To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether her Department conducted an impact assessment on the establishment of a Trade and Investment Hub in Cardiff.

No impact assessment was conducted on the establishment of a Trade and Investment Hub in Cardiff. Government-led research included in a Board of Trade report published in March showed exports support 6.5m jobs across the UK, 74% of which are outside London. The research estimates jobs directly and indirectly supported by exports pay around 7% higher than the national median, with Office for National Statistics estimating that goods-exporting businesses are also 21% more productive. Exports and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) will be central to this Government’s mission to ‘level up’ the UK economy. Given this context, the Trade and Investment Hubs in Cardiff, Edinburgh, Belfast and Darlington will be established as part of the Department for International Trade’s refreshed strategy to boost exports and bring the benefits of the government’s global trade policy to the whole of the UK.