Next UK prime minister urged to take charge of trade policy

Britain's next prime minister should take personal charge of export policy in a bid to reverse the country's declining share of global trade.

That is the finding of an interim report by the Cole commission, an independent body charged by Ed Balls, the shadow chancellor, with making industry-led proposals to address the UK's 30-year trade deficit.

The commission called for "a revolution in export culture", with the creation of a cabinet committee dedicated to exports to be chaired by the prime minister. It also urged the next government to promote the role of trade minister to a cabinet position, subject to scrutiny by a newly formed Commons select committee on international trade.

Graham Cole, chairman of helicopter group AgustaWestland who led the five-person commission, said the moves would intensify the next government's focus on the measures needed to revive exports. "We believe the importance of exports needs to be front and centre," he said. Having the prime minister chairing a committee on exports would "make a difference from early on . . . The reality is the numbers are not getting any better. We have to do something substantial."

The commission's final report will be published after the UK general election on May 7, but the interim findings reflect industry's intense frustration at the UK's continuing trade deficit. In 2014 the UK's goods shortfall was £120bn, the biggest gap since records began in 1998. During the past 35 years the UK's share of global trade has halved to 3 per cent, according to the CBI employers' body.

After five months of consultation and more than 70 submissions from industry, the report proposes a series of measures that Mr Cole said would help to revive exports. These include combining the UK department for Trade & Investment with the export finance department to ensure a "central hub from which to co-ordinate and drive the export agenda".

The government should also bring together into a "one-stop shop" the different types of export support and services available to small and medium-sized businesses. The UK fielded far fewer SMEs compared with countries such as Germany, where support was better co-ordinated and given a higher political priority, he said.

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