Parliament and the public are not being provided with clear and transparent information to understand the impact of trade agreements. Business associations and consumer groups are concerned that it is unclear how trade policy aligns with other policy objectives, and how any trade-offs required may impact on the groups they represent. The consumer group Which? has found that consumers have limited awareness of the status and implications of trade negotiations. Although the Department says it has found that the public is highly supportive of its trade agenda, we are not convinced that the public has significant knowledge and interest in trade agreements. The Department does recognise that it faces a challenge in how it communicates important information to Parliament and the public on what it is doing on trade agreements and why. In addition, the Department could not explain why, in its impact assessments of the agreement with Australia, the projected value of UK exports to Australia increased by more than 600% between June 2020 and December 2021 (from £900 million to £6.2 billion). It thought that the rise was probably driven by a change in the methodology it uses to forecast economic benefits, but could not be more specific. Recommendation: The Department should improve transparency and communications around trade agreements and their impacts, to aid understanding and inform scrutiny. As part of this exercise, it should: i) explain clearly to Parliament and the public the policy trade-offs, particularly in relation to human rights and environmental priorities, in new FTAs and the potential impact for sectors, businesses and individuals; and ii) set out clearly the factors and underlying assumptions driving any changes in the forecast benefits. 8 Progress with trade negotiations