Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North and Cottingham)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, if he will publish Britain's net contribution to the EU budget by NUTS 1 region for the latest fiscal year for which figures are available.
Answered by David Jones
The EU budget is financed through national and not regional contributions, and only some receipts are distributed on a regional basis. It is therefore not possible to provide a regional breakdown of net contributions.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North and Cottingham)
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 28 July 2016 to Question 43443, when his Department plans to publish its Quarterly Transparency Returns providing details of Ministerial meetings.
Answered by David Jones
Details of Ministers' meetings, gifts, hospitality and travel will be published on a quarterly basis as is standard practice.Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North and Cottingham)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how many full-time equivalent officials were employed in his predecessor's renegotiation of the UK's relationship with the EU in 2015-16; and if he will estimate the total cost to the public purse of that renegotiation process.
Answered by David Jones
All departments were equipped with the resources they needed to manage the renegotiation of the UK's relationship with the EU in 2015-16. As a new department we do not hold data on staffing within other departments during that process or the estimated costs.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North and Cottingham)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, whether the Government intends to (a) join the EU Customs Union, (b) negotiate a customs deal with the EU and (c) negotiate no customs deal as part of the process of the UK leaving the EU.
Answered by Robin Walker
The Government has made clear we will pursue an exit deal that works for the unique circumstances of the UK.
There is no benefit to Britain in providing a running commentary on every twist and turn of these negotiations.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North and Cottingham)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, whether the Great Repeal Bill will incorporate all existing EU (a) regulations, (b) Directives and (c) Decisions into UK law.
Answered by David Jones
The Government will bring forward legislation in the next session that, when enacted, will repeal the European Communities Act 1972 on the day we leave the EU, ending the authority of EU law and returning power to the UK. The Bill will give consumers, workers and businesses as much certainty as possible by maintaining law wherever practicable and desirable.
The Bill will convert current EU law (including regulations and directives) into domestic law, while allowing for amendments to take account of the future negotiated UK-EU relationship. The Government will then, in slower time, consider the domestic law changes which will be needed to give effect to new policies developed post EU exit.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North and Cottingham)
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 20 September 2016 to Question 45844, how many of his Department's officials in Brussels are bound by EU codes of conduct which require them to act only with regard to the European Communities rather than a single member state.
Answered by David Jones
Officials in my Department are not bound by any EU codes of conduct. This is true of Home Civil Service officials, Diplomatic Service officials, and locally engaged staff.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North and Cottingham)
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 cost of (a) hiring and (b) transferring staff in his Department for each fiscal year of the Spending Review period.
Answered by Robin Walker
Detailed work is underway to establish the budget required to fulfil the department’s set-up and responsibilities, including staffing budget, over the period of the Spending Review. The budget will be presented to the House of Commons and approved as part of the supplementary estimates in the new year, as is standard practice.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North and Cottingham)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how much funding his Department has been allocated for each fiscal year of the current Spending Review period.
Answered by Robin Walker
Detailed work is underway to establish the budget required to fulfil the department’s set-up and responsibilities, including staffing budget, over the period of the Spending Review. The budget will be presented to the House of Commons and approved as part of the supplementary estimates in the new year, as is standard practice.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North and Cottingham)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, whether any civil servants that transferred over to his Department received (a) severance pay and (b) other payments.
Answered by David Jones
All Civil Servants working in the Department for Exiting the European Union continue to be employed as Civil Servants and therefore have not received severance payments or additional payments for joining the department.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North and Cottingham)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, with reference to the Answer of 20 September 2016 to Question 45844, on Department for Exiting the EU: staff, how many of those (a) staff and (b) officials are trade negotiators.
Answered by David Jones
The Department for Exiting the European Union now has over 250 staff in London and 120 in Brussels, and is continuing to grow. We are not in a position to give a final total for particular groups of staff as recruitment is ongoing and we will not be giving a running commentary. Our aim is to have a streamlined Department, while ensuring the right skills and experience to get the best outcome for the UK.