Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
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 March 2018 to Question 130823, whether the Government is carrying out a leak inquiry into reports that a BBC journalist received access to a Market Access Assessment in November 2017.
Answered by Robin Walker
The Government does not comment on specific leak investigations. We take all leaks of information very seriously.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
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 February 2018 to Question 127136 and Answer of 23 February 2018 to Question 128683, what classification was given by his Department to the document EU exit analysis-Cross Whitehall briefing.
Answered by Robin Walker
The document referred to is preliminary draft analysis undertaken across Government and has not been led by a single Department. It has only very recently been presented to ministers. It does not reflect this Government’s policy, and is not representative of the expected outcome of the negotiations. As cross-whitehall analysis, any classification of the document was not the decision of DExEU or any other Department.
We have complied with the terms of the motion of Parliament and have made the document available to all members to view in a confidential reading room. The document has also now been published by the Exiting the EU Select Committee.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
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 1 March to Question 129856, and the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State on 30 January 2018, Official Report, column 685; whether the statement by the Minister on the leak inquiry was consistent with the Government's policy not to comment on leak inquiries.
Answered by Robin Walker
Yes, the Government has consistently applied the policy of not commenting on the specifics of leaks inquiries.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
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 26 February 2018 to Question 129032, on Brexit, for what reason the answer did not confirm in what circumstances his Department can comment on the existence of a leak inquiry; and whether there has been any recent change of policy in this regard.
Answered by Robin Walker
It has been the policy of successive governments not to comment on leak inquiries. That policy remains the same today.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
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 February 2018 to Question 127187, which individual, Department or Directorate commissioned that document.
Answered by Robin Walker
As set out in our response to Question 127187, the work is a cross-Whitehall exercise, leveraging the best expertise from each department. It has not been led by any single Department, nor indeed any single Directorate.
As with all the Government’s work on EU exit, DExEU plays a coordinating role, working with the relevant Departments across Whitehall.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, with reference to paragraph 4 of the Government's paper, Future customs arrangements: a future partnership, whether his Department has conducted an impact assessment of the two options proposed in that paragraph 4.
Answered by Robin Walker
In assessing the options for the UK's future outside the Customs Union, the Government will be guided by what delivers the greatest economic advantage to the UK, and by three strategic objectives:
ensuring UK-EU trade is as frictionless as possible;
avoiding a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland;
establishing an independent trade policy.
The Government is undertaking a wide range of ongoing analysis in support of our EU exit negotiations and preparations. Our future partnership paper reflects the deep engagement the Government has sought from external parties with expertise on each policy area.
An Impact Assessment is a specific document, which often accompanies a major bill or regulation to illustrate the effects of the changes. We will, of course, continue to publish Impact Assessments to accompany legislation, where appropriate.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
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 February 2018 to Question 127256, and with reference to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union of 31 January, Official Report, column 833, on the Government’s EU Exit Analysis, in what circumstances his Department can comment on the existence of a leak inquiry; and whether there has been any recent change of policy in this regard.
Answered by Suella Braverman
The Department does not comment on specific leak investigations. We take all leaks of information very seriously.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
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 February 2018 to Question 127136, for what reason no reference was made to whether the document is classified as a Market Access assessment by his Department.
Answered by Suella Braverman
It is not standard practice to provide a running commentary on continuing analysis, including titles and numbers of documents.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union of 31 January, Official Report, column 833, on the Government’s EU Exit Analysis, whether the document referred to has been classified as a market access assessment by his Department.
Answered by Steve Baker
The Government is undertaking a wide range of continuing analysis in support of our EU exit negotiations and preparations. The document referred to is preliminary and has only very recently been presented to ministers. It does not reflect this Government’s policy, and is not representative of the expected outcome of the negotiations. The Government has made this analysis available to the EU Exit Select Committee and to all members of both Houses through a confidential reading room.