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Select Committee · Public Accounts Committee

Supporting investments in the UK

Status: Closed Opened: 20 Jan 2023 Closed: 24 Sep 2023 7 recommendations 21 conclusions 1 report

The Department for International Trade (DIT) is responsible for supporting investment into the UK from overseas. Working with the Office for Investment and a range of other government departments and bodies, DIT aims to achieve economic growth in all the nations and regions of the UK. Based on the NAO investigation into supporting investment in …

Clear

Reports

1 report
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Fifty-Sixth Report - Supporting investment into the UK HC 996 9 Jun 2023 28 Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

4 items
5 Conclusion Fifty-Sixth Report - Supporting investm… Rejected

Ensure overseas posts prioritise investment support and train staff on UK-wide opportunities

Overseas posts have a range of roles and priorities and may not be consistent in promoting investment across the UK. Potential investors’ first contact with the Department is often with staff in overseas posts whose role is to help them identify and access investment opportunities in the UK. But there …

Government response. The government rejected the recommendation, stating it already provides comprehensive investment training through its Investment Academy for staff globally and delivers pre-posting training for senior officials, arguing these existing provisions address the committee's concerns.
HM Treasury
19 Conclusion Fifty-Sixth Report - Supporting investm… Rejected

Overseas posts possess insufficient knowledge of UK-wide investment opportunities.

Potential investors’ first contact with the Department is often with staff in overseas posts. The Department’s network of more than 90 overseas posts across nine geographical 35 C&AG’s Report, para 3.9 36 C&AG’s Report, Figure 2 and Figure 14 37 C&AG’s Report, Figure 13 38 Qq 26–27 39 Q 27 …

Government response. The government disagrees with the Committee's concern, stating that senior FCDO leaders already play an important role and describing existing training programmes like the Investment Academy, pre-posting training, and access to Trade Faculty learning.
HM Treasury
20 Conclusion Fifty-Sixth Report - Supporting investm… Rejected

Overseas posts exhibit varying levels of staff knowledge and expertise.

We are concerned that staff in overseas posts may have varying levels of knowledge and expertise. We asked the Department about the training available for overseas staff and how the Department is involved in framing the training.50 The Department said that it has developed training programmes to increase learning, skills …

Government response. The government disagrees with the Committee's concern, stating that senior FCDO leaders already play an important role and describing existing training programmes like the Investment Academy, pre-posting training, and access to Trade Faculty learning.
HM Treasury
21 Conclusion Fifty-Sixth Report - Supporting investm… Rejected

Investment support remains a low priority in smaller overseas posts.

Support for investment may not be a priority among embassies’ other responsibilities, particularly in smaller posts where there are only one or two investment deals each year. We asked the Department whether all embassies are focused on investment. The Department told us that each overseas post produces a country plan …

Government response. The government disagrees with the conclusion that support for investment may not be a priority for embassies. It explains that investment priorities are aligned and targets agreed annually with HM Trade Commissioners, supported by comprehensive training for overseas staff.
HM Treasury

Oral evidence sessions

1 session
Date Witnesses
6 Mar 2023 Amanda Brooks CBE · Department for Business and Trade, Ceri Smith · Department for International Trade, Daniel Gieve · Office for Investment, Gareth Davies CB · Department for Business and Trade View ↗

Correspondence

1 letter
DateDirectionTitle
25 May 2023 — Correspondence from Gareth Davies, Permanent Secretary, Department for Business…