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<p>As my Rt Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade said in her
statement to Parliament on 26<sup>th</sup> September, as soon as the issue was brought
to her attention on the 12<sup>th</sup> September, she took immediate action:</p><ul><li>Taking
immediate steps to inform the Court and Parliament;</li><li>Putting in place immediate,
interim procedures to make sure the error could not happen again;</li><li>Instigating
a complete and full internal review of all licences granted for Saudi Arabia and its
Coalition partners since 20 June;</li><li>The Permanent Secretary commissioned, on
her behalf, a full independent investigation.</li></ul><p>This investigation will:
(i) establish the precise circumstances in which these licences were granted; (ii)
establish whether any other licences have been granted in breach of the Undertaking
to the Court or the commitment to Parliament; and (iii) confirm that procedures are
in place to ensure that no further such breaches can occur. The Director General Policy
Group at the Department for Work and Pensions has been appointed to lead this investigation.</p><p>During
the course of this investigation, licence applications for Saudi Arabia and its Coalition
partners will be referred to a new weekly meeting of senior officials from the Department
for International Trade, Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Ministry of Defence.
(Some will have been refused by this point, for example where they fail to meet one
or more of the Consolidated Criteria.) This meeting will reach a recommendation for
Ministers as to whether applications are within the scope of the Undertaking and the
Parliamentary Statement, applying a further checklist of questions which are designed
to ensure that: (i) current and full information is available to enable an assessment
of whether the items in question are for possible use in the conflict in Yemen; and
(ii) if there has been any change in circumstances in the conflict in Yemen, this
is properly included in the assessment. All recommendations to grant licences for
the export of items to Saudi Arabia and its Coalition partners will now be referred
to Ministers for decision.</p>
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