Corporate report

DIT Outcome Delivery Plan: 2021 to 2022

Published 15 July 2021

© Crown copyright 2021

This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gov.uk.

Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.

This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/department-for-international-trade-outcome-delivery-plan/dit-outcome-delivery-plan-2021-to-2022

Liz Truss at a desk

Secretary of State for the Department of International Trade

The Rt Hon Elizabeth Truss MP

Permanent Secretary

John Alty

Foreword

We are delighted to present DIT’s Outcome Delivery Plan for 2021 to 2022 and proud to lead an organisation with so much talent for making the government’s vision for Global Britain a reality. Our ambition is to make DIT the leading trade and investment department in the world. This means seizing the new opportunities available as an independent trading nation to drive forward an exports-led, jobs-led, and investment-led economic recovery.

DIT’s 2021 to 2022 Outcome Delivery Plan sets out an ambitious set of trade and investment objectives for the year ahead focused on achieving four priority outcomes: 

  1. Secure world-class free trade agreements and reduce market access barriers, ensuring that consumers and businesses can benefit from both. 
  2. Deliver economic growth to all the nations and regions of the UK through attracting and retaining inward investment. 
  3. Support UK business to take full advantage of trade opportunities, including those arising from delivering FTAs, facilitating UK exports. 
  4. Champion the rules-based international trading system and operate the UK’s new trading system, including protecting UK businesses from unfair trade practices. 

The plan outlines what we will do to achieve these outcomes, and how we will measure its success. We have a major role to play in building back better by bringing the benefits of free and fair trade to people across the UK and the world. 

At this critical moment in our history, we are stepping up with an ambitious agenda. But we know we can deliver it in full together, supporting jobs, wages and opportunity. 

The Rt Hon Elizabeth Truss MP, Secretary of State for International Trade and President of the Board of Trade and Minister for Women and Equalities

John Alty, Permanent Secretary

A. Executive summary

DIT Mission

We are a world-class trade negotiation and trade promotion department. Our global network of highly dedicated staff brings together policy, promotion and financial expertise. Our mission is to create a prosperous future for all by delivering our priority outcomes:

  • securing free trade agreements and reducing market access barriers, ensuring that consumers and businesses can benefit from both
  • delivering economic growth to all the nations and regions of the UK through attracting and retaining inward investment
  • supporting UK businesses to take full advantage of trade opportunities, including those arising from delivering FTAs, facilitating UK exports
  • championing the rules-based international trading system and operating the UK’s new trading system, including protecting UK businesses from unfair trade practices

Our vision

Our vision is to create a fair and open global trading environment that supports jobs and higher wages, raises living standards and lifts people out of poverty.

Our priority outcomes

This plan sets out in detail how we will deliver our priority outcomes, how we will measure our success, and how we will ensure we continuously improve.

The department has agreed four “Priority Outcomes” as part of our Spending Review settlement:

  1. Secure world-class free trade agreements and reduce market access barriers, ensuring that consumers and businesses can benefit from both.
  2. Deliver economic growth to all the nations and regions of the UK through attracting and retaining inward investment.
  3. Support UK business to take full advantage of trade opportunities, including those arising from delivering FTAs, facilitating UK exports.
  4. Champion the rules-based international trading system and operate the UK’s new trading system, including protecting UK businesses from unfair trade practices.

The department is also supporting the delivery of the following cross-cutting government priority outcome:

Provisional priority outcomes and associated metrics will be adjusted through the next Spending Review as necessary, including to deliver the Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy.

Strategic enablers

To deliver our priority outcomes - and reinforce the ambitions of the Declaration on Government Reform - we will focus on four key enablers:

  1. Workforce, skills and location
  2. New ideas: Innovation, technology and data
  3. Better outcomes: Delivery, evaluation and collaboration
  4. Sustainability

B. Introduction

1. Context

DIT has an ambitious agenda to deliver across our four priority outcomes in 2021-22, with a number of key milestones and strategic opportunities for each. This plan will deliver expert trade advice, economic opportunity and contribute to better life chances in every corner of the UK.

Secure world-class free trade agreements and reduce market access barriers, ensuring that consumers and businesses can benefit from both

Our priority for 2021-22 is to deliver an ambitious programme of free trade agreements and secure greater market access for exporters, bringing greater opportunities and supporting economic growth across all the communities, regions and nations of the UK. Utilising the expertise of DIT’s negotiation teams, we will maximise the opportunities for the UK whilst protecting our interests. The key milestones and outcomes we are seeking to achieve include:

  • continue negotiations of new FTAs with the US and New Zealand, building on our agreement in principle with Australia
  • progress negotiations for our accession to the CPTPP
  • build on the continuity agreements we have already signed by launching negotiations for more ambitious deals with Mexico and Canada
  • negotiate a digital economy agreement with Singapore and accession to the CPTPP
  • uphold our commitments in concluded trade agreements through their effective implementation and capitalise on opportunities provided through these concluded agreements to enhance market access
  • strengthen our trade with India in 2021, deepening the trade, investment, and export cooperation between our two countries through the Enhanced Trade Partnership (ETP)
  • strengthen our relations with trade partners through key dialogues such as JTRs and JETCOs, and pave the way to future FTAs
  • continue to tackle individual market access barriers in key regions and countries across the world so that UK businesses can trade and invest around more freely
  • provide transparency through engagement with business and other stakeholders through our advisory groups on sectors, unions and NGOs, and with Parliament through the scrutiny processes we have set up

Deliver economic growth to all the nations and regions of the UK through attracting and retaining inward investment

Inward investment has a vital role to play in supporting the government’s levelling up agenda – and it has never been more important to mitigate the reduction of international investment due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. As we seek to increase the value of inward and capital investment, and the number of jobs it supports, the key milestones and outcomes we are seeking to achieve include:

  • opening the new Office for Investment to help land high value investment opportunities in the UK which align to government priorities on net zero, infrastructure and advancing research and development
  • delivering the Global Investment Summit and launch a promotional tool – this will include a set of investable opportunities and propositions which will appeal to global investors and link to the government’s strategic priorities
  • continuing to target investment promotion services in key markets and UK growth sectors (like the High Potential Opportunities programme in the Trade and Investment Hubs across the United Kingdom to ensure the entire country has access to new opportunities and support)
  • supporting the government’s work to launch Freeports across the UK

Support UK business to take full advantage of trade opportunities, including those arising from delivering FTAs, facilitating UK exports

We will launch a refreshed export strategy designed to help businesses across the United Kingdom to capitalise on new market opportunities delivered by our Free Trade Agreements. Exporting makes businesses more productive and more profitable and supports jobs and growth. The launch of new Trade and Investment Hubs in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, and our new premises at the Economic Campus in Darlington, will ensure that communities across the United Kingdom benefit from new export opportunities. We will:

  • deliver a series of targeted export promotion campaigns aligned to maximise the opportunities from our free trade agreements programme and to galvanise exports across priority sectors
  • work with other government departments to improve the environment for exporters
  • launch an enhanced digital support offer for business, working closely with other government departments, to ensure that our new services and our new Export Academy reach companies across the United Kingdom
  • work with UKEF to ensure that exporters have access to the finance needed
  • open the Trade and Investment Hubs across the United Kingdom to ensure the entire country has access to new export opportunities and support

Champion the rules-based international trading system and operate the UK’s new trading system, including protecting UK businesses from unfair trade practices

As the UK embraces its trade independence, we have a unique opportunity to champion the cause of free trade worldwide, upholding the principle of a rules-based trading system and protecting UK businesses from unfair trade practices. The key milestones and outcomes we are seeking to achieve include:

  • utilising our presidency of the G7 and our ownership of the G7 Trade Track and relationships within the G20 and WTO to make the case for free and fair trade. We will champion WTO reform and campaign for the resolution of the Appellate Body dispute
  • seeking momentum on further trade liberalisation, including new policy initiatives that will enable us to demonstrate through leadership on digital trade, services trade liberalisation, health, and climate (including through our G7 trade track)
  • being ready to launch offensive disputes against countries that do not abide by international obligations
  • delivering the new Trade Remedies Authority and establishing its operational independence to ensure British industries are protected against unfair trading practices
  • maintaining the UK’s reputation for one of the most robust and transparent export controls system in the world, through the Export Control Joint Unit
  • delivering a supply chain strategy for priority countries and improve international cooperation on this issue through the UK’s G7 Presidency

World events

There are several key World Events that we will utilise to support these outcomes in the coming 12 months:

  • G7 leaders and G7 Trade Track
  • Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting
  • Global Investment Summit, building a green future together
  • COP26
  • Dubai World Expo
  • Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games

2. Governance and delivery agencies

Our Ministers

The Rt Hon Elizabeth Truss MP, as the Secretary of State for International Trade has overall responsibility for the business of the department. The Secretary of State is also the appointed Minister for Women and Equalities as well as President of the Board of Trade.

The Rt Hon Greg Hands MP is Minister of State for Trade Policy with responsibility for developing, coordinating and delivering a new trade policy and securing free trade agreements.

Lord Grimstone of Boscobel Kt is Minster for Investment jointly at the Department for International Trade and the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, with a focus on delivering economic growth through attracting and retaining inward investment.

Graham Stuart MP is Minister for Exports with responsibility for export policy and promotion, climate change and COP26, GREAT Campaign, trade missions and World Events. He is also overseeing UK Export Finance and UK Defence and Security Exports.

Ranil Jayawardena MP is Minister for International Trade with responsibility for future free trade agreements and continuity trade agreements (our EU-based trade agreements), tackling barriers to market access globally, Global Supply Chains and Export Controls. He also oversees the Trade Remedies Authority.

Our Executive Committee

The Executive Committee (ExCo), chaired by the Permanent Secretary, oversees operational strategy and ensures the effective management of issues cross-cutting to DIT. The ExCo usually meets weekly.

The ExCo has three sub-committees that report directly into it. The Performance, Finance and Risk Committee, and the Projects and Change Committee, which are both chaired by the Chief Operating Officer; and the People Committee, which is chaired by the Director General, Strategy and Investment.

Members Name
Chair: Permanent Secretary John Alty (Interim)
Second Permanent Secretary and Chief Trade Negotiation Adviser Crawford Falconer
Director General Strategy and Investment Ceri Smith
Director General Chief Operating Officer Catherine Vaughan
Director General Exports and UK Trade Andrew Mitchell
Director General Trade Negotiations Amanda Brooks
Director General Trading System Jo Crellin
Chief Executive UK Export Finance Louis Taylor
Ministerial Strategy Director Anthony Green
Standing Members Name
Director of Finance and Business Services Bidesh Sarkar
Chief Economist and Director of Analysis Richard Price
HMTC South Asia Alan Gemmell
HR Director (attending People and Workforce ExCo) James Norton

Governance in the Department for International Trade

The Departmental Board is the principal governance body of DIT and is chaired by the Secretary of State. Its remit is to support the Secretary of State in the strategic and operational leadership of the department. The Departmental Board meets on at least a quarterly basis.

The Departmental Board is comprised of the Ministerial team, Permanent Secretaries, Director Generals and Non-Executive Board Members (NEBMs). The Directors of Ministerial Strategy and Finance are also standing attendees.

The current NEBMs, are: Dominic Johnson (interim Lead NEBM and Chair of the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee); Dr Dambisa Moyo, Douglas Carswell, Sir Stephen O’Brien and Noel Harwerth.

The Departmental Board has two sub-committees that report into it. The Audit and Risk Assurance Committee (ARAC) and the Nominations and Governance Committee, both chaired by NEBMs, in accordance with the Cabinet Office Corporate Governance Code.

Organisational structure

The department is made up of four main business groups, corporate functions and works closely with the separate government department, UK Export Finance (UKEF).

Our Strategy and Investment Group is responsible for our priority outcome on investment, and oversight of the department’s strategy and analysis functions. It covers most cross-cutting policy priorities, including the Board of Trade and Office for Investment. This group will encourage UK businesses to invest abroad, and source opportunities and international companies to increase Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).

The Exports and UK Trade Group is responsible for our priority outcome on exports, covering business and stakeholder engagement across UK regions and the devolved administrations, supply chains and export programmes such as the Export Academy.

The Trade Negotiations Group is responsible for securing world class free-trade agreements that benefit consumers and businesses.

The Trading System Group is responsible for operating and implementing the UK’s independent trading system, including the implementation of FTAs, Disputes and Remedies. The department is supported by corporate functions including the Communications and Marketing function.

The department has structured our overseas operations into nine international regions. Each of these regions is led by a Her Majesty’s Trade Commissioner (HMTC), responsible for delivering a Regional Trade Plan (RTP).

UK Export Finance, the UK government’s export credit agency, is a ministerial government department strategically and operationally aligned with the department for International Trade, offering finance and insurance for exporters to help them win, fulfil and get paid for overseas business. UKEF and DIT have recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding to strengthen the departments’ joint working and ensure a seamless offer of government support for exporters.

3. Overview of strategic risk

The department will face a combination of economic, geopolitical and operational risks over the coming 12 months, with the impact of COVID-19 causing additional uncertainty.

Global economic, trade and geopolitical outlook:

The global economic landscape in both the medium and long term is uncertain, with any major shifts or changes presenting a risk to the delivery of DIT priority outcomes.

The department is ready to adapt its activity to reflect any change in situation, both in terms of how we trade and our engagement with partner countries. We continually gather and prioritise information on current and future global trends through tools such as horizon scanning, scenarios and futures thinking and embed these in policy and operational teams across DIT.

COVID-19 domestic and international recovery:

There are many economic impacts of the global COVID-19 recovery on DIT’s ability to realise its priority outcomes. This includes a risk of an increase in protectionism and fragmentation of the global trading system, and a risk of a prolonged economic downturn domestically and/or internationally which may limit our ability to maximise investment and export opportunities or deepen trading partnerships.

DIT has adapted to face the challenges to our FTA delivery programme presented by COVID-19. We will continue to operate negotiations remotely, reviewing the options for face-to-face engagement where needed, in line with our public health commitments.

The department is monitoring the impacts and will continue to be aligned with and understand government and international policy developments as we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic. DIT will ensure that it can adapt strategies and approaches to achieve the best possible outcomes.

Operating model and people: capacity, capability and resilience:

Given DIT’s main resource is its people, there is an inherent organisational risk that in a swift moving policy and economic environment we cannot maintain the right skills, capabilities and resources to deliver our outcomes. We are working to recruit new staff utilising bulk recruitment campaigns, to ensure the department is fully resourced to meet our ambitious delivery plan. We are also working to ensure that our workforce planning processes are as robust as possible and allow the department to react quickly to meet the demands of changes to the external and internal operating environments.

We are continuing to develop the International Trade Profession, including those in trade policy, exporting and investment. This will support the department in attracting the best talent; retaining skills; and building on existing capability. Through building a high-profile, rewarding career, we will anchor staff in this profession and help build a pipeline of talent.

DIT maintains a regular senior review of our priorities and resourcing. This helps manage available capacity and support new initiatives, to ensure that staff resilience is managed and we can take advantage of the opportunities presented by hybrid working.

4. Our resources

Our finances (rounded to nearest billion):

  • Departmental Expenditure Limit (DEL): £0.7 billion
  • Resource DEL (excluding depreciation): £0.5 billion
  • Capital DEL: £0.2 billion
  • Annually Managed Expenditure (AME): £0.0 billion

Source: Main Supply Estimates 2021/22

5. Our people

As at 31 December 2020, DIT had 2,610 full-time equivalent employees working in the UK, not including its agencies (full time equivalent headcount; includes staff on payroll).

Source: ONS public sector employment data – December 2020

As at 31 December 2020, DIT also had 1,507 staff working overseas (overall headcount; includes locally engaged staff, locally engaged staff interns and UK-based overseas staff).

Source: DIT workforce management information - December 2020

Breakdown of resource by priority outcome for 2021 to 2022

In this environment, the importance of our work has never been greater. We need to have the resources to do our work effectively and respond to new priorities as they arise. The table below shows how we anticipate our resources to be apportioned across our different priority outcomes:

Priority outcome Budget (£ million) Workforce (FTE)
Priority Outcome 1: Secure world-class free trade agreements and reduce market access barriers, ensuring that consumers and businesses can benefit from both 127.7 1,316
Priority Outcome 2: Deliver economic growth to all the nations and regions of the UK through attracting and retaining inward investment 77.3 634
Priority Outcome 3: Support UK business to take full advantage of trade opportunities, including those arising from delivering FTAs, facilitating UK exports 127.1 1,004
Priority Outcome 4: Champion the rules-based international trading system and operate the UK’s new trading system, including protecting UK businesses from unfair trade practices 74.7 670
Strategic Enablers 261.2 1116

Source: DIT Business Planning Forecast at year end, 2021 to 2022.

C. Priority outcomes delivery plans

Outcome 1: Secure world-class free trade agreements and reduce market access barriers, ensuring that consumers and businesses can benefit from both.

Lead ministers:

Senior sponsor:

  • DG Trade Negotiations – Amanda Brooks

Outcome strategy

Trade is crucial for the UK’s domestic and global prosperity. This means delivering an ambitious set of FTAs, removing market access barriers and fulfilling our manifesto pledge to sign agreements with countries accounting for 80% of UK trade.

In addition to the negotiations underway with New Zealand and the US - alongside our recent agreement in principle with Australia - our next key negotiation is with Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), signalling our increased focus on the Indo-Pacific region. We will also expand our existing FTAs with Canada and Mexico, and negotiate a new Digital Economy Agreement with Singapore, to support our accession to CPTPP and to secure further benefits for British businesses.

We will use the expertise of DIT’s negotiation and policy teams to maximise the opportunities for the UK whilst protecting our interests. This means upholding our commitments in concluded trade agreements through their effective implementation, and capitalising on the opportunities provided through these concluded agreements to enhance market access.

DIT is committed to ensuring that our FTAs deliver for the whole of the UK, not just particular regions or subsections. For example, analysis indicates that the US FTA could benefit Scotland, East/West Midlands, and the North East the most, complementing the government’s levelling up agenda to balance economic outcomes in the country. SMEs and businesses all over the UK will have the opportunity to take advantage of these new agreements to increase and diversify their export markets. We have embedded the levelling up agenda in our approach to prioritisation of market access barriers to prioritise tackling barriers in industries and sectors which are of particular importance to UK regions.

Our performance metrics

UK trade with countries with which the UK has concluded a Free Trade Agreement (FTA), as a percentage of total UK trade: 64% of UK trade in 2020

Predicted GDP impact of each concluded FTA as per published impact assessment, including by UK region

  • Source: Impact Assessment of the Agreement between the UK and Japan for a Comprehensive Economic Partnership, February 2021
  • Frequency: ad hoc, as agreements are secured
  • Notes: While the analysis draws on robust evidence and the best tools available for this type of analysis, there is inherent uncertainty in the results. Results should be interpreted with caution and not considered economic forecasts for the UK economy. UK regional estimates are derived from sectoral estimates and current regional concentration of sectors; they do not account for any future changes in the sector make-up of different regions.

Reduction in tariff barriers for each concluded FTA, as per published impact assessment (per cent)

Cost reductions related to non-tariff measures (NTMs) for goods and services for each concluded FTA, as per published impact assessment (per cent)

Number of market access barriers reported and resolved on the Digital Market Access Service

How our work contributes to the delivery of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)

Priority Outcome Link to SDGs
Priority Outcome 1 SDG 8 - Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
  SDG 10 - Reduce inequality within and among countries

Projects and programmes

Continue Free Trade Agreement negotiations with the United States of America and New Zealand, building on our agreement in principle with Australia

Negotiate accession to the CPTPP and a Digital Economy Agreement with Singapore

Launch negotiations for updated Free Trade Agreements with Mexico and Canada

Develop and deepen UK-India and UK-Mercosur trade relations

Ensure the effective implementation of the UK’s Free Trade Agreements, including: managing the overall relationship with partner countries with whom we have secured a trade agreement; and delivering on the UK’s commitments within those agreements

Identify and assess market access barriers; tackle market access barriers through bilateral interventions; and promote resolved barriers to UK business

Outcome evaluation plan

Free Trade Agreement

Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) of the implementation and impact of FTAs is an important part of ensuring their benefits are maximised for businesses and consumers and that the new trade opportunities FTAs create are fully grasped. DIT will conduct a range of M&E activities including:

  • evaluations of FTAs with the United States, Australia and New Zealand, should we successfully conclude these negotiations - evaluations will be conducted at appropriate times when the FTAs have time to have a significant impact, and results used where appropriate to modify FTA implementation and for the conduct of future FTAs
  • for the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), we will conduct ongoing monitoring and report on this every two years from the CEPA’s entry into force and will undertake a comprehensive ex-post evaluation within five years of its entry into force

FTA evaluations are likely to deploy a range of analytical techniques and methodologies. They will aim to answer three overarching evaluation questions:

  1. How effective and efficient is the agreement and its implementation in achieving the UK’s trade policy aims and in delivering benefits to UK businesses and consumers?
  2. How, if at all, can the agreement and its implementation be improved to maximise benefits to UK businesses and consumers?
  3. What, if anything, can DIT learn from the agreement and its implementation to improve the design and implementation of the UK’s future agreements?
Market Access

A framework for evaluating the impact of activity to improve Market Access is being developed. It will need to examine the aggregate impact of the programme as a whole, as well as specific interventions on specific Market Access cases. This framework will entail a range of analytical approaches to identify and understand priorities; monitor effectiveness of inputs, activities and outputs and to ascertain what impacts have resulted from Market Access activity.

Outcome 2: Deliver economic growth to all the nations and regions of the UK through attracting and retaining inward investment.

Lead minister:

Senior sponsor:

Outcome strategy

Investment is a crucial lever for ensuring UK growth and productivity in the face of the current global economic challenge, levelling up communities across the UK and securing further investment for the deep well of untapped potential outside and including areas of the South East. To maintain our position as a leading destination for inward investment, we will work across government and regulators to enhance the UK’s investment environment.

We will attract high-value, high-impact investment through the implementation of the new Investment Strategy and via the new Office for Investment, while delivering government priorities through the attraction and retention of internationally mobile investment. Delivering this response will involve the creation of a new promotional tool to showcase some of the UK’s most transformative and compelling international investment opportunities. It will build upon established programmes such as the High Potential Opportunities programme identifies and promotes regional opportunities to a global audience. Achieving this outcome will necessitate a matrix approach – with the Investment Directorate working closely with the Office for Investment, UK and overseas teams and the investment policy teams together with other government departments.

As we seek to increase the value of inward and capital investment, and the number of jobs it supports, we will be opening Trade and Investment Hubs across the United Kingdom to ensure the entire country has access to new opportunities and support, whilst also supporting the launch of Freeports across the UK.

Our performance metrics

Number of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) projects supported, including by UK region

Number of FDI jobs supported, including by UK region

Gross Value Added of FDI projects supported (£)

Value of capital investment supported

UK inward FDI stock (£)

How our work contributes to the delivery of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)

Priority Outcome Link to SDGs
Priority Outcome 2 SDG 8 - Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
  SDG 9 - Build resilient infrastructure, promote sustainable industrialization and foster innovation

Projects and programmes

Attract and retain major investments into critical sectors such as technology, digital and life sciences, to support government priorities such as clean growth, levelling-up and job creation

Attract high-value, high-impact investment through all our investment work including through the Office for Investment (OfI), unblocking barriers to strategically significant investments

Bring together and showcase strategically important and commercially attractive UK investment opportunities through a promotional tool

Ensure that the UK remains a global leader in attracting and retaining capital investment

Use the Global Entrepreneur Programme to attract the brightest and best entrepreneurs with innovative businesses to the UK

Support stakeholders from across the UK to identify and promote specific investment opportunities that would benefit from targeted promotion through the High Potential Opportunities programme

Embed Regional Investment Managers across the UK to support the promotion of viable investment opportunities to international investors

Support the government’s levelling-up programme through investment, working with HMT and MHCLG to ensure Freeports can use trade and investment to drive growth across the UK.

Outcome evaluation plan

DIT is developing a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation framework for our investment promotion activities, products and services. The aim of the M&E framework is, to develop robust and comprehensive analysis which supports focusing DIT’s investment promotion activities where they add the most value; assessing the role and additionality that DIT has in landing and shaping investment, so that services and their economic impact can be progressively improved.

The deliverables for the framework are listed below:

  • identification of market barriers and failures affecting investors in the UK
  • review and update our service catalogue with innovative services that are linked to the specific market failures and wider government priorities
  • review and update KPIs, and performance indicators, the corresponding data systems to enhance DIT’s performance monitoring, efficiency and accountability
  • analytical and evaluative tools to ascertain DIT’s additionality and economic contribution, and value for money assessments.

Techniques will include monitoring KPIs, econometric analysis, surveys with investors and qualitative interviews with investors. The purpose of the framework is to allow DIT to improve its activities on an ongoing basis.

Outcome 3: Support UK business to take full advantage of trade opportunities, including those arising from delivering FTAs, facilitating UK exports.

Lead minister:

Senior sponsor:

Outcome strategy:

Trade plays a critical role in sustaining jobs across the UK, ensuring the UK can build back better from the pandemic and level up communities across the country. As the global economy recovers, we will maximise the opportunities for our exporters and our country by setting the conditions for an export recovery. This means opening markets and strengthening alliances with like-minded trade partners.

With a new government focus on an economic recovery, we are ramping up and rolling out stronger support, and a better business environment for trade across each of the UK’s nations and regions. We are contributing to the cross-government ‘Build Back Better: our Plan for Growth’ and developing a refreshed Export Strategy. Our new integrated and enhanced cross-cutting export promotion campaign focuses on priority sectors that will deliver the greatest impact in a UK-wide export recovery. This campaign approach will be supported through the Prime Minister’s Trade Envoys, HMTCs, Export Champions, and business facing advisors. These include food and drink, financial and professional services, creative industries, education, tech and digital, consumer goods and clean growth.

Our cross-cutting programmes such as the Export Academy upskilling initiative, and the “Open Doors” FTA-promotion programme, will enable businesses to make the most of the new FTA opportunities and will also contribute to the national export promotion drive. Through our Export Academy pilot, we are building the export capability and confidence of potential exporters in Levelling Up Regions with a lower density of High Export Potential businesses. We will refresh our approach to Trade Shows, focusing on taking bigger export missions to fewer shows as a central element of our new Export Campaigns. Our new Enhanced International Support Service will connect this new cohort of exporters to buyers in overseas markets. Our new Trade and Investment Hubs in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales and our new presence at the Economic Campus in Darlington will ensure that these opportunities are available to businesses across the United Kingdom.

As part of our wider strategies on Levelling Up and the Union we will continue to target export services in key growth markets and UK sectors, utilising our enhanced digital support offer. The trade and investment hubs will create a critical link between the regions and the Office for Investment, which has levelling up at the core of its mission to unlock high value projects across the UK.

We are also focused on expanding the scope of our support, enabling businesses to access the help they need to begin or to grow exporting by providing access to export related financing through the £38 million Internationalisation Fund and close working with UK Export Finance, the UK’s world leading export credit agency. UKEF and DIT have recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding to strengthen the departments’ joint working and ensure a seamless offer of government support for exporters.

Our performance metrics

Export client survey satisfaction rates and number of service deliveries

Total value of UK exports (£)

  • Source: ONS, UK Trade
  • Frequency: Monthly

UK Outward Foreign Direct Investment stock (£)

Utilisation rate of trade preferences for tariff reductions (per cent)

  • Notes: Data for this metric is not yet available. It is subject to availability from HM Revenue & Customs and partner countries.

How our work contributes to the delivery of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)

Priority Outcome Link to SDGs
Priority Outcome 3 SDG 8 - Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all

Projects and programmes

Deliver a refreshed Export Strategy

Develop a cross-cutting export promotion campaign, aiming to support a national export promotion drive, linked to our ambitious targets

Deliver targeted export campaigns aligned to the delivery of our FTAs

Establish the new UK Export Academy: exporters joining our campaign will benefit from one-to-many export skills support and training under the new export academy

Promote the UK as a global leader in clean growth, science, innovation and R&D.

Facilitate increased levels of export related financing through our Internationalisation Fund and working closely with UK Export Finance, the UK’s world leading export credit agency.

Support levelling up through the delivery of DIT Trade and Investment Hubs in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Darlington

Outcome evaluation plan

Since 2017, DIT has developed a new monitoring and evaluation framework for its export promotion activities. This framework includes annual client surveys to track user experience and satisfaction, bespoke evaluations and a value-for-money model that enables DIT to examine the cost-effectiveness and cost–benefit of its services. The framework has been carefully scrutinised by the NAO, uses the latest appraisal and evaluation techniques, and has steadily improved the evidence on the impact of export promotion support. The framework will provide robust evidence on how far DIT is having a long-term impact on UK firms; assess whether our services are being delivered as intended to secure economic additionality; and ensure that data drives decision-making.

Our approach to M&E is comprised of six elements which cover mapping of the UK export support system, determining the cost efficiency of our offer, assessing the value for money of what we do, surveying our clients to understand the quality and impact of our services, and conducting bespoke evaluations where required. All of these elements will be collated into balanced scorecards for individual services to facilitate better decision making by considering holistically the case to continue or change a service. This is because export promotion services operate as part of an interconnected export promotion system and so changing the way one service is delivered could have unintended consequences on others.

Some of DIT’s large scale programmes are being evaluated via bespoke commissioned evaluations, in line with the broader M&E approach outlined above to compare across services and understand the broader impact of export support services overall. These evaluations have been put in place at the start of the programmes to ensure DIT has a clear understanding of the implementation, the progress and impact of these programmes. These include: Enhanced International Support Service (EISS), Internationalisation Fund.

Outcome 4: Champion the rules-based international trading system and operate the UK’s new trading system, including protecting UK businesses from unfair trade practices.

Lead ministers:

Senior sponsor:

Outcome strategy

As the UK embraces its trade independence, we have a unique opportunity to champion the cause of free trade worldwide, upholding the principle of a rules-based trading system and protecting UK businesses from unfair trade practices. Our work to champion the rules based international trading system can also contribute to the government’s levelling up agenda. Being able to take robust and effective action in this area and effectively launch and defend disputes can provide economic opportunity and protect jobs across all across the United Kingdom. Similarly, trade remedies policy can also make a positive contribution by protecting companies based in all parts of the UK from unfair trade practices. The key milestones and outcomes we are seeking to achieve include:

  • utilise our presidency of the G7 and our ownership of the G7 trade track and relationships within the G20 and WTO to make the case for free and fair trade - we will champion WTO reform and campaign for the resolution of the Appellate Body dispute
  • seek momentum on further trade liberalisation, including new policy initiatives that will enable us to demonstrate thought leadership on digital trade, services trade liberalisation, health, and climate (including through our G7 trade track)
  • be ready to launch offensive disputes against countries that do not abide by international obligations
  • deliver the new Trade Remedies Authority and establish its operational independence to ensure British industries are protected against unfair trading practices
  • maintain the UK’s reputation for one of the most robust and transparent export controls system in the world, through the Export Control Joint Unit
  • deliver a supply chain strategy for priority countries and improve international cooperation on this issue through the UK’s G7 Presidency

Our performance metrics

Metrics for this outcome remain under development.

How our work contributes to the delivery of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)

Priority Outcome Link to SDGs
Priority Outcome 4 SDG 8 - Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all

Projects and programmes

Establish the independent Trade Remedies Authority

Embed a confident disputes function, leading on bilateral and WTO engagement on UK remedies; and manage emerging remedies against the UK or WTO disputes against UK remedies.

Pursue an effective and ambitious trade agenda at the WTO, G7, G20 and the Commonwealth

Develop and maintain the UK’s Export Controls function

Deliver a supply chain strategy for priority countries and improve international cooperation on this issue through the UK’s G7 Presidency.

Outcome evaluation plan

This Priority Outcome covers several policy areas, each of which has its own Monitoring and Evaluation Requirements.

WTO

DIT, in partnership with relevant other government departments, is planning a new evaluation framework in line with the WTO requirement to undertake monitoring and evaluation of WTO agreements. This framework will identify (amongst other areas) relevant costs and benefits, equalities, and distributional impacts from multilateral agreements.

Disputes

In January 2021 the UK became responsible for managing its own disputes as part of the UK’s independent trade policy. This included setting up a new dispute settlement function. A single monitoring and evaluation framework will be developed for the UK dispute mechanism. Due to the long-term nature of disputes, evaluation of the UK trade disputes function will initially be focused on evaluating, refining and improving internal processes and ways of working.

Trade remedies

The Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) and UK’s trade remedies system are new and largely untested. A monitoring and evaluation framework will be developed, in line with HM Treasury guidance, to frame evaluation questions and scope out the data and evidence requirements needed to assess the effectiveness of the TRA/trade remedies system. The scope will include a process evaluation concerning the establishment of the TRA and implementation of trade remedies policy in the early EU transition review cases and any new investigations.

Export controls

Performance against operational licensing targets is published quarterly and alongside an evaluation of key policy issues is included in the Export Control annual report laid in Parliament each year and scrutinised regularly through the Committee on Arms Exports Control (CAEC)

Supply chains

Our Global Supply Chains Directorate works across government departments to strengthen critical global supply chains. This is achieved through improving supply chain visibility, understanding and assurance, embedding supply chain resilience in economic security and prosperity policymaking, and creating and supporting international efforts to strengthen global supply chain resilience. Supply chain vulnerabilities and progress on mitigation plans are monitored through assessment of regular information updates from across government, which are being improved in the coming year through further digitisation of the processes, information, and data capture.

D. Strategic enablers

Workforce, skills and location

DIT is focussed on ensuring we can attract and retain great people with the right skills, experience and capability to deliver an ambitious trade and investment agenda to support UK prosperity. Key to this is creating the right organisational culture focused on our organisational values of being Expert, Enterprising, Engaged and Inclusive. These sit at the heart of a positive employee experience where people feel supported, empowered and able to pursue a career as a result of their talent and ambition. As an international department we also want a workforce that includes a diversity of background and thought that draws talent from across multiple regions and cities across both the UK and globally. Our objectives are as follows:

  • reinforcing the systems for talent management and performance management to address the personal and professional development needs and reward performance in line with government and departmental priorities
  • ensuring that our organisation reflects the country we serve by relocating staff, including SCS, from London to our major second site in the north east and Trade and Investment Hubs across the UK
  • continuing to remove barriers to recruitment, development, and promotion of a diverse workforce through the implementation of a new DIT People Strategy, including enhancing our career offer to make greater links between capability gaps and learning and development opportunities
  • co-locating our London workforce in a new London headquarters to enable us to fulfil our one DIT vision and promote more integrated working across our Directorates
  • further developing our Smarter Working offer, giving staff the policies, processes, tools and skills to support a new hybrid working model and incorporate lessons learned from the ways of working during the pandemic
  • delivering DIT’s apprenticeships target with high quality apprenticeship training programmes

Metrics

Civil service people survey results, including completion rate, engagement score, pay and benefits score, leadership and managing change score, inclusion and fair treatment score and learning and development score.

Diversity declaration rate

Diversity of workforce: self-declared ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion/belief and disability

Number of Apprenticeship starts

  • Source: GOV.UK: Civil Service apprenticeship data (2019-20, 2018-19, 2017-18)
  • Frequency: Annual
  • Notes: Apprenticeship starts are published for DIT Group. Includes UKEF

Number of UK-based civil servants based outside of London and the South East

  • Source: GOV.UK: Civil Service statistics
  • Frequency: Annual
  • Notes: Figures relate to staff headcount. Excludes UK-based civil servants posted overseas.

Innovation, technology and data

Our vision is for DIT to provide outstanding support to businesses through the use of digital tools and platforms and supported by a culture of innovation and experimentation. This means using the latest technology to facilitate our efforts to support UK business, whilst fostering an innovative and enterprising approach amongst staff. The department has already made strides in this area, such as through the joint DCMS/DIT Digital Trade Network for Asia Pacific, but we will continue working with business to help support them to internationalise as well as attract new capital and talent to the UK. Our objectives are as follows:

  • invest in the tools, processes, standards and frameworks needed to enable safe, secure data sharing across departments to support decision making and improve services
  • renew IT systems to automate and fully digitise repetitive manual process and update outdated legacy IT systems, refocusing civil servants’ time to higher valued added activities that deliver the most impact
  • continue to invest in and improve our tools for managing and getting maximum value out of the department’s data, including putting in place the data management practices and governance to ensure data is viewed and handled as key departmental assets

Delivery, evaluation and collaboration

DIT corporate functions are designed to ensure that the department can deliver effectively for UK citizens and our Ministers, and that the department has the tools it needs to operate effectively. We will continue to embed a culture of managing outcomes with rigour and efficiency, from conception and design to delivery, budget formulation, and monitoring and evaluation. Our objectives include:

  • further embedding a new operating model and senior staff structure for the department that is fully aligned to the delivery of the department’s priority outcomes
  • supporting Ministers and Senior Civil Servants in their decision making with robust evidence and analysis and ensuring ministerial priorities are communicated clearly
  • managing the department’s governance processes, supporting departmental committees (including Executive Committee and the Departmental Board, amongst others), ensuring senior officials, Ministers and Non-Executive Board Members have the information they need to take well evidenced decisions and improve delivery
  • managing the DIT strategic planning cycle in such a way that it engages all staff in delivering priorities, through a well understood, efficient and transparent process
  • providing transparent accountability through regular reporting, both within the department, to the centre and to Parliament
  • delivering commercial excellence by offering trusted, expert advice on procurement, contract management and sponsorship, and delivering sourcing projects and sponsor management in collaboration with the business that provides value to the taxpayer and achieves DIT policy outcomes
  • leading on trade and investment communications across government, clearly communicating the department’s mission and purpose, and ensuring that proposed reforms to government communications enhance the department’s communications capability

Metrics

Proportion of Ministerial Correspondence answered on time

Proportion of Freedom of Information (FoI) Act requests answered on time

Proportion of Parliamentary Questions answered on time

Sustainability

DIT is taking a leading role in the UK’s efforts to tackle climate change, working across government to support the COP26 conference in Glasgow, and supporting the government’s Net Zero Commitments. For example, the recently announced UK Global Tariff liberalised tariffs on over 100 environmental goods and DIT has committed to securing provisions that will help trade in low carbon goods and services in our FTAs with Japan, US, Australia and New Zealand.

Working in partnership with the Government Property Agency the department has continued to deliver a sustainable estate for our people to work in. We report quarterly on our Greening Government Commitments and have met our targets over the last five years. These targets are currently being renewed to help achieve longer term goals such as halving public sector direct carbon emissions by 2032. Our objectives include:

  • ensuring that we are able to meet our greening government commitments and continue to monitor and track their delivery
  • continuing to ensure that our estate, activities and policies are sustainable and support climate change, resilience and adaptation
  • working with the Government Property Agency, who manage our estate, to continue to reduce our direct emissions as well as water consumption and waste management
  • adopt smarter and more flexible ways of working that reduces the need for staff to travel and reduces the department’s environmental footprint
  • complete the rationalisation of our London estate (reducing our London footprint by 25%) by moving from four buildings to a single headquarters office at the recently refurbished Old Admiralty Building

Metrics

Greenhouse gas emissions by scope, energy source and financial costs

Waste production and financial costs

Water consumption and financial costs

E. Our equality objectives

  1. Ensure the benefits of trade and investment (job and wealth creation, growth, and productivity) are felt by and accessible to businesses and citizens across the whole of the UK. To achieve this, we will ensure that data, feedback and analysis on protected groups underpins our services and promotional activity; conduct rigorous impact assessments to inform trade agreements; and increase on-the-ground trade expertise in the nations and regions, including through our UK Trade and Investment Hubs.

  2. Drive global trade policy that promotes and demonstrates women’s economic empowerment. To ensure we deliver on this, we will use our FTA programme, the UK’s Presidency of the G7, gender equality objectives in the G7 trade track, and our leadership position at the WTO’s Twelfth Ministerial Conference to advance this agenda.

  3. Create a diverse and inclusive workplace that will attract and develop talented people from all backgrounds, and that better reflects the customers we serve. We will Identify and address areas of under-representation (gender, race and disability) through all levels of the organisation, using the DIT Diversity and Inclusion Dashboard to inform this work.

  4. Promote DIT ‘Spirit’ - Expert, Enterprising, Engaged and Inclusive - to ensure that this is reflected at all times in our work. We will ensure the demonstration of these behaviours through individual performance assessments and harness diverse voices in decision making by engaging a wide range of internal and external stakeholders on policy decisions.

Back to top