government to account for what has happened—important as that is—or the trade statistics, valuable as those are, but so that businesses can see how the Government will put resources behind the strategy to help them be more successful in the markets they are
looking to in the year, or two, or three, ahead. That is what they critically want: stability in a strategy from government and the resources that they know they can rely on to get into those markets and support them. I am very grateful to my noble friend for the way in which he responded to the debate and, on that basis, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.