Lord Wallace of Saltaire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Wallace of Saltaire on 2016-01-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what conditions the FCO and UK Trade and Investment attach to providing support and assistance to companies based in the Crown Dependencies in pursuit of overseas contracts and investment opportunities.

Lord Maude of Horsham

Companies from the Crown Dependencies are able to take advantage of the Overseas Market Introduction Service (OMIS) as a non-subsidised, fully- charged service to commission information from UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) to assist them in planning and executing their business plans.

UKTI services are provided at a cost to the UK tax-payer. The Crown Dependencies operate under the jurisdiction of their own Administrations, with no business-generated return to the UK Exchequer. Consequently, OMIS provision to companies based in the Crown Dependencies is charged for.

Companies from the Crown Dependencies are not eligible for any subsidised UKTI services, unless they have an active UK trading address and can demonstrate that any support they receive would help them deliver economic benefit to the UK through this trading address.