Asked by: Bridget Phillipson (Labour - Houghton and Sunderland South)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what proposals for alternative arrangements for the Irish backstop are being considered.
Answered by Steve Barclay
The Political Declaration is clear that the UK and EU should work together and exchange information on facilitative arrangements and technologies. This sits alongside the UK and the EU’s existing commitment to developing alternative arrangements to replace the backstop.
The Government plans to continue discussion with members from around the House in the coming days to finalise proposals with which to go back to the EU. While technology could play a part in this, and alternative arrangements are being looked at, these must be ones that can be made to work for the particular circumstances of Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Bridget Phillipson (Labour - Houghton and Sunderland South)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what estimate he has made of the amount of time that the Civil Service has spent on assessing the viability of alternative arrangements for the Irish border for when the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Steve Barclay
There is no specific estimate of time which has been spent on assessing the viability of alternative arrangements for the Irish border to current Government policy. Since the beginning of the process, civil servants have been looking at options, and will continue to support ministers in the development of Government policy.
Asked by: Bridget Phillipson (Labour - Houghton and Sunderland South)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how much time the Civil Service plans to allocate towards supporting the Alternative Arrangements Working Group.
Answered by Steve Barclay
The Civil Service is not supporting the ‘Alternative Arrangements Working Group’. As is usual, civil servants do support me in my meetings with MPs and others.
Asked by: Bridget Phillipson (Labour - Houghton and Sunderland South)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how much money from the public purse has been spent on assessing the viability of alternative arrangements for the Irish border.
Answered by Steve Barclay
Consideration of policy options for the UK’s orderly withdrawal from the European Union have been resourced from Departmental budgets and no figures are available as to the cost of consideration of specific options.
Asked by: Bridget Phillipson (Labour - Houghton and Sunderland South)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, pursuant to the Answer of 12 October 2016 to Question 47489, whether, during the course of negotiations for the UK to leave the EU, his Department plans to hold discussions with its Japanese counterparts.
Answered by David Jones
Ministers and officials from across the Government are working closely with the Government of Japan and Japanese companies operating in the UK to reinforce the importance of a close relationship between our countries. They will continue to do so, including through our embassy in Tokyo.
The Department for Exiting the EU will continue to support this work.
Asked by: Bridget Phillipson (Labour - Houghton and Sunderland South)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, whether he has had discussions with representatives of Japanese businesses operating in the UK pursuant to the memorandum presented by the Japanese government to the Prime Minister at the recent G20 Summit.
Answered by David Jones
Ministers and officials from across the Government are working closely with Japanese companies operating in the UK to reinforce the continued importance of a close business relationship between our countries. The Department for Exiting the EU will continue to support this work.